Dr. John Thackery (Clive Owen) ascends to the role of chief surgeon at the Knick (in 1900 New York City) after his mentor commits suicide and he is forced by the hospital patrons to take on a black assistant chief, Dr. Algernon Edwards.   Thackery faces an increasing addiction to cocaine as he and his staff including Gallinger and Bertie try to be at the cutting edge of modern medicine and surgery.   Meanwhile, the Knick’s chief nun is carrying on an illegal practice of performing abortions at night.   The Knick is at the center of major timely issues including class division and race relations in addition to showing the challenges of having things we take for granted like electricity and being clean.

 

THE KNICK is a powerhouse medical drama from co-creators Jack Amiel and Michael Begler who take the time to research the history of what is going on at the beginning of the 20^th century from the set and costume design to the major issues down to the medical science (which was unregulated and sometimes questionable).  Steven Soderbergh directs all ten episodes with Clive Owen giving an intense performance as the central character of THE KNICK as Dr. Thackery rises and falls during the first season.   Secrets are exposed as the continuing storylines show the damage those secrets cause as one of the nurses- Lucy Elkins- gets involved with Thackery and goes to extremes for him.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Three audio commentaries with cast and crew for METHOD AND MADNESS, GET THE ROPE, and CRUTCHFIELD

 

Episode Post-Ops (which run about two minutes or less each) for each episode (except the first episode)  as cast and crew talk about the story, characters, and the surgery techniques of the time period

 

Also included is a code to download a free Season One ebook for THE KNICK which has scripts for all ten episodes and conversations between Steven Soderbergh and Cinemax.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  Clive Owen gives one of his best performances as Dr. Thackery while THE KNICK delivers an intense and addictive drama that has me impatiently waiting for season 2.

 

This review is ©8-16-2015 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

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