10 Best Scenes In David Fincher's Filmography

While Mindhunter's pilot is well-shot and acted, it doesn't contain the thing that puts the series above every other crime show: the interviews with real-life serial killers. In episode 2, FBI agent Holden Ford descends into a California prison to meet his first test-subject, Edmund Kemper. Kemper's gigantic stature intimidates Holden, but once he starts questioning the surprisingly eloquent murderer on what makes him a killer, the two men bond over their shared interest in the subject. While the first few interviews do an excellent job building the agent and the inmate's strange friendship, it’s not until Holden drags his reluctant partner, Bill, into the mix where things get heated.

Fincher shoots and edits this scene with surgical precision, ping-ponging between the three characters as their dialogue crackles. Bill doesn’t see any value in talking to these sick minds, but once he gets a taste of the talkative giant’s wit and charm, he starts changing his tune. Kemper's soft-spoken charisma has already won us over as viewers, but when he gives the grisly details on how he murdered his abusive mother, we're left feeling unclean.

Watching Cameron Britton jump between these two extremes is spellbinding, and when you look at side-by-side comparisons with him and the real Ed Kemper, his performance takes on an impressive new dimension. It's this ability to make viewers empathize with horrible human beings that allowed Mindhunter to stake its claim as one of the greatest shows in television history.