‘Mindhunter’ Is Dead, So Stop Asking David Fincher About It!

The Big Picture

• Fans of
  Mindhunter
  were left disappointed when Netflix decided to end the series due to low viewership and high production costs.
• David Fincher, one of the directors of the show, expressed his doubts about the possibility of continuing the series due to its expense and low viewership numbers.
• Despite fan petitions and pleas for the show’s return, it appears that
  Mindhunter
  is officially over and the actors have moved on to other projects, as has Fincher.

If you are a TV fan, you’ve no doubt had to deal with the premature loss of a favorite show. Before the streaming era, shows like My-So Called Life, Freaks and Geeks, and Pushing Daisies all ended before their time. Then along came Netflix, the ultimate heartbreaker. Did you enjoy that take on Daredevil? Too bad, it’s gone. Were you a fan of Mike Flanagan’s The Midnight Club? Sorry, it’s over — go read the book. Were you impressed by Dark, so now you’re checking out 1899 because it’s made by the same people? I don’t know how to tell you this, but you’re not getting the answers to all of those questions the series asked. If you get involved with a Netflix series, you pretty much go in knowing the risks. You’re getting involved with a show that could break up with you at any moment, no matter how new it is or how good it’s going.

‘Mindhunter’ Was One of Netflix’s Best Series

Another victim of Netflix’s fear of commitment was Mindhunter, which ran from 2017-2019. You could be forgiven for not expecting that relationship to end so fast, though. It had everything going for it. David Fincher was one of Hollywood’s elite film directors, creating such masterpieces as Seven, Fight Club, Zodiac, and The Social Network. Then came the news that he was working with Netflix on an adaptation of the 1995 true-crime book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Serial Elite Crime Unit. Written by former FBI agent John E. Douglas, the book looked into the lives of real-life criminal profilers. For Fincher, who had such a successful career making crime thrillers, pairing him with this book and Netflix was a match made in heaven. It wasn’t his first time working with Netflix either, as he had been an executive producer and director on House of Cards.

The series turned out as well as anyone could have expected, completely living up to the hype. It wasn’t just Fincher’s dark, slow-burn storytelling that made it work. He was also assisted by a stellar cast, including Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany as FBI agents, and Cameron Britton in a quiet but creepy performance as serial killer Ed Kemper. Britton’s impression of Kemper was so spot on that the actor earned himself an Emmy nomination.

Season 2 ended on a bit of a cliffhanger. An arrest had just been made in the Atlanta child murders, and the frightening scenes of the BTK killer were growing more intense. Season 3 looked to continue the macabre mayhem, except it never came to be. In early 2020, it was announced that the cast had been released from their contracts. Netflix put out a statement to TVLine, saying, “David is focused on directing his first Netflix film Mank, and on producing the second season of Love, Death and Robots. 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.”

David Fincher Keeps Having To Answer Questions About the Status of ‘Mindhunter’

It was disappointing to hear, but not surprising. It had been a few years since Fincher had made a feature film. Let him go scratch that itch, and he’d be back. He went on to make Mank, which, as usual, won a few Academy Awards and earned Fincher yet another Best Director nomination. Later in the year, when being interviewed by Vulture, Fincher was asked if Mindhunter was over. “I think probably,” he answered.

“Listen, for the viewership that it had, it was an expensive show. We talked about ‘Finish
Mank
and then see how you feel,’ but I honestly don’t think we’re going to be able to do it for less than I did Season 2. And on some level, you have to be realistic about dollars have to equal eyeballs.”

Oof. That hurt. For anyone hoping the show would soon return, that seemed to be the clearest answer that it wasn’t coming back, except then a Netflix rep also had to tell Vulture, “Maybe in five years.” Dang you, Netflix. You make it impossible to let go! A few months later, in an interview with Variety, Fincher was again asked about Mindhunter. “I don’t know if it makes sense to continue,” he said. “It was an expensive show. It had a very passionate audience, but we never got the numbers that justified the cost.”

Should ‘Mindhunter’ Fans Hold Out Hope for Another Season?

