Mindhunter is an American psychological crime thriller television series created by Joe Penhall, based on the 1995 true-crime book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker.^[2] The series debuted in 2017 and ran for two seasons. Executive producers included Penhall, Charlize Theron, and David Fincher, the latter of whom served as the series' most frequent director and de facto showrunner, overseeing many of the scriptwriting and production processes.^[3] The series stars Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, and Anna Torv, and follows the founding of the Behavioral Science Unit in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the late 1970s and the beginning of criminal profiling.^[4]

The first season of 10 episodes debuted worldwide on Netflix on October 13, 2017.^[5][6] The second season was released by Netflix on August 16, 2019.^[7] In January 2020, Netflix announced that the potential for a third season was on indefinite hold as Fincher wanted to pursue other projects, but may "revisit [the series] in the future".^[8] In February 2023, Fincher confirmed that the series was officially over.^[9]

Mindhunter revolves around FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench, along with psychologist Wendy Carr, who operate the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit within the Training Division at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Together, they launch a research project to interview imprisoned serial killers to understand their psychology with the hope of applying this knowledge to solve ongoing cases.^[10]

The first season takes place from 1977 to 1980, in the early days of criminal psychology and criminal profiling at the FBI. Cameron Britton has a recurring role in this season as notorious serial killer Edmund Kemper, who is the first to assist Ford and Tench in understanding how a serial killer's mind works. Other notable serial killers featured in the first season include Montie Rissell played by Sam Strike, Jerry Brudos played by Happy Anderson, Richard Speck played by Jack Erdie, and Dennis Rader also known as BTK, played by Sonny Valicenti.^[11]

The second season takes place in 1980 and 1981, with Ford and Tench investigating the Atlanta murders of 1979 to 1981, which included at least 28 deaths, mostly children.^[12] This is based on the real case of Wayne Williams, who was charged and convicted for the murder of two adult men but was never tried for the killing of the children and adolescents, causing mass outrage and questions over Williams's guilt as the children's cases went cold.^[13] The second season also features other infamous murderers, such as David Berkowitz, also known as Son of Sam, played by Oliver Cooper, William Pierce Jr. played by Michael Filipowich, Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. played by Robert Aramayo, and Charles Manson, played by Damon Herriman.^[11]

The development of Mindhunter began in 2009 when Charlize Theron gave a nonfiction crime book titled Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit to David Fincher.^[17][18] In January 2010 the Mindhunter project was set up at Fox 21, which had optioned the book, along with premium cable channel HBO. Scott Buck was tapped to write the pilot.^[19][20] Fincher, who was mostly known as a director and producer in films, felt at that time that television was "completely foreign" until he worked on the political drama House of Cards, for which he co-produced and directed the first two episodes.^[17] When Fincher finally felt comfortable with television as a medium after doing House of Cards,^[17] Theron suggested playwright and screenwriter Joe Penhall as the project's writer,^[17][18] replacing Buck.^[20] In December 2015, Mindhunter was moved to streaming service Netflix,^[18][20] with Fox 21 dropping out of the project.^[20]

In February 2016, Netflix announced that the production of Mindhunter would be based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.^[21] Filming began in May 2016,^[22] and open casting calls were held on April 16 and June 25, 2016.^[23][24] Episode 9 of season 1 was filmed in Moundsville, West Virginia at the West Virginia State Penitentiary.^[25] The series was renewed for a second season before its premiere on Netflix.^[26]

The character of Holden Ford is loosely based on FBI agent John E. Douglas, on whose book, Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit, the show is based.^[27][28] The character of Bill Tench is based on pioneering FBI agent Robert K. Ressler.^[29] Wendy Carr is a fictional character based on psychiatric forensic nurse researcher Ann Wolbert Burgess,^[30][31] a prominent Boston College nursing professor who collaborated with the FBI agents in the Behavioral Science Unit and procured grants to conduct research on serial murderers, serial rapists, and child molesters.^[32][33] Her work is based on treating survivors of sexual trauma and abuse, and studying the thought process of violent offenders.^[33] The serial killer characters were modeled on the actual convicted criminals and their prison scene dialogues were taken from real interviews.^[34] Although not explicitly stated, it is implied that the ADT serviceman seen in several short vignettes throughout the first season is Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer.^[35][36] This is clarified in the second season.^[37]

The musical score was written by Jason Hill.^[38]

The second season was originally reported to consist of eight episodes;^[39] however, the season ultimately contained nine episodes. Shooting took place between April and December 2018.^[40] Directors for the second season were Fincher, Andrew Dominik, and Carl Franklin.^[41]

In November 2019, a potential third season was reported to have been put on indefinite hold until Fincher finished working on his next film, Mank.^[42] Fincher planned to make five seasons.^[43] In January 2020, Netflix announced that the cast had been released from their contracts and that the series was on indefinite hold, as Fincher was busy with other projects. A Netflix spokesperson stated, "He may revisit Mindhunter again in the future, but in the meantime felt it wasn't fair to the actors to hold them from seeking other work while he was exploring new work of his own."^[8] In October 2020, Fincher confirmed the series was done for now, and a Netflix spokesperson said that a third season may be possible "maybe in five years".^[1] The next month, some of the reasons to suspend the series were fleshed out – cost (Fincher stated, "It had a very passionate audience, but we never got the numbers that justified the cost."), production (the second season showrunner was fired and eight of the scripts were rewritten), management (co-producer Peter Mavromates said of Fincher, "Even when he wasn't directing an episode, he was overseeing it."), and exhaustion (Fincher said, "I certainly needed some time away").^[44] In February 2023, Fincher confirmed that the series was officially over.^[9]