Though Mindhunter hasn’t released a new season on Netflix since 2019, the sting of its cancelation hurts again with Holt McCallany’s new role on The Lincoln Lawyer. Directed and produced by the celebrated thriller movie director David Fincher, Netflix’s hit true crime drama followed FBI Agents Bill Tench (McCallany) and Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) as well as psychologist Wendy Carr (Anna Torv) as they interview, research, and profile serial killers in the late 1970s and early 1980s. After season 2 saw them investigate a string of Atlanta murders in the early ‘80s, the door seemed open for Mindhunter season 3.

Sadly, however, it was soon announced that season 3 would be indefinitely put on hold, with David Fincher confirming in 2023 that Mindhunter was over. Still, there have been high hopes that Mindhunter will eventually be resurrected at Netflix with McCallany, Groff, and Torv reprising their roles. In the years since the last batch of episodes, Mindhunter’s cast members haven’t often returned to dramatic crime-heavy roles. But, every time they do, such as with Holt McCallany’s The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 character, there’s a resurgence in demand for another Mindhunter season.

Mindhunter’s Holt McCallany Plays A Homicide Detective In Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer Season 3

McCallany Plays Another Authority Figure Who Investigates Homicide Cases

Holt McCallany has found himself on yet another Netflix series centered around crime, but this time from the angle of defense attorneys instead of FBI agents. In The Lincoln Lawyer season 3, McCallany portrays ex-homicide detective Neil Bishop, who has a years-long feud with the titular attorney, Mickey Haller. After leaving his job with the LAPD, Detective Bishop went on to become an investigator for the prosecution on the other side of Mickey’s case with Julian LaCosse.

As it turns out, Bishop was wrapped up in a decade-long cover-up scheme with DEA Agent James De Marco, in which he agreed to leave a double homicide unsolved in return for some hush money. The homicide would come into play again with Glory Days’ murder and yet another cover-up, leading to Neil Bishop’s tragic confession and suicide on the witness stand in The Lincoln Lawyer season 3’s ending. While McCallany’s time on The Lincoln Lawyer comes to an end with that devastating moment at the trial, it marks one of the actor’s best performances since Mindhunter’s conclusion.

Both roles are a great showcase of the actor’s range in this genre.

It’s difficult to see McCallany as a disgraced ex-detective in The Lincoln Lawyer after his praised stint as the pragmatic, heroic character Bill Tench in Mindhunter, but both roles are a great showcase of the actor’s range in this genre. Although Bishop looked the other way during a homicide investigation and compromised his morals due to bribery and, eventually, blackmail, his upsetting backstory in The Lincoln Lawyer keeps him from being a villain in the same vein as Agent De Marco. In Bishop’s more deeply human moments, there are glimmers of the complexities found in McCallany’s portrayal of Bill Tench.

Netflix has yet to officially renew The Lincoln Lawyer season 4 following its premiere.

Holt McCallany’s Lincoln Lawyer Character Proves He Could Still Perfectly Play Bill Tench In Mindhunter Season 3

McCallany Hasn’t Lost His Touch Since Mindhunter Season 2

Holt McCallany’s return as an authority figure in the world of criminal justice highlights that even though five years have passed since Mindhunter season 2’s ending, he hasn’t lost any of the skills and mannerisms necessary to go back to that world. McCallany is able to brilliantly dive into these roles regardless of whether he’s meant to be the main protagonist or the supporting rival to the show’s main character. After The Lincoln Lawyer season 3, the desire to see McCallany return in other shows similar to Mindhunter, or to Mindhunter itself, becomes even greater.

Mindhunter Season #
Rotten Tomatoes Score

1
96%

2
99%

Will Mindhunter Season 3 Ever Happen?

Mindhunter Season 3’s Latest Updates Make The Show Moving Forward Unlikely

In 2017, David Fincher optimistically noted his intentions to make five seasons of Mindhunter. However, TV Line reported in 2020 that Mindhunter season 3 was put on indefinite hold at Netflix while Fincher was pursuing other projects, but that he was open to returning to the show in the future. Given that five years have passed since Mindhunter was put on an indefinite hold, the odds of season 3 happening aren’t great. Fincher has been asked about the possibility of seeing Tench, Ford, and Carr on another FBI case together over the years, but nothing tangible has come of it.

In February 2023, Fincher stated to Forbes that Mindhunter season 3 didn’t move forward because the show cost too much to produce and didn’t have enough viewership numbers to justify it. The revelation about the show’s approach being too expensive for Netflix to invest in is the latest Mindhunter season 3 update as of 2024, making it difficult to believe that new episodes could arrive anytime soon. Still, perhaps Holt McCallany’s role in The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 will conjure up enough of a renewed interest for Netflix to see it worthwhile for a return to the world of Mindhunter.

Fans Still Want Mindhunter Season 3

Hope Lingers For The Show’s Return

While Holt McCallany’s role in The Lincoln Lawyer shows that the talented cast has moved on, there are still plenty of fans who are holding onto hope that Midhunter season 3 will still happen. Despite the people involved with the show shutting down virtually all hope of it happening, there are still many Reddit threads dedicated to the possibility or at least forming a community around the passionate desire to see the show return.

Redditor russit2201 expressed confidence in Mindhunter season 3 coming, even if they know it will not be soon:

My reasoning for this is because any and all popular IP gets rebooted, remade, sequels, prequels, etc. If a content provider like Netflix can squeeze money out of a show or movie, they will. And the story of mindhunter spans decades because of btk. So it may be 5, 10, 15 years from now, but someday we’ll get a season 3. It’ll probably be for cynical and greedy reasons, but it will happen.

Others have expressed a willingness to donate to a Kickstarter campaign to help the third season happen, while one Redditor jokes about “obsessively googling ‘Mindhunter season 3’ every few months just in case.” Unfortunately, Midhunter joins a long list of Netflix shows that were canceled early, leaving the story unfinished and a community of passionate fans hoping they somehow return. This includes shows like Glow, The Society, Santa Clarita Diet, and Dark Crystal to name a few.

These shows have also inspired fans to voice their desire for more episodes. However, no show on Netflix has maintained such dedicated shows years after its apparent cancellation as Mindhunter has. That kind of undying commitment from fans is what makes it hard to completely dismiss the idea of Midhunter season 3.