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‘The Alienist’: Daniel Brühl, Luke Evans & Dakota Fanning tv series


AncalagonTheBlack

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Seemingly the sole actual criticism is:

"We've already been down these turn-of-century mean and filthy streets many times before.  It's been too long between the novel's publication, which seemed to break new ground for the thriller-detective genre, and now when we've had so many gritty and bloody and serial killing series already, such as Copper, Ripper Street, Penny Dreadful, the Knick, etc.  There's nothing special here." 

I guess I won't see it (though I read the novel when it appeared) until Alienist shows up on Netflix, streaming or dvd.

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Looks like a must watch so far and I have not read the novels. It reminds me of Penny Dreadful, and not because of the setting. The four main characters are perfectly sketched and acted. The dialogue often hits a very high level too that you don't see with many shows.

The plot so far is sort of meh. It's also highly gruesome, which I'm not really a fan of. The series still has my definite interest, because of the high quality of the main characters. Seems likely to be a great series once the plot gets going more.

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On 24.1.2018. at 7:50 PM, Zorral said:

Seemingly the sole actual criticism is:

"We've already been down these turn-of-century mean and filthy streets many times before.  It's been too long between the novel's publication, which seemed to break new ground for the thriller-detective genre, and now when we've had so many gritty and bloody and serial killing series already, such as Copper, Ripper Street, Penny Dreadful, the Knick, etc.  There's nothing special here." 

I guess I won't see it (though I read the novel when it appeared) until Alienist shows up on Netflix, streaming or dvd.

That's their criticism? How dumb. But then, you'll often see online reviews praising the biggest drek out there, while ttashing great shows or episodes.

I haven't read the book, but I'm really enjoying the show so far. The characters, setting, atmosphere are great. Points for having various immigrants actually speak in their languages to each other, I hate the stupid custom of everyone always speaking English whether it makes sense or not.

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We watched the first two episodes and found it pretty damn entertaining. I'm rather jonesing for the next one because we were left with a cliffhanger and it's been years since I read the first book. 

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Third episode was again solid. I'm waiting for a great episode, but my foggy recollection of the novel leads me to believe we'll probably just have more solid episodes. Perhaps a great episode towards the end if I'm remembering the novel correctly.

I'm enjoying the psychological profiling of the team in addition to the killer. Laszlo can be a cold bastard.

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This show has a real shot at making my top 10 for the year.... this, and Counterpart are the two things I look forward to most every week... as terrific as the main 3 cast members have been (and they have)... to me, its the ancillary casting that brings the show over the top....   Byrnes (Ted Levine) is a master at creating cringe chills with a smirk.... he is intimidating AF ... Love the Isaacsons, their presence on the team creates a great social dynamic to this era...  the sets and costumes are excellent... and best of all, I've yet to roll my eyes at hack writing...lol

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Today's NY Times (paywall) has a feature on one of the characters of The Alienist, Thomas F. Byrnes, which is nicely illustrated as well as interesting:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/nyregion/cheats-swindlers-and-neer-do-wells-a-new-york-family-album.html?

Though the quick critics did seem to poo-poo this series as too samey-same too late, it seems to be gaining more watchers and interest as it continues? At least that's my impression, but impressions are entirely subjective as opposed to factual based!

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Huh. That was weird but kinda interesting...? This is not exactly my kinda genre or historical setting. And I haven’t recognized any of the scenery so far. 

Dakota Fanning seems to be a surprisingly solid actor, Daniel Brühl is very good and even though Luke Evans seems to be the weakest of the main cast so far, he can pronounce László quite perfectly, so cheers to him. 

I’ll probably keep watching though it’s really not a bedtime story kinda show. 

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Hmm...interesting.  I knew something in this latest episode rang a bell.  Now, this isn't necessarily a direct spoiler.  It goes more to possible influence/inspiration on the part of the writer(s).  But I want to err on the side of caution so I'll spoiler it.  Also, it's quite graphic.

