Netflix’s Mindhunter season 2 premiere recap/review

Things are starting to shape up for the better for Holden and Company in Mindhunter season 2 as the management around the bureau changes and Holden prepares to go for Manson.

Mindhunter season 2 picks up few days after the events of season 1. The premiere, directed by David Fincher, starts with Mindhunter’s usual creepy BTK Killer cold open (the use of Roxy Music’s “In Every Dream Home A Heartache” in this opening scene was brilliant and sets the tone for the season).

It then shifts the focus to our core characters as the unit is under fire from the OPR since they found out about the gap in the transcript where Holden went off the rails with the interrogation. Although Shepard backed them and tried to bury the tape, Gregg decided to send the tape to OPR anonymously anyway.

Later in the episode, they find out about it and Bill gets furious with him. Holden has a different view on it. He thinks that Gregg has this moral code and now he knows about his limitations and he can anticipate him, proving that however reckless his methods can be or whatever state he is in, Holden still is exceptional when it comes to reading human behavior.

During the start of the episode, Holden has been in the hospital for few days since he had multiple panic attacks ever since he went to California to meet with Ed Kemper alone where Kemper ended up hugging him at the end of their meeting. Holden is eventually released from the hospital and Bill is called to get him back to his home, where they agreed to never talk about it again since it could jeopardize everything they have been working on for this past year.

Shepard is retiring or so he says. Ted Gunn is the new chief of the unit overseeing the Behavioral Science Unit at Quantico. And unlike Shepard, he actually has a keen interest in their working and Holden’s methods, and he wants to support them in every way he can. Shepard has also told Bill and Wendy to keep an eye on Holden and oversee him so that he does not go off the rails.

As a gesture of his interest in the unit, he asks Holden about the serial killer he wants to pursue the most. Holden answers with the name Charles Manson. Ted does not even hesitate and tells him that he will get them Manson.

Back at the unit when he discusses it with the others, Wendy doesn’t agree and see the point on interviewing Manson since he doesn’t fit their psychological profile because Manson has never killed anyone himself. Manson somehow doesn’t seem relevant to their work but Holden loves his high profile criminals and he is still persuasive about it.

Gunn immediately has approved of Holden’s instincts and has provided them with the resources and staff they need to go from a cold case call to the first call. Gunn also kept his promise to shut down the OPR investigation that’s been breathing down their neck. The fallout from it is revealed later during Shepard’s retirement party, where Holden tries to make a speech about how Shepard has been helpful in running their unit.

When Shepard storms away, it is one of the more intense moments of the show, leading to a confrontation between the two. Shepard explains why he’s really leaving his post after 27 years in the FBI, expressing his anger towards Holden and his incompetence. It leads to Holden having another panic attack.

Holden is more vulnerable than ever and he really has nobody who can actually take care of him other than his work buddies, who are often feuding with each other. It looks like things might stay that way and we will be seeing this vulnerable side of him a lot more this season.

The stage is set for season 2 of Mindhunter as Bill has been handed the file of the BTK killer. The first episode was all about establishing the new management and welcoming the characters back once again in our lives and now the show has prepared us to take another deep dive into criminal minds once again.

What did you think of this episode of Mindhunter? Comment below and let us know.