The Alienist Episode 2
The Alienist is simultaneously gorgeous and grimy. Obviously, that’s by design; 19th century New York City was both a playground for the wealthy elite and a crowded pigsty for the city’s less fortunate inhabitants. The Alienist understands this and spends plenty of time juxtaposing the two atmospheres, peppering in bubbles of extravagance within the cesspool. However, at this point the series isn’t giving any reasons to worry that it may end up being a bust. With institutional corruption, organized crime, Dr. Kreizler’s powerful ideology and Sara Howard’s professional determination all rubbing up against each other, The Alienist is already starting to feel like a powder keg waiting to go boom. The episode begins with Captain Connor and some of his cronies roughing up the Santorelli family to keep them from talking more about their son. Cops like Connor are taking handouts from the mob-types running the brothel where Georgio, and other boys, as we learn, disappeared. Any more attention could cause Commissioner Roosevelt to shutter the illegal operations for good. Sensing a cover-up after Connor pays her a creepy visit, Sara goes looking into cold cases involving young boys and discovers that Connor is deliberately hiding at least two cases that match the grisly details of Santorelli’s murder. Sara immediately takes the news to Kreizler and Kreizler then ambushes Roosevelt at the opera asking to use Ms. Howard as a part of a team that will run a parallel investigation. Kreizler assembles the team, including Sara, John, and budding forensic experts Marcus and Lucius Isaacson, at Delmonico’s, where we learn the killer has left behind a fingerprint. We also learn new things about Kreizler. After spending time with a young female patient that has been brought to be examined in error, Kreizler lashes out at both the family and a priest. It echoes an earlier conversation that Kreizler has with a religious coroner at the beginning of the episode. It’s clear that Kreizler, a man of science, has difficult and almost hostile relationship with religion, and it will be interesting to see how this aversion manifests later in the series. The episode ends with John, after arguing with Kreizler about Sara’s involvement in the investigation, going rogue and visiting the brothel where Georgio disappeared. It’s an unsettling scene, mainly because we get to see the exploitation of young boys up close and personal. Not making the purpose of his visit subtle, John firmly and repeatedly asks about Georgio before being drugged by Ellison. Before he succumbs to the effects of the mystery drug, John learns from a prostitute that “Gloria” was frequently visited by a man with a “silver smile” and that she disappeared from her third story room. The episode ends with a cliffhanger, with John losing consciousness as Ellison, Kelly, and Captain Connor look on as more prostitutes climb onto John’s paralyzed body.
