Mindhunter brought a new kind of serial killer thriller to Netflix back in 2017, and the series won acclaim with critics and viewers alike. The second season released in 2019, and fans have been waiting ever since for news of progress on a third season rather than more delays. Now, Mindhunter executive producer and director David Fincher has some bad news for viewers who have been holding out for a Season 3 renewal.
David Fincher addressed the future of Mindhunter in an interview with Vulture, and his comments suggest that the serial killer thriller is dead. When asked if Mindhunter is done as far as he's concerned, Fincher said:
I think probably. Listen, for the viewership that it had, it was an 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 about dollars have to equal eyeballs.
David Fincher's black-and-white feature film Mank has been attributed as the cause of delays on more Mindhunter for a while now, and now Fincher apparently feels that there's not a future for Mindhunter. Netflix has handed down a lot of surprising cancellations recently, including some shows that had already been renewed, and the cost of Mindhunter evidently wouldn't have been justified by the size of the audience. The same kind of cost/viewer ratio is reportedly what led to GLOW's cancellation.
The end of Mindhunter after two seasons means that the previous vision for five seasons won't come to fruition, which at the very least means that fans won't get to see where Mindhunter was going with the glimpses of the BTK Killer. Famous serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was known for dressing as a clown to gain access to commit crimes, was a candidate for the big killer of the third season following a Season 2 Easter Egg.
The news that Mindhunter is probably done is disappointing, but not altogether shocking. Stars Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, and Anna Torv were released from their contracts with the thriller in January 2020, with Netflix releasing a statement (via TVLine) about David Fincher's unavailability, saying that they "felt it wasn’t fair to the actors to hold them from seeking other work while he was exploring new work of his own."
David Fincher has said that he was "pretty exhausted" after working on Mindhunter Season 2, which also isn't too surprising. He worked as executive producer and co-showrunner of a show that was incredibly intense, and he directed seven of the show's 19 episodes. The semi-good news is that Season 2 ended on less of an immediate cliffhanger than Season 1 did, although there is definitely a lack of closure now that no Season 3 is apparently on the way.
If you're in the mood to rewatch Mindhunter, you can find the first and now only two seasons of the thriller streaming on Netflix. There are also plenty of other true crime series worth streaming on Netflix, if the mood strikes you! For more viewing options on the streamer in the coming weeks, check out our 2020 Netflix premiere schedule. If streaming isn't always your style, you can find some additional options on our 2020 fall TV premiere guide.
