Netflix’s Mindhunter stars Jonathan Groff as Holden Ford, an FBI hostage negotiator who has a new method for catching criminals, creating profiles of them. Ford has a theory, in order to help stop violent crimes, he and the FBI have to understand the minds behind them. Which brings up the question, how does one accomplish this? Ford’s solution: interviewing incarcerated killers, the first being Edmund Kemper who started his murderous crimes by killing his grandparents at the age of 15. Keeping it a secret from his boss, Unit Chief Shepard, Ford aided by his partner Bill Tench, set off to understand the mind of a killer, while solving small town murders all over the United States. Although in the first season we only see real life killers Edmund Kemper, Jerry Brudos, and Richard Speck, throughout the 10 episodes we see hints of what is to come, the BTK killer, also known as Dennis Rader.

With the first and last two episodes being directed by David Fincher, (Fight Club, Gone Girl) the overall tone of the series perfectly matches it’s narratives dark and gritty material. Set in the late 1970s, the viewer gets to take a step back into the American culture at the time in order to fully understand what our protagonists are up against. Nearly 50 years ago, it was not a societal norm to talk about violent crime. There was no Forensic Files or Law and Order series running on television 24/7. The term ‘serial killer’ wasn’t even used until the “Son of Sam” murders in which FBI agent Robert Ressler coined the term to describe David Berkowitz, the man behind the killings.

This history of dealing with serial killers lines up perfectly with the start of Mindhunter, since at the beginning of the first episode it becomes clear the events that unfold in the series are the direct aftermath of the “Son of Sam” crimes that shocked New York. However, Ford uses this time in American criminal history to his advantage. When the country is at a loss on how to handle violent crimes, he sees an avenue not approached before, understanding the psychology behind killers. Ford believes that with this new approach on handling crime, not only will the FBI be able to understand killers, but they might be able to get ahead of the crimes themselves.

Now if this approach to investigating murder sounds familiar, it is probably because criminal profiling characters have been a main stay in fictional crime shows since Thomas Harris’s Hannibal Lecter series which started in 1981 with the novel Red Dragon. In fact, two key characters in this series, Jack Crawford and Will Graham, are loosely based off of John Douglas, who is the inspiration behind Holden Ford in Mindhunter. Douglas along with Ressler helped kick start the criminal profiling unit of the FBI and ever since Hollywood has implemented it into their fictional crime universes.

With all 10 episodes of the first season going live Friday the 13^th, Mindhunter is the perfect way to get into the spirit of Halloween, whether you are interested in a criminal or psychological thrill.