The Knick
| The Knick | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Genre |
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| Written by |
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| Directed by | Steven Soderbergh |
| Starring |
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| Composer(s) | Cliff Martinez |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 10 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
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| Production company(s) | Anonymous Content |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Cinemax |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) |
| Original run | August 8, 2014 – present |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
The Knick is a television drama series on Cinemax directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Clive Owen. It looks at the professional and personal lives of Dr. John W. Thackery (played by Owen) and the staff at a fictionalized version of the Knickerbocker Hospital ("the Knick") in New York during the early part of the twentieth century. The series was created and written by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler, who also function as producers and executive producers. Gregory Jacobs, Clive Owen, Steven Soderbergh, and Michael Sugar (Anonymous Content) are also executive producers. Steven Katz is the supervising producer, Michael Polaire is the producer and David Kirchner is the associate producer. The show premiered on Cinemax on August 8, 2014.
On July 10, 2014, Cinemax renewed The Knick for a ten-episode second season,[1] slated to premiere in the fourth quarter of 2015.[2]
Premise
In New York City in 1900, the Knickerbocker Hospital operates with innovative surgeons, nurses and staff who have to overcome the limitations of the then-current medical understanding and practice, to prevent staggeringly high mortality rates. Dr. John Thackery (partially based on historical figure, William Stewart Halsted[3]), the newly appointed leader of the surgery staff, battles his cocaine and opium addictions with his ambition for medical discovery and his reputation among his peers. Dr. Algernon Edwards, a Harvard-educated, European-trained black surgeon (probably based on the historical Daniel Hale Williams),[4] must fight for respect within the all-white populated hospital, as well as the racially-charged city. While literally struggling to keep the lights on, the hospital attempts to attract a wealthy clientele, without sacrificing quality care.
Cast
- Clive Owen as Dr. John "Thack" Thackery:[5] Chief surgeon at the Knickerbocker Hospital, highly talented and respected in the operating room. However, he is also a drug addict, regularly injecting cocaine during the day and spending nights at a Chinatown opium den.
- Andre Holland as Dr. Algernon Edwards:[5] New assistant chief surgeon at the Knick, who manages an after-hours clinic in the basement for those turned away by the hospital. He is disrespected by many of the white doctors and patients.
- Jeremy Bobb as Herman Barrow:[5] Manager of the Knick. He is constantly striving to finance the hospital with wealthy patrons and patients. Having mismanaged hospital funds, he is in debt to ruthless mobster Bunky Collier.
- Juliet Rylance as Cornelia Robertson:[5] Head of the Knick’s social welfare office. Daughter to Captain August Robertson, she serves as his representative on the board of directors. She is a longtime friend of Edwards, whose parents have worked for her family for years.
- Eve Hewson as Lucy Elkins:[5] Nurse at the Knick. A West Virginia native, she grows close to Thack and Bertie.
- Michael Angarano as Dr. Bertram "Bertie" Chickering, Jr.:[5] A young surgeon at the Knick. Son of Dr. Bertram Chickering, Sr., who is displeased with his son's choice of hospitals and admiration of Thack.
- Chris Sullivan as Tom Cleary:[5] Ambulance driver. He augments his income by stealing possessions off those he picks up, as well as earning a fee from Barrow for delivering patients who can pay.
- Cara Seymour as Sister Harriet:[5] Catholic nun and midwife who runs the orphanage affiliated with the Knick. She secretly conducts abortions in her off-hours.
- Eric Johnson as Dr. Everett Gallinger:[5] Surgeon at the Knick. He resents Edwards for taking the assistant chief surgeon position, which Thack promised to Gallinger.
- David Fierro as Jacob Speight:[5] Health department inspector. Although rude and abrasive, he works closely with Cornelia to identify the source of outbreaks.
- Maya Kazan as Eleanor Gallinger:[5] Everett Gallinger’s wife. The two have a baby daughter named Lillian.
- Leon Addison Brown as Jesse Edwards:[5] Dr. Edwards' father who works for Captain Robertson as carriage driver.
