• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

MINDHUNTER |OT| Netflix Original Series - Oct 13

Draconian

Member
Loved the first episode. It's so engrossing, and I think the cast is solid. I really enjoy the aesthetic Fincher gets with the Red cameras. Has anybody read the book? Definitely adding it to my reading list now.
 

Dalek

Member
I’m really loving this show. First episode is really great. I’m really surprised that the FBI wasnt following modern criminal psychology in 1977.
 
I'm up through episode 6.

Spoilers for the openings if people don't know who it is:
I wonder where they are going to go with the BTK stuff. That's a case that spanned decades.

As for the show, I'm running lukewarm. I'll reiterate my first comment that the show is too brightly lit to be a Fincher production. Moreover, the pace of the editing doesn't really jive with his other works, or the color grading, and so on. The comparisons to Zodiac, a film I love and that I think is easily Fincher's best work and one of the best english movies of the 2000s, seem really shallow and hollow. Saying this is like Zodiac is like saying the movie Mission to Mars is like 2001: A Space Odyssey.
 
A bit of a rocky opening episode. Him meeting Debbie at the bar is kind of a slog that could have been trinmed down and smoother. But I’m interested in everything else. Will keep watching.
 

Arondight

Member
It's a brilliant show and can't wait till another season.
The ending was so intense I would have ran for it within a second and pissed myself while I was at it.

Probably my favourite Netflix show Along side stranger things and The crown.
 
I’m really loving this show. First episode is really great. I’m really surprised that the FBI wasnt following modern criminal psychology in 1977.

When you consider that Hoover had stopped running the FBI only a few years earlier, it's maybe not surprising that it would have been an organisation stuck in the past.
 

UrbanRats

Member
Episode 1 was solid.
Didn't really grab me as i was hoping, but it looks very sleek, and the subject matter is intriguing.
Characters? Not so much, so far.
 

Einchy

semen stains the mountaintops
What the hell is up with the two swipe cuts that have happened since episode
5
. They feel so tonally off and it's a weird thing to introduce later on in the season.

Not sure why I spoilered that but whatever.
 
itt people confuse character acting with bad acting
No shit. The show is a slow burn sure but every character is acted impeccably.

I'll also say no one but fincher (and his co creators here) can make the simple act of listening to someone talk (and for hat matter just tell you the WHY of something they did not how) so enthralling and anxiety driven. Only six eps in and this is one of if not my favorite Netflix series ever
 

kirblar

Member
Holders character trait of always using vocabulary and examples far beyond the grade level of the people he s talking to is fantastic and hilariously true to life.
 

Jb

Member
I find some of the crimes they're referencing in this show to be genuinely disturbing.
the mother and her kid :(
Same feeling I get when first reading about an extra-horrific real life murder on wikipedia, it permanently makes the world a little darker.
 

Shy

Member
I'm five minutes into episode 4. Fuck me this show is so good.

If you're reading this thread debating whether you should watch this show or not. Get on this right away and make it your weekend binge.

You won't be disappointed.
 

120v

Member
Was the FBI really this stodgy towards behavioral psych in the late 70s? feels like I'm watching a show set 25 years prior or something
 
Slow start but really liking this. Beautifully shot and feels like a film at times. I really like the dialogue and the chemistry between the two leads. It never feels too phoney and can be funny at times. Seen 3 episodes and look forward to more. I feel like this is one of the better Netflix shows.
 

orioto

Good Art™
Bindge watched it yesterday.
Really disappointed in the show..

I'm not sure what i was expecting but i's really weirdly written. It's like they didn't really know what to do with that season, so it goes left and right and seems to fill time with light problems rather than focusing on a theme.

At some point there was 2 episodes where i was.. Soooo this is basically a standard cop investigation show like we have 45000 ??

One of the problem is that it treats the birth of psychological crime studies as something new, but the result seems like the most simple and cliché thriller you would find. Like "OMG the killer had a problem with his mom, it changes everything!!!"

But in the end everything seems pretty stupid and simple. Like.. They build all that process and psy knowledge but the application of those at the end of the show is basically : so yeah, you got that mean crazy killer. Just be nice with him and be all "yaaaa those bitches, so hot, i would have fucked them to i got you pal" and he'll just open and admit everything !

