The Alienist Episode 4
Will we learn more about our three protagonists backgrounds this week? .The more I learn about them, the more I want to know, especially in regards to Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (Daniel Brühl). Will they get any closer to discovering the killer? Or will he strike again before they get a chance? Let’s dive into The Alienist Episode 4…
Pain and Pleasure
Kreizler arrives at the home a lovely, well dressed woman. She asks if he is not satisfied with her progress, so it’s obvious she is, or was, a patient of his. He tells her he is there as her pupil. A maid brings in a tray and as the camera pans over we see it is a burly man. The woman explains he’s a foreman at the local brewery. That he is use to giving orders, but there he prefers to take them. It occurs to me that this is some kind of BDSM house and she is a Dom. She tells Kreizler she has moved on from torturing helpless creatures. Obviously now it’s men she tortures.
Kreizler tells the woman he needs her insight into someone who enjoys inflicting pain. She tells him the connection between pain and pleasure is far more common than he thinks. Kreizler tells her the man is aroused by stabbing and mutilating. She responds that the mind is the most erotic organ and that is his domain.
The woman explains that a man that defiles women is dominated in his life, and a man who likes to be beaten is a bully. I can’t help but wonder how Kreizler, who is a prominent Alienist does not already know all this. She also tells Kreizler that he is probably aroused by someone for whom his intelligence means nothing. His uncomfortable reaction tells me she is right. She tells the doctor that if the man enjoys inflicting wounds that he has wounds of his own.
Roosevelt’s Bad Press
As Commissioner Roosevelt (Brian Geraghty) arrives at Police Headquarters he is swarmed by reporters. They are shouting questions about the murdered immigrant boys, asking if only the rich are being protected. He is also asked about a rumor that he has interfered with the investigation. Things are not looking good in the public eye for Roosevelt and this is what former Police Chief Thomas Byrnes (Ted Levine) wants. I’m sure it’s Byrnes and his cronies that are leaking this info to the press.
As Roosevelt enters his office he sees a negative Political Cartoon about him in the newspaper. Captain Connor’s (David Wilmot) sly chuckle tells me I’m right about Byrnes and his cronies. Connor then comes to Roosevelt’s office with some evidence he has found. He shows Roosevelt the drawing kit that John Moore (Luke Evans) had dropped at the last murder scene. Connor says it has the initials JSM and he can’t figure out who it could be. He is obviously being sarcastic. I was worried when Moore dropped his kit, I did not suspect Connor would just give it back. Although, he IS letting Roosevelt know in his subtle way that he knows what the Commissioner is doing.
An Important Clue
The Alienist is full of amazing visuals, including incredible camera angles. Some of those great angles are used in this scene. Marcus Isaacson (Douglas Smith) is dangling over the edge of the aquarium building looking at holes in the wall. Along with his twin Lucius Isaacson (Matthew Shear) he discovers these holes go all the way to the ground. While trying to figure out what made the holes Marcus discovers a piton on the ground. So the killer is not magically able to fly after all, he’s a rock climber. I’ll be honest, that possibility never even entered my mind.
Sara Howard (Dakota Fanning) shows up at Kreizler’s house. When Mary (Q’orianka Kilcher) sees that it is Sara at the door she does not answer. I’m beginning to understand her strange looks from previous episodes…she’s jealous! Cyrus (Robert Wisdom) arrives and tells Sara that Kreizler is “off in one of his trances.” What does that mean? Is he meditating? Is he hypnotized? Sara looks as confused as I am about this.
Miss Lucy Had a Baby
Sara finds Kreizler sitting on a bench in Central Park as children are eerily singing “Miss Lucy Had a Baby.” She delivers Moore’s drawing kit to him. Sara tells him that Connor gave it to the Commissioner after finding it at the murder scene. Kreizler is shocked because Moore did not tell him he had lost it. Kreizler then asks Sara if she thought about their last conversation and she says she does not have it in her to kill a child.
As the two sit on the park bench Kreizler points out a woman sitting alone with a baby carriage. He tells Sara that the woman married and quickly had a son and then a daughter. When the girl was six months old she drown both her children in the bath. The first thing that comes to my mind is Postpartum Depression, but I would assume in the 1800s that was not something that was understood. The doctor explains that her family’s status kept her out of prison, but now she wanders the park with an empty carriage.
