Netflix has done it again. The finale of Monster: The Ed Gein Story left fans with raised eyebrows and racing hearts. A final twist that quietly connects Ryan Murphy’s true-crime hit to another cult favourite, Mindhunter.
It’s not an obvious crossover. It’s more of a whisper, a hint dropped in the closing minutes. But make no mistake, it’s there.
The series dives into the disturbing life of Ed Gein, the small-town murderer whose crimes in the 1950s became the stuff of horror legend. He robbed graves, killed two women, and turned their remains into household items.
His gruesome acts later inspired some of cinema’s darkest characters, Norman Bates, Leatherface, and Buffalo Bill, among them.
Murphy’s portrayal leans into that legacy, showing how Gein’s madness helped shape the entire genre of horror storytelling.
Then comes the twist. Once Gein is finally caught, he’s visited in prison by two FBI agents: John Douglas (Caleb Ruminer) and Robert Ressler (Sean Carrigan).
They arrive not to interrogate him for his crimes, but to ask about Ted Bundy, a killer who, in reality, wouldn’t strike for another decade.
The meeting never happened in real life. It’s pure creative licence, but a clever one.
Viewers immediately spotted the resemblance. Douglas and Ressler are the same agents who lead the FBI’s Behavioural Science Unit in Mindhunter, Netflix’s critically acclaimed series about the birth of criminal profiling.
Even more intriguingly, Monster includes Jerry Brudos, portrayed by the same actor who played him in Mindhunter. It’s a direct visual echo that fans were quick to point out.
Showrunner Ian Brennan later confirmed that this link was no accident.
“We wanted to underline the last thing tonally that through Silence of the Lambs, he really influenced Mindhunter as well,” Brennan explained.
“That would be a fun way to put a cap on it, to use this other filmic vocabulary and then talk about the ways that he was part of those early days of FBI profiling.”
It’s a statement that connects blotches across decades, from the real Ed Gein to The Silence of the Lambs to Mindhunter, all tied together through Murphy’s florilegium.
This tease has reignited stopgap among suckers for a Mindhunter reanimation. The series ended too soon, and its cult following has only grown stronger.
But there’s a catch. David Fincher, the architect behind Mindhunter, has been busy with other systems. Persuading him to return might be an arduous order. Still, Netflix has pulled off foreign comebacks ahead.
Monster: The Ed Gein Story is now streaming. pic.twitter.com/gRB6jIYbjs
— Netflix (@netflix) October 3, 2025
Still, the appetite for dark, intelligent crime drama is as strong as ever, if the response to Monster: The Ed Gein Story is any indication.
Ryan Murphy isn’t stopping there. The coming season of Monster is set to explore the story of Lizzie Borden, the woman indicted (and acquitted) of severely bashing her father and mother with an dismissal in 1892.
Another American legend. Another deep dive into the psyche of violence.
So, did Monster: The Ed Gein Story just hint at a shared Netflix universe? It certainly feels that way. It’s bold. It’s clever. And it’s got everyone, from true-crime fans to Netflix binge-watchers, talking.