- Grainger Hines as Captain August Robertson:[5] Cornelia's father, a shipping tycoon and member of the Knick's board of directors. He is fond of Edwards and supports his medical career, which led to his appointment at the Knick.
- Matt Frewer as Dr. J. M. Christiansen:[5] Former chief surgeon at the Knick and Thackery's mentor, who committed suicide after a fatal placenta previa operation. After his death, he appears in flashbacks and Thackery's visions.
- Perry Yung as Ping Wu, the owner of the opium den on Mott Street Thackery attends. Wu is mysterious and believes he immune to death. Known to have violent criminal connections.
Production
Production for The Knick season 1 began in September 2013 in New York City.[5][6] Dr. Stanley Burns, founder and CEO of The Burns Archive, served as the on-set medical adviser on the series, and worked closely with production and the actors to make the hospital scenes realistic and authentic to the period.[7] As medical adviser, Dr. Burns provides immersive tutorials in the sometimes gruesome world of early-20th-century surgery, complete with plenty of hands-on practice on silicone limbs. Images from the Burns Archive became important references for everything from the antiseptic atomizers in the operating theater to an early X-ray machine, to the prosthetic worn by a recurring character.[8]
Production for season 2 began in February 2015.
Episodes
Jack Amiel and Michael Begler wrote the series, and Steven Soderbergh directed all 10 episodes in the first season.[9] He was also the director of photography and editor, under his usual pseudonyms Peter Andrews and Mary Ann Bernard, respectively.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Method and Madness" | Steven Soderbergh | Jack Amiel & Michael Begler | August 8, 2014 | 0.35[10] |
| After Drs. J. M. Christiansen and John Thackery fail to save a woman and child during placenta praevia surgery, Christiansen commits suicide. Thackery takes his place as leader of the surgery staff. His choice for deputy is his colleague Dr. Everett Gallinger, but he is asked to hire Dr. Algernon Edwards, who has outstanding qualifications gained in Europe, and has connections with the hospital's benefactor, Captain Robertson. When Thackery discovers Edwards is African-American, he refuses to hire him. The Robertsons then pull the funding for a vital modernisation project for the hospital - the installation of electricity. Hospital manager Herman Barrow then hires Edwards and tell the staff that it was Thackery's decision. When a patient develops a bowel infection after surgery, Thackery is needed urgently. Nurse Lucy Elkins finds him at his house suffering from cocaine withdrawal. She reluctantly agrees to inject him, and when she finds that most of his veins have collapsed, she has to inject the drug directly into Thackery's penis. Thackery returns to undertake the high-risk operation. The patient has bronchitis and can't be etherised, so Thackery gives him a spinal block using cocaine, then repairs the bowel using a revolutionary clamp of his own design. Edwards has observed the operation, and despite the humiliations that Thackery and others have heaped on him during his first day, he vows not to resign until he has learned everything he can from Thackery. This sets up a bitter enmity with Gallinger, who believes the deputy position should be his. | |||||
| 2 | "Mr. Paris Shoes" | Steven Soderbergh | Jack Amiel & Michael Begler | August 15, 2014 | 0.42[11] |
| The episode opens with contrasting views of how the day begins for two key characters. Cornelia Robertson, the daughter of the hospital's benefactor and chair of the hospital board, breakfasts with her father in an opulent dining room surrounded by servants. Meanwhile Algernon Edwards queues for the bathroom in a seedy boardinghouse that caters to African-Americans. He manages to avoid a confrontation with a thuggish tenant who notices Edwards' expensive shoes. At the hospital, an operation is underway using a cauteriser powered by the newly-installed electricity. A short-circuit sets the patient on fire and a nurse is electrocuted. Barrow is ordered to get the contractor to repair the fault, and we learn that the job was done on the cheap because Barrow had skimmed the funds to pay his own debts to a loan shark. Edwards is given an "office" in the dank basement of the hospital. Frozen out by Thackery upstairs, Edwards opens an underground clinic for poor African-Americans in the basement. More problems for Barrow as Thackery pressures him for cadavers to practice on: competition among hospitals for bodies is pricing The Knick out of the market. Barrow goes to the loan shark Bunky Collier to renegotiate his debt and Collier rips out one of Barrow's teeth as collateral. Thackery loses a patient in a tricky operation on an aortic aneurism. Edwards tells him of a new galvanic procedure he learned in Europe. Thackery rejects his help then sends Drs Gallinger and Chickering to find a journal article on the procedure. They succeed (after burgling another hospital) but the article is in French. Back at his boardinghouse, Edwards has another run-in with his menacing neighbour and turns out to be tougher than he looks. He knocks the man out, tosses some iodine and bandages on his chest for when he comes to, and goes to bed. | |||||
