It feels like it’s been forever since the release of Mindhunter Season 1 but at long last, a preview for the upcoming season on Netflix has arrived and it’s just as chilling as one might hope.
David Fincher’s psychological character study of the FBI’s early days using behavior and psychology to track serial killers made for compelling bingeing in 2017. Luckily, we are less than a month away from seeing more of the story and it seems like a familiar face will also return. That’s right, the creepy yet intriguing psychopath Ed Kemper oozes in the background of this footage.
But what is going on in this teaser? Here is a breakdown of the latest Mindhunter Season 2 trailer.
Mindhunter Season 2 trailer breakdown
The teaser begins with Detectives Holden and Trench walking through a prison with the guard opening the bars, followed by a cut shot of the two men sitting down with Ed Kemper in what seems to be a prison chapel.
Ed Kemper says to the detectives, “You got somebody? Someone you can’t catch?” Holden and Trench look at each other as if they are hesitant to work with Kemper again. But it appears the show is using Kemper in a Hannibal role. But it’s entirely possible Kemper inspired Hannibal.
The next shot shows a woman coming home with groceries and she hears a noise. When she follows the sound, it’s coming from the bathroom door–which is rattling. And we see a quick flash of inside the bathroom and a string is tied to the doorknob to keep it shut.
As she approaches the door, Ed Kemper’s voice plays over the visual saying, “This person you’re after, he has an overwhelming fantasy life.”
It then shows a series of flashing images as the woman approaches the rattling bathroom door, including Holden moving a microphone closer to someone unseen, Trench looking intense with glasses on in a car, someone following a kid in a car, a mysterious person walking with a white mask, Holden panicking in a hospital bed, a group of black women marching, a flash cut of Charles Manson and the Son of Sam killer, and so much more.
And as all these images stream across the screen we hear Kemper continuing to describe the killer saying, “Fantasies of what he’s done, what he wants to do. These dreams will consume him. Soon the real world won’t even compare.” As he says this, the woman opens the bathroom door.
The footage switches back to the conversation between the detectives and Kemper. The men ask him, ” How do we catch a fantasy, Ed?” Kemper responds, ” If he is any good you can’t.”
And the final shot shows the woman with the bathroom door open walking backward in terror at what she sees. Then the title Mindhunter displays across the screen.
For Netflix viewers, this 60-second trailer leaves a tantalizing taste of what’s to come. This short trailer goes above and beyond, showing the audience why Mindhunter Season 2 is a must-watch. More than what is shown, it’s what is not shown that makes this trailer so uncompromisingly terrifying in the absolute best way.
Also, the glimpses of the women marching and the kid being followed confirm that the show will cover the Atlanta Child Murders, which took place between 1979-1981. So, this season will address a lot of complicated history.
Given the cram-packed nature of the teaser, it seems like the 2 year wait will pay off. And even if it’s not as great as season 1, at the very least one can expect some stellar performances– the biggest possibly being Damon Herriman’s second time playing Manson.
Mindhunter Season 2 will hit Netflix on August 16.