Mindhunter was one of the best crime thrillers on television in the past ten years, so it's absolutely crushing to hear that there's no chance of Season 3 ever happening at Netflix. Famed director and executive producer David Fincher's recent comments suggest there's someone to point a finger at for this, and now I'm furious at almost everyone involved.
David Fincher recently gave an interview for the French outlet Le Journal du Dimanche and officially put to bed why Mindhunter won't be returning for Season 3. The director explained the situation and noted that he had no ill will toward Netflix after "parting ways" (via TVLine):
I’m very proud of the first two seasons. 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 3]. I don’t blame them; they took risks to get the show off the ground… 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.
David Fincher might be fine with the fact that Netflix couldn't justify the budget for another season of Mindhunter, but I certainly am not. Granted, I may be a journalist with no accurate idea of the cost of the average Mindhunter season vs. viewership, but knowing all of that doesn't get me any closer to seeing Holden, Bill, and Wendy back in the basement of Quantico interviewing some of the most dangerous serial killers in America!
I can't be entirely mad at just Netflix, however, as I know there are plenty of true crime fans out there who apparently didn't check out Mindhunter with their Netflix subscriptions at a high enough rate to justify the streaming service bringing it back for Season 3. There haven't been many shows like it to hit television since, so it feels like we've truly failed a unicorn of a series.
I think it's also fair to say that even David Fincher deserves a bit of blame here as well, as he signaled in past interviews Mindhunter's downfall was in part due to the inability to agree on a budget for the season. Fincher, who has been busy on other projects, told Vulture that Netflix asked to do Season 3 on a reduced budget, but the director pushed back, asserting he couldn't do it for any less than he did in Season 2. So, when I say I'm furious at almost everyone, I kind of mean it. I can't be mad at Jonathan Groff, though, as the actor managed to keep fans' hopes alive for a renewal when all hope seemed lost.
At the same time, the reason behind Mindhunter's effective cancellation also feels like white noise at a time when streaming services are drastically dialing back their outputs of expensive streaming shows and even removing previous originals entirely. Even if the series would've survived to Season 3, it's hard to imagine it could've gone on much longer without becoming the massive mainstream success that it seemingly wasn't.
The good news is that Mindhunter Seasons 1 and 2 are still available to stream on Netflix, and it's totally worth binging even if the series ended well before it should have. Cameron Britton's performance as Ed Kemper alone is worth the time spent watching, so anyone who missed out should certainly give it a look.
