TV
‘Mindhunter’ Thrills, Leaves Us Wanting More R E V I E W BY JAC K ER N
Mesh & Vinyl Banners Campaign Yard Signs Stickers, Decals & Labels Fleet Vehicle Graphics Event Signage Interior & Exterior Signage Promotional Products Vinyl Graphics Trade Show Displays Order Fulfillment
A U G . 2 8 - S E P. 3 , 2 0 19
|
Visit us online to see a full list of product & service offerings • (513) 721-3801 • decalimpressions.com
C I T Y B E AT. C O M
Netflix’s Mindhunter introduced the early days of criminal psychology and profiling when it premiered in 2017, following FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany), along with psychologist and academic Wendy Carr (Anna Torv), as they create the bureau’s first Behavioral Science Unit in the late 1970s. Set in the early ’80s, Season 2 finds Jonathan Groff as Holden Ford (left) and Holt McCallany as Bill Tench the unit with a new boss — one that actuPHOTO: COURTESY OF NETFLIX ally takes the BSU’s work seriously and investigated by local forces — his unit invests in this new line of thought. steps in, with stakes higher than ever He seeks to empower Holden’s work, but before. It truly exposes the cracks in also to reel him in a bit. Last season ended the criminal justice system and law with Holden in a full-blown panic attack enforcement, especially as they relate to after getting a little too close to killer Ed people who are already disenfranchised. Kemper (who sadly appears only briefly in One thing the show does well is create a this season; Cameron Britton gave such a dark sense of foreboding without actually spot-on, chilling performance). That task showing more than a flash of gore. It’s falls to Bill, who not only has the pressures purely psychological, a nod to the work of his job to manage, but also an intense Holden and Bill’s team do. There’s nothing family crisis at home. wrong with subtlety and ambiguity, but If Bill’s child, Brian, seemed creepy last this season left so many unanswered season — not communicating or showing questions and unresolved plotlines — emotion, stealing photos of crime scenes including the mysterious ADT guy that’s and hiding them in his room — he ups been teasing viewers for two seasons — I the fear factor this time around when he’s feel just a tad shortchanged. Hopefully involved in a horrific incident with some we won’t have to wait two more years for a other kids. The storyline brings about the little resolution. debate of nature versus nurture, sending It doesn’t appear the popularity of true Bill on a painstaking mission to be a good crime media will subside anytime soon. As dad and husband while still doing his job, frightening and macabre as these sinister and feeling like he’s failing at everything. people and acts may be, it’s endlessly It’s a heartbreaking but compelling way to fascinating. That’s nothing new. People show more facets of his character. have been interested in serial killers since We also see more of Wendy’s personal before the term even existed — just watch and professional life this season, as she the reaction Bill gets from his neighbors delicately deals with not only being a when his work comes up in this season’s woman in a male-dominated field, but first episode. Bill reluctantly shares a few also with being gay when it was considered details with the guys at a cookout, much to a mental disorder by some of her own his wife’s chagrin. But they’re not repulsed. colleagues. Rather, they’re intrigued, eager to know A major draw of this series is the more about coming face-to-face with portrayal of real-life cases and criminals, pure evil. As counterintuitive as it may the latter being depicted with uncanny seem, many of the killers in Mindhunter accuracy by doppelganger performers. themselves are no different. They speak This season brings a long-awaited candidly about their crimes, or return to interview with Charles Manson (Damon the scene to relive the thrill. Herriman, who also portrays the cult No doubt Holden and Bill, too, will leader in Quentin Tarantino’s summer revisit their experiences from this season, blockbuster Once Upon a Time in… not for pleasure or intrigue, but to question Hollywood, and it’s clear why he’s the whether they did everything they could go-to) and David “Son of Sam” Berkowitz — to help those Atlanta mothers, to raise (Oliver Cooper), among others. a healthy, happy son. Because catching a But the team isn’t just doing research bad guy doesn’t always equate to solving anymore. When a chance encounter a crime. introduces Holden to the mothers of the Contact Jac Kern: @jackern victims of the Atlanta child murders — cases that aren’t being properly
33