The Alienist is an American period crime drama β thriller television series based on the novel of the same name by Caleb Carr. The ten-episode limited series [ 1 ] [ 2 ] first aired on TNT as a sneak peek on January 21, , before its official premiere on January 22, , airing until March 26, The series incorporates fact with fiction by including the characters that are historical figures, such as Theodore Roosevelt , who held the post of police commissioner from to The first season is set in , when a series of gruesome murders of boy prostitutes has gripped New York City.
Newly appointed police commissioner Teddy Roosevelt calls upon Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, a criminal psychiatrist, and John Moore, a newspaper illustrator, to conduct the investigation in secret. The team finds opposition within the NYPD, primarily from Captain Connor and the recently retired Chief Byrnes, both of whom are more committed to protecting the reputations of New York's high society than they are to finding the perpetrators of the crimes; as well as from the working poor and lower class citizens who distrust them for being outsiders.
In the second season, set a year later, Sara has opened a private detective agency. She, Kreizler, and Moore β now a New York Times reporter β team up to find the Spanish consul's kidnapped infant daughter. Their investigation puts them on a path of another elusive killer, while showcasing institutional corruption , income inequality, yellow journalism , and the role of women in s society.
In April , it was reported that Paramount Television would adapt The Alienist as an event television series in partnership with Anonymous Content.
Paramount also announced that Eric Roth had come on board the project as an executive producer, as had Hossein Amini as both writer for the series and executive producer. It also announced that Cary Fukunaga would direct all the episodes and serve as an executive producer. In September , director Jakob Verbruggen replaced Fukunaga as director due to scheduling conflicts, though Fukunaga remained an executive producer.