| 3 | "The Busy Flea" | Steven Soderbergh | Jack Amiel & Michael Begler | August 22, 2014 | 0.42[12] |
| Abigail Alford (Jennifer Ferrin), a former lover of Thackery's, arrives at the hospital to ask him to examine her nose, which has been ravaged by syphilis from her promiscuous ex-husband. Thackery suggests a gruelling live graft procedure in which tissue on her arm is grafted to her face. Abigail insists that it should be Thackery who performs the operation. Barrow steals a corpse from the hospital morgue and sells it to make his payment to Bunky, then goes to see the prostitute he is in love with. Algernon Edwards assembles a team to help him in his underground clinic, training a seamstress as a theatre nurse. He performs a complex repair on a labourer's severe hernia and warns him to rest. Gallinger asks for his wife's help in deciphering the French journal article on the galvanic aorta procedure, but her schoolgirl French isn't up to it. Thackery insists that they let Algernon talk them through it, on the understanding that he won't touch the patient. Algernon's hernia patient returns to the clinic, having re-injured himself at work after ignoring the doctor's instruction to rest. Algernon operates again, but the man dies on the table. Algernon goes out and gets drunk and picks a fight with a bar patron. | |||||
| 4 | "Where's The Dignity?" | Steven Soderbergh | Jack Amiel & Michael Begler | September 5, 2014 | 0.37[13] |
| Edwards talks Gallinger through a heart surgery and ultimately takes the scalpel to save the patient's life. Later, Edwards asks a vacuum cleaner salesman if the machine could be used to suction blood, only to find that his basement clinic has no electrical outlets. Thackery visits a recovering Abigail to say he understands why she left him, but not for whom she left him. He then tries to save a woman who botched a self-administered abortion. The woman's death causes Cleary to take Sister Harriet to a pauper's cemetery to show her other mothers who have died from abortions. If Harriet must perform the procedure, she would at least save the mothers' lives. | |||||
| 5 | "They Capture the Heat" | Steven Soderbergh | Steven Katz | September 12, 2014 | 0.32[14] |
| Barrow can alleviate a debt if he treats one of Collier's wounded men and also urges Capt. Robertson to buy an x-ray machine, one of Thomas Edison's new inventions. Meanwhile, Edwards tries a new approach to hernia surgery; the health of Everett and Eleanor's baby worsens; and Sister Harriet and Cleary head to Chinatown. | |||||
| 6 | "Start Calling Me Dad" | Steven Soderbergh | Jack Amiel & Michael Begler | September 19, 2014 | 0.36[15] |
| Despite partaking in a weekend-long bender, Thackery enlists Chickering's help to cure the recurring placenta previa problem. They save a woman and her baby's life, which leads Thackery to write a paper about it. Cornelia and Speight are able to track a typhoid outbreak to a cook employed by the wealthy elite, before it spreads further into the city. Sister Harriet offers the Gallingers adoption advice when their baby dies from meningitis. Although Thackery finds and shuts down Edwards's basement clinic, he drops his plans to have Edwards fired when he finds Edwards has created a new way of operating on hernias. Edwards offers to co-author a paper on the procedure with Thackery, in exchange for being allowed to carry out his duties as deputy chief of surgery. Cornelia's future father in-law confronts her in her bedroom and makes sexually suggestive comments, which visibly upsets her. | |||||
| 7 | "Get the Rope" | Steven Soderbergh | Jack Amiel & Michael Begler | September 26, 2014 | 0.36[16] |
| Escalating racial tension within the city affects the hospital when Sears, attempting to find prostitutes for the mob, gets stabbed by a black man. Another black man is saved from a beating outside the hospital by Thackery, who then suggests hospital segregation, when Everett wants to close the basement clinic. | |||||
