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Mindhunter Season 2 Recap

Every Dark and Tragic Storyline to Remember From Mindhunter Season 2

Aug 22 2019

Season two of Mindhunter has everything that season one has: subtle humour, rich characters, and, of course, the chilling serial killers. Holden's back, and we see major changes in Behavioural Science Unit. There's a whole new set of criminal interview subjects — including David Berkowitz and Charles Manson — along with a tragic new focus: Atlanta's child murders. Because of the main case and new complications in the characters' personal lives, it's a more sombre and affecting season, one whose emotional beats are guided along by a classic funk and rock soundtrack. If you need a quick and easy breakdown of the most important storylines, read ahead for a recap of Mindhunter's thoroughly engrossing season two.

Image Source: Netflix

The Behavioural Science Unit Gets a New Boss

Chief Shepard announces at the top of the season that he's retiring. In his place is Ted Gunn, a by-the-rules guy from DC. He seems interested in expanding the Behavioural Science Unit, asking Wendy and Bill to babysit Holden. Bill discreetly brings Holden back from a California hospital following his Ed Kemper hug-induced panic attack without much of a hitch. Holden is advised to keep his stress levels low, which only significantly peak when Shepard angrily reveals that he's being forced out for Holden's OPA inquiry (thanks, Gregg, for sending it in). Other than this beratement, Holden goes on interviewing serial killers as usual.

Image Source: Netflix

The Atlanta Child Murders Centre This Season

Holden becomes interested in the Atlanta child murders, the abduction and killings of predominantly young black boys in Atlanta after a concierge named Tanya tips him off. Bill and Holden go in and out of Atlanta throughout the season depending on whenever there's a new tip. They get help from Agent Jim Barney, but not everyone is as welcoming to them. Victims' families feel indignant since the city, currently in development, just wants these cases to disappear. The Atlanta Police Department's purse strings are tightening as resources wane.

Bill and Holden don't make much headway throughout most of the season. The body counts keep climbing upwards. Holden insists that the perp is likely a young black man because he wouldn't stand out in the community and because serial killers don't usually kill across racial lines. It becomes evident that sex could be a motivator for the criminal. Parents, however, are suspicious that there might be Klan involvement. One of their captures, a plumber who pleasured himself out in the woods, turned out to be a bust and an embarrassing ordeal for the city.

Image Source: Netflix

Wendy Has a New Job at Work and a New Love Interest at Home

This season gives us a closer look at Wendy, the actual psychologist in the Behavioural Science Unit. Her colleagues and boss undermine her, even though she is perhaps the most competent interviewer on the team. When Bill and Holden are out, she takes the lead in interviewing killers while working with Gregg, most notably when they brief Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. and Paul Bateson.

Then there's Wendy's love life. Wendy strikes up a relationship with the free-spirited bartender Kay. Things explode when Kay's ex and her son unexpectedly stop by, and Kay, who forgot that it was her weekend to see her son, tells them that nobody is over and refers to Wendy as a "friend" who's not that important. Obviously, Wendy is hurt and leaves through the back door. When Kay tries to clear the air later on, they break up.

Image Source: Netflix

There's Trouble in Bill's Family

Bill goes through a lot with his family this season, suffice to say. There's been an infant death at the house his wife, Nancy, is selling, and Nancy eventually realises that their son Brian was connected to the death. It turns out that Brian had the keys to the house and led in the older boys who suffocated the baby. Bill's son isn't directly involved, but he did suggest to tie the child onto a cross.

The discovery leads to mandatory visits with child psychiatrists and social workers. This alone puts a strain on Bill's relationship with his wife. But the trouble exacerbates when Bill keeps travelling for work. Nancy wants him to be home and later asks that they move because their child is being ostracized at school. Eventually, when Bill comes back from Atlanta for the last time, he finds an empty house, his wife and child gone.

Image Source: Netflix

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The Police Capture Wayne Williams

A body in the river prompts a stakeout by the bridges. When they hear a loud splash late at night and see Wayne Williams driving by, the police immediately stop him. With rope and dog hairs in his car (they discovered fibres and hairs on some victims), he's a suspect, but they don't have enough to arrest him. Other sketchy developments include a neighbour reporting that Wayne was burning something at night, his job as a music promoter scouting children, and a book on how to pass a lie detector test in his house. Authorities later find a body in the river.

Bill and Holden end up following Wayne, who plays cat and mouse with them, even handing them a bag of fast food at one point. When Wayne becomes the primary suspect in the media, he thrives on the attention from the press, which leads to pressure on the FBI for a capture. When the FBI discovers that the carpet samples from Wayne's house match with the fibres found on recent adult victims, they arrest him.

But 27 child murders and abductions remain unsolved and unprosecuted, as Wayne is only officially connected with two adult deaths but indirectly linked to the young boys. Even when Holden and Bill find another suspect connected with the children, the FBI and Atlanta are keen for them to leave. A victim's mother tells Holden that he found a black man to pin the crime on.

Image Source: Netflix

We Get Glimpses of the Creepy BTK Killer

The creepy ADT security worker, aka the BTK murderer, strikes again this season, and we see him in most of the episodes, even if just briefly. Again, he's a bit of a narrative framework of sorts this season. The season opens with him choking himself in a mask to masturbate only to get discovered by a woman who appears to be his wife. Bill does talk to one of his wounded victims, Kevin Bright, in episode two, but that's the extent to him being featured prominently. The second installation officially ends with another chilling scene of him choking himself to news clippings about his victims.

We should expect the show to keep returning to him. For 30 years, agent John Douglas, the inspiration for Holden, went looking for the killer, who murdered 10 people between 1974 and 1991. He wasn't pinned down until 2005, so we should expect to keep seeing BTK in later seasons.

Image Source: Netflix

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