In which Margaux and I say goodbye to the best new show of 2014.
Trevor: I’m really not prepared to say goodbye to The Knick, especially after “Crutchfield,” which was basically an hourlong master class in filmmaking.
Margaux: Holy crap, what an episode! I was in legit tears within the first five minutes and kind of didn’t really stop. Ugh, what a perfect finale – it felt like so much was wrapped up so nicely, “Crutchfield” was so much more than just a single hour. It really felt like its own movie.
Trevor: And it just so perfectly capped off Thack’s season-long downward spiral. In “Method and Madness,” the series premiere, there was still something rascally and irreverent about Thack’s drug abuse, but in the last few episodes, the facade really crumbled, and you saw that John Thackery was just a broken, albeit brilliant, man with a serious cocaine problem.
Margaux: And they mirrored a lot of the gore, namely the surgery scenes, from the pilot episode. From the super tight close up of a man’s gaping open skulls to Thack’s final botched surgery at The Knick for the foreseeable future – I watched a lot of this episode through my fingers.
Trevor: This was a brutal episode. And I don’t just mean graphically. I’m glad Cleary got a few scenes in, otherwise “Crutchfield” would have been a dreary slog. Holy shit, I’m still kinda reeling from it. I think everyone got the short end of the stick here.
Margaux: You know the ending from The Graduate and you think to yourself, “huh, I wonder if this what ‘happily ever after’ truly looks like.” Welp, take that 2 minute moment and fucking multiple it by zillion and add 57 more minutes to it, that’s how the finale of The Knick felt. I’ve gotta say though, the way Algie and Cornelia’s story (for now) ended seriously punched me in the dick – like Barrow.
Trevor: I even felt bad for Barrow! He asks Wu to kill Bunky Collier (or, as he describes Wu to Thack, “your Chinaman”), which Wu does, awesomely – but then he also takes over all of Bunky’s debts. When Wu pulled out Bunky’s ledger, my heart sank as quickly as Barrow’s face.
Margaux: What in the fuck did he expect?! Barrow is the worst wanna-be criminal on earth. The second he threw Thack under the bus to appeal to Wu’s sensibilities to kill Collier, it was all but written in the stars that Barrow would not be fooling this “Chinaman.” Even Thack practically laughed Barrow out of his office when Barrow basically begged Thack to use his connection to Wu to have Collier killed. And Thack is on a massive amount cocaine.
Trevor: Everyone felt so desperate. Thack was determined to beat Dr. Zinberg at his own game, and wound up killing a small girl. Everett Gallinger was so determined to cure his wife’s madness that he put her in the hands of Dr. John Hodgman, who not only took out all of her teeth, but all of his kid’s teeth as well! Jesus. And who knew Hodgman would be so perfectly clinical/creepy in the role (also, he was credited as “Man Entrusted with Eleanor”).
Margaux: If I feel terrible for anyone, it’s Everett. When he storms into The Knick, fights Edwards before surgery, and then gets suspended by Barrows – you didn’t need to have him tell Thack that he literally has nothing left, nothing to go home to. I never thought I’d end up saying that Everett needs to catch a positive break in life cause dude is a walking downer.
Trevor: Everyone needs a break, even Bertie, who lost all faith in Thack as soon as he saw him suffering from an overdose. And this is after Bertie agreed to more or less spy on Dr. Zinberg, who is kind of a photo negative of Thack. When Bertie yells “I don’t have to do anything!” at Nurse Elkins, you can almost see his father’s criticism flashing before his eyes.
Margaux: I was actually happy to see Bertie finally stand up for himself and find any voice that wasn’t his usual cheery self. You could see all the love and admiration that Bertie had for Thack completely evaporate when saw Thack in that state. Coupled with Nurse Elkins at his side, tending to him, Berties comment “so it’s all true” hit a lot of different levels.
Trevor: Just a heartbreaking episode. It’s amazing how much Soderbergh made us care about all these characters. Cornelia’s talk with Harriet was devastating, as was the break-up scene between her and Edwards.
