MINDHUNTER: Season 2: EP. 4-6: Family Strife, Manson & An Expanding Mystery

The plot thickens in episodes 4-6 of Mindhunter: Season 2, as the dramatic fallout of the first season fades into the rear view mirror and the intense conflict of this new season shifts to the forefront. Under the encouraging- but somewhat unnerving- leadership of Ted Gunn (Michael Cerveris), the Behavioral Science Unit’s core group of Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff), Bill Tench (Holt McCallany), Dr. Wendy Carr (Anna Torv), and Gregg Smith (Joe Tuttle) are working as a cohesive team again, continuing to struggle and improve as they balance the development of their methodology with the necessity of case work in the field.

After the terrific initial trio of David Fincher-directed episodes set the table for the Atlanta child murders, trouble in the Tench household, and an interview with Charlie Manson (Damon Herriman) himself, the middle stretch of this dynamic second season delivers a clearer picture of the disturbing drama we’ve come to expect from the show. And, perhaps most importantly, it further puts the pieces in place for what should be a sensational conclusion.

Agent Tench in Turmoil

Amusingly enough, the central conflict within the FBI’s Behavioral Sciences Unit- whether to focus on interviewing disturbed mass murderers to refine their theories or to dive into the deep end and apply this knowledge in prominent cases- becomes the fundamental rift in the show’s attention. At one point, Wendy even asks how Gunn expects them to develop their methods so rapidly when Holden and Bill are constantly being sent into the field, which seems to be, in some ways, a comment on the split nature of this season’s narrative. While the show balances these shifts in attention effortlessly, the multitude of responsibilities entrusted to Holden, Bill, and Wendy makes for a complex, stressful series of episodes in the thick of this second season.

This is another way of saying that episodes 4-6 feel like a less cohesive unit than Fincher’s first three, which is to be expected considering some of the drastic plot developments. Under the equally steady hands of directors Andrew Dominik (episodes 4 and 5) and Carl Franklin (episode 6), the season progresses into bold territory, raising the stakes for the principal characters and the Behavioral Sciences department as a whole.

In Atlanta, Ford and Tench have been recalled to assist in the investigation of a kidnapping, which Holden suspects isn’t really a kidnapping at all. With Bill and local FBI Agent Jim Barney (Albert Jones) at his side, Holden expresses to the commissioner of Atlanta PD his hypothesis on the string of murders: it’s one African-American killer, who is preying on young boys and girls of a very particular age in this area of the city. Frightened by this possibility, the APD swiftly takes away jurisdiction from the FBI before any of the potential threads can be fully investigated. Holden and Jim are out of luck, unable to help those pleading for the federal government’s assistance.

Agent Tench, however, finds himself in even deeper trouble- though not necessarily of his own making. In the season’s opening stretch, a subplot involving the body of a toddler found in the basement of one of Nancy Tench’s (Stacey Roca) real estate listings begins to weigh on Bill’s mind. While he’s in Atlanta, Bill receives a frantic call from his wife, insisting that he come home immediately. Upon his arrival, he learns a horrifying bit of news: the young boy was accidentally murdered by a group of local kids, and Brian Tench (Zachary Scott Ross), the couple’s son, was a witness. In fact, it was even his idea to put the body on a cross. This, naturally, creates problems for the Tench family.

Interview with the Devil’s Ringleader

While Holden and Bill struggle to stay afloat, Wendy and Gregg take a risk of their own, deciding to conduct a field interview with Elmer Henley (Robert Aramayo) in order to better understand how criminal influence works. Gregg falls on his face, but Wendy takes a liking to being on the front lines. Wendy’s personal life is also experiencing a period of crucial growth, as she strikes up a relationship with local bartender Kay (Lauren Glazier). It’s still too early to know whether it’ll last, but it seems like a good match.

Just as the season’s disparate narrative strands seem to reach a crossroads, Gunn arrives with some news for Holden and Bill: they’ll be interviewing Manson in two weeks. Considering the increased cultural interest in the Manson Murders fifty years after the horrific events of August 1969, it’s not exactly surprising that the interview with the infamous cult leader is essentially the centerpiece of this season. Before things really heat up in Atlanta for the FBI, all eyes are on Charlie Manson. Dominik approaches the long-awaited scene with a sense of horrifying anticipation and showmanship (multiple characters remark that self-aggrandizement is basically Manson’s MO), even delaying the interview with an impromptu visit with Ed Kemper (Cameron Britton), who seems to hold just a little bit of disdain for the showiest prisoner in Vacaville, California.

