Weekend Movie Night: Mindhunter

It's time to review something new! This time it's not technically a movie but instead is a Netflix original series based on the true story of the FBI profiling unit called Mindhunter. It's based on the true crime novel by FBI profiler John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. I had originally read the actual Mindhunter novel a decade ago and was really interested in the book. So much so that I also bought the follow up book Journey into Darkness. 

My copy of the novel.

Before I say anything else, this review will have spoilers. I am not sure if you need spoilers for a series based on historical events, many of which are common knowledge, but it's here anyways. I will say that I recommend the series even if I do think it has a few flaws. Obviously, if you are disturbed by depictions of murder, especially murders of a sexual nature. They don't show much but the descriptions are pretty disgusting. More sensitive viewers should probably skip this one. 

So did the series live up to the novel? I have to say that it is largely accurate from what I remember of the novel. It's a fair representation of the FBI Behavioral Science Unit and its beginnings, as far as I can tell.  Every case in the series was based on something in the novel. Yep, Edmund Kemper, Richard Speck, Jerry Burdos and Dennis Rader are all real people as horrifying as that is. The main characters are also based on real people with Holden Ford being based on John Douglas, Bill Tench based on Robert Ressler and Dr. Wendy Carr based on Dr. Ann Burgess. 

Obviously, the series has amped up on the drama. From what I remember, it didn't seem like Douglas/Ford's interview techniques were controversial at the time and the entire unit was less divisive than it was portrayed in the series.   

Also, Edmund Kemper never threatened Ford/Douglas. He did mention to Tench/Ressler that he probably could rip his head off during a shift change at the prison but he claimed he was joking. That was obviously taken very seriously and after that FBI profilers were not allowed to interview subjects alone. 

Ford/Douglass did get extremely sick at one point too but that wasn't after meeting with Kemper, it was while he was trying to help with the Green River killings. Also, the foot fetish principle isn't a real person but was based on a thought experiment in the book. 

These minor historical differences aside, the series is otherwise extremely accurate to the book. The incidents of inaccuracy are justified because they are either there to make the story more interesting or being used to demonstrate how the FBI profiling unit works. It's way more accurate than most historical series and I commend them for keeping it based on reality. 

As for the acting I think the actors are doing a good job. Johnathan Groff is nailing Holden Ford as the cocky yet intelligent profiler and matches what I think John Douglas was like back then. The rest of the main characters are well acted as well but Cameron Britton knocks it out of the park as Edmund Kemper. He plays the friendly and intelligent but completely evil Kemper perfectly. 

If I have a major criticism of the plot of Mindhunter it's the relationship between Holden Ford and Debbie Mitford. I'm not a fan of all the relationship drama in a series that is supposed to be about serial killers and the FBI. The sex scenes are the worst though. Not only do they seem completely gratuitous, since they don't have much to add to the plot, they also offer up a major mood whiplash between the sex and then the horrible descriptions of sexually motivated murder. Not something I ever wanted to see together. 

It kind of seemed like Netflix thought that the series couldn't stand alone without sex scenes and nudity. That seems the way steaming/premium tv shows are going and it's like Mindhunter is just following the trend. I do think that the series got a lot better when the sex scenes started to go away. I do guess that there was a point where Ford wasn't able to have sex after being disgusted by Jerry Brudos, but that's about the only scene that was justified.  

As for the future of the series, I think there is a lot of potential for further seasons. Mindhunter the book covered quite a few serial killers that haven't yet been covered in the series. Dennis Rader the BTK killer is getting quite a bit of forshadowing but there will be others as well. Supposedly the Atlanta child murders will dominate the 2nd season but I think there is a lot of material for quite a few seasons. I hope that the series will be renewed beyond that.