I was waiting for something dark and complex and it seems the ambition is to be kinda light with really simple thinking.

Of course there is the whole character development for Groff, but i don't know.. It feels kinda like the small picture here. I was expecting more than that, something more ambitious.
 

KodaRuss

Member
Holders character trait of always using vocabulary and examples far beyond the grade level of the people he s talking to is fantastic and hilariously true to life.

Yes very much so. I work with a guy like him and when it comes out I have to play interpretor from time to time.
 

duckroll

Member
Watched 4 episodes so far. Fucking sublime. The dynamic between Tench and Ford is fantastic. With Fincher overseeing it, it's not surprising that the visuals and audio are top notch, but what really makes the series its own is how relaxed it is in telling the story it wants to. There's no extraneous drama or thrilling beats to ramp up excitement. Instead it believes that the target audience interested in the subject matter would appreciate the banter and the process for what it is, and enjoy that without needing "more" that would water down the material.

That smug look on Anna Torv's face at the end of episode 4 is what everyone who made this show should be feeling right now.
 
Bindge watched it yesterday.
Really disappointed in the show..

I'm not sure what i was expecting but i's really weirdly written. It's like they didn't really know what to do with that season, so it goes left and right and seems to fill time with light problems rather than focusing on a theme.

At some point there was 2 episodes where i was.. Soooo this is basically a standard cop investigation show like we have 45000 ??

One of the problem is that it treats the birth of psychological crime studies as something new, but the result seems like the most simple and cliché thriller you would find. Like "OMG the killer had a problem with his mom, it changes everything!!!"
But it is something new, in the context and time period of the show, and that’s kind of what makes it fascinating. Like this knowledge we take for granted, that seems so simple and understood and even cliched now, is treated with hostility and dismissal by many and as a untapped field being uncovered.

Also it’s a historical period piece so the notion that the reasonings are so cliched and not more exotic seems kind of weird. It seems cliched because these cases are what inspired those thrillers. Sometimes reality is just that disturbingly simple.

The show isn’t about catching killers like so many serial killler procedurals; it’s about the process of understanding and catching killers, and that’s a big difference. Compare this show to a show like Criminal Minds. You’ll have your theme for that episode, you’ll have your scene or two where the resident experts explains the relevant concept that’ll end up being what helps them catch the killer in a layman-friendly way so the audience gets it, and so on

But Mindhunter isn’t like that. It’s more interested in the protagonists learning from these cases and gradually building a foundation of knowledge than it is about the common “catching the killer” thrills. The usual interviews and mulling over evidence scenes isn’t merely there for a plot twist or to deepen a mystery, but as teachable moments that the protagonists struggle to understand and adapt to in the service of the show’s greater goal of showing how the field was established
 

op_ivy

Fallen Xbot (cannot continue gaining levels in this class)
Stocked to watch this with the wife last night, but it wasn't what we expected. A whole episode, at least, dedicated to the Unabomber? I mean, that's certainly interesting, but not the mind fuck of interactions with face to face serial killers. How long until the Unabomber stuff leads into the serial killer stuff? We checked the synopsis for episode 2 and realized our error.turns out searching mindhunter in Netflix brought about manhunt as its first result and we were too tired to notice. Oops. Pretty good show though.
 

Vic_Viper

Member
Bindge watched it yesterday.
Really disappointed in the show..

I'm not sure what i was expecting...

The show isnt meant to be an Murder Investigation Cop show lol. Its a period piece about how the FBI started their research into the mind of a serial killer. The random investigations that happen inbetween are just them helping out on cases with local police since noone is equipped yet to deal with these types of killings. The FBI agents werent even calling them Series Killings until super late into the season.

If anything, I was hoping for more Se7en in this show. But so far im really liking it.
 

orioto

Good Art™
But it is something new, in the context and time period of the show, and that's kind of what makes it fascinating. Like this knowledge we take for granted, that seems so simple and understood and even cliched now, is treated with hostility and dismissal by many and as a untapped field being uncovered.

Also it's a historical period piece so the notion that the reasonings are so cliched and not more exotic seems kind of weird. It seems cliched because these cases are what inspired those thrillers. Sometimes reality is just that disturbingly simple.

