NEW YORK (CNS) -- Based upon Caleb Carr's eponymous, popular and acclaimed 1994 novel, the limited series period drama "The Alienist" debuts on the TNT cable channel Monday, Jan. 22, 9-10 p.m. EST.

Great-looking, with a wonderful, fine eye for period details, the nonetheless morally problematic series will air on Monday nights in that time slot, concluding its 10-week run March 26.

Besides the graphic descriptions of murders of male prostitutes at the drama's crux, the show also depicts police brutality, the mentally ill violently injuring themselves, nudity, strong and often gratuitous sexuality and sexually transmitted diseases.

People tuning in to see a show about a serial killer terrorizing Manhattan in 1896, shouldn't anticipate seeing "The Waltons," and some of this problematic material necessarily serves the plot. But, as is the case with many contemporary TV productions, the producers insist upon presenting this material most candidly.

Some viewers will consequently recoil from graphic images of plucked-out eyes and a man relentlessly banging his head against a brick jail-cell wall. But if filmmakers shot these scenes more obliquely, they would have respected viewers' intelligence and imagination more.

Not for the squeamish, "The Alienist" pushes the limits of suitable viewing, even for discreet grownups.

Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (Daniel Bruhl) is the alienist. When a male prostitute named Santorelli is found butchered to death on top of the still-unfinished Williamsburg Bridge, New York City Police Commissioner Teddy Roosevelt (Brian Geraghty) reluctantly asks Kreizler to help with the investigation. A forerunner of a psychiatrist and criminal profiler, Kreizler is called in as an alienist because the crime's perpetrator was "alienated from his true nature," as 19th-century people commonly described mental illness.

Kreizler initially enlists New York Times illustrator John Moore (Luke Evans) to help him because Kreizler believes Moore's drawings will provide clues, which may lead them to the killer. His instincts also tell Kreizler the Santorelli murder is related to other similar killings.

As Kreizler's investigation deepens he meets outsiders within the police department, whom, over an elegant dinner at New York's legendary Delmonico's restaurant, he invites to join "a fruitful partnership" to find the serial killer.

Sara Howard (Dakota Fanning), who has some history with Moore, is the commissioner's secretary, and the first woman to be employed by the police in such a capacity. Strong-willed to demonstrate she belongs in a male world, Howard, Moore intimates, may be motivated by her father's tragic past to solve the crime.

Precursors to the forensic specialists viewers see on "CSI" shows, the Jewish Isaacson brothers Lucius (Matthew Shear) and Marcus (Douglas Smith) are completely out of place in their plain brown suits at Delmonico's, as they are suspect in their largely Catholic police world. But the brothers' enthusiasm for their evidence, especially the fingermarks as they call fingerprints, will oddly endear the brothers to the audience.

"The Alienist" faithfully recreates New York City at the end of the 19th century: its densely packed cobblestone streets, the abysmal conditions Italian immigrants endured in crowded tenements, the peculiar demimondes and the Fifth Avenue swells, blissfully ignorant of everything but their own privileged world. The show immerses viewers in these settings, particularly attuning viewers' ears to the snow crunching under a cop's foot and a horseshoe's anciently familiar echo from the cobblestone.

Geraghty's performance as Roosevelt, however, strikes a sour note. He comes across as a priggish bureaucrat, and not at all the bold leader, who, a scant five years later, would ascend to the highest office in the land. The rest of the cast is fine, but Evans' sympathetic portrait of Moore stands out.

Moore's predilections for sex and alcohol reveal the weak and troubled soul beneath his professional facade. In the novel, Moore was a crime reporter, and adopting this role, with trepidation, he confronts the prostitutes' world. His fate during this deeply unsettling encounter creates tension among viewers, and whets their intrigue for what's to come.

With only two episodes available to preview, however, it's premature to recommend judicious adults stay tuned to "The Alienist." But if they do, they should be prepared, in Kleizer's words, to travel to the "darkest pit of hell."

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Byrd is a guest reviewer for Catholic News Service.