Everything we know about Mindhunter season 2 so far
Nearly two years after Mindhunter first made its debut on Netflix, the dark, moody drama is set to return for a second season on Aug. 16.
Set in 1977, the first season followed FBI Agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench, who team up with social sciences professor Dr. Wendy Carr to create a Behavioral Science Unit within the Bureau that seeks to understand what was, at the time, a mysterious phenomenon — serial killers.
By the end of season 1, the team’s future hung in the balance and the threat of Dennis Rader — the man who would come to be known as the BTK killer — loomed larger than ever.
Netflix has understandably kept plot details mostly under wraps, but there’s still plenty we do know. Below, we’ve rounded up everything we know so far about the series’ new season.
When and where to watch
Mindhunter is slated to stream on Netflix on Aug. 16.
Who is starring?
The entire main cast — Jonathan Groff as Holden, Holt McCallany as Bill, Anna Torv as Wendy — will return. Additionally, thanks to some first look images EW was privy to, it appears as though Joe Tuttle will return as newbie agent Gregg Smith. The photos also give hints at new castmembers Albert Jones as (presumably) another agent working with the team and Lauren Glazier as a potential new love interest for Wendy. Stacey Roca will reprise her role as Nancy, Bill’s wife, and judging by all the pictures of her, Bill, and their son, it looks like their family troubles are ongoing in season 2. Michael Cerveris and Sierra McClain are also joining the cast in currently unknown roles.
Towards the end of the first season, Holden says that David Berkowitz, a.k.a. the Son of Sam killer, and Charles Manson were “next on the list” for the team to talk to. It looks like Holden will get his wish because the first-look photos seem to confirm the presence of both of those killers in season 2. And lest you think the show has forgotten about the BTK killer, Sonny Valicenti’s Dennis Rader appears in several photos as well.
How many episodes?
According to Netflix, there will be nine new episodes, one episode fewer than season 1.
Plot details
Season 2 is expected to cover the Atlanta child murders — a series of 29 murders of mostly children and teens, all African-American, that took place in the Georgia capital from 1979-81. “We could probably have done three seasons on the Atlanta child murders,” executive producer and series director David Fincher said during a KCRW podcast. “It’s a huge and sweeping and tragic story.” He added that in the new season the FBI would be “dragged, kicking and screaming, into the present.”
A trailer that was revealed to EW as part of the same first-look photo reveal mentioned above heavily featured everyone’s favorite serial killer from last season, Ed Kemper (Cameron Britton).
In the footage, Holden and Tench visit Kemper to once again seek his thoughts about killers. “He has an overwhelming fantasy life, fantasies of what he’s done, what he wants to do,” Kemper says. “His dreams will consume him. Soon the real world won’t even compare.”
“How do we catch a fantasy, Ed?” Tench asks.
“If he’s any good, you can’t,” Kemper replies.
Beyond that, not much else is known about season 2’s plot.
Other tidbits
If the first look images and trailer are any indication, the show’s moody atmosphere and cinematography, as well as the period-appropriate costumes and production design, are largely the same. Fincher has teased one big, new difference though: the music. “Next year we’re looking at the Atlanta child murders, so we’ll have a lot more African-American music which will be nice,” Fincher previously told Billboard. “The music will evolve. It’s intended to support what’s happening with the show and for the show to evolve radically between seasons.”
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