Memento Mori
Episode 6 of The Alienist Season 2 begins with Libby goes on the run, washing her hands in a horse trough and convinced that “her” baby has been stolen. This inevitably sees her visit Hudson Street and back to GooGoo, who suggests they nab another baby to make her feel better. Meanwhile, Sara and John’s love-making session complicates matters as they wonder whether they have a future together. This consequently causes a rift to start growing between John and Violet as she questions his devotion to their marriage, especially given the way he looks at her Out of all the people jumping to defend John, it happens to be Violet’s Father who tells his daughter that John’s a decent man. Despite the baby being found and Bitsy trying to convince her to move on, Sara refuses to let the case go. Given Libby’s nursery has still not been found and Libby herself is on the run, this case is far from over. Unfortunately, things are complicated further by the morning newspapers vilifying Sara for how “unconventional” she acted in saving the Linares baby. With the police swarming around the abandoned house they found Libby in, Sara and John run into a road-block. Given the house is owned by GooGoo, John decides to keep digging and stumble upon a boarded-up house nearby which GooGoo owns. Realizing they have something, Sara and John bring Marcus and Lucius in to help with forensics. Inside, they find exactly what they’re looking for. Numerous baby portraits hang up on the wall like a grotesque collage. Memory boxes act as sick mementos for that child’s life. Sara realizes Libby is going to strike again. Doyle and the other officers arrive at Laszlo’s study to find the young Polly has hung himself. Inspired by an earlier Houdini trick, this is obviously an accident gone horribly wrong. The police however, do not see it that way as the young child is taken to hospital to heal up. Laszlo meanwhile is suspended. Laszlo blames himself for what happened of course, confiding in Karen. He admits it’s his fault for getting so invested in the case and not seeing problems closer to home. Karen reassures him though, admitting that a child’s wonder is their greatest tool. Without that, it would turn the children into twisted and troubled figures like Libby. We catch up with our child-napper down at the park, on the prowl for another child to steal. And steal she does. Screams ring out across the park as Libby slips away without anyone suspecting a thing. News of this kidnapping spreads and it brings Sara Howard before Burns and Mr Hurst. She presents her findings to Cornelius Vanderbilt, the man whom the baby has been taken from, and admits that she knew before-hand that Libby was going to strike. He agrees to take on her case but she has terms – Sara wants Laszlo free and reinstated on her team. She also wants Mr Burns following her lead and not meddling in affair. With little choice, he agrees to hire her. With the gang gathered together, Sara reminisces the fateful moment in that cafe when she and Libby discussed their fathers. This brings a new lead in the case as John and Sara later dig in the archives and find the news story from that day. Meanwhile, Sara and Laszlo discuss the nursing incident she saw with GooGoo and it brings Laszlo straight to Karen. As the pieces start to move and close in on Libby, as we soon see she happens to be hiding out on a rooftop near the Brooklyn Bridge.
The Review Write-Up
With Libby on the run and our gang together and investigating where she could be, all of this interestingly brings back that fateful discussion in the cafe. It’s certainly a great way to tie everything together and understanding more about Libby’s past helps to piece together what she may do in the future. With another child taken and GooGoo in on the action, all eyes now turn to the final two episodes next week and what should prove to be a pretty exciting end to this season.