When Holden and Bill walk in to interview the most famous criminal of the twentieth century, Dominik straps the camera to the inside of the cell bars, tracking the agents as the door opens and subsequently locking us in with a potential madman. Anything can happen now that we’re stuck with Manson, and in the end…. it’s oddly disappointing? This, of course, isn’t meant to suggest that the scene is poorly staged, but it’s not one of those classic Mindhunter interviews where the haunting, increasingly tense dialogue progresses into what feels like a spectacular action setpiece. Actor Damon Herriman, who also played Charlie in Quentin Tarantino‘s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is virtually unrecognizable as the murderous white supremacist, rambling and muttering off asides in a self-pitying, contradictory monologue. But Manson’s penchant for manipulation and utter nonsense prove maddening, as he keeps insisting that he did nothing wrong to the chagrin and disdain of a testy Bill.

Behavioral Sciences in Atlanta

Of course, Wendy already warned Holden and Bill that Manson will be a difficult interview before they step in the room- he’s the only subject who never actually killed anyone. So it’s almost preordained that the show’s most disturbing and moving rumination on the Tate/LaBianca murders comes in Holden’s interview with Tex Watson (Christopher Backus), one of the members of Manson’s family who actually participated in the murders in August 1969. Watson suggests that he and his fellow family members were on so many drugs that they didn’t completely know what they were doing, but it’s an argument that doesn’t fully pass muster for anyone in the room, let alone Tex himself. The scene, which, if my ears didn’t deceive me, features a faint sonic recreation of the Tate murders, is even more horrifying in the wake of Tarantino‘s film, where lively, cinematic faces are applied to the real-life victims.

The described violence in Mindhunter is always difficult to endure, but it’s particularly tough to stomach the story of how Tex and the family stabbed Abigail Folger and Sharon Tate dozens of times, especially in the wake of a film that imagines a different, sunnier conclusion.

The Manson subplot of this season is naturally receiving much of the attention, but by the sixth episode of this rapidly developing narrative, it’s almost a total afterthought. With more missing children and more bodies in Atlanta, Holden and Bill reunite with Barney and local law enforcement, where they will hopefully make more significant progress. With three episodes to go in this pursuit for justice, it’s obviously difficult to make any sort of definitive judgment, but episode 6 presents a series of shocking revelations for viewers to digest. Three bodies near the scene of one of the crimes. A bag of pornographic magazines and traces of bodily fluids. A new suspect. A media frenzy. It’s chaos in the deep south.

Though these episodes are operating on completely different frequencies, with the Manson interview coming at a time when the main narrative has stalled, this stretch indeed showcases much of what Mindhunter does best. Yes, the drama with Brian Tench feels like an unnecessary digression in a season that’s already jam-packed with conflict and dramatic tension, but these Dominik and Franklin-directed episodes deepen conflicts and emphasize internal and external political battles that Tench and Ford will have to contend with as things progress. Holden’s interpersonal skills will be put to the test as Behavioral Sciences fights for the recognition of its methodological effectiveness, whether it’s in Atlanta or with the FBI director himself. Everything up to this point was just a warm-up: now it’s time for Holden and Bill to prove themselves.

Mindhunter Episodes 4-6 Conclusion

Running a flat 180 minutes combined, this middle stretch of the second season presents quite a bit for viewers to chew on. It’s a show with a lot on its mind (pun, unfortunately, intended), and if there’s a complaint to be found, it’s the fact that its somewhat digressive approach to the criminal interviews and shocking subplots can seem too disconnected from the central story. Much of this is intrinsic to the nature of this particular show, and it’s not something I would have likely noticed if I was watching on a pure binge. But viewing these particular episodes in tandem makes it more evident, and it presents, perhaps, the only minor flaw in Mindhunter‘s peerless armor.

Regardless, even when it spreads its tentacles to address narrative strands that don’t exactly advance the plot, the show remains as gripping as ever, impeccably paced and armed with a rare kind of cinematic, political, and historical intrigue. With three episodes to go, it’s impossible not to be excited as the home stretch awaits.

What are your thoughts on Mindhunter: Season 2? Have you already binged all nine episodes? Let us know in the comments below!

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