Recently, I read somewhere that Mindhunter is the #1 binge-watch show on Netflix. Frankly, I had ignored Mindhunter as it seemed just another a dime a dozen crime show. Its #1 binge-watch rating made me wonder about my initial assessment: so many people cannot be wrong. This week I watched the first episode. I can tell you this: it’s definitely not a dime a dozen crime show.
The setting is in the early 1970’s, when I was a teenager myself. The atmosphere feels authentic as attention has been paid to details (eg, goldplated digital Pulsar watch). I still remember those watches as they were quite popular. All cars are American brands as the invasion of Japanese cars had not happened yet. Episode 4 introduces a car that looks Japanese. Actually, it’s a Ford Pinto which still ranks as the #1 ugliest car of the world.
The pace of Mindhunter is (very) slow which fits the early 1970s as I recall myself. Nevertheless, the background music already suggests an accelerating society. This mix of fast and slow is seducing and captivating. After only 1 episode, this has become my favourite Netflix show.
The main 2 characters are each other’s opposites: old school versus new school. The respect for each other’s experience and knowledge makes them become a successful team. Their opposites also emerge from the interviews with prisoners: die-hard, skeptic, bad cop versus a friendly, sensitive, good cop. In episode 3, the former says to the latter that being able to act as a prisoner’s friend makes him one of the best cops ever.
Netflix’s Mindhunter is about psychology which explains its name. Old school detective work was about “What + Why = Who”. In 9 out of 10 situations, the perpetrator could then be caught. The decreasing 1970s crime solve rates showed that the police had a serious problem. Without a “Why”, just about anybody could be the perpetrator.
The emergence of the FBI‘s Behavioral Science Unit (1972-2014) at the FBI Academy was probably an answer to the increasingly missing “Why” component in crimes. Mindhunter focuses on the early days of the FBI’s BSU. Interviewing prisoners for their motives, and collaborating with the academic world, was (very) uncommon. This makes Mindhunter a fascinating watch.
Unlike many other crime shows, the Whodunit plot is almost irrelevant in Mindhunter. Essentially, this Netflix show is a search for the Whydunit, and slowly emerging Whodunits. The focus on the “Why” is required to narrow down the number of possible suspects. Politics soon gets involved as it might be a new way for increasing the crime solve rates.
The 1995 book and 2017 TV-series Mindhunter (8.8 in IMDb) is a freeze-frame on the 1970s, when forensic science was still about fingerprints (USA: 1905 onwards) rather than DNA (1984 onwards).
Freeze-Frame (1982) by The J. Geils Band – artists, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2
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