It has been more than four years since we last saw our favorite FBI agents, Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff), and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany), in action, but fans of Mindhunter still haven’t given up hope for a third season.
That hope is definitely starting to wane after all this time, but we’ve followed enough breadcrumbs in the press to know that if it were up to the actors, the show would already be in the can.
As a reminder, the first season of Netflix’s psychological thriller comprised 10 episodes and debuted on October 13, 2017. The story followed Bill and Holden as they, along with psychology professor Dr. Wendy Carr (Anna Torv), set up a Behavioral Science Unit for the FBI. The show takes place in the late ’70s and early ’80s—apparently, before then, investigators never thought to speak to criminals to figure out what makes them tick.
The show’s writers delved into real-world criminality to spotlight some of history’s most notorious killers, from coed killer Edmund Kemper (Cameron Britton) to Richard Speck (Jack Erdie). Dennis Rader, a.k.a. the BTK killer, is referenced but never seen.
Mindhunter season 2 aired on Netflix on August 16, 2019. The eight-episode season focused on serial killer Wayne Williams, an Atlanta man convicted of killing two men … and suspected of murdering 23 children. Holden, Bill, and Wendy also brush elbows with Charles Manson (Damon Herriman) and David Berkowitz (Oliver Cooper), otherwise known as “Son of Sam.”
The show became a cult classic with fans, and with an anticipated 5-season run, Netflix seemed poised to announce a third season … but they didn’t.
Why is there no season 3?
Let’s start by blaming showrunner David Fincher. More specifically, blame the millions of viewers who didn’t tune in to seasons 1 or 2, because the show simply cost more to produce than it earned.
In 2020, Netflix announced that Mindhunter was placed on a temporary hiatus. Their reason was that Fincher, who inked a 4-year exclusive deal with the streamer that same year, was too busy directing Mank, an artsy retelling of how Citizen Kane was made. Most recently, Fincher produced and directed The Killer, starring Michael Fassbender, for the streamer.
The contracts of Groff, McNally, and Torv soon expired and were not renewed. In a statement to TVLine, a Netflix representative said, “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.”
So it was about time and money. But mostly money
Three years later, Fincher gave an interview to Forbes that shed more light on Mindhunter’s “indefinite hold.”
“I’m very proud of the first two seasons,” said the director, “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. I don’t blame them, 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. The day our desires are not the same, we have to be honest about parting ways.”
This statement aligns with Fincher’s earlier remarks in late 2020, when he told Vulture, “Listen, for the viewership that it had, it was a very 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 two. And on some level, you have to be realistic—dollars have to equal eyeballs.”
Just not enough eyeballs
For their part, cast members Groff and McCallany have been vocal about their willingness to reprise their roles for Mindhunter season 3. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in late 2021, Groff asserted that without the showrunner, there could be no Mindhunter.
“To me, Mindhunter is Fincher,” he said. “The whole experience for me was the honor and privilege of getting to work with him. [ … ] 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.”
McCallany voiced similar sentiments, telling Gold Derby in June 2020, “I’m still optimistic that there can be another season of Mindhunter. I think it’s not too late for us to come back, so my hope is that we haven’t seen the last of Bill Tench and Holden Ford … I’m keeping my fingers crossed.”
What would have season 3 been about?
It’s safe to say that season 3 would have focused on the BTK killer since he was referenced in both season 1 and season 2. Andrew Dominik, who directed several episodes of season 2, told Collider that they had big plans for the next chapter of Mindhunter, including a relocation to Los Angeles.
“What they were going to do with season 3 was they were going to go [to] Hollywood. So one of them was going to be hooking up with Jonathan Demme and the other one was going to be hooking up with Michael Mann. And it was all going to be about profiling making it into the sort of zeitgeist, the public consciousness. It would’ve been … That was the season everyone was really waiting for to do, with when they sort of get out of the basement and start.”
Where does that leave us?
Sadly, it doesn’t seem like Fincher is going to change his mind about focusing on other work ahead of Mindhunter. Perhaps if the show brought in more “eyeballs” and earned more money, we’d already be watching Groff dead-stare a terrifying killer while wearing the hell out of a suit and tie. But since Fincher is now getting good reviews for The Killer, we doubt he’ll turn his attention elsewhere.
Optimistic fans, take comfort in the fact that there’s always a chance the show will be picked up by another network! Anything is possible in Hollywood, and that’s dead serious.
(featured image: Netflix)
