History Series / TheAlienist

* BedlamHouse: The team visit several in the course of their investigation, which is [[TruthInTelevision actually pretty period-appropriate.]] Sara visits a particularly disturbing one, where a restrained young woman who has just urinated on herself desperately tries to convince her that she's not really crazy - which could well be true: mental health regulation was horribly lax in the 19th Century; she might well have been nothing more than an orphan girl who had one bad day in view of some crooked doctor. Kreizler's institution where he treats troubled children in a more gentle and progressive manner is the notable exception.

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Several characters have more progressive opinions than would be expected for their time period. 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 Docent of the Museum of Natural History quite firmly insists that the murders couldn't be the work of anyone from that culture: the ritualistic post-mortem mutilation of a fallen enemy had a specific purpose in the Lakota belief system, a purpose that the killer was definitely not applying to his crimes. At any rate, he says, no self-respecting Lakota warrior would do that to a ''child''.]]

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Several characters have more progressive opinions than would be expected for their time period. 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 Docent of the Museum of Natural History quite firmly insists that the murders couldn't be the work of anyone from that culture: the ritualistic post-mortem mutilation of a fallen enemy had a specific purpose in the Lakota belief system, a purpose that the killer was definitely not applying to his crimes. At any rate, he insists, no self-respecting Lakota warrior would do that to a ''child''.]]

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Several characters have more progressive opinions than was expected for their time period. 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 Docent of the Museum of Natural History quite firmly insists that the murders couldn't be the work of anyone from that culture: no self-respecting Lakota warrior would do that to a ''child''.]]

** ThemeSerialKiller: His killings correspond 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.

* WeaknessTurnsHerOn: Laszlo relies on Mary for a great deal and when the two of them are in close proximity the frosty doctor turns into an awkward schoolboy. It would be much weirder if Mary wasn't so visibly into it.

* RedHerring: [[spoiler: Willem Van Berger, the most likely suspect, is not the killer, as evidenced by the fact that Connor tracks him down and shoots him dead right when another murder is being committed.]]
* ScaryTeeth: The main suspect in the case is a regular the prostitutes refer to as "The Man with the Silver Smile." This turns out to be a side effect from contemporary medical treatment: at the time, syphilis was treated with mercury, which could stain the teeth. [[spoiler: Willem Van Berger has such silver-colored teeth. It's not clear yet if the actual killer has the same issue, however.]]

->''In the 19th century, people suffering from mental illness were considered to be alienated from their true natures. The people who studied them were therefore referred to as Alienists.''

* ButtMonkey: Moore simply ''cannot'' catch a break. In addition to [[spoiler: his long dead little brother,]] he gets the shit kicked out of him, drugged, (multiple times) in all likelihood [[spoiler: sexually assaulted,]] Sara doesn't take his feelings seriously, Laslow treats him rather poorly, he struggles with alcoholism, gets dragged into a depraved serial's killer ritualistic murder spree of young children, and you can count on one hand the characters who don't give him shit about ''something.''

* LoveTriangle: Moore-Kreizler-Sara.

* OnlyFriend: Moore seems to be Kreizler's just because he puts up with way more of Laslow's shit than he strictly speaking has to.

* TurnInYourBadge: [[spoiler: After Connor misleads Roosevelt about Willem Van Berger's location, causing him significant embarrassment, a seething Roosevelt kicks him off the force right there.]]

As a miniseries adaptation of a novel, the story is expanded significantly from the source material, exploring some elements in more detail that were present in the background of the book: classism and racism in 19th Century America, and some exploration into Gender Identity issues.

* AmbiguousGenderIdentity: There is a subtle Trans subtext in the series that was not present in the original book (the concept barely existed in 1994, and certainly not in 1896). In some cases it's not clear if the boy prostitutes identify as girls or if it's just an act they put on for work. The backstory of at least one of the victims - Kreizler's former patient - points to him having some kind of non-Cisgendered identity: he apparently liked to dress and act like a girl, and rather than "cure" him of this behavior, Kreizler advised acceptance and understanding. When the victim's mother learns that her son was most likely targeted ''because'' of his behavior, she blames Kreizler for his death.

* DoubleStandardRapeMaleOnMale: Early in the investigation, Moore is drugged by a brothel keeper and has...something done to him by the boy prostitutes. It's not clear what, exactly, but he's definitely assaulted in some way, and then just dumped back on the street half-conscious and half-naked. It's never treated as a crime or a violation by any of the characters; everyone just chalks it up to another of Moore's drunken shenanigans, Moore included. He's more embarrassed by the fact that he wakes up with no pants.

* DoubleStandardRapeMaleOnMale: Early in the investigation, Moore is drugged by a brothel keeper and has...something done to him by the boy prostitutes. It's not clear what, exactly, but he's definitely assaulted in some way, and then just dumped back on the street half-conscious and half-naked. It's never treated as a crime or a violation by any of the characters. Everyone just seems to chalk it up to another of Moore's drunken shenanigans. As for Moore himself, he's more embarrassed by the fact that he wakes up with no pants.

* AmbiguousGenderIdentity: There is a subtle Trans subtext in the series that was not present in the original book (the concept barely existed in 1994, and certainly not in 1896). In some cases it's not clear if the boy prostitutes identify as girls or just as boys who dress like girls for work. The backstory of at least one of the victims - Kreizler's former patient - points to him having some kind of non-Cisgendered identity: he apparently liked to dress and act like a girl, and rather than "cure" him of this behavior, Kreizler advised acceptance and understanding. When the victim's mother learns that her son was most likely targeted ''because'' of his behavior, she blames Kreizler for his death.

* ChivalrousPervert: Moore gets it on with any willing lady, but he never tries to hit on Sara, and even strives to protect her from less chivalrous men.

* AmbiguousGenderIdentity: There is a subtle Trans theme in the series that was not present in the original book (the concept barely existed in 1994, and certainly not in 1896). In some cases it's not clear if the boy prostitutes identify as girls or just as boys who dress like girls for work. The backstory of at least one of the victims - Kreizler's former patient - points to him having some kind of non-Cisgendered identity: he apparently liked to dress and act like a girl, and rather than "cure" him of this behavior, Kreizler advised acceptance and understanding. When the victim's mother learns that her son was most likely targeted ''because'' of his behavior, she blames Kreizler for his death.