So the miniseries based on Caleb Carr’s bestselling novel from 1994 premiered on TNT tonight. A previous thread anticipating the series didn’t last very long. I would have thought there would have been more interest here. I remember enjoying the novel quite a bit back in the day. In fact, pretty sure I read it several times.
Anyway, I found the opening episode tonight to be a toss up for me. They have certainly gone to great lengths to get the look right. The sets and costumes are near perfect. They crammed a lot of the plot set up into one hour though the dialogue was a bit clunky for me at times. Some of the acting seemed rather stiff too.
What was that room he chased the guy into? What was with the raised walkway, and the hole in the roof? Anybody who never read the book might be led to think the killer was some sort of flying monster.
I hope they’ll have a convincing rendering of the old Croton Reservoir.
I watched it this morning. I was really looking forward to this but it just did not hold my attention like a thought it would. I struggled to make it to the end of the episode. I agree that some of the dialogue was just meh but it looked good. The most positive thing it did was make me want to re-read the book again as my last re-read was at least 5 years ago.
Final verdict as of now - meh but I’ll give it one more episode to grab me.
I’m a bit confused about the Zweig file. At first Sara (Miss Howard!) said no, she won’t abuse the trust her boss placed in her, then she hands it over, then the coroners show up to autopsy the bones at the behest of Roosevelt. So did Roosevelt authorize handing over the file and I missed it?
Ok, so I’m bumping this. Tonight was the third episode and I will admit it has grown on me. This is really well done with a cast I’ve started enjoying more each week. Dakota Fanning in particular was very good in this episode.
Also, Ted Levine as former NYPD chief of detectives Thomas Byrnes is pretty much in his element.
The show really does have the look of the period and place down convincingly. And while there are moments it isn’t exactly faithful to the book, they are not shy about the gore and boy whore elements.
The lady of the house is loving it. I find it so dry and tedious that I can’t pay attention. It does look nice, though; like an Edward Gorey sketch come to life.
I tried it, didnt like it. Sure, a strong female is important, but they choose the wrong actress, and showing she is strong by showing her smoking is just wrong.
The two main male characters didnt also strike me as memorable.
I will also point out that “Profiling” has a terribly poor record in actually ever solving crimes. It sounds good, but it rarely works.
Psychological profiling ‘worse than useless’
Profiling of killers has no real-world value, wastes police time and risks bringing the profession into disrepute, experts say*
Just watched the first 4 episodes – so far, I like it. I think some of the gore is unnecessary, but the performances and design/style are all very good so far, IMO.
The book handles these elements very clearly, and the show elides right over them. There are some hints as the show progresses, but I don’t think they really explain it.
Explanation, spoilered:
In the book, Roosevelt went to Harvard with the Dr., and they became friends there after a fight. Although Roosevelt is under pressure from the police force, he’s determined to clear out corruption and solve the case. Roosevelt and the doctor arrange for information sharing, and for the aid of the Jewish police officers. In the show, it’s not completely clear if this is what has happened, or whether Sara is acting on her own, and the Dr. has suborned the Jewish detectives without Roosevelt’s knowledge.
Watched the first ep. The period stuff was neat, but so much of the subject matter was just so ugly - I don’t need that sort of ugliness for “entertainment.”
I don’t care for how they changed the characters themselves I mean in the book krizler was Slavic/Hungarian and I didn’t notice the disabled arm that clouds his thinking
and in the book Roosevelt was his normal full speed ahead boisterous self
although the closing of paresis hall and it moving across the street didn’t happen in the book it was a nice historical nod to what happened fairly often back then and they made the zwelig connection too soon …
Now for the Sarah smoking thing smoking ,short hair and getting a job was pretty much the only way upper middle class women like her background could publicly rebel
The maid doesn’t speak other than 2 or 3 words because she cant talk due to her disability
I haven’t seen is since the premiere so I’m behind …