Mindhunter‘s season 2 finale looked set to introduce an explosive third outing before the show was canceled. Netflix’s slow-burn crime drama was one of the best detective shows of all time, but it was criminally underrated, leading to an early end. The series is based on John Douglas and Mark Olshaker’s book of the same name, which documented the birth of criminal profiling at the FBI.
Mindhunter featured several serial killers, but it was an unusual show compared to most police procedurals. It depicted the main characters making mistakes, with many of the killers already behind bars. The second season ended with a bittersweet victory and a glimpse into the mind of a new antagonist for Bill and Holden to face. Sadly, they never got the opportunity.
Who Is The Masked Man In Mindhunter Season 2’s Terrifying Final Moments?
Dennis Rader aka BTK wearing a mask of a white face wearing red lipstick in the Mindhunter finale
Mindhunter is an extremely disturbing TV drama, but it features surprisingly little violence. This means that, when a violent scene happens, it’s truly shocking — and the intense final moments of Mindhunter season 2 are a perfect example of this. The final scene lasts just one minute and nine seconds, and shows a character that we have seen before in a fantastic instance of foreshadowing.
The scene shows the ADT serviceman, whom we have seen glimpses of during both seasons of Mindhunter. This time, he is dressed in women’s clothing, wearing a mask of a woman’s face, red lipstick, and a rope, which he ties around the doorknob. As he leans forward to look at pictures of dead people, he pleasures himself while being strangled.
The character, played by Sonny Valicenti, is credited as “ADT Serviceman.” However, true-crime fans will realize that he appears to be Dennis Rader, also known as “the BTK Killer,” even if they miss another character calling him by his name. BTK named himself based on his crimes, in which he bound, tortured, and killed his victims. Mindhunter season 2’s ending teases a greater role for him in season 3.
Mindhunter Set BTK Up As The Major Killer In Season 3
Dennis Rader aka BTK sitting at a desk and looking at papers
The escalation of BTK’s scenes, culminating in that final disturbing moment, sets him up as a formidable antagonist. The story for Mindhunter season 3 would have shown Bill and Holden traveling, with the hunt for BTK also being a major focus. As the real Dennis Rader played cat-and-mouse games with law enforcement, his TV counterpart’s capture would have been a major goal for the team.
BTK was unlike the other killers that the team had encountered in Mindhunter so far, setting them up for a serious mistake in season 3. With Bill and Holden’s study being found accurate, they were likely to look for an antisocial man with family issues. This would have made it hard to track down the killer, who was actually a gainfully employed husband and father.
How Bill And Holden Finally Caught Wayne Williams
Wayne Williams offering Bill a bag of food through the window of a car
Mindhunter season 2 focuses on the Atlanta Child Murders, with Bill and Holden fighting to have Wayne Williams arrested. Though Williams fits Holden’s profile, which has already been proven accurate in other cases, the evidence is circumstantial. Williams toys with the officers before they’re finally given a search warrant, which uncovers forensic evidence connecting him to several victims.
While Williams appears to have an explanation for every question the team asked, the FBI finds nylon threads and animal hair in the house that matches fibers found on many of the victims. That said, Williams was only tried for two crimes, and a note on-screen informs us that as of 2019, none of the remaining 27 cases have been prosecuted.
What Cracking The Williams Case Meant For Holden And His Team
L-R Bill, Wendy, and Holden standing in their office looking tense
The Atlanta Child Murders case appears to be a success for Holden and his team, with Holden and Bill meeting their new boss on an airfield, where they are congratulated and given a travel upgrade. The two are told that “Atlanta changed everything,” as it seemingly proves their studies correct and gains them respect. However, this is a hollow victory for Holden.
Holden is aware that, while the profiling seemed to work, it did not truly give the children’s families closure or justice, and he is helpless to change that. After he promises the families that the team will connect Williams to more deaths, the FBI is relieved of the Williams case. Holden hangs his head, watching the news of the case’s closure.
Holden is a wild card in Mindhunter, regularly taking action while Bill and Wendy cover for him. Although the team and their bosses at the FBI celebrate the Atlanta victory, the matter is most likely not over for Holden. As he experiences panic attacks throughout the show, the combination of professional success and the injustice in Atlanta would not help his mental state.
Why Wayne Williams Was Not Prosecuted For All The Murders
Wayne Williams looking shocked and holding a camera in Mindhunter
Williams was only tried for two of the adults who were killed at the same time as the string of child murders, and it took jurors just 12 hours to convict him. Mindhunter tackled the serious racial tensions that informed much of the case, and laid out the physical evidence. However, it didn’t fully answer whether Wayne Williams was really guilty of the child murders.
The circumstantial evidence against Williams was compelling but not fully investigated. As reported in a letter to The New York Times, Justice George T. Smith of the Georgia Supreme Court, who was instrumental in the case, said, ”The practice of pattern in this case was distorted beyond any recognizability.” There was simply not enough usable evidence to try a man already in prison for murder.
Why Nancy Finally Left Bill
Bill Tench leans forward while looking serious in Mindhunter season 1
Some of the best Mindhunter episodes use tension and uncertainty to turn a mundane scene into a masterclass in suspense. This happens throughout the finale, whenever Bill interacts with Brian, who was involved in a disturbing crime earlier in the season. Bill prioritizes work over his family once more, leaving as Nancy asks to move the family for a fresh start.
Bill’s emotional unavailability took a toll on his family life, and he appears to be in denial about his son’s behavior, which resembles that of many of the serial killers he’s interviewing. It appears that Nancy had enough when Bill left Brian to flip burgers alone, though it is possible that something could have happened to frighten her, which season 3 could have revealed.
Why Was Mindhunter Cancelled?
Holden Ford and Bill Tentch holding up a picture in a prison in MindhunterCredit: MovieStillsDB
David Fincher explained Mindhunter‘s cancellation in an interview with Première Magazine (translated by The Fincher Analyst on X.) He explained that the show was cancelled due to high costs, with someone saying, “It makes no sense to produce this series like this, unless you can reduce the budget.” Mindhunter is essentially a period drama, and accurate 1970s costumes and effects are deceptively expensive.
Rather than change the format and distinctive visual style to make it more appealing to fans of crime shows like True Detective, Fincher accepted Netflix canceling Mindhunter. As it was one of Netflix’s most creative shows with a 97% positive critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, the decision was not popular. However, it allowed Mindhunter to end without a decline in quality.
Will Mindhunter Get A Reboot?
Anna Torv as Wendy Carr listening to something through headphones in Mindhunter
With most of the Mindhunter team moving on to other projects, a series revival has looked unlikely for some time. However, Holt McCallany (Bill Tench) revealed to CBR that, while there are no current plans for Mindhunter season 3, there is another possibility. He and Fincher have discussed potentially rebooting Mindhunter in the form of three feature-length movies instead.
The Mindhunter movie project had an update from Charlize Theron, who worked as the show’s executive producer. She explained to The Hollywood Reporter that the decision is up to David Fincher, saying, “He only does things when he really feels like there’s potential in it.” This does not rule out the possibility of a Mindhunter reboot completely, either as a movie or a series.
Source: The New York Times, CBR, Rotten Tomatoes, The Hollywood Reporter
Release Date
2017 – 2019
Showrunner
Joe Penhall
Writers
Joe Penhall
