What is it? The Knick, Season 1, 10 episodes on four discs from HBO
How much? $59.99
When? Now
What's the Knick? Knick is short for Knickerbocker, as in Knickerbocker Hospital in New York at the turn of the 20th century.
When its chief of surgery, Dr. Jules Christiansen (Matt Frewer), commits suicide following a failed cesarean procedure, his closest assistant, Dr. John "Thack" Thackery (Clive Owen), takes over. Thack is brilliant. Thack is dedicated. Thack is also a drug addict who spends a good bit of his free time in Chinese opium dens.
Positions of authority at the Knick aren't exactly enviable. The Knick is in financially troubled waters and the hospital manager, Herman Barrow (Jeremy Bobb), is cutting corners and using various unscrupulous and illegal methods to secure the wealthiest patients for his hospital. Often, that means bribing health inspector Jacob Speight (David Fierro) and ambulance driver Tom Cleary (Chris Sullivan).
So, when the powerful Robertson family insists that their friend, Dr. Algernon Edwards (Andre Holland), be hired as the new assistant chief surgeon, Barrow is quick to comply.
Thack is furious, despite Edwards' impressive credentials, because Edwards is black. Thack is not at all interested in turning the Knick into an integrated social project.
The amiable Dr. Bertie Chickering (Michael Angarano) doesn't mind much, but Dr. Everett Gallinger (Eric Johnson), Thack's first choice for the position, is pretty upset and doesn't bother to hide it.
So, Edwards' reception is a cold one, at best, with only Cornelia Robertson (Juliet Rylance), the hospital's social worker and daughter of a shipping tycoon, on his side.
Meanwhile, midwife Sister Harriet (Cara Seymour) is performing secret abortions and the new nurse, Lucy Elkins (Eve Hewson), is finding herself drawn deeper and deeper into an unhealthy relationship with the increasingly unstable Thack.
It's a wonder anyone survived.
What's it like? Well, it's not something you'd want to watch during dinner. The squeamish or easily queasy would find it difficult to watch since they don't skimp on the blood and gore of surgery.
Let's just say that surgical (and sanitization) techniques have come a long way. Those with germ phobias could be driven into catatonic shock by the first episode alone.
The look at the way the medical and health industries were run (or not run) back in the day is fascinating and much of it is handled in a matter-of-fact way, but they also throw in plot elements and scenes that feel gratuitous and driven by the need for shock value rather than by the story and characters.
Besides all that, it's also pretty depressing. Happy endings are hard to come by in this show.
Extras? There are episode commentaries and brief "Episode Post-Ops" that briefly discuss each episode. Some more detailed examination of the history and research into the medical system and techniques would have been nice.
New this week: Falling Skies, Season 5; The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, Complete Series; The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Season 2; Mercy Street, Mini-series; The Scarlet Pimpernel, Complete Series.
Next week: The Carol Burnett Show, The Lost Episodes; Hee Haw, Kornfield Klassics; The Leftovers, Season 2; Saving Hope, Season 3; Touched by an Angel, Complete Series.
Style on 01/31/2016