The show isn't about catching killers like so many serial killler procedurals; it's about the process of understanding and catching killers, and that's a big difference. Compare this show to a show like Criminal Minds. You'll have your theme for that episode, you'll have your scene or two where the resident experts explains the relevant concept that'll end up being what helps them catch the killer in a layman-friendly way so the audience gets it, and so on

But Mindhunter isn't like that. It's more interested in the protagonists learning from these cases and gradually building a foundation of knowledge than it is about the common ”catching the killer" thrills. The usual interviews and mulling over evidence scenes isn't merely there for a plot twist or to deepen a mystery, but as teachable moments that the protagonists struggle to understand and adapt to in the service of the show's greater goal of showing how the field was established

yeah i see all of that of course but it just deosn't work as i would like for me. See, for example, i find Masters of Sex, which is also a show about a new scientific area struggling to exist, way better at showing that. The cultural barrier etc..
Here, and maybe that's just me, but every time they are like "maybe we could catch criminals better if we knew what's their actual problem" and a cop is like "bro we don't give a shit, they're just animals we should kill them".. It feels really stupid. It makes you think "wait we waited the late 70's for that ? really ?"

I'm not saying that's not true. I'm saying the show seems to make all that simple and almost funny at times to be accessible, and it results in something a little cheap, to me. And the application of all that seems to only be an ex negotiator trying to be buddy with the criminal with over simple shenanigans like "hey i'm gonna take the object of his fetish with me" and bam it works lol. Do they really need all those complex psychological studies for that seriously.. The show is bad at showing how those complex studies are used in a smart way. But maybe that's cause the main protagonist is meant to be pretty bad at it.

It's like the show wants to focus on the super simple stuff to not be too obscure, and that's what i'm complaining about here. And i'm really critical of House of Card to. I think Fincher is not going for the ambitious "not for everyone" show. He's not david simons i mean. Maybe i would expect him to be.

The show isnt meant to be an Murder Investigation Cop show lol. Its a period piece about how the FBI started their research into the mind of a serial killer. The random investigations that happen inbetween are just them helping out on cases with local police since noone is equipped yet to deal with these types of killings. The FBI agents werent even calling them Series Killings until super late into the season.

If anything, I was hoping for more Se7en in this show. But so far im really liking it.

I'm justly saying it shouldn't be and its acting like it's not just that, but it's still too much of a murder investigation cop show. When you have half the season being local investigations of some random case, it's at least a way to fill the 10 episodes. When you think about it, a bog part of that season is indeed a buddy cop show about criminal cases, i'm sorry. That's just a big part of it.
 

Vic_Viper

Member
I'm justly saying it shouldn't be and its acting like it's not just that, but it's still too much of a murder investigation cop show. When you have half the season being local investigations of some random case, it's at least a way to fill the 10 episodes. When you think about it, a bog part of that season is indeed a buddy cop show about criminal cases, i'm sorry. That's just a big part of it.

Your right about that, if this was a movie you probably wouldnt have these random cases throughout. Especially the principle lol. I think they are just trying to show how the local police just dont know how to deal with this sort of thing still and are just completely unequipped for it. The previews for the show didnt really do a good job informing people what the show was about though. I was expecting something like Se7en mixed with True Detective set in the late 60s/early 70s with the serieal killer interviews.

Hopefully they find their footing for season 2 because I really like the show.
 
This show doesn't seem to be very popular. I could be wrong though. It's really good IMO. Loving the actors in this show. I'm on the final episode of the season now.
 

orioto

Good Art™
Your right about that, if this was a movie you probably wouldnt have these random cases throughout. Especially the principle lol. I think they are just trying to show how the local police just dont know how to deal with this sort of thing still and are just completely unequipped for it. The previews for the show didnt really do a good job informing people what the show was about though. I was expecting something like Se7en mixed with True Detective set in the late 60s/early 70s with the serieal killer interviews.

Hopefully they find their footing for season 2 because I really like the show.

Well i was expecting more of a Zodiac vibe. but that would mean more dark, paranoid.
And there is something like that with the main protagonist actually. The tickling principle is a weird case of something completely out of the criminal style of the show, yet it's really relevant for building the paranoid theme for Groff character.

But this is the thing there. Is the show an ambitious and wide period piece, a light investigation buddy show, a character drama about a cop fucking up cause of its ambition and wrong morals.... My problem with it is that it's trying to be a little of everything and it's weird to follow.
 
