Mindhunter Season 3 Doesn’t Make Sense To David Fincher Right Now

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Mindhunter Season 3 Doesn’t Make Sense To David Fincher Right Now

Director David Fincher says that Mindhunter season 3 doesn't make sense to him at the moment. He has, however, not given up on the Netflix show yet.

Director David Fincher isn't sure if it would make sense to make Mindhunter season 3 given the show's costly price tag. Based on real-life FBI profiler John E. Douglas' true-crime book, Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit, Mindhunter is a psychological-thriller crime series produced by Fincher, Charlize Theron, and Joe Penhall for Netflix. The show, which debuted worldwide in October 2017, followed FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) as they interviewed notorious serial killers to understand how they think, hoping to apply the knowledge into solving existing cases of serial crime.

In season 1, Mindhunter focused on the developments in criminal psychology and profiling at the Federal Bureau of Investigation between the years 1977 and 1980. The show presented dauntingly convincing portrayals of ill-famed serial killers like Edmund Kemper and Richard Speck, with the former assisting Ford and Tench in their cognitive research. Season 2, which premiered in August 2019, meanwhile, centered on Wayne William's Atlanta Murders of 1979-81. Throughout its two-season run, Mindhunter was immensely well-received among fans and critics, who hailed the show for its meticulous character development and persuasive storytelling. But in January 2020, Netlfix shocked many serial-killer-case aficionados when it announced that it has put Mindhunter on indefinite hold and relieved the series' stars of their contracts to pursue other opportunities. Now Fincher has weighed in on the fate of his show, opening up about the possibility of a Mindhunter season 3.

Recently during a conversation with Variety, Fincher revealed that he, at the moment, had no plans no revive Mindhunter for a third season. He said that given its show's pricey budget, he doesn't know if it would be logical to make a third season for the show. Fincher also recounted the ordeal he had to go through in making season 2, citing it is one of the reasons behind his dissociation from the Mindhunter. He said:

“I don’t know if it makes sense to continue. It was an expensive show. It had a very passionate audience, but we never got the numbers that justified the cost.”

As he has also disclosed earlier, Fincher said that making Mindhunter season 2 was a nightmarish task. Fincher first fired the initial showrunner, then he scrapped eight original scripts, along with the 'pitch bible' that documented the details about Mindhunter's characters and settings. The director had aimed to bring a new season for the show every 12-14 months. But due to creative delays, a new iteration would take off only after two years. Mindhunter's exhaustive production, therefore, agonized Fincher, who decided that he "needed some time away" from the show. Fincher, however, hasn't dropped the curtain on his hit Netflix show entirely. He believes that the hiatus will reignite his passion to make more content, and he also says that he'd like Mindhunter to end with Dennis Rader, the real-life BTK Stranger, being apprehended. Currently, however, Fincher is busy promoting his feature film, Mank, which is due to release on Netlfix, December 14.

With Netflix not officially slamming the door on Mindhunter, there is always a glimmer of hope that Fincher would choose to revisit the series in the future. But for now, at least, it appears that he is mostly done with the show. Although it is certainly disheartening to know that fans won't be able to see the show’s set-up of the BTK investigation play out into the arrest of the ill-famed serial killer several seasons later, it is a comforting thought how viewers got to savor two seasons of quality content from their favorite House of Cards creator. Mindhunter was able to stand out distinctively in a crowded genre. So hopefully, in the future, Netlfix will honor the universally acclaimed show by allocating to it a budget that would allow for Fincher to make more seasons without any production troubles.