Sara says she has no empathy for a woman who kills her children. Kreizler explains that society puts pressure on women to marry and have children, to smile when they feel incapable of smiling. He tells Sara that it is society that formed the woman with the empty baby carriage. Kreizler says, given the right circumstances, we are all capable of doing horrible things. While I agree with this to an extent, like Sara I don’t think I would be capable of killing a child under any circumstance. As Kreizler leaves Sara watches several little girls playing jump rope as they continue to sing “Miss Lucy had a Baby.”
“The Saint”
John Moore makes his way to a brothel that has been closed down by the police. At first I thought he was at Paresis Hall, but when he enters I realize it’s a different brothel. The place is filthy and I realize this must be where the latest victim worked. Moore heads down a dark, dingy hallway. A person darts between two rooms behind him and this makes me jump. He makes his way to a room at the end of the hall where he discovers three little boys playing dice.
As Moore turns to leave there is a man behind him. I catch my breath, but I see that it is Marcus and I can breath again. The establishment, The Golden Rule, was shut down as soon as the police discovered the identity of the latest victim, Ali Benghazi. After finding a window in one of the basement rooms the pair go up to the roof of the building. Marcus discovers remnants of a rope that was used to scale the building. When Moore says the killer acts with the confidence of the Devil, Marcus corrects him and says not the Devil, God. Suddenly a child appears and says “he’s a Saint.”
Bernadette, whose real name is Joseph (Jackson Gann) use to work at The Golden Rule. Moore asks Joseph who is a saint. He says that’s what Fatima, Ali’s working name, called him. Joseph says he has never seen “The Saint’ but he knows he is real. Ali had told Joseph “The Saint” was going to take him to live in a castle in the sky. Moore warns Joseph to never go with a man with a silver smile.
Is is Willem?
Captain Connor meets up with Thomas Byrnes at O’Rourkes Bar. Connor asks what he wants done about “this society pervert.” He must be talking about Willem Van Bergen whose parents Byrnes talked to in the last episode. Byrnes tells him to just keep an eye on him for now. He says if his mother can’t find a place to stash him where he can’t cut up kids someone will have to do it for her. Byrnes and Connor seem convinced that Willem is the killer. There has to be a backstory we are not being told yet that has them so sure.
Byrnes shows up at the extremely opulent home of the Van Bergen’s. He tells Mrs. Van Bergen (Sean Young) that there has been another murder. He informs her that arrangements need to be made in the best interest of her son. She claims she doesn’t know what he is talking about. Byrnes says it would be best if the police could not question Willem, given his “history and inclinations.” Now I’m dying of curiosity to know what Willem has done in the past. I’m also pissed that Byrnes is trying to protect him. I’m sure it’s because he is from such a well-to-do family and the victims are just “immigrant boy whores.” Mrs. Van Bergen just walks away without saying a word.
At Paresis Hall we see a man using some kind of cream on his hands and arms. He then slides a pair of ladies long gloves on as a boy enters the room. He tells the boy he would like to take him somewhere else and spoil him. Is this really the killer? He is partially in shadow so I can’t see his teeth. The boy tells him they are not supposed to leave, the man whispers they do a lot they are not supposed to do.
MY MOTHER!
Dr Kreizler’s patient Ezra (Roland Miskey) is repeatedly kicking the wall as the doctor enters the playground. Kreizler tells Ezra he is sorry that his parents did not come to visit this week. The doctor has a ball and he tells Ezra to pretend the ball is someone special and kick it. Ezra says it’s his mother. Kreizler gives him the ball and tells him to kick the stuffing out of her. Ezra repeatedly screams ‘MY MOTHER!” as he kicks the ball against the wall. The other children stare at him in disbelief. As Ezra walks away Kreizler gives the ball a mighty hard kick. I wonder who HE is imagining the ball to be.
A Special Date
Moore rushes into Kreizler’s where he finds Mary and Cyrus chasing a chicken around the house. When Cyrus tells Moore that Kreizler has gone to the park with Miss Howard he notices Mary’s jealousy, not that she is trying very hard to hide it. Moore tells Mary to put on her best dress he is going to take her out. Moore is such a sweet, caring man. This gesture has touched my heart, I’m going to look at him in a new light from now on.
Mary looks so lovely all dressed up and on Moore’s arm. He is taking her to see “the latest rage,” Thomas Edison’s Vitascope. A moving picture of the ocean is projected on the wall as the stunned audience looks on. I can’t even imagine how amazing that must have been for people to see for the first time. Mary appears amazed and a little frightened as she grabs on to Moore’s arm. Her huge smile when it ends tells us she is truly enjoying herself.
