In New York in 1896, a patrolling night police found a severed hand in the snow, and then on the high bridge, the body of a boy prostitute was found. The eyes of the deceased were gouged out, the right hand was amputated, the abdomen was cut open, and the genitals were also removed. The death was miserable. Criminal psychologist Laszlo Chrysler found through investigation that this was a serial homicide case. It has many similarities with the twins case a few years ago. The whole New York city has to face a meticulous, bloodthirsty perversion. Murderer. As a result, the Audio-Technica team, headed by Chrysler, that absorbed journalist painter John Moore and secretary Sarah Howard, was formally established, which kicked off the show.
Vintage dark background
The case took place in New York, USA at the end of the 19th century. The second industrial revolution brought the hope of electricity, but the darkness and dampness still breeds depravity and morbidity, class divisions are serious, immigrants and low-income classes are stuck with slums, and the bourgeoisie The predators indulge in Zhumen wine and meat. The police station is corrupt and incompetent. Pimps who sell child prostitutes are rampant, and they even collude with the police.
Alienist is literally translated as a psychiatrist. As for the meaning of the title "Silent Angel", the first three episodes did not give an explanation. The public in the 19th century maintained a skeptical attitude towards emerging sciences such as psychiatry and criminal psychology. People were more willing to seek a cure from the Church of God than scientific guidance. Some even called Chrysler a liar. Regardless of religion or science, the complex and contradictory background provides incentives and opportunities for this murderer who continues to do evil.
Like last year’s Netflix fire "Mind Hunter", the show also uses an iron triangle combination of two men and a woman, but this time the combination is more mixed with personal emotional factors, rather than as simple as "Mind Hunter" Partnership with colleagues. It is worth mentioning that the play is very reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes’s Victorian era. At this time, New York is a replica of industrial London, and the murderer’s modus operandi is more than that of the infamous "Jack the Ripper". . Most of the victims were male prostitutes from humble backgrounds. They relied on selling their bodies to adult men for a meager income and suffered discrimination from others. "But if it's the boy-whore from the bridge, I'd say he had it coming." Even a person who has been dealing with corpses all day is reluctant to look at these children.
The three protagonists are not professional detectives, but relying on years of experience and intuition of studying mental illness, Chrysler can still judge the difference between impulsive killing and serial killing. The latter are more sensitive, and most of their crimes are regular and findable. They can hardly endure their inner suffering. Directly a child prostitute who has no power to restrain the chicken may be the best way to release their anger. Chrysler made it clear that if he wanted to understand a murderer, he had to walk into his heart and become him. Unlike HBO's "True Detective" and AMC's "Murder", the show pays more attention to spiritual exploration in order to gain emotional resonance with the murderer. This has many precedents in "Criminal Minds" and "Mind Hunter".
Although some rigorous reasoning is missing, the play cleverly uses two clues to promote the development of the story. On the one hand, it is the iron triangle of pursuing the murderer, and on the other hand, it is the description of some physical characteristics and behavior habits of the murderer himself. The currently known clues are as follows: the murderer loves high places, cannibals, has eliminated fingerprints, has a cat, and is very bold, and the police may also be involved. In the United States in the 19th century where the methods of solving crimes were still outdated, fingerprint authentication was still an immature technology, and few people knew it. The collusion between the police station and the Dream Death Museum and the hiding of the case files are gradually constructing a conspiracy theory:
The murderer may be a well-educated noble child, familiar with modern science, and his family strength penetrated into New York government agencies. In order to avoid leaks, this huge family chose to bribe police officers and government personnel to achieve the goal of calming people down. The murderer is psychopathic and is keen on this kind of murder game. It is also possible that the murderer was just a criminal who grew up on the street. His deformed childhood led to his morbid psychology, but his IQ was extremely high. The police department chose to seal the case in order to avoid panic among the public. All in all, no matter what the truth is, there must be greater interests involved.
The good or bad of the new year's new drama still has to be distinguished by the audience. After all, good dramas are comfortable, and bad ones will be forgotten.
Update to S1E3
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