Mindhunter Season 3: Series on Hold Indefinitely

Jacob Robinson What's on Netflix Avatar
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Mindhunter season 2 is now available to stream on Netflix

We’re done with the waiting so hopefully, Netflix isn’t going to make us wait another 22 months for another round of Mindhunter! After another excellent season, fans will be wondering what can we expect from the next season and when it will be released. We’ll be keeping you up to date till the very release of the third season with all the information you’ll need to know including the trailer, plot, cast, and release date.

Mindhunter is a Netflix Original crime-drama series based on the book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. The series was an instant hit when it released in October 2017. If there’s one thing we’ve learned about subscribers and Netflix is that they love a tale about serial killers.

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When is the Netflix release date for Mindhunter season 3?

We already assumed there would be a long for season 3, and that has now been confirmed by executive producer David Fincher.

We previously reported that Mindhunter was on a temporary hiatus until David Fincher is finished with his latest project, Mank. It has now been confirmed that the series on hold indefinitely, and the contracts of Jonathan Groff, Holt McNally and Anna Torv have expired, leaving them to pursue other projects for now. The actors have expressed interest in returning to repirse their roles in the future.

Fincher is currently busy working on Mank, the film was written by David Fincher’s late father, and is a biopic based upon the life of Citizen Kane screenplay writer Herman J. Mankiewicz. The acclaimed director will also be working on the second season of the smash-hit series Love, Death & Robots.

It’s disappointing that we’ll have to wait even longer for Mindhunter, but the quality of the series makes it worth the wait.

Potential Release Date: Unknown


What is the production status of Mindhunter season 3?

Official Production Status: On Hold Indefinitely (Last Updated: 22/08/2019)

With the series on hold indefinitely, we’ll be waiting a long time before this status changes.

We’re still confident that the series will be returning for a third outing. While the future of the series rests in the hands of Netflix, David Fincher is determined to eventually see the project through to the end for a total of five seasons.


Who will be in the cast of Mindhunter season 3?

The following cast members can be expected to return for the third season of Mindhunter:

Role Cast Member Where Have I Seen/Heard Them Before?
Holden Ford Jonathan Groff Frozen | Glee | Looking
Bill Tench Holt McCallany The Losers | Fight Club | Shot Caller
Dr. Wendy Carr Anna Torv Fringe | Heavenly Sword | Secret City
Gregg Smith Joe Tuttle As the World Turns | The Blacklist | Boardwalk Empire
Assistant Director Gunn Michael Cerveris Ant-Man and the Wasp | The Mexican | Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant

It’s unclear if any of the serial killers interviewed in the series will make a return. Ed Kemper is arguably the “fan favorite” by this point so he could make another appearance.


Mindhunter season 2 plot recap

The events of the second season mostly revolved around the Atlanta Murders.

Holden Ford

After recovering from his panic attack, Holden was able to get himself back out in the field. Once again his instincts are correct after he was successfully able to profile the murderer, Wayne Williams. Prior to the arrest of Williams, Holden once again let his ego run amok getting both himself and the Behavioral Science Unit into trouble. In the end, his actions were justified after Williams was arrested.

Despite Williams capture, he was only charged with two of the twenty-four murders he was suspected of. This left the remaining cases of the murdered children open and was left to be dealt with by local Police Departments with no further involvement by the FBI. This clearly left Holden dejected after he had made the promise to the mothers of the murdered children that the FBI would bring justice to their families.

Bill Tench

After beginning the season as a loving family, by season’s end, the Tench family has been torn apart.

When it was discovered that Brian was involved in the murder of a toddler, both Bill and Nancy struggled to come to terms with what happened.

Bill struggled to balance his home life and working the case in Atlanta. Ultimately this leads to Nancy becoming distant from Bill, doing less and less for her husband. It also reached the point that Nancy is thankful that Brian is adopted and not biologically theirs so they can’t be blamed for how he turns out.

Knowing the signs and steps of how children go on to become serial killers, Bill is terrified that he and Nancy were bad parents, but also ponders whether or not Brian’s behavior could be biological. Regardless he continues to try and be a good father to an increasingly distant son.

By the end of the season, Nancy has fled their home with Brian in tow. With a broken family and an increasingly distant adoptive mother, all the signs are pointing towards Brian going down the same route as many of the serial killers his father interviews.

Dr. Wendy Carr

Carr was able to experience being out in the field for the first time when she conducted interviews with serial killers Paul Bateson and Elmer Wayne Henley. When Gregg choked on his questioning, Carr took the lead. Despite the fact she unable to uncover the real crux of the information she was looking for, Carr proved she was more than capable to be out in the field. She made it abundantly clear to Assistant Director Gunn, that her place was not just in some dusty FBI basement, but out in the field like Ford and Tench.