The Duel
Sara asks Roosevelt what happened between him and Kreizler, as she can sense their “unsettled past.” In college Kreizler had challenged Roosevelt to a duel. Roosevelt chose fists. They were in the gym in front of all their classmates when the took their shirts off. Everyone was shocked when they saw Kreizler’s arm, which according to Roosevelt, looked like “a broken wing tied to his side.” He refused to fight Kreizler because of it. He said everyone in the room was bothered by Kreizler’s disadvantage except Kreizler himself.
Kreizler is attempting to button his boots one handed. When he struggles he begins calling for Mary, with no response. He goes to her modest room and he is surprised to find it empty. He begins snooping around her stuff, even sniffing some of her clothes he finds on the floor. Creepy! I’m feeling anxious that he will get caught doing this, but he does not. I originally thought he may end up in a relationship with Sara, but it seems he may actually be attracted to Mary.
Jealousy
When Moore and Mary return to Kreizler’s he tells her she must tell him when she goes out. He is so arrogant. How is she suppose to tell him when he was not even home. Moore tells Kreizler he had come looking for him, but he was out with Sara. The doctor gives Moore his drawing kit and snaps at him about not telling him he had lost it. Moore accuses him of being jealous. I believe Moore is right.
Kreizler asks Moore to button his boots for him. He has to kneel on the floor in front of him to do this. I’m sure the “I’m superior to you” visual this creates was done purposefully by Kreizler. When Moore tries to tell him about the information he received from Joseph, Kreizler ignores him and asks if he was jealous when Julia left him for another man. He says of course he was, then Kreizler asks if that jealousy is part of his sexual ritual with prostitutes. There is nothing this man won’t think is too personal to ask.
Moore finally admits the sense of shame over the break up affects him. Kreizler coldly asks if it brings pleasure AND pain. The doctor explains that the killer is mirroring something that happened to him. Moore is shocked and calls this “clever talk.” Kreizler says they can’t just keep chasing the clues, they need to find out what is behind them. He tells Moore to talk to a Dentist about “silver smiles.”
Silver Smile
We then find ourselves in the office of an 1800s dentist. A young boy pumps the pedal to operate the drill the dentist is using on a patient. Moore asks the dentist if he has ever encountered a “silver smile.” All this time I was picturing some kind of device on the killers teeth, like old fashioned braces, not that his actual teeth were silver. The dentist has no ideas about silver teeth, but his patient mumbles something. The dentist tells Moore he said mercury salts would cause that. “One night with Venus, a lifetime of mercury.”
Moore tells Kreizler that the killer had syphilis and the treatment gave his teeth a silver color. After telling a skeptical Kreizler that he spoke to a dentist about it, Moore adds “silver smile” to list of clues on the chalkboard. Kreizler says they still need to figure out why he kills and more important when he will kill next.
Mysterious Invitations
Giorgio’s mother is seen walking up the street carrying a piece of paper. Her son is begging her not to go to the police. He tells her they don’t care, but she keeps on walking. I wonder what is on that paper she is carrying. I agree with her son, if she brings that to most of the police, especially Captain Connor, they won’t care.
After seeing Kreizler, Moore and Sara all walking separately on the street at night we see the doctor arrive at a club. It is filled with people enjoying an acrobatic show on the stage. He reaches a table that Moore is sitting at. They are both confused when they each think it was the other who invited them there. I’m thinking that it must be Sara that has invited them. The Isaacsons show up and they also falsely believe they were invited by Kreizler. Sara comes rushing in with the letter Giorgio’s mother was carrying. She too thought the doctor had invited her to the meeting.
The Letter
Sara presents the letter to the men. It was written by the killer to cause pain to Giorgio’s mother Kreizler deduces. He thinks the murderer was watching the family so he could see her agony. He assumes the Killer then followed Sara to the club. That it was the killer who had invited them all there. Kreizler is convinced he is in the club watching them. As they all look around wondering who he is Kreizler begins reading the letter.
The letter states that there are lies in the paper about him. He goes on to explain that in poor countries people eat children, especially the “ass of a small child.” He says that he took Giorgio’s eyes and ass and they fed him for a week. He claims he never had him sexually though and is upset the papers say he did. I find it quite disturbing that while being falsely accused of having sex with Giorgio is highly offensive to the killer, killing the poor boy and eating him is not.
We end as a well dressed man is attempting to pick up a boy from a soda counter. When the man smiles his teeth are all silver. Is this the killer? Is it Willem Van Bergen? Would they really show us the killer so easily? Or is this just a “red herring”? I have no idea if this is the killer or not, but I can’t wait to find out where this story is taking us.
My Previous Reviews for The Alienist: