Pittsburgh-shot true crime series Mindhunter could be done for good

Fans of true crime and tense thrillers suffered a loss when Netflix announced that its hit series Mindhunter would be put on hold indefinitely after just two seasons. The loss also affected Pittsburgh, as much of the show was shot in and around the city, providing work to film professionals and actors, and boosting the region's burgeoning film industry.

Now, filmmaker David Fincher, who serves as Mindhunter's executive producer and sometimes director, seemed to confirm that the series is done for good, further dashing any hopes for a third season.

As reported by Vulture, Fincher indicated the show's possible, more definite demise in an interview about his new film Mank.

“Listen, for the viewership that it had, it was a very expensive show,” Fincher said. “We talked about, ‘Finish Mank and then see how you feel,’ but I honestly don’t think we’re going to be able to do it for less than I did season two. And on some level, you have to be realistic — dollars have to equal eyeballs.”

In addition to the financial investment, he also touched on the toll the show's production took on his life, as he and his team spent most of three years working on it, sometimes six to seven months at a time.

“It’s a 90-hour workweek. It absorbs everything in your life. When I got done, I was pretty exhausted, and I said, ‘I don’t know if I have it in me right now to break season three,’” says Fincher.

The article later revealed that Netflix is still open to continuing Mindhunter, but not for another five years.

The update comes nearly 11 months after news broke that the show’s leads, Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, and Anna Torv, were released from their contracts in January, and the show was put on “indefinite hold.”

The cancellation of Mindhunter would leave the show's over-arcing storyline unresolved, as it was building up to the eventual hunt for the BTK Killer. So far, the show, which dramatizes the FBI's real-life quest to understand and profile serial killers, has become known for its spot-on portrayals of famous murderers as they are interviewed by fictional agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench. Among them is Co-Ed Killer Ed Kemper (played brilliantly by Cameron Britton), David Berkowitz aka Son of Sam, and Charles Manson.

The second season was highly anticipated for its focus on the Atlanta Child Murders, where around 28 Black children and teenagers were killed between 1979 and 1981. The case has become especially known for highlighting how racism in law enforcement allowed killer Wayne Williams to terrorize Georgia's capital city.

While a bit more illuminating, this news still leaves the show's fate up in the air. Guess we'll see in five years.