Brutal, cinematic, & unapologetically twisted, Fincher’s latest tour de force on the birth of criminal psychology and establishment of the study of serial killers is flawed in characters/acts, yet is an undeniably engrossing crime discourse. 7.9/10.

…

Catching a criminal often requires the authorities to get inside the villain’s mind to figure out how he thinks. That’s the job of FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench. They attempt to understand and catch serial killers by studying their damaged psyches. Along the way, the agents pioneer the development of modern serial-killer profiling. The crime drama has a strong pedigree behind the camera, with Oscar-nominated director David Fincher and Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron among the show’s executive producers.

*Possible spoilers ahead*

S1 – 7.9/10

Positives: Awesome subliminal messaging/symbolic title sequence, David Fincher’s direction breathtaking as expected – one of the best directors in Hollywood – strong filmmaking legacy and pedigree behind the camera and you can certainly feel it just watching, great acting and performances especially by Jonathan Groff in the lead role and Cameron Britton as the downright chilling and impeccably senseless Ed Kemper, instantly fascinating subject matter of the minds of serial killers and how the FBI began learning how to study them, cinematic quality visuals and cinematography – feels like it’s a movie instead of a show and it’s incredible, unbelievably fascinating hearing things like them interview serial killers and dive into what made them that way and how they tick like in the Ed Kemper interview.. and even invented the term and entire field of criminal psychology made its way into the forefront of investigative studies and FBI protocol today, deliciously dark and twisted – perfect for a crime drama,

Negatives: Bizarre opening sequence that’s a little goofy for a show supposedly this dark, wish Holt had a little bit more of an edge about him – little too goody-two-shoes for the badass and tough agent I expected and we’ve come to expect from crime shows / noirs, episode beginnings can be short and disjointed (should usually be a preview of the episode but they often make no sense), the characters are just kind of bland especially Det. Tench

Overall Score: 7.9/10