Almost 20,000 people have signed a petition asking Netflix to release the third season of the true-crime series Mindhunter.
This comes just days after Director David Fincher opened up about the future of the hit series on the streaming site, revealing that it wouldn’t be making a return for season 3.
Television is littered with long-running police procedurals like NCIS and Criminal Minds and streaming services offer tons of options for true crime documentaries series. Almost every podcast is about murder.
That’s probably why Netflix’s Mindhunter was so popular when it came out on Netflix in 2017. Aside from just being about murder, the show goes into the psychology of what makes a serial killer, and why they do the horrible things they do.
Fans have been waiting anxiously for an update on another season, and it looks like they won’t have to wait much longer. However, it isn’t the news we’ve been hoping for.
The first season of Mindhunter was released in October 2017 on Netflix. The show is set in 1977 and follows FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench, played by Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany.
The show follows the agents as they set up the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit, which is made up of agents who have advanced degrees in psychology, criminology, sociology, and conflict resolution.
In the series, Holden Ford and Bill Tench get up close and personal with murderers and serial killers, such as Ed Kemper, played by Cameron Britton, the serial killer who in real life murdered ten people including his own mother and grandmother. In addition to several college students.
The show is based on the book Mind Hunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit. The nonfiction book, written by John E. Douglas, is about Douglas’ experience working in the FBI Behavioral Science Unit for more than twenty-five years.
The psychology of murderers is the main focus of the show. And while it does feature some of the same gruesome elements you might expect from a show about murderers, as the New York Times puts it, “it’s more chatter than splatter”.
The first season of the show Mindhunter was a huge hit. It scored a whopping ninety-seven percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Then came the second season, which was just as popular, and focused on the Atlanta child murders, which were a series of murderers that took place in Atlanta from 1979–1981.
There were twenty-eight murders during this time, and although they are called “child murders,” not all of the victims were children. Most were under the age of eighteen, but a few were in their twenties.
Twenty-three-year-old freelance photographer Wayne Bertram Williams was charged with the murders.
The second season also featured Charles Manson, played by actor Damon Herriman. The cult leader famously instructed his followers to carry out multiple murders, including the murder of actress Sharon Tate.
Since the second season came out in 2021, fans of the show have been eagerly awaiting an update on a possible third season, however, David Fincher has revealed that it just isn’t on the cards.
Despite being well-received and receiving high praise from critics, Fincher revealed this weekend in an interview with the French paper Le Journal du Dimanche, that the show’s cancellation was due to a lack of viewer interest.
He explained: “I’m very proud of the first 2 seasons. But it’s a particularly expensive show and, in the eyes of Netflix, we haven’t attracted a large enough audience to justify such and investment.
“I don’t blame them, they took risks to launch the series.”
He added: “It’s a blessing to be able to work with people who are capable of boldness. The day our desires are not the same, we have to be honest about parting ways.”
Fans have been left devastated by the news, and it didn’t take long for a petition to be set up for Netflix to bring the show back to the streaming sight, with it racking up a whopping 18,700 signatures.
The petition, which was originally started back in 2020, has resurfaced once again following the news from Fincher.
The petition was created by Dawn Bruner, the fan wrote at the time: “We have watched, rewatched, and binge-watched, as well, we have dedicated hours to discussing our favorite scenes and characters, marveling at your brilliance, your attention to the minute details, appreciating the little quirks, nuances, and peculiarities.”
“Even if the numbers didn’t add up in Season 2 as they did for the first season, we are still out here waiting faithfully and clamoring for more,” she penned.
“So we respectfully ask you to please reconsider your priorities and make the time to film Season 3, soon, and if that isn’t a possibility and/or cannot be arranged, then please consider another director for Season 3.”
“While the quality may not be at Fincher level, there are many mega-talented directors out there,” Dawn added. “Please don’t let such a brilliant series die.”
