Cinemax’s new series, The Knick, debuted tonight in grand, gore-y pageantry.
ButThe Knickups the ante.
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Everyone dies.
Congratulations Cinemax;The Knicknow reigns supreme as the Grand High Poobah of televised gore.
That being said, I absolutely loved the episode.
History buffs will love the painstaking detail that has gone into accurately representing turn of the century New York.
Anyone who enjoysBoardwalk Empirewill fall in love withThe Knick.
You want racism AND sexism?
Well you got it!
He is a misogynist, a racist, a narcissist, and a drug addict.
Basically, he is a dick.
He is also a brilliant doctor; and there is the rub.
Modern medicine was built on the work of people just like him.
He cannot dose the patient with ether.
Instead he injects a tincture of cocaine into the mans spine, rendering his lower body numb.
Oh, and would the patient mind not coughing so much while Thackery sticks the needle in?
For all his care, Thackery only gives two craps about his patients.
Crap one: the patient provides Thackery an opportunity to experiment.
Crap two: the patient is a source of money.
The episode opens on Thackery waking up in an opium den cum brothel.
In comes that pregnant woman I mentioned earlier.
She presents with a case of placenta priva (the placenta has detached from the uterus).
Shit gets real; real ugly.
We should take a moment to congratulate Thackery, on his sudden promotion.
Unfortunately for Thackery, running a hospital is a tricky business.
Thackery will need to play nice with the Knicks rich patrons, the Robertsons.
No matter how vile their wacky, progressive, ideals might be.
Especially since they are paying for the electric light installation in the hospital.
He cannot forget to scream at and humiliate the nurses on the floor of the ward.
Did I mention Thackery is a dick?
Thackery has managed to collapse all his other veins.
Take that,The Strain.
He never even breaks his stride.
It was a busy episode.
Like all new series, it will have growing pains.
I am curious to see if the writers sand down some of Thackerys rough edges.
Oh yes, the trance music definitely needs to go.
I get that Thackery is running around, headlong in a drug fueled delirium.
I dont need his antics scored to modern trip hop, thank you very much.
Otherwise, I will freely admit that I am a sucker for gore.
Full disclosure: I had a C-section in March.
The history of medicine is violent and uncomfortable.
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Rating:
4.5 out of 5
