As for "Mindhunter", think of it as an FBI-conducted guided tour through hell on earth......the minds of sociopathic serial killers.
Based on true history, but embellished with a ton of stylish fear and loathing, it recounts the early efforts of the Bureau to establish a method of profiling and capturing a new kind of 20th century monster........the psychotic, remorseless creature who tortures and kills not for money, not for love....but for other reason than.....he can. And he likes it.
While the FBI bureaucracy can't comprehend the "why" of these fiends, a supremely self-confident young agent, Holden Ford (Jonathon Groff) thinks he can map out a way to track them down.......by plunging into the minds of convicted, imprisoned serial killers through clever interrogations.
And there you have the series premise: Partnered with world-weary skeptical veteran agent Bill Tench (Holt McCallany). Ford and Tench conduct a deeply bone-chilling, unnerving bunch of Q & A's with some of the most frightening, real life demons imaginable.
These interrogations, each a separate creepy voyage into the nightmare landscape of the killers' minds, take up the bulk of the series' 11 episodes, some of which film director David Fincher helmed with his customary, trademark gloomy dread.....
And we had no trouble designating our nominee for MVP (Most Valuable Psycho)......actor Cameron Britton for his infinitely scary portrayal of well-spoken, behemoth-sized slaughterer Ed Kemper. It's a remarkable, calculated piece of precision acting.......a performance to live in your bad dreams forever.
The show gets another big plus when the agents are joined by a brilliant psychology professor Wendy Carr (Anna Torv of "Fringe"), who intends to organize the agents' increasingly freewheeling encounters with the killers into a standardized methodology to identify the savages hidden among us.
To put it mildly.....nothing goes as expected.....
Fair warning: this show is no feature-film funhouse ride designed to goose you every five minutes with a shock or a jump scare. Fincher and his fellow episode directors maintain a steady, deliberate pace throughout the entire story's length.....
But we were never bored for a minute. There's an aura of pure anticipatory fear that hangs over and around this show like a permanent dark cloud. And the character arc of Agent Ford, gradually undone professionally and personally by his uncompromising arrogance, guarantees a second season......
Which can't happen soon for the BQ......4 &1/2 disturbing stars (****1/2)......and remember to never hug it out with Ed Kemper......
No comments:
Post a Comment