Mindhunter - Season 1 Review
This post contains minimum spoilers for Mindhunter Season 1.
Mindhunter is a different type of TV series. Drama is something that is sometimes hard to tap into with fantasy TV or science fiction like popularized in current media today, but when looking at a show such as Mindhunter, you truly get a sense for how much drama real world events can help create that simply can't be generated by most mainstream media.
I'll say from the get, this is not a show for everyone. It taps into some very raw emotions that don't often appear in media today. If you aren't aware Mindhunter is about serial killers, and how they think and why they do what they do. As can be imagined, this creates some extremely real and serious emotions that appear on screen. Mindhunter isn't a "based on a true story" TV show following events exactly as they happened, but takes the book Mindhunter as a heavy inspiration as to the events on the series.
Following a group of FBI agents starting a new study in the behavioral science unit, essentially studying people who have made a habit of killing without being explicitly crazy (outside being called that by the general public). Along with helping to show how the term "Serial Killer" came into existence, it also gets into the minds of these killers and why they became the way they did. The most intense scenes from this series come in the moments where Holden (the main character) steps into the prisons where these murderers are located, and speaks to them about tries to get a gathering for their psyche. They make your skin crawl, but you can't help but keep watching what is happening on screen. I couldn't stop watching.
The look of Mindhunter is something that you notice right away, using generally bland colorizing for all scenery and clothing it helps to differentiate scenes. In the opening episode, Holden meets a woman, and in the scenes involving her there is always more coloring, allowing you to get an understanding for how he is feeling inside and the emotion of the scene. The prisons are as dark and depressing as you imagine they are in reality (and most likely actually are), and really convey that feeling of hopelessness that comes with them.
One point of importance that I want to bring up is the acting in this show. From Holden to the actual serial killers, everyone is on their A-game. Interactions always feel as intense as they should be, and nobody beats around the bush like traditional TV does to extend their season episode count. Everything feels particularly real, the relationships and the work done by the characters doesn't seem like something far fetched, and even though it isn't based specifically in reality, it feels like it is. Give this show a watch, you won't regret it, just remember what you're getting into and be prepared for the dive into dark.
9/10
