The Alienist is back with a vengeance. This time ‘round our trio of heroes –the intellectual but overtly self-confident Lazlo Kreizler (Daniel Brühl), The brave John Moore (Luke Evans) and the passionate world-knowing Sara Howard (Dakota Fanning)- are on the case of what might be an actual Angel of Death operating in New York city. Babies are being stolen from their cribs and later found in a grotesque display reminiscent to memento mori photographs.
After boy prostitutes last year, this season goes straight for the jugular by bringing dead babies to the viewer. The Alienist isn’t your happy-go-lucky, after-a-long-day’s-work, relaxing show; it is cruel, depressing and often just plain nasty. If you wish to believe that the world is populated with friendly, charming people than this isn’t the series for you. In fact, I argue, that benchwatching it might give you a turn of misanthropy.
Still, it’s this darkness the series needs. Taking place at the turn of the century the age of wonder had just begun. And, as we all know from histories like H.H. Holmes and Jack the Ripper this flocking to the cities during this industrial revolution caused quite a bit of bloodshed. Blatant racism, classism, sexism, conservatism, gang violence, and all kinds of international power-struggles occurred on a daily basis as people tries to carve their place in the world. And when there’s struggle there will be blood.
A crime of classes
As always it is the class-struggle that is at the dark heart of The Alienist. Last season the prostitutes were victims of a crime nobody bothered to actively investigate. Moreover, the police-force prided itself in its corruption, reigning over the city like a gang in its own right. This season it are the women who gave their innocence to the high and mighty and got their babies stolen from them who are at the core of this sordid tale.
Yes the murderer is most likely a woman, that much is clear from the very first episode. And even the motive behind it get clear rather quickly. All in all one should have all the answers of the who and why by the end of the third episode. Which is just as well since ... well let’s not go into any further spoilers shall we.
In fact it is the female class struggle in all its facets that runs like a thread throughout this season. The Alienists highlights them every chance it gets: what’s it like to be a bastard daughter? What’s it like to be female and African-American? What it like if one doesn’t want to fulfil the demands society require from a women? And many more.
Last season was all about males and the misfortunes of the downtrodden and the corruption that kept them down. This season is about female empowerment (and the corruption that keeps it down). And as a critical thematic it works marvellously over the eight episodes even though this does mean that the male protagonists Kreizler has to give way to Dakota Fanning’s Sara Howard.
“Shame on you!”
The increase of her role is elementary from her very first scene in which she is racing down the streets trying to get to the detective-agency she started.
Which is mainly employed by women who think feminism is a fad.
She is a women who carves her own path in life whilst the rest of the world around her, even those of her own gender, revolt against this idea. Putting this detective character in the midst of a crime in which all the suspects and witnesses are women – and obviously a female investigating gets far more answers from women than the men surrounding her- is a recipe for character-fireworks which The Alienist delivers.
If you know your mystery novels you know that the biggest bad first introduced often doesn’t turn out to be the main villain after all. In this season of The Alienist the show offers, right out the gate, Roose Bolton of Game of Thrones-fame (“The Lannisters send their regards”) Michael McElhatton as the villainous head of the Lying In Hospital a clinic for the desolate. Of course Dr. Markoe isn’t the big bad; but his arrogant smirking certainly makes one highly enjoyable strand in the larger weaving of the mystery.
As always it is a bit tricky to put a strong female persona on the screen because –due to the era we are no living in, in which feminism is an important topic- it might feel forced. Moreso when you actually tell a story set in the time when female-rights activism began.
Still Fanning’s character (-arch) doesn’t feel forced at all. For her character it is only logical that she agrees with the feminist movement. The fact that she isn’t that interested in the frivolities of male-companionship or whether a man is more important than a female all derive from her persona. As such whenever these questions are raised it actually enriches her character instead of feeling like a show-stopper.
The fact that Fanning also plays her character Howard contained but never shy of exposing her true feelings makes the character even more interesting as there’s a duality there. A free spirit constantly trying to break out but also, constantly, held back by both herself as society.
Brühl’s Kreizler, then, for the earlier episodes, plays against Fanning’s Howard. He is the man who is always right. In fact this character is so convinced of his own right that he fails to see the people around him. It’s not necessarily about gender to him but in the whole context of this season it does add up. When his friend offers him a safe way of questioning a suspect without getting lost in a shouting match he initially agrees only to betray his friend later on. When Sara Howard warns him about this new interest of his about hypnosis he brushes her away because he read the studies, he knows what he’s talking about; oblivious to other reasons people might oppose him with.
