Many of you would agree that Mindhunter stands as one of the most unjust cancellations in television history, perhaps Netflix’s most unfair decision to date. The crime drama directed and produced by David Fincher came to a halt after two highly engaging seasons, following two FBI agents who, in the late 1970s, interview imprisoned serial killers to understand their psychology and develop new techniques in criminal profiling, recounting their investigations and the personal and professional impact of this work. The reasons behind that decision have never been fully explained—until now. During an event organized by The Indian Express, Ted Sarandos, the chief executive of the streaming service, returned to the protracted question, clearly delineating where the responsibilities lay.
Mindhunter: Why was the TV series canceled?
First of all, it should be noted that Mindhunter was never officially canceled. In the fall of 2019, just a few weeks after the release of the second season, the production of a potential third batch of episodes was suspended indefinitely to allow Fincher to focus on his other projects, particularly the film Mank. As the months passed, the lack of progress led to the unfortunate realization that nothing would change, with cast members released from their contracts at the beginning of 2020. In October of that same year, a Netflix spokesperson stated that a third season could still be possible, adding “perhaps in five years,” but time revealed another truth.
Meanwhile, Fincher spoke of figures that did not justify the costs, while other statements uncovered far more internal problems, such as the firing of the showrunner who had led to the rewriting of a large portion of the second season’s scripts and Fincher’s need to supervise every step of the production, even when he was not directing, a situation that had worn him and others down, as he himself admitted. Fincher, however, was quite clear about what he viewed as the real reasons for the cancellation when, in 2023, in an interview with Journal du Dimanche, he said: “I am very proud of the first two seasons. But it was a very expensive series and, according to Netflix, we hadn’t attracted a large enough audience to justify an investment of that kind” for another season. Words that pointed the responsibility back to the platform.
Not sharing this view is Sarandos, who in the course of the latest interview said: “A third season has always been in our plans, but he was very busy shooting a film. And David is an incredibly meticulous creator, so he couldn’t do two things at once, and certainly didn’t want to neglect either.” This does not clarify why the project did not resume once Fincher’s other commitments allowed it, but it could have to do with the availability of the actors and other professionals involved, which at that point had waned. That said, despite a clearly complex and frustrating situation, the collaboration between the director and Netflix remains solid. Fincher directed for the platform the sequel to the Oscar-winning film Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, titled The Adventures of Cliff Booth, from a Quentin Tarantino screenplay, with the release scheduled for December 23 (in theaters from November 25).
Comments