10 TV Moments You Didn't Expect To See This Season
7. Bill's Son Witnesses Child Murder - Mindhunter
Mindhunter's second season was another deliciously dark plunge into the world of FBI criminal profilers and serial killers, but its most shocking moment ultimately wasn't a sordid depiction of a real-life murderer, but an entirely fictional subplot.
Mid-way through the season, it's revealed that FBI agent Bill Tench's (Holt McCallany) son Brian (Zachary Scott Ross) was witness to the murder of a toddler, whose body was discovered in a house being sold by Bill’s wife Nancy (Stacey Roca).
It's eventually revealed that the boy was accidentally killed by some local kids while Brian was present, causing Bill to spend the rest of the season wondering whether or not his increasingly despondent son is destined for a troubled future.
The subplot received a mixed response from fans, with some feeling that it was a clumsy attempt to tie Tench's personal and private lives together, especially as the real-life investigator Tench is based on, Robert Ressler, had no such turmoil in his life.
And so in a season that focused on a chilling depiction of the Atlanta child murders of 1979-1981, the incident with Bill's son came completely out of nowhere.