| 8 | "Working Late a Lot" | Steven Soderbergh | Jack Amiel & Michael Begler | October 3, 2014 | 0.35[17] |
| A shortage of cocaine puts increasing strain on Thackery as he continues his affair with Nurse Elkins, and introduces her to the drug prior to intercourse. Edwards and Cornelia continue their affair as well. Barrow faces repeated rebukes as he seeks donations to help replenish the hospital's cocaine stock, after expensive repairs to the hospital following the race riots. Chickering Sr. pressures his son to leave The Knickerbocker, despite Bertie's determination to stay working near the woman he's in love with, Nurse Elkins. Gallinger brings home an orphaned, baby girl in hopes Eleanor will respond to a new child in her care. | |||||
| 9 | "The Golden Lotus" | Steven Soderbergh | Steven Katz | October 10, 2014 | 0.32[18] |
| Thackery becomes increasingly desperate as he experiences cocaine withdrawal, and is arrested for breaking into a pharmacy. Barrow begins working to cover up Thackery's addiction, news of which has spread around town, while also trying to procure more of the drug. Cornelia learns that she is pregnant with Edwards' child and requests he perform an abortion. Eleanor Gallinger's mental health rapidly deteriorates as Everett finds her paying little attention to their adopted child, Grace. Nurse Elkins puts her own job at risk in various efforts to help Thackery. | |||||
| 10 | "Crutchfield" | Steven Soderbergh | Jack Amiel & Michael Begler | October 17, 2014 | 0.41[18] |
| Cornelia, picked up by Cleary (to her surprise), receives an abortion from Sister Harriet. After a visit from Edwards, their clandestine relationship is ended, to her dismay. She marries Philip, and Edwards is brutally beaten in a street fight. After Barrow is attacked by Bunkie, he attempts to enlist Thackery's help in alleviating his debt by asking Ping Wu to kill the loan shark. Rejected, he goes to Wu anyway, feigning himself as representing Thackery's interest. Wu kills Bunkie, and takes on the latter's loans. Gallinger visits his wife at the mental hospital, only to discover that the doctor has performed radical treatments for her instability, leaving her toothless. Bertie is sent by Thackery, whose obsessive competition with Zinberg borders on paranoia, to investigate the latter's willingness to collaborate on a blood transfusion theory. After Thackery unwittingly kills a girl during an experimental blood transfusion procedure, Bertie recognizes the doctor's addiction has finally reached a critical point, and asks his father to check Thackery into a recovery clinic for his cocaine addiction. After being admitted, a doctor gives Thackery a shot, claiming it is a safe drug and will eliminate the misery of withdrawal. The drug is revealed to be heroin. | |||||
Reception
The Knick scored 75 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 37 "generally favorable" reviews.[19] The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes currently reports an 89% "certified fresh" critics rating with an average rating of 8.4/10 based on 53 reviews. The website consensus reads: "The Knick is sincere, emotional period television that takes a down-to-earth, no-holds-barred approach to vital topics".[20] After the first season aired, IGN reviewer Matt Fowler gave it an 8.6 out of 10 score, saying "The Knick was impressive, intense television - with fascinating, oft-gruesome topics brought ferociously to the forefront by Soderbergh's adept hand. It was hard to watch at times, both due to gore and pure depressing content, but it was always thought-provoking and incredibly well-rendered."[21]
Accolades
| Award | Date of Ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) and nominee(s) | Result | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Globe Awards | January 11, 2015 | Best Actor in a Television Series - Drama | Clive Owen | Nominated | [22] |
| Satellite Awards | February 15, 2015 | Best Drama Series | The Knick | Won | [23] |
| Best Actor in a Drama Series | Clive Owen | Won | |||
| Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or TV Film | Andre Holland | Nominated | |||
| Best Ensemble | Won | ||||
| Writers Guild of America Award | February 14, 2015 | New Series | The Knick | Nominated | [24] |
| 74th Peabody Awards | April 16, 2015 | Peabody Award | Won | [25] |
References
- ↑ Prudom, Laura (July 10, 2014). "Cinemax’s ‘The Knick’ Renewed for Season 2 Ahead of Series Premiere". Variety. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
- ↑ Cinemax Confirms Returns of 'Banshee', 'Strike Back' & 'The Knick'
- ↑ "'The Knick' Portrays Gilded-Age Gore - The Wall Street Journal". WSJ. 24 July 2014.
