Lurid mystery well worth the long wait

The alienist will (finally) see you now.

The long-gestating adaptation of Caleb Carr’s 1994 novel The Alienist comes to life on TNT (Monday, 9 ET/ PT, ), and it was worth the wait. Starring Daniel Brühl, Luke Evans and Dakota Fanning as a team of sleuths seeking a serial killer in 1896 New York, the series is a melancholic mystery with just enough melodrama to make it addictive.

The Alienist follows Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (Brühl), a quirky and curt early psychologist who forces himself into an investigation of the murder of a young male prostitute, which may be related to other killings. He dragoons his friend, illustrator John Moore (Evans, trading his Beauty and the Beast smarm for more of a sweet and bumbling ineptitude), into his hunt, and eventually Sara Howard (an allgrown-up Fanning), the police chief ’s secretary and the NYPD’s first female employee. The team is filled out by investigative brothers Lucious and Marcus Isaacson (Matthew Shear and Douglas Smith).

As a serial-killer series, Alienist doesn’t bring much novelty to the genre. Laszlo, John and Sara pore over files and sketches of the graphic crimes and guess at the mind-set of the man who committed such heinous acts. The series’ focus on the early adoption of practices such as fingerprinting and psychological profiling makes it vaguely reminiscent of Netflix’s Mind-hunter.

But the mystery it weaves is intriguingly lurid. The series revels in the macabre and grotesque as the camera dwells on the victims’ bodies and the sordid New York underworld.

Those unsavory images are what make Alienist stand out. The series can overwhelm with its intricately decorated sets and costumes. The production built its seedy, filthy version of Gilded Age New York with the care and detail a fantasy series might use for its castles and battlefields.

Its success stems mostly from Brühl. The wicked energy that served him so well in films such as Captain America: Civil War bolsters his portrayal of Laszlo, a hero with darkness lurking just beneath his placid veneer. Although The Alienist’s tone is somber, Brühl giddily rips into every scene.

Evans and Fanning impress in less flashy parts. Fanning’s Sara takes on new relevance in today’s climate as she is harassed and abused as the only female employee at the police station.

There’s no shortage of serial-killer dramas, and if The Alienist feels familiar, it makes up for it by presenting its story in a striking package. And you won’t want to look away.