Much like Zodiac, this show (at least this season) is about those peering into the abyss more than the monsters inside it. I could see it pivoting in later seasons, especially with how they're setting up BTK, but people who just want a procedural deep dive into specific serial killers are going to be disappointed.
 

berzeli

Banned
This show doesn't seem to be very popular. I could be wrong though. It's really good IMO. Loving the actors in this show. I'm on the final episode of the season now.
What is the basis for your claim that it doesn't seem very popular?
It's getting coverage on all major sites, has a decent social media presence, and like it premiered yesterday. Kind of jumping the gun here.
It was pretty good. Season 2 I guess will be a thing, hopefully.
It's already been renewed.
 

SargerusBR

I love Pokken!
Just finished ep 4. Not feeling it so far and i'm not sure why. It's nice to see how the studies of serial killers began and the internal conflicts in the Bureau for trying to understand the killers. The cast is also solid.

Maybe it's because i was expecting this to be more procedural, like Criminal Minds but in the 70s.
 
So just finished this today. Totally binged watched most of it yesterday. Anyway, did
Holden have a panic attack at the end or was that a heart attack? At first I thought Kemper stabbed him when he gave him that. He kind of became insufferable a bit towards the end. His ego was out of control.
 

stenbumling

Unconfirmed Member
Pretty damn good, but yeah... I don't mind slow, but this was slow. It felt like a 9 or 10 hour premiere in some aspects. I also thought, without spoiling anything, the cold openings were an odd choice. Anyway, loved the main character – what an interesting fella. Also enjoyed how disinterested they were in giving the audience a "look, it's the '70s!" nudge while still staying true to the era.

So just finished this today. Totally binged watched most of it yesterday. Anyway, did
Holden have a panic attack at the end or was that a heart attack? At first I thought Kemper stabbed him when he gave him that. He kind of became insufferable a bit towards the end. His ego was out of control.

Wendy asked Holden if small talk was his way of dealing with anxiety (to which he replied "I guess so"), so a panic attack sounds likely.
 
So just finished this today. Totally binged watched most of it yesterday. Anyway, did
Holden have a panic attack at the end or was that a heart attack? At first I thought Kemper stabbed him when he gave him that. He kind of became insufferable a bit towards the end. His ego was out of control.

Seemed like a panic attack/nervous breakdown to me. He was spinning out,
looked disheveled before he even got to Kemper.
 

Robot Pants

Member
I felt episode 1 was.... ok.
Very rocky start, very fast dialogue and quick editing. Kids surprised actually. But as the episode went on it gonna lot better.

I think it’s gonna be ok
 

diaspora

Member
It was interesting to see
Carr's objection to hiring the black candidate, especially when Bill put her logic under scrutiny.
 
It was interesting to see
Carr's objection to hiring the black candidate, especially when Bill put her logic under scrutiny.

That's not how you do spoilers, I just spoiled myself for an episode I hadn't seen. Please put which episode you're referring to before the quote.
 
I really liked this for the first 5 eps, but now I’m on episode 7 or 8 and its suffered the traditional dip a lot of Netflix series do, for me at least. To be fair getting to episode 6 before the slide in quality is better than the usual for Netflix.
 

Kalor

Member
The first episode was great. I'm excited to watch the rest of the season and see where it goes. Hopefully it keeps up this level of directing and writing.
 

Salvadora

Member
Just finished episode 5 and really quite warming to the series.

Those interview scenes, both with serial killers or suspects/witnesses, are incredibly compelling.

Great music too.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
I met John Douglas once and got to talk with him a bit after his lecture. I almost went the route of forensic psychiatrist based mostly on his stuff. Very excited to watch this series. I hope they get to some of the interesting personal events in his life, especially the physical/mental toll the job had on him.
 

awcarew

Member
Loved the first episode. It's so engrossing, and I think the cast is solid. I really enjoy the aesthetic Fincher gets with the Red cameras. Has anybody read the book? Definitely adding it to my reading list now.

Yeah, the book is a pretty quick and very compelling read. It doesn't have any sort of linear storyline though and I'm guessing the TV show is quite a bit different (still haven't watched Midhunter yet, hoping to start tonight!). It's mostly Douglas just outlining various interviews that assisted his team in solidifying the science of profiling.
 
Top Bottom