The Season Everyone Was Really Waiting For

Mindhunter was a very unusual crime drama, and season 3 was going to shake up the series. Based on the real-life memoirs of John Douglas and Mark Olshaker, who revolutionized criminal psychology, Mindhunter ​​​​​​is unlike many police procedural shows, which tend to focus on one case each episode. Instead, Mindhunter played the long game, introducing real cases that were unsolved during its 1970s timeline, while the main characters worked on developing criminal profiling. Of all the great crime TV shows canceled too soon, Mindhunter is one of the best, and it has since become a cult hit.

Season 1 of Mindhunter was one of the most disturbing serial killer TV shows on Netflix, with Cameron Britton giving a terrifying performance as Ed “the Co-ed Killer” Kemper. Season 2 branched out, incorporating the home lives of the main characters, but the series was more of a slow burn than other crime shows, despite its disturbing subject matter. This meant that it did not get the recognition it deserved compared to other flashier crime dramas. While writers were planning to make major changes in season 3, Netflix canceled Mindhunter after 2 seasons.

Mindhunter Season 3 Would Have Seen Them Get Out Of The Basement

The Core Three Researchers Were Headed To Hollywood In Mindhunter Season 3

Many crime dramas center on superstar cops and intense action, placing their main characters in exciting settings. However, Mindhunter is set in the 1970s when criminal profiling was in its infancy and the concept was not trusted by higher levels of the FBI. This meant that the main characters in Mindhunter were relegated to a basement office. As their work gained attention, season 3 would have significantly expanded the scope of their research, taking them to a more exciting location. Andrew Dominik directed season 2 of Mindhunter, and told Collider it was “the season everyone was really waiting for.”

Season 3 of Mindhunter was going to feature an entirely new and very different location from that dark basement office, as the main characters were going to go to Hollywood. Andrew Dominik explained, “So one of them was going to be hooking up with Jonathan Demme and the other one was going to be hooking up with Michael Mann. And it was all going to be about profiling making it into the sort of zeitgeist, the public consciousness.” This could mean that Mindhunter’s main characters were about to get more attention than they expected.

Mindhunter Season 3’s Hollywood Setting Would’ve Made The Show Even More Interesting

But Mindhunter Had A Much Higher Budget Than It Appeared

If the project was intended to reach Hollywood in season 3, this suggests that Mindhunter’s researchers were going to have a major success, perhaps by catching an infamous killer. The two already have an uneasy relationship, and the challenges of unexpected fame and scrutiny would likely have strained this further. Mindhunter featured some interesting serial killers, but had not yet featured the kinds of outsized personalities seen in Hollywood. This could have meant Bill and Holden meeting known Hollywood stars, which would have introduced a new dynamic and made the show even more interesting.

In an interview with Première Magazine (via The Fincher Analyst on X), Mindhunter’s executive producer David Fincher explained that the show’s budget was a contributing factor to its cancellation. This may surprise viewers as the show does not generally feature complicated stunts and special effects. However, the period-accurate costumes and VFX were extremely expensive, and Fincher said that “someone finally said to us, ‘It makes no sense to produce this series like this.” Setting Mindhunter season 3 in Hollywood would have required an even higher budget due to location costs, and Fincher did not want to compromise his vision.

Even Years Later, It’s Hard Not To Be Frustrated About Mindhunter’s Cancellation

Is There Any Hope For A Mindhunter Reboot?

The cancellation of Mindhunter is still one of the most frustrating TV cancellations of the last 10 years. Holt McCallany (Bill Tench) has echoed a sentiment shared by many Mindhunter fans, telling Awards Daily that most of the current crime dramas on TV are “pretty forgettable.” Mindhunter blended police procedure, family drama, and truly disturbing true crime in one series, which showed audiences a new side of criminal investigation. This made the series unique, and it would have been interesting to see where Mindhunter was going to go next, especially with its planned season 3 Hollywood location.

Mindhunter has officially been placed on an indefinite hiatus, with its main stars moving on to other projects. This makes it very likely that Mindhunter season 3 will never happen. That said, while a reboot of the underrated TV series may not be an option, there could be another possibility in the future. If the writers still wanted to take Mindhunter to Hollywood, the idea could be explored in movie form, rather than continuing as a series. Shows like Prison Break and Breaking Bad have been revisited as movies, and this could be a way to bring Mindhunter back.

Source: Collider, The Fincher Analyst, Awards Daily