- ↑ "How Accurate Is The Knick’s Take on Medical History? - Slate.com". Slate Magazine. 8 August 2014.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 Bibel, Sara (July 9, 2014). "'The Knick' Starring Clive Owen & Directed by Steven Soderbergh to Premiere August 8 on Cinemax" (Press release). TV by the Numbers. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
- ↑ "Steven Soderbergh and Clive Owen Team Up for New Cinemax Original Series "The Knick"". July 25, 2013 (Press release). Retrieved July 10, 2014.
- ↑ "‘The Knick’ Starring Clive Owen & Directed by Steven Soderbergh to Premiere August 8 on Cinemax - Ratings - TVbytheNumbers.Zap2it.com". TVbytheNumbers.
- ↑ "The Cocaine, the Blood, the Body Count : Modern Medicine, Circa 1900, in Soderbergh’s ‘The Knick’". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
- ↑ Stanley, Alessandra (August 7, 2014). "No Leeches, No Rusty Saw, But Hell Nonetheless". The New York Times. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
- ↑ Kondolojy, Amanda (August 12, 2014). "'The Knick' Premiere Draws 1.7 Million Total Viewers Across HBO and Cinemax Airings". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
- ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (August 18, 2014). "ShowBuzzDaily's Top 25 Friday Cable Originals – 8/15/14". ShowBuzzDaily. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
- ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (August 22, 2014). "ShowBuzzDaily's Top 25 Friday Cable Originals – 8/22/14". ShowBuzzDaily. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
- ↑ Kondolojoy, Amanda (September 9, 2014). "Friday Cable Ratings: 'WWE Friday Night SmackDown' Tops Night + College Football, 'Bering Sea Gold' & More". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved September 9, 2014.
- ↑ Metcalf, Michael (September 15, 2014). "ShowBuzzDaily's Top 25 Friday Cable Originals – 8/22/14". Show Buzz Daily. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
- ↑ Metcalf, Michael (September 22, 2014). "ShowBuzzDaily's Top 25 Friday Cable Originals – 9/19/14". Show Buzz Daily. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
- ↑ "SHOWBUZZDAILY’s Top 25 Saturday Cable Originals: 9.27.2014".
- ↑ "SHOWBUZZDAILY’s Top 25 Friday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 10.3.2014".
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 "SHOWBUZZDAILY’s Top 25 Friday Cable Originals (& Network Update): 10.10.2014". Showbuzzdaily.com. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
- ↑ "The Knick : Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
- ↑ "The Knick: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
- ↑ Matt Fowler (October 29, 2014). "The Knick: Season 1 Review". IGN. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
- ↑ "2015 Golden Globe Nomiantions". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 12, 2015. Check date values in:
|accessdate=(help) - ↑ Pond, Steve (December 1, 2014). "'Birdman' Leads Satellite Awards Nominations". Retrieved December 12, 2014.
- ↑ "2015 WGA Awards TV Nominations". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
- ↑ "74th Annual Peabody Award Winners". Peabody Awards. Retrieved April 16, 2015.
External links
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