Back to the Beginning With "Mindhunter"

Like much of the American public, I've watched an awful lot of media about serial killers, from "Silence of the Lambs" to the early seasons of "Criminal Minds." And from them, I've learned about the techniques and terminology that go with the investigations of these killers, along with the predictable storytelling formulas that have developed around them over the years. As a fan of crime dramas, though, they usually still work for me, and I have few complaints.

Still, it was nice to discover that Netflix's "Mindhunter" series, created by Joe Penhall, found a way to upend the formulas and approach the material from a new angle. The series is set in the 1970s, back in the days when Charles Manson and David Berkowitz signalled the emergence of a new kind of criminal, and the FBI was just beginning to grapple with the science of criminal psychology. A pair of agents, Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) start interviewing known "sequence killers," compiling data that will eventually lead to the development of what we know today as criminal profiling. A psychology professor, Wendy Carr (Anna Torv) eventually joins them, as their information starts being put to use in solving real murder cases.

The first episode, which sets up Holden as a young upstart agent who asks too many questions, and pairs him with a bohemian post-grad girlfriend, Debbie (Hannah Gross), is awfully creaky. However, in the second episode, when Holden interviews his first subject, Edmund Kemper (Cameron Britton), things get very interesting in a hurry. While all the FBI characters are composites based on various people, the killers like Kemper and Richard Speck (Jack Erdie) are all real, and the interviews are often adapted from real transcripts as well. "Mindhunter" carefully avoids showing any violence onscreen, and even most of the aftermath is only glimpsed via photos and news clippings. However, simply having the characters discuss violence in very frank terms proves to be riveting stuff. Cameron Britton's performance as Ed Kemper in particular is fantastic, walking a very fine line between jovial and terrifying.

It's a shame that the rest of the series isn't up to the same level. The interactions among the three leads, and the FBI office politics yield some good things. However, the personal lives of the agents are fairly rote and uninteresting, and the writers aren't particularly successful at getting us invested in any of their other relationships. Holden and Debbie's scenes, for instance, have generated nothing but complaints from viewers impatient to get back to the interview room. Even some of the active cases we see play out feel like filler. I think part of the problem is that the show's structure is so fast and loose, it often feels like a different kind of series from episode to episode. One installment feels like an investigation-centric police mystery, and the next feels like a "Mad Men" style period drama. There are also a series of oddly placed scenes featuring an unnamed character who we'll probably learn is an active serial killer next season.

One thing that is consistently strong is the style, which is bleak and desaturated and very reminiscent of the 2007 serial killer film "Zodiac." And no wonder, since David Fincher is an executive producer of "Mindhunter" and directed four of the ten episodes. With gloomy lighting, stark art direction, and some excellent casting of minor characters, he does a great job of creating a version of the 1970s that is both nostalgic and grimly unpleasant. There's often a sense of these small, cozy towns being invaded by a new breed of violence wrought by criminals who don't follow the old rules of behavior. And while the visuals are rarely flashy, occasionally you'll get an eye-catching sequence like the montage in the second episode, detailing the wearing nature of too much interstate travel.

So there are lots of good pieces that have been set up in "Mindhunter" that I'm hopeful can be better deployed in a smoother, and more effective second season. The first is good enough that I'd recommend a watch, but there's potential for something much better there that I hope the show's creators can figure out how to take better advantage of.
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