The Alienist Episode 8: Psychopathia Sexualis

Heidi Ann

6 years ago

The Alienist Episode 8

Last week Kreizler and Mary finally kissed. Will they find a happily ever after? I sure hope so but worry the doctor will find a reason why they should not be together. In the hunt for the killer will new information be found in Washington? Are they getting closer to finding his identity? When IS the next Holy Day? Let’s get into The Alienist Episode 8…

Love Is In The Air

We open with a very happy Mary (Q’orianka Kilcher) placing flowers on the dining room table. Her happiness has befuddled Cyrus (Robert Ray Wisdom) and Stevie (Matt Lintz). We then find Laszlo Kreizler (Daniel Brühl) gazing out a train window in a very uncharacteristically happy manner. John Moore (Luke Evans) is riding on the train with him and is sporting two nasty black eyes. No explanation is given on how he managed to get away from Connor (David Wilmot). I have to assume after giving him a beat-down Connor just let him go.

After some casual chat between Kreizler and Moore about his black eyes, the doctor asks him if he plans to see his former fiance, Julia Pratt when they are in Washington. Kreizler is surprised when he says he has not plans to talk to her, that he prefers to look to the future instead of dwell in the past. As Kreizler explains the theory that one part of the brain controls love Moore tells him love is in the heart. As they continue to bicker this theory on the way to the dining car a man from another compartment is ominously watching them.

Washington D.C.

Sara (Dakota Fanning) explains to Commissioner Roosevelt (Brian Geraghty) that Kreizler is traveling to Washington. That he is following up on some leads that show there may be a connection between the killer and the West. Sara tells Roosevelt that Kreizler will need his help gaining access to some Federal Institutions. Roosevelt has a friend in Washington that will be able to help.

Kreizler and Moore are at a social gathering in Washington chatting with a man who works for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. They ask about examining records of unsolved massacres and are told there are not many of those. A lovely young woman then asks Kreizler to dance and when she won’t take his polite excuse not to he snaps “no”. The man they were talking to offers to dance with her and tells Moore to come see him in the morning.

St. Elizabeth’s

The next day we find Kreizler at St Elizabeth’s Hospital. As he waits a man who introduces himself as Dr. Ignatius Blunt (Jo Stone-Fewings), approaches him saying he had seen him speak at Johns Hopkins years earlier. Kreizler tells Blunt he is there looking for information on a former patient, Rudolf Bunzl. Blunt remembers the man, but tells Kreizler he did not have any facial deformity. He does remember a former patient that had a horrific tic, but does not recall his name. Another man, Dr. Dillman (Christopher Naylor), approaches telling “Iggy” not to bother the visitor. Turns out Blunt is a patient of St. Elizabeth’s, he had been an Army Surgeon at Gettysburg. This was a swerve I didn’t see coming, he certainly came across as legit, so I can’t fault Kreizler for being fooled.

Dr. Dillman informs Kreizler that Bunzl had died four months previously and was buried at Arlington Cemetery. Kreizler asks Dillman if there had been a patient there with severe facial tics. Blunt may have been a patient at the hospital, but it seems Kreizler believes what he told him. Dillman tells him he doesn’t remember anyone like that, but that he is new to the hospital. When Kreizler asks to look at the records Dillman reluctantly agrees to let him. While he is at the hospital Moore is in a library examining gruesome photos of Indian massacres. He is shocked to discover in one photo that the victim’s penis has been removed and inserted into his mouth. These are details I definitely did not learn about in school.

All Roads Lead to New Paltz

Kreizler and Moore meet up and Moore tells the doctor that every unsolved massacre was eventually blamed on marauding Indians. Kreizler tells Moore that Bunzl is dead, but he found a patient that fit what they were looking for. The man never served further West then Chicago though. Moore tells him he found a massacre that fit what they were looking for, but it happened in upstate New York. It was blamed on marauding Indians taking revenge on a minister and his wife. When Kreizler asks what town it happened in Moore says New Paltz, which is the same town, John Beecham, the man Kreizler discovered was born. There is no way that could be a coincidence. Have they finally discovered the real killer?

