The Alienist

[TrickyDickie]

I'm surprised that no one has started a thread about the show.

I read 'The Alienist' and 'The Angel of Darkness' by Caleb Carr shortly after they first came out and thought they were really good.

Now, I've been watching the show and am about 135 pages into re-reading the first book. So far, I'm not all that happy with either. Kreizler seems arrogant and conceited and moody. Roosevelt, in the show especially, seems way off from the way he actually was. I'm really trying to give leeway to the characters based on the idea of what they're dealing with every day, the pressures, the era, their personal lives, etc, but it's getting a bit tedious at times.

Still and all, it's better than a lot of other tv fare these days.

Opinions?

 

[auntiehill]

I really enjoyed the series, but I haven't looked at the books in YEARS.

I always thought Kreizler was arrogant but he was still an interesting character nonetheless. I would agree, however, that the Roosevelt character in the series is far too weak and bland; history would indicate he was far from either of those things.

 

[Tuvix5675]

The series concluded last week. I loved it. I never read any of the books, though I was aware of them before the series came out. I thought they did an amazing job with the production, the casting, the characterizations, the acting. This series has brought the 19th century of America to life in a realistic and gritty way I've never seen before. It's usually romanticized and polished. I found all of the main characters and even some of the minor ones very interesting. Caleb Carr was credited as a consultant on the series. Most series these days do such a poor job on writing characters, making them unrealistic, one-dimensional, and more like caricatures than characters. Bravo to TNT.