Mindhunter fans were dealt a low blow earlier this year, when back in January, the show went on indefinite hiatus after only two seasons. Showrunner David Fincher put the final nail in that coffin last month when he confirmed the show was likely done forever. But now, the director has offered fans some relief, detailing how the show would have ended in lieu of, you know, actually finishing it.
Speaking with Variety, Fincher revealed that he would have liked the popular Netflix serial killer drama to end with the FBI crime unit — led by Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany and Anna Torv's characters — catching up to the BTK Stranger (played by Sonny Valicenti) decades later.
"The hope was to get all the way up to the late '90s, early 2000s, hopefully, get all the way up to people knocking on the door at Dennis Rader's house," Fincher explained, adding: "At some point, I'd love to revisit it."
Fincher continued, "I certainly needed some time away. We had all hands on deck to finish [Season 2] and we didn't have a ton of scripts and a ton of outlines and a bible standing by for season three. I'll admit I was a little bit like 'I don't know that I'm ready to spend another two years in the crawl space.'"
Previously, Fincher had taken a break from the series to spend time on his latest film, Mank. When that wrapped, he was expected to return to Mindhunter, but instead shared that the gruelling hours the show demanded weren't worth the return in viewership.
"It's a 90-hour workweek. It absorbs everything in your life," he explained at the time. "When I got done, I was pretty exhausted, and I said, 'I don't know if I have it in me right now to break Season 3.'"
The beloved series was based on John Douglas and Mark Olshaker's 1996 book Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit. It was initially developed as a show for HBO in the late 2000s, but the network ultimately passed on the project. It was eventually picked up by Netflix in 2015.
Season 2 aired last August.
Speaking with Variety, Fincher revealed that he would have liked the popular Netflix serial killer drama to end with the FBI crime unit — led by Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany and Anna Torv's characters — catching up to the BTK Stranger (played by Sonny Valicenti) decades later.
"The hope was to get all the way up to the late '90s, early 2000s, hopefully, get all the way up to people knocking on the door at Dennis Rader's house," Fincher explained, adding: "At some point, I'd love to revisit it."
Fincher continued, "I certainly needed some time away. We had all hands on deck to finish [Season 2] and we didn't have a ton of scripts and a ton of outlines and a bible standing by for season three. I'll admit I was a little bit like 'I don't know that I'm ready to spend another two years in the crawl space.'"
Previously, Fincher had taken a break from the series to spend time on his latest film, Mank. When that wrapped, he was expected to return to Mindhunter, but instead shared that the gruelling hours the show demanded weren't worth the return in viewership.
"It's a 90-hour workweek. It absorbs everything in your life," he explained at the time. "When I got done, I was pretty exhausted, and I said, 'I don't know if I have it in me right now to break Season 3.'"
The beloved series was based on John Douglas and Mark Olshaker's 1996 book Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit. It was initially developed as a show for HBO in the late 2000s, but the network ultimately passed on the project. It was eventually picked up by Netflix in 2015.
Season 2 aired last August.