As Kreizler tells Moore to call Sara and have her find out more information on the massacre from local officials, the same man from the train is seen watching them. Who is this guy? Is he just watching them, or is he planning to do something? Moore calls Sara at Police Headquarters and asks her to look into the massacre that happened 16 years earlier in New Paltz. He tells her there was a son, Adam, who survived the attack and lives near Boston, he and Kreizler are going to go talk to him. Moore tells her to also let the Isaacsons know they need to go out West and talk to Beecham’s former commander.

Everyone is Traveling Today

The Isaacsons are on a train headed to South Dakota. Marcus (Douglas Smith) asks Lucius (Matthew Shear) if he thinks they will see any Buffalo. Lucius responds “if they’re not all dead.” When Marcus asks if they will see Indians, Lucius whispers the same response. On a different train we find Kreizler and Moore in a dining car. The pair are on their way to Newton, Massachusetts. Kreizler asks Moore what it’s like when you are first in love. I had predicted that Kreizler would decide the love between himself and Mary should not happen. I’m thrilled to see I was wrong. It’s wonderful to see Kreizler in love.

Unlike all the men, Sara is not traveling by train, but by River Boat, to New Paltz, New York. She is met by Eliza (Cassi Thomson) who was sent to meet her. Eliza will bring Sara to the Old Dury Place in the morning. When Sara tells her she works for the New York Police Department the girl is shocked. She has never heard of a woman working for the police before, especially in New York City. Sara tells her she is the first. When Sara spots some mountains with very sheer cliffs, Eliza tells her they are Shawangunk Mountain, also known as “The Gunks.” Sara asks her if people climb them and she says they do, that she has even climbed them. The killer is a skilled climber so it’s becoming obvious they are on the right track.

As Kreizler and Moore ride into Newton in a carriage and Moore mentions his grandmother loving a fig filled cookie made in the town. He thinks they sound “ghastly”. Fig Newtons are actually quite delicious, he should trust his grandma on this one and try some. Kreizler says they will go to see Adam Dury the next day. He doesn’t want Moore mentioning the name to anyone as he wants his visit to Adam to be a surprise.

John Beecham

Marcus is photographing Sitting Bull’s tombstone which Lucius finds very disrespectful. A man rides up on horseback asking if they are the men waiting to see Captain Miller. They are brought on horseback to see the Captain. Miller (Eric Johnson) is surprised they travelled so far to ask about Beecham. When they ask if he remembers the man he says “it’s been 10 years and I can’t get him out of my head.” He tells the Isaacsons Beecham was a good soldier; disciplined, attendant to detail, efficient. He was also religious, but did not get along with the other men because of their whoring and drinking.

Miller tells them that during the Haymarket Labor Riots in Chicago they were called in to keep the peace. Things got out of control and some rioters were shot and killed. Miller says Beecham had to be half-crazy to do what he did. Marcus asks the Captain what exactly did Beecham do. Miller found him sitting on a dead striker, a young man, in a back alley. He was stabbing the body over and over with a knife. Miller tells Marcus the worst part was Beecham was completely naked and covered in blood. The Captain then tells a shocked Marcus “down there between his legs he was stiff as a flag pole.”

Trouble is Brewing

Back in New York City Thomas Byrnes (Ted Levine) is talking to Connor outside his apartment. He gives a bag of candy to Connor’s son Thomas who was named after him. Connor must really look up to Byrnes to have named his son after him. Connor tells Byrnes that Kreizler and Moore had spent two days in Washington snooping around many buildings. I guess that explains why the mystery man was following them all around. When Byrnes asks what they were looking for Connor says “Cowboys and Injuns.” Byrnes does not want Kreizler to solve the murders, he says it will throw 30 years of police work out the window. Connor tells him he will let “The Swede” know of Byrne’s concerns. Is “The Swede” the man that was following them to Washington? What will he do now?

The Old Dury Place

Eliza is bringing Sara out to the Old Dury Place when Sara asks her if she knew the family. She tells Sara that the whole town knew the family. The Reverend and his wife, their oldest son Adam and youngest son Japheth. When Sara asks Eliza about Japheth being kidnapped by Indians she ignores the question as she stops the carriage. She leads Sara through the woods to the remains of the Dury’s house.

Sara is met at the crumbling remains of the house by Sheriff Early (Sean Bridgers). The Sheriff tells Sara that Roosevelt is a popular man in that area. I get the distinct feeling he does not like having to help Sara, but feels he has no choice. All that is left of the house is one full stone wall with a chimney. The rest of the walls are nearly completely crumbled to the ground. Sara asks Early if he was familiar with what happened there. He tells her he was a Deputy at the time and saw the bodies, that they were butchered like hogs.