Spoiler

It appears the writer(s) are familiar with the history of the serial killer Albert Fish aka The Gray Man.  The following is what I recalled when the letter was being read aloud in the episode:

Letter to the mother of Grace Budd

In November 1934, an anonymous letter was sent to the girl's parents which ultimately led the police to Fish. Mrs. Budd was illiterate and could not read the letter herself, so she had her son read it to her.[28] The unaltered letter (complete with Fish's misspellings and grammatical errors) reads:[10]

My dear Mrs Budd,

In 1894 a friend of mine shipped as a deck hand on the steamer Tacoma, Capt John Davis. They sailed from San Francisco to Hong Kong China. On arriving there he and two others went ashore and got drunk. When they returned the boat was gone. At that time there was a famine in China. Meat of any kind was from $1 to 3 Dollars a pound. So great was the suffering among the very poor that all children under 12 were sold to the Butchers to be cut up and sold for food in order to keep others from starving. A boy or girl under 14 was not safe in the street. You could go in any shop and ask for steak – chops – or stew meat. Part of the naked body of a boy or girl would be brought out and just what you wanted cut from it. A boy or girls behind which is the sweetest part of the body and sold as veal cutlet brought the highest price. John staid there so long he acquired a taste for human flesh. On his return to N.Y. he stole two boys one 7 one 11. Took them to his home stripped them naked tied them in a closet then burned everything they had on. Several times every day and night he spanked them – tortured them – to make their meat good and tender. First he killed the 11 yr old boy, because he had the fattest ass and of course the most meat on it. Every part of his body was cooked and eaten except Head – bones and guts. He was roasted in the oven, (all of his ass) boiled, broiled, fried, stewed. The little boy was next, went the same way. At that time I was living at 409 E 100 St, rear – right side. He told me so often how good human flesh was I made up my mind to taste it. On Sunday June the 3 – 1928 I called on you at 406 W 15 St. Brought you pot cheese – strawberries. We had lunch. Grace sat in my lap and kissed me. I made up my mind to eat her, on the pretense of taking her to a party. You said Yes she could go. I took her to an empty house in Westchester I had already picked out. When we got there, I told her to remain outside. She picked wild flowers. I went upstairs and stripped all my clothes off. I knew if I did not I would get her blood on them. When all was ready I went to the window and called her. Then I hid in a closet until she was in the room. When she saw me all naked she began to cry and tried to run down stairs. I grabbed her and she said she would tell her mama. First I stripped her naked. How she did kick – bite and scratch. I choked her to death then cut her in small pieces so I could take my meat to my rooms, cook and eat it. How sweet and tender her little ass was roasted in the oven. It took me 9 days to eat her entire body. I did not fuck her, though, I could of [sic] had I wished. She died a virgin.

Police investigated the letter. The story concerning "Capt. Davis" and the "famine" in Hong Kong could not be verified. The part of the letter concerning the murder of Grace Budd, however, was found to be accurate in its description of the kidnapping and subsequent events, although it was impossible to confirm whether or not Fish had actually eaten parts of Grace's body.[29][30][31]

Ah...I just saw the title and watched the behind-the-scenes making-of episode called "The History of the Serial Killer" and my little discovery is...kind of obvious in this light.  Still I think it's somewhat interesting and I thought others interested in The Alienist might, too:idea:

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@Prince of the North That info in the spoiler is unnerving as hell, but clearly the inspiration.

It's been at least a decade since I've read the novel. so any specific details are lost on me. Was Laszlo so tormented in the novel? And was he such a dick to John and Sara? I don't remember that.

This episode was probably the best so far. Lots of tension.

Spoiler

I loved the ending with the letter and finally seeing the killer.

 

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yeah, liking this. It grew on me in episode 3, looking forward to how the story unfolds. 

Lezlo (that’s how Luke Evans says it) himself seems to have some baggage, I’m curious to see what that is or how it’s affecting his work and how he will have to face it eventually. I’m rooting for a John and Sarah romance, btw, Lezlo is often a jerk and a little creepy. But John is really adorable. 

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16 hours ago, RhaenysB said:

yeah, liking this. It grew on me in episode 3, looking forward to how the story unfolds. 

Lezlo (that’s how Luke Evans says it) himself seems to have some baggage, I’m curious to see what that is or how it’s affecting his work and how he will have to face it eventually. I’m rooting for a John and Sarah romance, btw, Lezlo is often a jerk and a little creepy. But John is really adorable. 

I could go either way. I like Moore, but Kreitzler is so much more interesting, and a potential relationship between him and Sarah would be more intriguing. She seems more interested in him than John as well.

But then there's the fact that Mary is obviously in love with Kreitzler and jealous - hopefully she doesn't do anything drastic? It's making me a bit uneasy.

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1 hour ago, Annara Snow said:

I could go either way. I like Moore, but Kreitzler is so much more interesting, and a potential relationship between him and Sarah would be more intriguing. She seems more interested in him than John as well.

But then there's the fact that Mary is obviously in love with Kreitzler and jealous - hopefully she doesn't do anything drastic? It's making me a bit uneasy.