That seemed to seal the series’ fate. Mindhunter cost too much money and not enough people watched, so Netflix pulled it. As much as it sucked, what could you do? Some things just aren’t meant to be, no matter how much you love them. Then, in what had to have been an attempt to one-up that Netflix rep, Fincher added, “At some point, I’d love to revisit it. The hope was to get all the way up to the late 90s, early 2000s, hopefully, get all the way up to people knocking on the door at Dennis Rader’s house.” Fans were left hanging between hope and reality, like someone who’s been dumped in a relationship, only for the ex to keep popping up and telling you there’s a chance at getting back together. Hope continued to fuel into 2021, when David Fincher signed an exclusive four-year deal with Netflix. Maybe, just maybe, that meant the series would return eventually. Spoiler alert: It didn’t.

While we waited, the creator and cast moved on to other things. Series lead Jonathan Groff had a big role in 2021’s The Matrix Resurrections. While promoting the film in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he was asked about the status of Mindhunter:

“To me,
Mindhunter
is Fincher. The whole experience for me was the honor and privilege of getting to work with him. So I’m not a sports person really at all, but it’s like the [1997-1998] Chicago Bulls. Do you go for another season with the team? Or do you just do what the general manager says? But if the general manager believes that it should stop, you have to go with the general manager. And this is how I feel with David. The minute he says he wants to do another one, I’ll be there in a second. But I trust his vision and his instincts, and so I leave it always in his hands, as ever.”

At this point, it had been almost two years since Season 2 of Mindhunter. While Groff’s comment about being there to do another season in a second was enticing to hold on to, it also wasn’t feasible. Fincher had moved on, returning to feature films. The cast had moved on too. Groff was also one of the leads in Knock at the Cabin, and Anna Torv appeared in the adaptation of The Last of Us. On paper, it seems easy to bring the show back. Well, everyone sounds like they still want to do it, so why not? Netflix surely has enough money. Look at how much money they spend on other shows just to cancel them. On top of that, look how popular true crime is now! Netflix is like a murder documentary assembly line. It’s not that easy, sadly. Resurrecting Mindhunter is not like making a movie. With its runtime, it’s like making three or four feature films back to back, which is a commitment that’s hard to live up to years later.

‘Mindhunter’ Is Over; It’s Time To Watch Other TV Shows

In an interview with the French outlet Le Journal du Dimanche, Fincher was of course asked about the status of Mindhunter. “I’m very proud of the first two seasons,” he said, before adding:

“But it’s a very expensive show and, in the eyes of Netflix, we didn’t attract enough of an audience to justify such an investment [for season three]. They took risks to get the show off the ground, gave me the means to do
Mank
the way I wanted to do it, and they allowed me to venture down new paths with
The Killer
. It’s a blessing to be able to work with people who are capable of boldness.”

That sounds like acceptance for Fincher. He did his best, but his relationship with the series is over, and he’s ready to move on. That means you too, interviewers. Please, for the love of God, quit asking the man about Mindhunter in every interview he does. It’s getting to be absurd and makes it impossible to move on when we’re so often reminded of the one who got away.

That means fans need to finally move on as well. There are other fish in the sea. For some, however, there’s just no escaping the hold that Mindhunter has on them. While there have been other petitions to bring back the show (along with several other shows), one petition to bring the show back received over 80,000 signatures. In the petition, there is a heartfelt plea to Netflix:

“Please believe, even if the numbers didn’t add up in Season 2 as they did for the first season, we are still out here waiting faithfully and clamoring for more. So we respectfully ask you to please reconsider your priorities and make the time to film Season 3, soon, and if that isn’t a possibility and/or cannot be arranged, then please consider another director for Season 3. While the quality may not be at Fincher level, there are many mega-talented directors out there.”

It seems fans are dedicated to the story even three years after the Season 2 finale, enough to be ready to accept the series without Fincher at the helm. Unfortunately, despite the determination of the fans, it seems that Mindhunter‘s fate is sealed. It’s not coming back. (Though didn’t that Netflix rep say something about the possibility of something five years later? Hmm…)

Mindhunter is available to stream on Netflix.

Watch on Netflix