The BTK Killer has been a haunting and ominous presence in the show that left fans wondering.
Given the more public profiles of Charles Manson and David Berkowitz (Son of Sam), it’s understandable if Mindhunter viewers were more intrigued about how those killers would be portrayed in Season 2 of the Netflix drama.
However, it’s arguable that another serial killer, Dennis Rader, has left a more lasting impression on viewers, mainly due to the mysterious way that he has consistently been depicted in the show.
With regards to the actors that played Manson and Berkowitz, they deserve immense credit because they didn’t disappoint.
Oliver Cooper’s performance as Berkowitz was chillingly-layered as he portrayed a brutal killer that cared more about his public image than the lives he was taking.
Unhinged, brutal, and utterly remorseless, the moment when Agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) simply asked Berkowitz to drop his bullshit story about demonic possession was a fantastic scene.
Elsewhere, Damon Herriman absolutely nailed the manic and deranged persona of Charles Manson.
Even before we were introduced to the cult leader that was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder for the deaths of seven people, he had a mysterious and ominous presence – those talks about his height almost humanised him too.
While Bill couldn’t prevent his domestic situation from spilling over into the interview with Manson – we really enjoyed those moments when he cut down Manson’s self-righteous rhetoric – Holden seemed enthralled by the notorious criminal.
However, just like Season 1 of the drama, these interviews were just a small part of the bigger picture because the main focus throughout Season 2 was the horrific Atlanta child murders where at least 29 children, teenagers, and adults were killed.
Wayne Williams, an Atlanta native who was 23-years-old at the time of the last murder, was arrested, tried, and convicted of two of the adult murders and sentenced to two consecutive life terms.
However, an earlier mystery about the show continued to fascinate viewers throughout Season 2 and it revolves around the mysterious ADT security worker that we saw in the previous season – the character is played by Sonny Valicent.
It turns out that Valicent’s unnamed character was in fact the BTK Killer.
Named after his M.O. (Bind, Torture, Kill), Dennis Rader murdered 10 people in the Wichita area between 1974 and 1991, but went unidentified and un-captured until the 21st century.
In terms of the most memorable scenes in Season 2, the moment when Bill Tench travels to Kansas to interview Kevin Bright, a young man who survived a home invasion in which his sister was murdered by the BTK Killer, was horrifying.
In real life, the BTK Killer committed murders from 1975 through 1991 before going dormant. He was only captured in 2005 after he started to write letters to local press in a bid to take credit for his crimes.
After sending police a floppy disk, the authorities were able to trace it back to his location and catch him.
In an interview with Esquire, Holt McCallany (Bill Tench) said that the inclusion of the BTK Killer in Season 2 was done to serve a very specific purpose, to remind people that not every killer gets caught.
“One of the things that I think separates our show from other shows is that we show the reality of police work, and the reality is that they don’t always get the guy. They didn’t catch the Zodiac. They didn’t catch Rader until 2005, and only because he made a really stupid mistake, sending a floppy disk that was traceable, directly to the police department in a kind of Son of Sam style quest for notoriety,” he said.
Series creator David Fincher has previously spoken about a five-season plan for the show, so could Mindhunter jump forward in time to chronicle Rader’s arrest?
After all, the first two seasons of the show have given Rader an awful lot of screen time.
For example, Season 2 started with Rader being caught by his wife while asphyxiating himself in the bathroom.
Later in the season, she gives him a book to help him rid himself of his sexual deviancies. Aside from this, we also see Rader making sinister drawings in the library and burying his usual tools for sexual gratification in an effort to try and to stop his habits.
The season ends with Rader in a hotel room as he asphyxiates himself with a rope while masturbating to sadomasochistic images and trophies from his victims. He isn’t giving up his habits after all.
With this in mind, could a future season of Mindhunter be set in the 21st century?
“We’re pretty conscientious about being accurate with timeline. It would be a very big time jump, and Bill…. Bill’s gonna be pretty old in 2005, let’s face it!,” said McCallany.
With so many killers and subjects to interview, we’re certain that Agents Ford and Tench will be returning for Season 3.
However, we’ve a sneaking suspicion that the BTK Killer might make another appearance. After all, Mindhunter is set in the late 1970s, so it’s possible that the BTK Killer is someone that constantly torments our heroes until he’s caught in 2005.
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