Throughout the season Carr also went on a journey of self-discovery and becoming more in touch with her sexuality. Her relationship with bartender Kay Mason soon came to a swift end after Carr felt manipulated by her girlfriend. Kay tried to explain to Carr that she had no choice but to manipulate her ex-husband so she can see her son. Carr refused to accept this and accused Carr of having an “inauthentic relationship.” Much of Carr’s anger could be credited to her own issues and her struggles to open up to her sexuality.

By the end of the season, Carr was throwing out the magazines that Kay would read, showcasing she is moving on from her ex.


What to expect from the third season

There should be plenty to look forward to in the third season of Mindhunter.

Ford was able to recover from his panic disorder rather easily so it’s unclear if they’ll come back to that narrative. His trust in the system will certainly have been shaken after the FBI’s involvement in the Atlanta Murders was dropped. We’re expecting Ford to be even more dedicated to his work, to the point where he may push the ethical boundaries to their limits.

Tench will be heartbroken that Nancy left him at the end of the second season. We’re likely to see Tench fighting himself with what he wants at this stage in his career, does he keep on the road and stay dedicated to their research or does he try to get back into Nancy’s good books and take-up a desk job at the Bureau to be closer to home. Alternatively, he may become a teacher to other federal agents joining the behavioral science unit.

If Tench isn’t going to be on the road then Carr will be more than happy to take his place. She did well in her first interviews but isn’t able to get information out of serial killers the way Ford does. If she can go out on the road with Ford she can learn from him directly. There’s also the matter of her sexuality which is still secret, her coming out as homosexual may have a massive impact on her career and place in the FBI.

Which serial killers can we expect to see?

Throughout the 1980s there was an astounding amount of serial killer activity. One such killer we expect to be interviewed or for the series to potentially be revolved around is Robert Hanson who is known as the “Butcher Baker.”

Hansen went on a killing spree around Anchorage, Alaska murdering and raping women. He was reported to have raped and assaulted over 30 women and believed to have murdered at least 17 of them. These crimes took place from 1971 until he was apprehended in 1983.

The FBI had a hand in capturing Hansen when Detective Glenn Flothe of the Alaskan State Troopers was on the team looking into the several missing bodies found around Anchorage. To help find the killer, Flothe enlisted the help of Special Agent Roy Hazelwood to profile the killer.

It wasn’t long before all of the bodies were traced back to Hansen. Denying his crimes at first, during a search of Hansen’s property, car, and plane, items of the victims were found along with firearms and an aviation map with “x” marks that matched where bodies of the victims were found.

Robert Hansen AKA the Butcher Baker

Other murderers that could feature in season 3

The following murderers could be featured in the next season of Mindhunter. All of the murderers/serial killers were mentioned in the book of which Mindhunter is based on.

  • David Carpenter
  • Carmine Calabro
  • Darrel Gene Devier
  • Gary Trapnell (Hijacking and kidnapping)
  • Paul Main

Over the years a developing their technique on how to profile serial killers, the FBI interviewed dozens of convicts.


Are there any image or stills of Mindhunter season 3?

We won’t be seeing any promotional material of the next season for a while.


How many episodes will the third season of Mindhunter air?

The first season launched with ten episodes but the second season dropped to nine.

We expect to see Mindhunter arrive with of least eight episodes.

What will the episode run times be?

Episode run times vary from episode to episode. The shortest episodes are around 45 to 50 minutes, meanwhile, the longest episodes are around 70 minutes.

Will the third season be available in 4K?

Every season of Mindhunter has been shot in 4K, therefore, season 3 will be available to stream in 4K.


Has Netflix dropped a trailer for Mindhunter season 3?

Considering we’re still waiting on renewal don’t expect to see a trailer anytime soon. For now of least, here’s a video on the real-life killers of the second season.


Will the third season of Mindhunter be the last?

If public perception of Netflix is anything to go by, then many will be expecting the third season to be the last.

Going by what we’ve seen of the story, we aren’t expecting the series to go beyond more than four seasons.

Fans will obviously be disappointed if the third season is the last, but as long as they can conclude the story then most will be satisfied.

There’s no official confirmation on the future of the series as of yet, but we’ll be learning more soon.


What would you like to see in the third season of Mindhunter? Let us know in the comments below!

Written by

Jacob joined What's on Netflix in 2018 as a fulltime writer having worked in numerous other industries until that point. Jacob covers all things Netflix whether that's TV or movies but specializes in covering new anime and K-dramas. Resides in Norwich in the United Kingdom.