The Alienist S1

The Alienist is an American period drama based on the novel of the same name by Caleb Carr.

The series has a 66% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.7/10 on IMDB and according to the L.A Times it has been nominated for two Golden Globes, two Emmys and won an Outstanding Special Visual Effects In A Supporting Role award. It also has a second season set to premiere in July 2020 with the name of The Alienist: Angel of Darkness.

The series is based in New York in 1896 and follows the alienist, Dr. Lazlo Kreizler,(Daniel Bruhl) and his associates as they try to catch the murderer who is killing young "working" boys in the city. It becomes vastly apparent that he needs help to gain facts and resources as there are a lot of people who do not like him due to his reputation of being a rather blunt man. He requests help from his friend, John Moore (Luke Evans) who is an illustrator for the newspapers and captures the likeness of the first corpse that is found on the bridge in all it's terrifying and disgusting glory. They then need permission from the police commissioner of the city, Theodore Roosevelt (Brian Gerghty) who is based on the real life 25th president of the U.S.A who was police commissioner at that time, to continue their investigation and keep the truth from the corrupt police department and it's men. He then sends his secretary, Sara Howard (Dakota Fanning), to assist them since the men of the department won't suspect her because of her gender and she helps them in their search for justice.

Together the three piece together facts and theories until they need to enlist the help of the Isaacson brothers, (Played by Douglas Smith and Matthew Shear) who are police men and are revolutionary in their police work as they use finger prints and samples found at the scene of the crimes.

The series combines history and fiction and produces a rather compelling story for it's viewers. The first episode shows us with extreme detail what the boys look like after the killer has been with them and it was rather horrifying and yet compelled me to watch more.

I thoroughly enjoyed this series and I'm sure I finished it within three or four days. I cannot wait for the second season!

If you haven't seen this, you should definitely give it a shot.

Thanks for reading xx