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Looking for Adam

Kreizler and Moore are brought to the Adam Dury farm. All we see is an old barn and a few animals. Is there no house? It seems strange to me that they are dropped at a barn and not a house. Does Adam not have a house? They enter the barn calling out for the man. This is a good way to get yourself killed. I’m still trying to understand why they would not go to the farmhouse…there must be one. Moore asks the cow where her master might be. I’m sure she will be very helpful.

A pitchfork is suddenly thrown at the men, narrowly missing them. Adam Dury (David Meunier) is aiming a double barreled shotgun at them from the hay loft. Moore introduces himself and tells Adam he works for the New York Times. Kreizler tells him they just want to talk. He says he knows Adam had already left home when the massacre happened, and Adam responds “home, that’s a poor description of it.”

The Dury Family

As Sara walks through the ruins of the Dury home Sheriff Early tells her he doesnt think the Reverend could have saved anyone’s soul with his “hellfire and damnation.” He tells her that Reverend Dury was not a missionary very long before being driven off the plains. When he returned to New Paltz he brought pictures of mutilated dead white people killed in the Minnesota massacre of ‘62. He would show the photographs to children in town and tell them that would happen to them if they were not God fearing. The Sheriff tells Sara no one liked the Reverend or his wife, and they did not blame the Indians for seeking their revenge and kidnapping Japheth. Sara asks him if he really believes it was Indians he tells her that is what the records say happened and that is what he says happened. In other words Sara, don’t question him, he obviously has no intention of having these findings questioned. After Early leaves Eliza tells Sara not to believe a word he says. What does she mean? Is she referring to who slaughtered the family or his description of the family? I hope she elaborates.

Back at the Dury Farm Kreizler and Moore are now outside the barn talking to Adam. He tells Kreizler he won’t speak ill of the dead even if they deserve it. Moore tells him they are not there to talk badly about his parents, that they believe the police investigation was flawed. When Kreizler asks Adam to tell him about Japheth he is shocked.

Japheth Dury

Eliza tells Sara that Japheth didn’t have any friends because of his condition, he was always “twitching.” So Japheth has a facial twitch? I thought it was John Beecham that had the twitch. Are Japheth and Beecham the same person? I’m truly a bit confused at this point. Eliza tells Sara that Adam did not want his parent’s house and she doesn’t blame him, it’s full of ghosts. As Sara is leaving she finds a box in the ruins. When she opens the box it is full of small bones, animal I’m assuming.

Adam tells the men he taught Japheth how to hunt and skin animals. He tells Kreizler it didn’t help him, he still could not get out from under her shadow. Adam tells him his mother had no heart. She was always telling Japheth he wasn’t her’s. She told him that “man-eating savages” left him on her door stop. Adam says his mother told Japheth he was the bastard child of a Red Injun. The only time his brother’s soul found peace was when he was climbing in the mountains. Facial tics, overbearing mother, a climber. More and more characteristics of the killer are fitting Japheth. Is he the killer? Was he really kidnapped by Indians? Did he grow up and change his name to John Beecham? So many questions to be answered.

Eliza tells Sara that Japheth stuck to the rocks like a lizard. She never saw a climber like him. Sara asks if he climbed alone. Eliza tells her there was a time he climbed with another man, a farm hand. We flash back to Adam who tells Kreizler the man was older and he trusted him to look after his brother. The man ended up raping his brother. Adam says he would have ripped the man’s throat out himself if he had the chance. Back to Sara asking if the man is still around. Eliza tells her he died, that he fell off a 1000 foot cliff in “The Gunks” around the same time the Durys were killed. Eliza tells Sara it was not an accident as his throat had been cut from ear to ear and his eyes were missing. When then see Kreizler ask Adam what the man’s name was and he says Beecham, George Beecham.

You Can’t Stop the Future

Back in New York City J.P. Morgan (Michael Ironside) is meeting with Roosevelt. He tells the Commissioner he met with Chief Byrnes, and Roosevelt reminds him Byrnes is the FORMER Chief. Morgan tells him people are not ready for this “new high falutin form of investigation.” He tells Roosevelt it would scare people if an Alienist could solve the murder before the police could. When Roosevelt asks Morgan why he is telling him this he says taking faith away from a man is like taking away his future. Roosevelt responds you can’t stop the future.

