STALLED KREIZLER

Plodding ‘Alienist’ needs to kick it into gear

‘THE Alienist” is halfway through its 10-episode run on TNT — and I’m really trying to find something compelling about the period drama.

So far, it’s been a struggle.

This adaptation of Caleb Carr’s 1994 novel about the hunt for a serial killer carving up boy prostitutes in late1890s Manhattan has all the outward trappings of an absorbing show: a gritty, sooty, gas-lit milieu (and plenty of horses and carriages), historical characters (Teddy Roosevelt, then the New York City police commissioner), horrific murders and a solid cast headed by Daniel Brühl (“Rush”) as Dr. Laszlo Kreizler — the “alienist” (a 19th century term for a psychiatrist or psychologist) using innovative intellectual techniques to help nab the killer. He’s aided by Commissioner Roosevelt’s smart, plucky assistant, Sara Howard (Dakota Fanning) and John Moore (Luke Evans), a boozy newspaper “society illustrator” (no photographers back then) who finds himself immersed in the investigation in unexpected ways.

TNT heavily promoted “The Alienist,” and while it premiered Jan. 22 to solid numbers, its narrative flow was slow out of the gate from the get-go — and hasn’t gotten much better. I expected it, by now, to find its dramatic footing and really take off, but that hasn’t happened. In short, it just can’t seem to get out of its own way, moving at a snail’s pace and getting hopelessly mired in talky psycho bab-ble — while many of its scenes are so dimly lit that it’s difficult to ascertain what-the-heck we’re supposed to be seeing. I realize “The Alienist” is going for a certain look and feel here — it’s 1896, a world of gas lamps and feeble electric lighting — but may be all four of its cinematographers did too good of a job. Even the sunshine, when it occasionally peeks through, is flat. (“The Knick,” which aired for two seasons on Cinemax with star Clive Owen, covered roughly the same timeframe in the city’s history and did a better job conveying what it must have felt like to live in New York City at that time.)

What could save the series from its narrative flaws would be compelling lead characters, but that’s not the case here: Kreizler comes off as an unlikable, pedantic bore — given to monologues supposedly of dramatic import (they're not) — while even the famously fierce Teddy Roosevelt (Brian Geraghty) can’t work up much steam (maybe he needs a better mustache). Moore, who’s looked miserable throughout and hasn’t added much in terms of plot development, is now wooing no-nonsense Sara. The feeling seems mutual, so that could spark some interest going forward, at least laterally.

But we’re not watching ng “The Alienist” for romance. Kreizler and company are hunting a faceless killer who mutilates his victims. The clues have been adding up, and, in Episode 4, we finally got our first glimpse oof the killer (and his silver teeth). Episode 5, which aired Monday night, elaborated on his true identity and his M.O.

Is that enough to make things interesting? I don't know, but with only five weeks to go before its finale, “The Alienist” needs to snap out of its torpor and shift into high dramatic gear.