After a thrilling conclusion to Mindhunter season 2, many viewers have been anxiously awaiting an update on when we may see a Mindhunter season 3. We’ve got you covered!
Ending on somewhat of a high note in season 2 (depending on who you’re asking), we left Ford and Tench departing Atlanta having captured Wayne Williams and changing the way the FBI viewed the Behavioral Sciences Unit. BTK, however, was still on the prowl.
And given how long BTK’s reign of terror was in real life, we know the series has quite a bit of narrative to work through if we’re ever going to see a season 3.
So what’s the latest?
Mindhunter season 3 update
The cast and crew have all been quite vocal about returning, but the short answer is: Netflix hasn’t officially decided (or doesn’t know), either way.
Ultimately, it may depend on whether Fincher wants to do another season or not. Fincher has said in the past that the second season took so much out of him that he may not return. In an interview with Vulture, Fincher said “We lived there for almost three years. Not year in and year out, but … probably six or seven months a year … Mindhunter was a lot for me.”
If that’s the case, Mindhunter season 3 may in fact be dead and buried at this point. Disappointing news, without a doubt, but we may still have hope.
In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, Jonathan Groff, who plays lead FBI Agent Holden Ford, said there was still a chance, and that he believed Mindhunter season 3 was actually likely to happen.
“I feel like, even though those projects seem very different, Frozen and Mindhunter, I feel like a third Frozen and a third season of Mindhunter are equally possible.”
Mindhunters
Set in the 1970’s and 80’s, FBI Agents Ford and Tench (Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany) deem traditional methods of solving crime insufficient and develop a new way to profile “sequence killers” (known today as “serial killers”). They theorize that the application of deeper psychological evaluation will give them insights into why killers kill and play a role in identifying murderers in the future.
However, as they work through the bureaucracy of the department and test their methods, they’ll encounter barriers at every turn, including from within their agency, local law enforcement, and the killers themselves.
Plans for season 3
Of course, Fincher wasn’t always jaded by the sweat he put into Mindhunter. There was certainly a time when it was clear that not only was Mindhunter season 3 planned, but it would have seen the entire crew return and be set in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s – this would make sense given that BTK wasn’t apprehended until 2005, and the series ended with another weird appearance of him in Kansas after Williams was caught in 1981.
Which gives Fincher options.
When it was reported last April that lead cast members Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, and Anna Torv were released from their deals with Netflix when Mindhunter season 3 was postponed indefinitely, many fans assumed the streamer put a pin in it.
However, given that BTK’s active period continued for another decade after season 2’s conclusion and he wasn’t caught for another 15 years, that should give Fincher options if he decides to pick it back up in a few years. The cast’s age is irrelevant at this time because there is such a big leap forward from season 2 to season 3.
Either way, we’re on a hold for now, and that doesn’t look likely to change anytime soon.
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