This will not be a standard recap of last night’s The Knick. Sometimes, an episode of a television show is so well executed that no words can do it justice, and any real fans of the show wouldn’t want the experience ruined. Sometimes, these episodes have to be seen to be believed.
Last night’s episode, ominously titled “Get the Rope,” was one of these episodes.
It begins innocently enough with a flashback. Drs. Christiansen and Thackery perfect what appears to be the first appendix removal thanks to Thackery’s new method of finding the organ, dubbed by Christiansen as the “Thackery Point” (based on the real-life “McBurney Point”). We discover that the flashback is actually a Thackery dream as a Chinatown opium den prostitute awakens him suddenly. Her boss is unsuccessfully gasping for air, and Thackery performs a very impromptu tracheotomy using a butter knife.
The scene illustrates the depths to which Thackery has sunken, but it’s also clearly calling out the need some good old-fashioned Dr. Thackery redemption.
Redemption comes in the unfortunate shape of a brutal race riot. A white policeman approaches a black woman standing alone on the street and offers to connect her with a pimp, similar to last week’s indoctrination. Trick is, the woman is actually not a prostitute and is waiting for someone else – in this case, a very large black man who, incensed at the effrontery shown to his lady, stabs the policeman repeatedly.
The policeman is taken to The Knick for emergency surgery where he later dies, setting into motion a massive riot where any and all black citizens are beaten mercilessly by angry, and often drunk, whites. That is the setup for the bulk of the episode, and I will go no further in describing its contents. It demands to be seen on its own.
This episode, still directed by Steven Soderbergh, is a master class in suspense and timing. The pacing is lightning fast, and scenes are staged with an immediacy and energy seldom seen in the series. The blood of the victims and the dirt in the streets and the sawed-off limbs all make the viewer feel intimately integrated with the story, as if the camera were truly a third party witnessing the graphic actions unfold.
The episode closes with two not-entirely-unexpected couplings, only one of which I will spoil because I have to rave about the brilliant filmmaking on display. Not only does Soderbergh excel in depicting the suspense and danger during the riot scenes, but he also provides a delicate hand showing the deflowering of Nurse Elkins at the hands of Dr. Thackery.
After inviting him into her boarding house room, Elkins lights a kerosene lamp, effectively illuminating only herself and casting Thackery completely in the dark. When asked by Elkins if sex will hurt, Thackery creepily replies, “I can make it painless… and perfect,” delivering a remedy for the natural pain through his endless supply of narcotics.
We cut to Elkins the next morning as she dresses silently and alone in her room. She flashes back to the previous night, as anyone would, and smiles to herself. When her roommate comes home, Elkins cannot stifle the childlike glee she feels, clasping her hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. It is a simple, innocent reflex, but the audience is all the sadder knowing that it came at the hands of the soulless Thackery. As with the double nature of Dr. Thackery, his earlier redemption by saving so many lives during the riot is undercut by the way he introduces drugs to Nurse Elkins.
The episode is so filled with equally powerful moments that it immediately ranks as the best The Knick outing to date. The roller coaster ride continues, and it’s a corker. A brilliant corker.