Now, I have never read the novels by Carr so I am unsure if these criticisms reflect more upon his writing than that of the producers or the reverse, but in any case, this is how the season and its finale has come across.
It is one thing to have a strong and cohesive subplot to any form of storytelling--one that brings meaning and elaborates on or beautifully supplements the themes being presented in the main story. Such was so in the first season of The Alienist.
It is quite another thing, however, when certain subplots feel contrived merely for flair and when the audience can pick up on these events as having no storytelling value. It cheapens the experience of a beautifully written narrative that could have done without.
While I applaud both the progressive themes within the season and the focus of the writers/producers themselves on putting a woman-led detective agency at the forefront, that plot was muddled by trying to keep Ms. Howard's male counterparts in relevance.
Much of the fuss over Moore's fiance felt like a distraction from the story meant only to keep things "saucy" enough for casual viewers. It lent no meaningful nor profound substance to the plot. To redeem such digressions, usually would mean writing a positive conclusion for the protagonist with regard to these tangent matters, but the "curveball" baby announcement thrown in at the end of this episode proved to feel contrived as if merely to increase the dramatic value of the finale.
Altogether Sara's romantic foray felt distracting from her character development and the tragedy of her romance-cut-short takes away from the satisfaction of her success with the case. Her accomplishments should have taken the lone spotlight at the end of this finale. Little focus or acknowledgement was paid to her success, period. No mother's reunion with her child featuring gratitude for Ms. Howard. No montage of positive mentions of Sara in the papers. Nothing. Writers felt tragic love matters were more entertaining in its place.
Likewise, Marcus's death felt much the same as Sara's romance, as if it was hastily added to the plot because writers felt there wasn't enough emotion being provoked. --Or perhaps it was not enough focus on those characters throughout the season. A stereotypical cureall for that in writing seems to be "let's kill a character!" in order to render a pseudo-depth to their presence. I feel these two were cheated out of a much deeper and more meaningful story overall. Perhaps Marcus and Luscious had one in the novels but it felt as if producers wrote them into the background to better contrast Sara Howard's focus then didn't know how to keep them relevant.
Lastly, Laszlo's intermittent and budding romance with Ms. Stratton is not unlike the previous two mentions. It felt forced into the plot in order to keep his screen relevance. For a show called "The Alienist,"--of which Laszlo Kreizler is that exact person of mention--his involvement just felt unnecessary all together.
I am not saying I would've preferred the men to not be present at all, but am pointing out a failure on behalf of the producers to develop an elegant balance of plot and subplot, protagonist and supporting characters.
Indeed, the season was entertaining enough that I loved most moments in and of themselves--even--the contrived moments I speak of. I loved seeing Laszlo have a shot at happiness, loved Sara being positioned as the main protagonist and getting her time with John. I just feel these elements could have been more deftly and eloquently woven so as not to feel forced.
For me, the finale was the weakest of all the episodes this season. Every actor did an extremely amazing job. Rosy McEwen stole the screen and even the smallest of parts were played well by the other actors. Dakota Fanning is a treasure and so is Daniel Brühl.
I would love for Sara Howard to have her own show entirely. It would be a win-win to have her headlining her own series (or to have removed "The Alienist" from the title of this season). Maybe then, writers wouldn't feel the need to force themselves to keep Laszlo and Moore relevant. And if there is an Alienist season 3 I hope it rebalances the stories of each of its main characters, bringing back the depth and purposefulness of their subplots as done so in Season 1.
It is one thing to have a strong and cohesive subplot to any form of storytelling--one that brings meaning and elaborates on or beautifully supplements the themes being presented in the main story. Such was so in the first season of The Alienist.
It is quite another thing, however, when certain subplots feel contrived merely for flair and when the audience can pick up on these events as having no storytelling value. It cheapens the experience of a beautifully written narrative that could have done without.
While I applaud both the progressive themes within the season and the focus of the writers/producers themselves on putting a woman-led detective agency at the forefront, that plot was muddled by trying to keep Ms. Howard's male counterparts in relevance.
Much of the fuss over Moore's fiance felt like a distraction from the story meant only to keep things "saucy" enough for casual viewers. It lent no meaningful nor profound substance to the plot. To redeem such digressions, usually would mean writing a positive conclusion for the protagonist with regard to these tangent matters, but the "curveball" baby announcement thrown in at the end of this episode proved to feel contrived as if merely to increase the dramatic value of the finale.
Altogether Sara's romantic foray felt distracting from her character development and the tragedy of her romance-cut-short takes away from the satisfaction of her success with the case. Her accomplishments should have taken the lone spotlight at the end of this finale. Little focus or acknowledgement was paid to her success, period. No mother's reunion with her child featuring gratitude for Ms. Howard. No montage of positive mentions of Sara in the papers. Nothing. Writers felt tragic love matters were more entertaining in its place.
Likewise, Marcus's death felt much the same as Sara's romance, as if it was hastily added to the plot because writers felt there wasn't enough emotion being provoked. --Or perhaps it was not enough focus on those characters throughout the season. A stereotypical cureall for that in writing seems to be "let's kill a character!" in order to render a pseudo-depth to their presence. I feel these two were cheated out of a much deeper and more meaningful story overall. Perhaps Marcus and Luscious had one in the novels but it felt as if producers wrote them into the background to better contrast Sara Howard's focus then didn't know how to keep them relevant.
Lastly, Laszlo's intermittent and budding romance with Ms. Stratton is not unlike the previous two mentions. It felt forced into the plot in order to keep his screen relevance. For a show called "The Alienist,"--of which Laszlo Kreizler is that exact person of mention--his involvement just felt unnecessary all together.
I am not saying I would've preferred the men to not be present at all, but am pointing out a failure on behalf of the producers to develop an elegant balance of plot and subplot, protagonist and supporting characters.
Indeed, the season was entertaining enough that I loved most moments in and of themselves--even--the contrived moments I speak of. I loved seeing Laszlo have a shot at happiness, loved Sara being positioned as the main protagonist and getting her time with John. I just feel these elements could have been more deftly and eloquently woven so as not to feel forced.
For me, the finale was the weakest of all the episodes this season. Every actor did an extremely amazing job. Rosy McEwen stole the screen and even the smallest of parts were played well by the other actors. Dakota Fanning is a treasure and so is Daniel Brühl.
I would love for Sara Howard to have her own show entirely. It would be a win-win to have her headlining her own series (or to have removed "The Alienist" from the title of this season). Maybe then, writers wouldn't feel the need to force themselves to keep Laszlo and Moore relevant. And if there is an Alienist season 3 I hope it rebalances the stories of each of its main characters, bringing back the depth and purposefulness of their subplots as done so in Season 1.