The KnickSeason 2 Episode 6
Do You Remember Moon Flower?
opens in an environment were not used to seeing onThe Knick: the great outdoors.
Instead he finds both smallpox and a rich American industrialist tied to a tree.
Dr. Thackery responds to these unexpected curveballs in the most-Thackery possible.
I can probably fix all this.
This also buys the American businessmans freedom, who was accused of bringing smallpox to the village.
The two book-ending scenes are a wonderful departure forThe Knickinto the past, and are rich creatively and visually.
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At first glance, however, they also seem out of place.
Why show these two men at their best only to later show them at their worst?
BecauseThe Knickknows thats how being a human works.
Thack is a wreck partly due to external influences but also to his own failings.
But hes also the cocaine-addicted fuck-up who responded with a shrug to one of his collegues practicing eugenics.
Do You Remember Moon Flower?
understands the conflict at the center ofThe Knick.
Thackery never got better from his addiction; he just got better at hiding it.
The only thing that seemed to work was Abigails talking cure and now even she is gone.
Do You Remember Moon Flower?
sees Thackery at his most despondent.
His mind and body are both breaking down.
Its not because hes suicidal, its because thats the last problem he has left to solve.
Do You Remember Moon Flower?
And thats namely in his lame attempts at managing Dr. Gallinger.
Gallinger has become a monster.
And its because his monstrosity is routinely tolerated, not the least of which by Thack.
But Thackery is supposed to give a shit.
instead of struggling over centuries of systematic racial and classical oppression.
Harry and Cleary sell condoms out of the goodness of their heart but also to make a buck.
But still … theyre just people.
Barrow just wants to get laid.
Still, shes a young girl getting a crash course in the staggering hypocrisies of her elders.
Its when characters set out to make boogeymen out of human beings that they falter.
Neelys a pretty good sleuth but by the end of Do You Remember Moon Flower?
its pretty clear shes got the wrong guy in accusing her father of endangering the people of New York.
In the end it looks like August Robertson wasnt a villain, he was just a person.
Thats the thing about people, even the good ones can cause harm when they dont mean to.
Rating:
4 out of 5
