This season of The Alienist was centered around Sara and John a lot. They were dancing around each other like they were going to end up together. All of that was for nothing in the end.
I understand how shows like to keep their main couple apart until the end. Bones had Brennan and Booth apart until season six. Friends kept Ross and Rachel apart after their second break-up until the last episode of the series. New Girl also kept Nick and Jess apart for a while after their break-up.
Sometimes keeping the characters apart is good. It’s part of the dynamic of the show, but is it a necessary one for The Alienist? I do enjoy having them dance around each other the way they do. But I also enjoyed seeing them together.
There were only a couple of hints of them in season one, but this season it was throughout. Why put so much energy into them if you are just going to make Violet (Emily Barber) pregnant? Is she pregnant? Is it John’s baby?
Violet was so desperate to keep John (Luke Evans) that I could easily believe Hearst (Matt Letscher) would come up with something like this to make sure he didn’t leave Violet. John is too respectable of a man to abandon his finance when she gets pregnant.
I was mad when John told Sara (Dakota Fanning). The writers had made it seem like he was going to leave Violet, and then this. I’m not sure Sara is ready for marriage yet. She’s very focused on her detective agency. I think she could get married and still run her business. They could be a power couple! But that wasn’t a thing back then. But a woman running her own business wasn’t really a thing either.
There was a lot of good in the final two episodes of the season. The chase to capture Libby (Rosy McEwen) before she killed the baby and hurt her own daughter was thrilling. Though, I didn’t like that Marcus (Douglas Smith) got shot and died. He was my favorite brother. I know he wasn’t a big part of the show, but he was there, and I liked him. I was surprised and sad that the writers chose to write him off. It was a very beautiful scene, though.
I’m also sad that Laszlo (Daniel Brühl) is leaving. Sara lost so many friends in this episode. First, Marcus dies, then John is becoming a father, and now Laszlo is going to Europe. I’m happy for Laszlo because he’s finally found a woman that is fulfilling to him on so many levels, but sad for Sara.
Hopefully, we get a third season, and then our favorite detective team can be reunited for the next case. But there are only two books in the series, so is this where they leave us?
In some ways, the season finale felt like it could be a series finale (I don’t want that, though!) Sara gave a fantastic speech to her all-female staff that is inspiring in any period. And, with Laszlo leaving and John settling into his new life, it feels like an ending. But it wouldn’t be hard to bring them all back together. The show has a good fan base that they would probably all stick around for another season, even a fourth one!
This season had the same excellent detective work has the first, but the writers played with our emotions more. Between John and Sara, Laszlo and Karen (Lara Pulver) and even the killer this season was a more sympathetic character. You wanted her to get help and not end up dead at the end of the season.
What will we do with our Sunday nights now? I still have Wynonna Earp, but just last week, there were too many shows on Sundays, and now there’s one. Hopefully, we can find some more great TV like The Alienist. With the pandemic, there’s about to be a drought of shows.
Maybe this is a great time to finish old shows and watch ones that have been on my lists for years.
What did you think of this season of The Alienist? What are you watching next? Tweet me @MandyTTCarr or comment below.
