History Series / TheAlienist

* AmbiguousDisorder: Several characters are troubled in non-specific ways, mostly stemming from childhood traumas:
** Mary can neither speak nor write, with the implication that she was born with aphasia and agraphia.
** Kreizler has NoSocialSkills, is blunt to the point of rudeness, and has trouble relating to his peers socially.
** Moore demonstrates some signs of clinical depression, self-medicating with alcohol and promiscuity.

* [[SurprisinglyGoodEnglish Surprisingly Good Hungarian]]: Brühl's delivery of Kreizler's Hungarian lines is nearly flawless.

''The Alienist'' is an anthology television series broadcasting on Creator/{{TNT}} beginning in January 2018 in the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates and on Creator/{{Netflix}} in the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom and elsewhere. Based on [[Literature/TheAlienist the 1994 novel written by Caleb Carr]], it stars Creator/DanielBruhl, Creator/LukeEvans, and Creator/DakotaFanning.

''The Alienist'' is a television miniseries broadcasting on Creator/{{TNT}} beginning in January 2018 in the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates and on Creator/{{Netflix}} in the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom and elsewhere. Based on [[Literature/TheAlienist the 1994 novel written by Caleb Carr]], it stars Creator/DanielBruhl, Creator/LukeEvans, and Creator/DakotaFanning.

''The Alienist'' is a television miniseries broadcasting on Creator/{{TNT}} beginning in January 2018 in the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates and on Creator/{{Netflix}} in the /UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom and elsewhere. Based on [[Literature/TheAlienist the 1994 novel written by Caleb Carr]], it stars Creator/DanielBruhl, Creator/LukeEvans, and Creator/DakotaFanning.

''The Alienist'' is a television miniseries broadcasting on the TNT Network beginning in January 2018 in the United States and on Creator/{{Netflix}} in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Based on [[Literature/TheAlienist the 1994 novel written by Caleb Carr]], it stars Creator/LukeEvans, Creator/DakotaFanning, and Creator/DanielBruhl.

New York City, 1896. The city is expanding under a new wave of immigration. Poverty and street crime are rampant, and no less rampant is police corruption. The newly-appointed Commissioner, one UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt, strives to clean up the police department, navigating a minefield of crooked cops, corrupt politicians, and decadent aristocrats. Meanwhile, the Alienist Lazlo Kreizler (Brühl) practices his emerging field of medicine with troubled children, and freelance artist and notorious cad John Schuyler Moore (Evans) drinks and whores his way through high society.

* HollywoodCostuming: In two episodes Sara is seen in her undergarments, including a corset. Historically women would have worn chemises underneath corsets to protect their bodies from possible welts and to protect the corset from sweat and body oils. Because of fan service Sara is not seen wearing a chemise under her corsets.

** The Van Bergens, and nearly every other upper class individual in the series, save Dr. Lazlo Kreizler and Roosevelt.

* PoliceAreUseless: The New York City police department is so corrupt that they'd rather ignore these horrible murders than actually investigate them, for fear of opening a number of worm-filled cans about their own activities or those of their wealthy patrons. Roosevelt's trying to change that, but he's got a steep uphill battle to fight.

* ChristianityIsCatholic: When Kreizler discerns the killer's pattern, corresponding to Catholic Saints' feast days, he refers to it as the "Christian Calendar." It's inaccurate to call it a "Christian" calendar, as not all denominations of Christianity recognize the concept of Sainthood and honor feast days the way Catholicism does. This may be CreatorProvincialism on his part, since New York is predominately Catholic, and he was apparently RaisedCatholic.

** Mary's mutism is psychological rather than physiological, a result of childhood abuse.

New York City, 1896. The city is expanding under a new wave of immigration. Poverty and street crime are rampant, and no less rampant is police corruption. The newly-appointed Commissioner, one UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt, strives to clean up the police department, navigating a minefield of crooked cops, corrupt politicians, and decadent aristocrats. Meanwhile, the Alienist Lazlo Kreizler practices his emerging field of medicine with troubled children, and freelance artist and notorious cad John Schuyler Moore drinks and whores his way through high society.

In the midst of all this, a heinous crime is discovered. A young boy is found murdered, his body horribly mutilated. The scandalous and unusual details of the crime - the boy was a prostitute who would dress like a girl, he was sexually assaulted and his body was left on a barely-accessible rooftop - get Kreizler's attention. He theorizes that this is a new kind of criminal: a serial killer. Whoever killed this boy will kill again, and he must be found before that. But the case is so disturbing and unseemly that the regular police are content to simply sweep this thing under the rug, and Roosevelt already has his hands full with everything else going on, so the investigation must be done discreetly, and out of sight of the regular department. With Roosevelt's tacit approval, Kreizler assembles a team consisting of his friend Moore, Roosevelt's secretary Sara Howard, and two young detectives who dabble in the new science of forensics. They plunge into the investigation, trying to determine who this killer is, why he's killing, and how to stop him from killing again.

* ActionGirl: Sarah Howard, the first woman to work for the New York City Police Department, is determined to join the hunt for the killer, despite the sexist assumption of her male colleagues that, as a woman, she will be in need of male protection and only prove an encumbrance to the group. [[spoiler: Ultimately, she ends up contributing more breakthroughs to the search for the killer than any other group member. When Kreizler quits the group in a fit of heroic BSOD after Mary’s death, Sarah rallies everyone back to action, and takes over as the impromptu leader of the group. In the climactic final scene, she saves the lives of John and Kreizler by shooting Connor.]]

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Sarah Howard is frequently harassed and looked down on by the police force, as the first female employee of the department. She's even marginalized by Kreizler's team, although that's mostly out of a misguided desire to protect her.

