This review ofThe Knickcontains spoilers.
The Knickis no exception.
The interesting wrinkleThe Knickadds, however, is its period setting.
Enter poor Lucy Elkins and her questionable West Virginia accent.
Lucy came to New York from the mountains with a bicycle and a dream.
And what has that brought her so far?
Not a hell of a lot of anything aside crippling shame.
Last season it was Dr. John Thackery.
She became enraptured with not only his brilliance and attractiveness…but also his propensity for action.
Now that the doctor is clean, however, she needs another engine to latch her hopes to.
Her revivalist preacher father being in town provides the perfect opportunity.
Now that the demi-God of John Thackery wants nothing to do with her maybe the actual God-God will.
Her father slaps her around for her trouble.
In short, he wants a daughter who stays at home and doesnt Do Stuff.
This Catholic monster will pay dearly for the crimes of murdering babies.
But Lucy and Harry are relatively poor and lower-class.
What about the high-class ladies?
How are they faring?
I like to joke about Neely and her Nancy Drew mysteries every season.
That doesnt give enough credit to her legitimately strong investigative instincts though.
Tracking down the bubonic plague?
Sure, go ahead, that will play well at the next party.
She still doesnt have the agency to help out someone he is truly close to.
The new woman in Berties life presents an interesting case, however.
Shes risen to a position of respect and renown but not without a name change.
Its hard enough to be a female journalist certainly but a Jewish female journalist?
The immigration question onThe Knickcontinues to satisfyingly fester in the background.
Still, throughout all the uglinessThe Knicks protagonist remains far more sympathetic than I think the show ever intended.
Dr. Thackery began as the general prototype as the Tony Soprano-esqueDifficult Man.
Not to him, of course, but to the rest of the world at large.
So if he can just fix this one thing, shell get her life back.
If Abigails appearance is all she has, Thacks partner-in-crime Dr. Edwards has similar limitations.
As a loathed minority, all Dr. Edwards has is his talent.
Even Neely, who truly loves him, cannot be with him.
The only thing he has left to be an active participant in the world is his surgery.
Now even that is starting to abandon him, thanks to his detatched retina.
But Edwards gets an unwelcome surprise at the end of the episode that may change everything: Mrs. Edwards.
Based on Edwards reaction to her, it seems like shes more than capable of doing so.
*Its interesting that Thack actually tries out the cocaine-heroin concoction he learned about in this episode.
Is it scientific curiosity or a burning desire to be high.
Rating:
4.5 out of 5