by TC on 03/08/20, 05:58:05
The Alienist - wrapped S1 and started S2 over the weekend. it's basically a darker sherlock holmes with some slight twists. S1 was set in late 19th century (1896), S2 early 20th (i guess? they are unclear). dakota fanning's character's over-emphasis on the "wh" at the beginning of "wh" words is fascinating. she does it seamlessly. but boy is it distracting. i laugh every time. anyway, it's...ok? i guess they're based on a series (?) of books. first season was what i would call very good, but there were a lot of things left unexplained. S2 jumps ahead some time... a couple/few years i suppose... and loses teddy roosevelt as a character, which is a shame. the actor was great, as he was in boardwalk empire, and looked like a younger teddy. we also lose michael ironside's JP morgan, and sean young's character (she was nearly unrecognizable in this). we keep ted levine and his inexplicable hatred of... detectives, i guess? it's never really explained what his fucking problem is. we also keep main guy's friend and excellent michael shannon impersonator. and we gain a kevin spacey impersonator and WR hearst enters the picture. i don't know about S2 yet but the show in general being set when it is, it's great to look at. i can't imagine how much they spend on sets. S1's central crime was murder of young boys dressed as girls (boy whores), S2's is baby kidnapping/murder. so yeah, it's dark, but at the same time it's on TNT, so...