Yeah, and it’s getting really interesting to see the tension building up in Mary and John. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mary did something to get Lezlo’s attention. If Sarah was to end up with him, it would make the dynamic between him and John very very interesting. But then, my little romantic heart wants John to get Sarah’s affection, which he clearly craves. 

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On 2/12/2018 at 7:30 PM, Prince of the North said:

Hmm...interesting.  I knew something in this latest episode rang a bell.  Now, this isn't necessarily a direct spoiler.  It goes more to possible influence/inspiration on the part of the writer(s).  But I want to err on the side of caution so I'll spoiler it.  Also, it's quite graphic.

  Hide contents

It appears the writer(s) are familiar with the history of the serial killer Albert Fish aka The Gray Man.  The following is what I recalled when the letter was being read aloud in the episode:

Letter to the mother of Grace Budd

In November 1934, an anonymous letter was sent to the girl's parents which ultimately led the police to Fish. Mrs. Budd was illiterate and could not read the letter herself, so she had her son read it to her.[28] The unaltered letter (complete with Fish's misspellings and grammatical errors) reads:[10]

My dear Mrs Budd,

In 1894 a friend of mine shipped as a deck hand on the steamer Tacoma, Capt John Davis. They sailed from San Francisco to Hong Kong China. On arriving there he and two others went ashore and got drunk. When they returned the boat was gone. At that time there was a famine in China. Meat of any kind was from $1 to 3 Dollars a pound. So great was the suffering among the very poor that all children under 12 were sold to the Butchers to be cut up and sold for food in order to keep others from starving. A boy or girl under 14 was not safe in the street. You could go in any shop and ask for steak – chops – or stew meat. Part of the naked body of a boy or girl would be brought out and just what you wanted cut from it. A boy or girls behind which is the sweetest part of the body and sold as veal cutlet brought the highest price. John staid there so long he acquired a taste for human flesh. On his return to N.Y. he stole two boys one 7 one 11. Took them to his home stripped them naked tied them in a closet then burned everything they had on. Several times every day and night he spanked them – tortured them – to make their meat good and tender. First he killed the 11 yr old boy, because he had the fattest ass and of course the most meat on it. Every part of his body was cooked and eaten except Head – bones and guts. He was roasted in the oven, (all of his ass) boiled, broiled, fried, stewed. The little boy was next, went the same way. At that time I was living at 409 E 100 St, rear – right side. He told me so often how good human flesh was I made up my mind to taste it. On Sunday June the 3 – 1928 I called on you at 406 W 15 St. Brought you pot cheese – strawberries. We had lunch. Grace sat in my lap and kissed me. I made up my mind to eat her, on the pretense of taking her to a party. You said Yes she could go. I took her to an empty house in Westchester I had already picked out. When we got there, I told her to remain outside. She picked wild flowers. I went upstairs and stripped all my clothes off. I knew if I did not I would get her blood on them. When all was ready I went to the window and called her. Then I hid in a closet until she was in the room. When she saw me all naked she began to cry and tried to run down stairs. I grabbed her and she said she would tell her mama. First I stripped her naked. How she did kick – bite and scratch. I choked her to death then cut her in small pieces so I could take my meat to my rooms, cook and eat it. How sweet and tender her little ass was roasted in the oven. It took me 9 days to eat her entire body. I did not fuck her, though, I could of [sic] had I wished. She died a virgin.

Police investigated the letter. The story concerning "Capt. Davis" and the "famine" in Hong Kong could not be verified. The part of the letter concerning the murder of Grace Budd, however, was found to be accurate in its description of the kidnapping and subsequent events, although it was impossible to confirm whether or not Fish had actually eaten parts of Grace's body.[29][30][31]

Ah...I just saw the title and watched the behind-the-scenes making-of episode called "The History of the Serial Killer" and my little discovery is...kind of obvious in this light.  Still I think it's somewhat interesting and I thought others interested in The Alienist might, too:idea:

Thanks, I found that part familiar and was wondering where I had heard that before. Albert Fish was mentioned in a Stephen King novel, you see. Didn't remember until you brought this up, so cheers. :D

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Oh, you don't want to fuck with Teddy Roosevelt, Captain Connor :) It was a bit obvious what was happening, but it was fun watching it go down.

I'm really enjoying Sara and Laszlo's friction. Their exchanges this episode were just as fun to watch as the raid. Enjoyed Laszlo's little cough after his last sip of whiskey once Sara had left and he could drop his poker face.

 

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