This narrow straight line he walks makes him an anchor for the story but it also makes the namegiver of the show exactly that power of not willing to listen to reason which the feminist movement was rallying against. Thankfully, when the investigation gets truly underway Kreizler changes, willing to accept his shortcomings and broaden the path he is on.
ways and is currently set on a steady life with one of William Randolph Hearst’s (bastard) goddaughters. His moral compass has been upped this season. His knack for getting himself into trouble, however, has also increased. Moore is the puppy who can seek out evil but lacks the bite to defend himself.
Kreizler, in this comparison is the bird watching from above staying well away from danger. Still, Evans dashing around in the mud and exposing the deep dark secrets the people of old New York wish to keep hidden paint a pretty picture. The viewer needs somebody to enter the dark foreboding room to keep the momentum of the story going and Moore fits that bill perfectly. And, even though I sound a tad too dismissive of the character, his arch does offer an interesting view on the male dilemmas in light of so-called feminine topics like marriage and babies. Not to mention that this character is the natural balance between Kreizler and Howard who at the start of the season are almost on opposite sides of the good spectrum.
Ending with the former-Chief of Police Byrnes. First of all, I’m a big fan of Ted Levine. This is one of those actors who likes to play both sides of the medallion. His first breakthrough performance was of course that of Buffalo Bill but then, years later, he happily played the charming chief of police in Monk (2002). His role in The Alienist is rather a combination of the two, a chief of police with the dark determined heart of Buffalo Bill and he plays him masterfully. Each and every moment he is on screen you know that he’s up to no good.
But he does get something to do this season. His character Byrnes is not all vile and corrupt; when injustice is blatant he will act. Even if it will always be out for his own interests first.
A dark city that never sleeps
With a healthier budget The Alienist season 2 showcases the dark and filthy streets of 1896 New York every chance it gets. It tries to toy around with this by shifting the focus between the upper class locations and the downtrodden class to highlight the contrast; but in the end the show knows fully well that it are the dark corridors and murky walls the viewer wants to visit.
As always the set design looks marvellous. Last season often took place at one very well dresses street-set. This season has all kinds of tricks up its sleeve. There is a lavish harbour set, several streets (with the clever inclusion of trains in the background) And every once and again a beautiful CGI bird-eye shot of the city.
I liked the little nod that the torch of the statue of liberty was lit at the time.
It’s acting and visuals that are the strong suits in The Alienist’s ‘dead man’s hand’. But, like last season, the plotting leaves a bit to be desired.
Plotting away to solve the crime
taste) were the easy storytelling-tricks. I don’t like people getting saved in the nick of time. I don’t like coincidental coincidences. I don’t like a villain automatically brandishing a knife the second he meets one of our heroes. Not to mention characters dying because either they weren’t paying attention or the plot put them unarmed in a dangerous situation in which they were seriously outclassed. I consider these tropes cheap and outdated. There are so many other ways to get through a scene without relying on the ‘old faithful’.
Why not –I’m referring to episode two here- have the villain start of the conversation politely and only during it become more and more dangerous. And then, instead of the just-in-time save, have our hero talk his way out of it. It’s a lot less eye rolling than what I saw on screen.
So yes, The Alienist, is, once again, littered with easy storytelling techniques that keep it from being great on a narrative, scene-to-scene, level. However, the grander mystery of the crime is a lot more elaborate and throughout than it was last season (I don’t think we ever got a good look of the culprit back then) which leaves me with a final compliment to the murderer of the story. This character -which I can’t name in this spoiler-free review- gets to showcase all the pain and trouble that caused the troubled mind and does so quite excellently. Which is exactly what I believe The Alienist should be about: reading the mind of the murderer and then, let the murderer speak to see if Kreizler and his comrades were right.
Conclusion
The second season of The Alienist is quite the improvement to an already stellar first season. By using feminism or womanhood as a thematic it allows itself to highlight all the problems women endured at the turn of the century (and are still enduring to this day mind you). But also by letting the murderer be such an important part of the story it earns its title as it explores the recesses of the disturbed human psyche. And, if that’s not enough, the show is even more visually lavishing than it was before and acted out impeccably. I just hope that next season the murder-mystery could stop killing children, the world is depressing enough as it is.
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