Margaux: I was in tears – it was harder to watch them break-up than hear about my parents getting a divorce. I was truly surprised Cornelia ended up going through with her marriage to Philip, especially after she opens a gift from her future Mother-in-law and it’s a pair of beautiful earrings, picked out by her rapey future Father-in-Law. If I had any voice today, I would of shouted “GURL, YOU IN DANGER” at the Robertson wedding.
Trevor: And where was Edwards? Getting the shit kicked out of him behind a bar. God, that scene was hard to watch. I’m not 100% certain he’s even alive (although with The Knick renewed for season two, it’s a definite possibility that he survived).
Margaux: When Edwards saunters up to that MASSIVE guy in the bar to just…ya know, pick a fight so he could avoid attending the love of his life’s wedding, I was ripping out my hair – why?!?! The guy looked like he was a boxer, of course he’s gonna leave you for dead in that disgusting alley. But I don’t think he ultimately killed Edwards, I just think Edwards will wake up surprised at a blacks only hospital. I also don’t think it’s the last we’ve seen of Cornelia either, though she marries Philip and we see her ride away (presumably) to San Francisco, her conversation with her brother leads you to believe that Cornelia won’t be away from New York for long.
Trevor: I hope not. She’s a great character, and Thackery – er, Crutchfield – will need all the friends he can get. But hey, at least the rehab facility isn’t taking his teeth. They’re just treating his cocaine addiction with good old fashioned heroin. I CAN’T BELIEVE that was the last shot of this season. For the last ten episodes I’ve said “Holy shit” at least once an hour, but that shot of the heroin bottle got a real “HOLY SHIT!” Again, my heart sank. I feel so bad for Thack.
Margaux: It was sort of the perfect shot to end the season on, Heroin…here to replace your cocaine addiction! It’s safe because it’s made by Bayer. But that wasn’t as shocking as Captain Robertson’s decision to shutter The Knick and move it uptown. It was brought up almost in passing all season but Captain Robertson throwing in the towel on the matter only makes me worry more, Cornelia’s brother confided in her that their father hasn’t been making the best financial choices. This isn’t doing anything to make you think otherwise.
Trevor: Yeah, but who does Captain Robertson have to sound off on? Barrow? Hobart Showalter, the fucking creep?
Margaux: You make a good point. And he just expects his daughter to have a bunch of babies now that she’s married, underestimates Cornelia’s ability even though she TACKLED typhoid Mary.
Trevor: Cornelia – along with all the women on The Knick – is stronger than anyone thinks she is. It’s been one of my favorite motifs from this season. I’m excited for a second season, but I kinda wish it just ended here. Am I alone in that? Mainly because Soderbergh is one of the busiest people in Hollywood, and I don’t know if he’d come back for another ten episodes. If Cinemax could get another auteur – like, say, Drive’s Nicolas Winding Refn – to direct the whole second season, that’d be a different story.
Margaux: Honestly, I feel like as long as Cinemax continues to let writers Jake Amiel and Michael Berger tell the story their way, we won’t be steered wrong. I do agree that no one has an eye quite like Soderbergh and think the three of them make one hell of a fucking team so it’d be dumb to split the band up. But I think the wonderful thing about The Knick (and any show that’s that well-executed), is yes – it could never have another episode ever again after “Crutchfield” but uh, that’d be kind of shitty cause I want season 2 now.
Trevor: So I’ve changed up the way I do season finale reviews. I’ll give a score to the episode, then to the season as a whole. That cool with you?
Margaux: Sure! I’d have to give the full five to both the finale and the season as a whole – I cannot remember the last time I so thoroughly enjoyed getting to know such a diverse and fucked up group of a people. Who work at a goddamn hospital!
Trevor: Five and five works just fine for me. You’ve got a great show on your hands, Cinemax – don’t fuck it up.
“Crutchfield” score: 5 stars
Season score: 5 stars
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