The Alienist on Netflix is a pretty good show and I absolutely recommend it!

The Alienist is a Netflix original and I believe it was added fairly recently. Season 1 only has 10 episodes but I think it's definitely worth checking out. Though I should clarify that it's not for everyone. It's very dialogue heavy and isn't an action packed show, so if you need a lot of action, this show might not be for you.

What I find really interesting is the main character. Dr Laszlo Kriesler. He's a really compelling and intellectual character. He's made it his life goal to understand why men do such vile and vicious things. He seems more fascinated than horrified by the serial killer he's after. He's seems almost obsessed with trying to understand this killer.

Anyway there's a whole cast of interesting characters in this dark story and I loved it. I really hope it does well and gets a season 2. If you've seen it feel free to share your thoughts about the show. I'd love to discuss it. If you haven't seen it but are curious, I'd be happy to answer any questions without spoiling too much.

Tagged:

Comments

  • Reminds me a little of the TV show Hannibal (Which I think is also on Netflix). I'll try explaining the series as if you've never heard of anything 'Hannibal' related. The first two seasons are set before the major films (But you don't need to see the films or read the books to understand it, if anything it prepares you for when they eventually start chronologically in the canon series by season 3).
    The show is about criminal profiler Will Graham who deals with the most gruesome of homicides, being a profiler he tries to understand the killers in a rather odd way, by practically envisioning himself as the them acting out each step of the murder meticulously to better understand them, with good results in catching them. When a new unique set of murders are done, his FBI boss implores Will to help solve the case, however Will is under immense stress and is referred to seeing a psychiatrist in order to go back into the field, while still maintaing his sanity and not being a liability to the team. This psychiatrist is the character Hannibal Lecter who may or may not be who he seems.
    The series is different to any old 'killer of the week' premise as the writers have tried to show multiple parallel's in the storytelling of (mostly) each episode, one being an episode where Will is hunting a killer who has cancer, to then show another character dealing with their own grief outside the field. The show is pitch-black dark though, there is rarely any moment for laughs and as expected slow paced. I highly recommend this. I can't force you to see this but I will say one thing; The second season for me was one of the most gripping seasons I've ever seen in a TV show, I was locked into it.

  • edited April 2018

    The genre isn't old as these sorts of films were around in the early to mid eighties, and with that new Netflix original series 'Mindhunter', I think there's a fair pick around these types of stories for you to look into.

Sign in to comment in this discussion.