“Huh. So that’s what the real Wendy looks like,” I thought when I watched the trailer for Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer.
At least, I was pretty sure Dr. Ann Burgess was who Wendy Carr was based on in the Netflix series Mindhunter. Wasn’t she? I thought I’d heard that before, at any rate.
I knew the series was inspired by real-life FBI agent John E. Douglas’s book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit. Jonathan Groff’s character, Holden Ford, was based on Douglas. Holt McCallany’s character, Bill Tench, was based on FBI agent Robert K. Ressler, who’s often credited with coining the term “serial killer.”
But I wasn’t sure if I’d ever looked into who might’ve inspired Wendy’s character. Something the Mastermind trailer made me realize I’d been remiss about.
How could I not help but think of her after watching it, though? There were just too many similarities with the Mindhunter series. Namely, the interviewing of serial killers, listening to the taped interviews (which was primarily Wendy’s job in the Netflix series), and then developing profiles in order to hopefully recognize similar behavior and patterns going forward to save lives.
Turns out, Ann Burgess did inspire the character of Wendy Carr. I’m so excited to learn more about her and the cases she worked on when the three-episode docuseries premieres on Hulu on July 11.
Mastermind Synopsis
From award-winning executive producers Dakota and Elle Fanning and critically acclaimed collaborators comes Mastermind: To Think Like A Killer, a fascinating new perspective on the woman whose crime hunting innovations changed history. To stop serial killers, psychiatric nurse and professor Dr. Ann Burgess must first learn to think like one. With unprecedented access to the mastermind behind the development of modern serial-killer profiling, the series tells Burgess’ tenacious story and her compassion for victims which puts her at the center of America’s most infamous true-crime cases. From the widely known Ed Kemper and Ted Bundy to lesser-known cases like the Ski Mask Rapist, Burgess investigates and studies the damaged psyches of victims and their attackers, putting two halves of the same story together to catch a killer. Largely an unsung heroine until now, Dr.Burgess impacted not only the FBI, she also radically championed the plight of women in America.
Mastermind Trailer
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Have you ever been excited to learn that a fictional character is based on a real person?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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I was young and knew nothing about British history when I learned that Shakespeare’s Richard III was based on a real king. In fact, Shakespeare has a whole group of historical plays based on royalty. Until then I thought Shakespeare was only mushy Romeo and Juliet stuff.?
Ugh! I’m so frustrated. Something on my end isn’t allowing me to like your comments lately. I refresh the page over and over and nothing. (When this first started, it used to take about 3 before it would let me. Now it’s not at all.) Anyway, I’ve liked all your comments that you’ve left recently, even if it’s only just been in my heart. But this one was so interesting to me because I didn’t realize that about Shakespeare until I was maybe in my 30s!!!! lol
Oh and I forgot to add, your comment brought back a great memory from when I finally made the connection. LOL