Netflix’s The Sinner is the underrated gem Mindhunter fans have been searching for

Netflix is famous for cancelling good shows, and Mindhunter also got the axe after two seasons. However, the 2017 crime series The Sinner is the perfect replacement for fans who still miss the psychological thriller series.

Mindhunter is a unique show based on John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker's 1995 true-crime book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit.

While most thriller shows focus on the crime, this 2017 show focuses on the criminals and expands on how the FBI spearheaded criminal profiling, which eventually helped the organization in solving many high-profile cases.

Created by David Fincher, Mindhunter followed two FBI agents, Holden Ford and Bill Tench, and psychologist Wendy Carr, who set up the first Behavioral Science Unit, under which they researched many serial killers by interviewing them in prison.

While the show was brilliant, it struggled to find its niche audience and was eventually cancelled after two seasons.

However, 2017's anthology crime series The Sinner, based on Petra Hammesfahr's novel of the same name, is the perfect replacement. It follows Bill Pullman's Harry Ambrose, who investigates horrific and dark crimes while understanding the serial killer's psyche and motivations behind the crimes.

More on this in our story.

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Like Mindhunter, The Sinner is also an underrated Netflix crime series

Mindhunter was in a league of its own, and there is nothing quite like the show on Netflix right now, which is why its cancellation (only after two seasons) hurts even more.

However, The Sinner, another Netflix anthology procedural series that debuted in 2017, is equally disturbing and underrated as Mindhunter.

While The Sinner was intended as a miniseries, Season 1 was a hit among audiences, and it continued with three more seasons.

Since the entirety of Petra Hammesfahr's 1999 novel was adapted in Season 1, the consecutive seasons saw original stories focusing on the lead character.

The show follows Harry Ambrose (Pullman), a police Detective who struggles with issues in his life, but begins investigating sinister and dark crimes committed by ordinary individuals. As he delves deeper into the mystery of these crimes, he becomes obsessed with the criminals and their motivations behind the ghastly criminal acts.

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Why is The Sinner the perfect Mindhunter replacement?

While The Sinner starts out as an ordinary crime drama series, it soon takes a completely different approach. Harry Ambrose takes on new cases in each season, and as the story progresses, the crime series becomes less of a whodunit and more of a character-driven story.

Just like Mindhunter's Bill and Holden, Harry also becomes engrossed in studying the minds of these criminals and why they committed these horrific crimes. Even after catching the culprit, Harry spends days on the case, understanding the motivations that turned an ordinary human into such a monster.

In addition, like Mindhunter, The Sinner's lead character is also a troubled individual, and while working on these cases, his personal life often gets entangled with his professional one.

The Netflix show goes even further than Mindhunter as each new season is centred around a new murder mystery, and Harry learns about these troubled individuals as he works on these cases.

Mindhunter viewers, who liked how the show explored a criminal's mind, will very well enjoy this 2017 underrated series. It will give all the thrill of the former show, while building a chilling mystery that will keep you on the edge.

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Also Read: Why was Mindhunter canceled, and could it ever return?