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This might sound a little weird to some of you but I'm the type of person that reads about serial killers a lot and I was really really excited when I watched the trailer for Mindhunters because I was 100% sure that it was going to be the type of show that I would love. I've always been interested in understanding why serial killers involve themselves in horrendous activities and this is where the shows comes in. It is based on the true crime book Mind Hunter: Inside The FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit written by John E. Douglas & Mark Olshaker. It's set in 1977 and focuses on 2 FBI agents and a Psychologist who interview serial killers in order to understand how they think and why they committed the act and apply their findings to solving ongoing and future cases. Jonathan Groff (based on John E. Douglas) plays Holden Ford, a special agent in the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit, Holt McCallany is Special Agent Bill Tench (based on Robert K. Kessler) and Anna Torv is the Psychologist, Wendy Carr (based on Dr. Anna Wolbert Burgess). Kessler is credited with coining the term "Serial Killer" & together with Douglass they went from state to state interviewing serial killers including Edmund Kemper, Jerry Brudos, Richard Speck, Ted Bundy and Charles Manson.
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I was hooked after the first episode, everything about this show is intense and intriguing. Two of the serial killers they interviewed were real life killers portrayed by actors. The most fascinating was Ed Kemper, the "co-ed killer" who murdered and raped several young girls before decapitating his mother, defiling her and then ripping out her vocal cord so "she would stop nagging". He talked in such a creepy way that you would think he could read the minds of the agents and described what he did as a "Vocation". Mindhunter is different from any crime drama out there. It's not a good cop-bad cop type of story and there's no action that involves shooting at the bad guy, all the protagonists want to do is go into the minds of psychopaths and understand them. The writing is superb and so is the dialogue. The actors are so good that you would think they were the real killers. Groff, who I know as Jesse St. James from Glee & voicing the male lead in Disney's Frozen brought his character to life and so does Holt. Their chemistry is undeniable and they're both entertaining to watch. At the beginning of each episode, they give us about a minute look at Dennis Radar, popularly known as the BTK (Blind, Torture, Kill) Killer. His killings spanned from 1974-1991 and he was arrested in 2005. I'm really interested to see how this plays out in the show mostly because the interviews were during the 70's and 80's and the BTK killer was arrested more than 20 years later.
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The duo also help local police investigate other fictional crimes including the rape and butchering of a 12 year old girl and the mutilation of a lady. Its intense with the right amount of character development to keep you invested in the show. Everything about Mindhunter had me hooked from the first scene to when the credits rolled in the final episode and I'm really looking forward to season 2. Netflix already renewed it for a second season five months before season one was released. I'm ready to go on this journey again and I can't wait for them to interview other killers like Charles Manson. This show isn't for everyone, it's not fast paced or completely exciting, it's the type of show that makes you think. It involves a lot of talk about psychology, sociology and criminology which after a while can become exhausting to some viewers, you need to be totally interested to love it. Nevertheless, Mindhunter is worth your time and I suggest you give it a try.
RATING 10/10
GENRE Crime Drama
CREATED BY Joe Penhall
BASED ON Mind Hunter: Inside The FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. Douglas & Mark Olshaker
STARRING Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, Anna Torv, Hannah Gross
No OF EPISODES 10
DISTRIBUTOR Netflix
RELEASE DATE October 13, 2017
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