Mindhunter season 2 thoughts and comments

Long expected season two of an epic Netflix original tv show Mindhunter is up now. This time it’s 9 episodes long and once again full of dissection of serial killers minds without the glorification of their action. The series is up on Netflix and I’d recommend checking it out before continuing with my thought on it. Spoilers ahead.

Just like with the first season, minehunter has a strong power to lure you in with the first scene. In the first minutes, we got a glimpse of the BTK killer along with epic music. Bits of BTK were shown during the whole season and that was quite nerve-wracking as BTK was caught years ahead in 2005. So that whole act was just to make sure we come back for next season. Like we wouldn’t anyway.

Each interview with a killer could be an individual oscar worthy short film.

Let’s talk about the long-anticipated and season one overshadowed interview. The name that has been with Mindhunter since the beginning.

Charles Manson.

That scene was made out perfectly. From the slow introduction to the grand finale. So good I got to rewind it twice.

Yes, I have a thing for true crime documentaries. I’ve already published some of my serial killer stories reviews in Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy tapes or Making a murderer on Netflix. It’s a solid fact that the name Charles Manson rings some chili bells in everyone. In Mindhunter season 2 Charles Manson is portrayed by Damon Herriman and he did a superb job. The Charles, Holden and Bill interview scene was more about discovering the truth about the agents than Manson himself. And that’s the incredible manipulative power of Manson.

He made me laugh, he made me feel bad for the poor guy who technically never killed anybody. It took a scene with Manson follower and a reminder of all of his horrid sins to burst my Charles Manson effect double and remember the evil we’re dealing with. Just like Holden in that scene.

Holdens obsession with serial killers is obvious and his fangirling over them quite understandable. His disappointment when he realizes some of the murderers he interviews are just plain dumb and impulsive and there is nothing worth studying makes sense. He is idolizing them and that sounds very stressful to live with.

I was so glad they decided to bring in mental disorders such as panic attacks. Let’s be honest.

Who wouldn’t get a panic attack when Edmund Kemper hugs them?

But I was quite disappointed that it wasn’t brought up as much. The beginning of Mindhunter was promising and I thought the panic attacks would intervene with Holden’s life much more. You know, just like panic disorder does.

As someone who suffers from panic disorder, it did bring up many unpleasant memories. But it’s not like Mindhunter ever put up some trigger warnings. To have “just” two panic attacks during that long period of time and for them to be triggered in only stressful situations is my dream, to be honest. The real-life panic disorder is ridiculous and makes no sense. I could be standing in a shower when I start to panic, I could be on a bus to my job when I start to panic, or I can even wake up in the middle of the night panicking. And that’s not something you can fix with one pill.

As they say, it feels much worse than it actually is.

But no matter how rational you are, how familiar you are with all of the processes that go on during the panic attacks it’s not like you can stop them.

Understanding helps to kind of calculate your next moments. For example, when my heart starts to ache and my breathing gets disrupted I know I have like 5 minutes till my fingers start to twitch and eventually go numb. I know I have to get out of the situation if possible, but that’s not always the case.

So it’s the moment I’m stuck in hell and I just have to keep going.

It’s the moment I get to focus on what’s actually real and outside of my head. Like focusing on a specific point and describing it to myself. “It’s an A-shaped skirt with small white dots on it, a lady wearing it has dark red hair and she’s missing a button on her top…” or ridiculous “My name is Natalia I’m sitting on a bus and I’m having a panic attack” sort of pep talk.

I understand Holden’s confusion that it was not a heart attack and that is, in fact, can happen again.

It’s not a one-time thing.

I feel like Wendy’s character deserves some sort of closure. I’m glad she got the new romantic interest and kind of came out to a serial killer about her sexuality. But everything about her storyline felt rushed. With the introduction of the Atlanta storyline, we kind of forgot about everything else.

The whole second part of the season felt rushed. The last episode should have been divided into 2 to get some more explanation as to what the hell just happened.

One of the most important questions of the show has always been this:

Are killers born or created?

This moral dilemma was perfectly brought up with little Brian.

Were his horrible actions the result of Bills works impact on the family?

Was there something wrong with him all along?

Could it be prevented?

And most importantly, what do you do now?

I truly wished Brian would explain himself more to Bill, but I guess we have to wait for a bit more to get that scene. Nancy’s denial was heartbreaking. What do you do as a mother in a situation like this? There is no right answer. She chooses to go back to normal and no one can blame her for that.

Many complain about this side storyline and Nancy’s distant behavior towards Bill, but I think it was a perfect addition to the whole criminal mind study.

Season one aired two years ago and season 2 was not even confirmed till this summer. Season 3 has not been confirmed yet but all of the storylines were left open with so much potential.

Allegedly there are supposed to be 5 seasons of Mindhunter but when will that happen is gonna be sweet torture for all of the true-crime fans.