* ChristianityIsCatholic: When Kreizler discerns the killer's pattern, corresponding to Catholic Saints' feast days, he refers to it as the "Christian Calendar." It's inaccurate to call it a "Christian" calendar, as not all denominations of Christianity recognize the concept of Sainthood and honor feast days the way Catholicism does. This may be CreatorProvincialism on his part, since he was apparently RaisedCatholic.

A second season, titled ''The Alienist: Angel of Darkness'', is set to premiere on July 26, 2020.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Walking Irish stereotype Captain Connor, a DirtyCop who verbally abuses his wife and children, subjects Sara to low-key harassment and intimidation at every opportunity, and has no tolerance for "fairies and sodomites." His attitudes wouldn't be too far afield of what would have been socially-acceptable at the time, but he is an unnecessarily massive dick about it.

''The Alienist'' is a Television miniseries broadcasting on the TNT Network beginning in January 2018 in the United States and on Creator/{{Netflix}} in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Based on [[Literature/TheAlienist the 1994 novel written by Caleb Carr]], it stars Creator/LukeEvans, Creator/DakotaFanning, and Creator/DanielBruhl.

A second season, titled The Alienist: Angel of Darkness, is set to premiere on July 26, 2020.

''The Alienist'' is a Television miniseries broadcasting on the TNT Network beginning in January 2018. Based on [[Literature/TheAlienist the 1994 novel written by Caleb Carr]], it stars Creator/LukeEvans, Creator/DakotaFanning, and Creator/DanielBruhl.

** SmokingIsGlamorous: Elegant professional Sara and dashing detective Marcus both smoke in especially attractive ways (for Sara it also marks her off as something of a rebel, as well as one of the guys).

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Several. Teddy Roosevelt and J.P. Morgan appear in supporting roles. Moore also briefly encounters a young John Jacob Astor during the finale.

* IdleRich: The Van Bergens, and nearly every other upper class individual in the series, save Dr. Lazlo Kreizler and Roosevelt.
** John Moore starts out showing some tendencies of this trope— he is a wealthy, hard drinking playboy who only half heartedly dabbles at his job as a crime illustrator for the New York Times, and who, by his own admission, “likes to avoid" what he calls "an honest day's work." However, as the series goes on, he begins to take on quite a bit of hard work in an effort to contribute to the investigation. [[spoiler: Midway through the series, moved by his love for Sara Howard, he begins to change in earnest, giving up alcohol, working harder, and even attempting to learn how to type so he can take up reporting.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: John Schuyler Moore is a cynical, ill-tempered drunk, but he's basically a good guy. He genuinely cares for Sara, he loves his grandmother, and he befriends the boy prostitute Joseph, making sure he stays safe and talking to him about how he might help him escape this life.

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Several characters have more progressive opinions than would be expected for their time period, though they do face some pushback. Kreizler, of course, demonstrates a decidedly modern insight and understanding of gender identity. [[spoiler: And after Roosevelt mentions witnessing similar mutilations during skirmishes with Plains Indians, the team consults with the Docent of the Museum of Natural History, who demonstrates an atypical knowledge and affinity for Lakota culture. He quite firmly insists that the murders couldn't be the work of anyone from that culture: desecrating the body of a fallen enemy is done to ensure that he's crippled in the afterlife, and no self-respecting Lakota warrior would ever see a ''child'' as a threat deserving of such treatment. This knowledge is what leads the team to conclude that the killer is imitating acts he may have witnessed or seen images of, without understanding the context behind them.]]
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Walking Irish stereotype Captain Connor, DirtyCop who verbally abuses his wife and children, subjects Sara to low-key harassment and intimidation at every opportunity, and has no tolerance for "fairies and sodomites." His attitudes wouldn't be too far afield of what would have been socially-acceptable at the time, but he is an unnecessarily massive dick about it.

** ThemeSerialKiller: The killer's pattern corresponds with Catholic Feast Days, [[spoiler: likely a result of his messed-up religious upbringing]], which enables Kreizler's team to predict and track his attacks.

* WretchedHive: Late 19th-Century New York City is a hotbed of filth, crime, and corruption. Which is somewhat TruthInTelevision.

** SmokingIsGlamorous: Elegant professional Sara and dashing detective Marcus both smoke in especially attractive ways. (For Sara it also marks her off as something of a rebel, as well as one of the guys.)

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Several. Teddy Roosevelt and J.P. Morgan appear in supporting roles. And Moore briefly encounters a young John Jacob Astor during the finale.

** Kreizler can be an asshat and has his own hang ups, but he feels genuinely responsible for a pair of children being murdered under his watch and just wants to stop the killer before he hurts more people. It's also clear he does value his friends, even if he comes off as unappreciative, especially in regards to Moore and Cyrus.

* NiceJewishBoy: Lucius Isaacson. He is presented as kind, intelligent, polite, hard working, and deeply devoted to his mother and his religious faith.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Walking Irish stereotype Captain Connor, DirtyCop who verbally abuses his wife and children, subjects Sara to low-key harassment and intimidation at every opportunity, and has no tolerance for "fairies and sodomites." His attitudes wouldn't be too far afield of what would have been socially-acceptable at the time, but he is an unnecessarily-massive dick about it.

** ThemeSerialKiller: The killer's pattern corresponds with Catholic Feast Days, [[spoiler: likely a result of his messed-up religious upbringing]] which enable Kreizler's team to predict and track his attacks.

* WhamEpisode: "Psychopathia Sexualis": [[spoiler: The team uncover the identity of the killer, and Moore and Kreizler barely survive an assassination attempt. Meanwhile, Connor and his thugs break into Kreizler's house and kill Mary.]]