Under Attack

Back in the carriage Moore is thinking the same way I am, that the killer has to be Japheth. Suddenly a shot rings out and the carriage driver is hit. I was not expecting this and literally jumped in my seat. The horses instinctively stop and we see the same man that had been following them in Washington shoot again at the carriage. The shots spook the horses and they take off running as the man continues shooting into the carriage. As the horses round a bend onto a bridge the carriage goes crashing over the side into the water below.

After the crash Kreizler has hurt his leg and he asks Moore to tie it off. As he uses his bow tie on Kreizler’s leg the doctor asks him to deliver a message if he doesn’t make it. Moore tells him to deliver the message himself as he doesn’t intend for either of them to die. The message must have been for Mary. I bet he was going to tell her he loved her. They climb out of the wreck and take off into the woods to avoid the shooter.

Love and Jealousy

As Moore helps Kreizler walk through the woods he asks him what the message was he wanted him to deliver. When the doctor tells him it’s nothing Moore says he’s not a fool and can see that Kreizler is in love. He asks if the woman knows how he feels, he says not the extent of it. When Moore asks if she feels the same and he says yes it occurs to me that he thinks it’s Sara. Moore is clearly jealous as he tells Kreizler she is wonderful and to look after her. He says he can brag he introduced the two of them and Kreizler finally realizes Moore thinks its Sara. Moore is happily shocked when Kreizler tells him it’s Mary, actually relieved would be a better word. Kreizler calls him out, telling him he was jealous. He doesn’t respond but we all know it’s true.

We see Kreizler back on the train heading home. I’m left wondering how did they get to the train station so easily? Why didn’t the man come after them? Surely if he wanted to kill them he could have easily caught up to them. Or did he assume they had died already?

Connor and Doyle Come Calling

Back at Kreizler’s home Stevie is tending the horses as Mary helps Cyrus get ready for bed. They hear someone enter the house, Kreizler must have returned. Mary heads to the foyer to see him, but it’s not the doctor. She finds Connor and Doyle (Martin McCreadie) have let themselves in. Connor asks if the doctor is home yet, and Mary does not respond so they decide to look around themselves.

Cyrus hears Connor calling out for Kreizler. The vile Connor keeps asking Mary where the doctor is. I don’t know if he knows she is mute or not. The man who had shot at Kreizler and Moore grabs Stevie with a rag, I assume knocking him out with chloroform. When Connor asks if he is upstairs and Mary does not respond he says “cat got your tongue.” So he does not know she is mute. As Connor heads upstairs Mary runs off. Run Mary, leave the house!

Mary Fights Back

As Mary runs into the kitchen she finds Doyle there. He asks her what she thinks she is doing as he stands by the back door. That bastard! Suddenly Doyle is grabbed from behind by Cyrus. He tells Mary to run. Yes Mary, listen to Cyrus. Run! Escape! She grabs a kitchen knife and runs out of the room. Instead of running out the front door though she heads upstairs. No, Mary don’t go up there. I understand she feels the need to protect Kreizler’s home but she is making a huge mistake.

Mary slashes at Connor with the knife. He grabs her and slams her head against the wall. They crash through a set of doors as he calls her a “filthy slag.” She still has the knife in her hand. Mary is kicking at him fiercely and manages to slice his hand with the knife. At this rate she is going to end up killing him and will be arrested for murder. As Connor struggles to get the knife from her they keep slamming against the upstairs railing causing it to break. Mary manages to stab Connor in the shoulder just as we see the man with the cloth grab Cyrus who still has a hold of Doyle.

There are no words

Doyle escapes from Cyrus and runs upstairs just as Connor grabs Mary and throws her against the broken railing. She falls to the floor below, striking the chandelier as she goes. Connor and Doyle stare in disbelief at what just happened. All you hear is the sound of the swinging chandelier and Connor’s heavy breathing. Connor then looks down on Mary’s crumpled body lying by the stairs below, clearly dead.

Once you see Mary’s crumpled lifeless body there is nothing more to say…it’s all far too heartbreaking to comprehend.