Margaux and I cannot get enough of this goddamn show.
Trevor: That whole opening scene was really indicative of The Knick’s commitment to historical accuracy, namely the surgeon/barber, because barbers used to do minor surgical procedures, which is – checks notes – fucking ridiculous. Although I do wish nowadays that surgeons started drinking that early, and offered you a free haircut and shave.
Margaux: And to belabor The Knick’s…knack for historical accuracies, I think they’re building up to a Typhoid Mary subplot, that I am dreading and excited for.
But the opening of “They Capture the Heat,” well…the opening surgery with Thack and Edwards, really set the tone of their one uppance throughout the episode.
Trevor: The competition seems…I don’t want to say “friendlier,” but maybe more professional. They were even hanging out – kinda – after operating on that pimp. I do like that The Knick is subverting expectations and not making Thack and Edwards BFFs, because the show is way more interested in its ensemble, especially in episodes like this.
Margaux: Thack and Edwards won’t be getting matching besties tattoos anytime soon, that’s for sure. And I like that Thack has found a more interesting way to get (whether it be intentional or not) under Edwards skin. Obviously, being a flat out racist doesn’t bother Edwards so insulting his intelligence in subtle ways makes sense. Don’t think Thack would fuck with him if didn’t think Edwards wasn’t a worthy adversary.
Trevor: I agree, which is why he’s not wasting his time fucking with, say, Barrow. I feel like Thack doesn’t really think about Edwards unless he’s at the hospital, then when he’s there it’s kind of like, “Yeah, I could fuck with Edwards today, that’s something to do.”
Margaux: Jesus, can we talk about Barrow? He easily confesses his embezzlement to his mistress – what a fucking rookie move, dude. I think Barrow’s biggest issue is, he underestimates people and what they’re capable of. Another example would be Barrow’s scene with Captain Robertson at dinner, when they discuss The Knick getting Edisons x-ray machine. He has no confidence in himself that he’ll win over Robertson and get the machine, I can’t tell if the Governor (?) coming over and talking to them was part of Barrow’s plan or not. Either way, he does a full 180 by the end of dinner and takes his dick swagger over to Collier. Which, again – rookie mistake number two.
Trevor: Barrow still eats at Delmonico’s, everything he does is a rookie mistake! I’m liking the Bunky Collier stuff more than I thought I would, even if Bunky does seem like he got lost on the way to Boardwalk Empire. And it was a really nice touch seeing Captain Robertson more or less shamed into getting an X-ray machine. Another instance of “friendly” one-upsmanship.
Margaux: In all fairness, Captain Robertson is more open-minded about technological advances (and shelling out the money for it) than his peers and seems very prideful about that fact. Yet, his remarks about Cornelia to Thack later on in the episode show that Thack is more open-minded about women than Captain Robertson. Thack is for ladies and cocaine, not for people of color – got it.
I liked that too. It was a good way of showing how much respect Thack has for Cornelia.
Also, olde tyme surgery was equal parts gruesome and hilarious. “There’s a cyst, so I’m gonna fall back on my medical school training and cinch a belt around her waist and just fuckin yank. I’m a doctor.”
Margaux: Right?! I thought he was trying to realign her back or something. Why anyone romanticises the turn of the century is a fool. I honestly just don’t know how comfortable I am, in any era, with a doctor who can slice you open but cannot ride a bike as a 30-year old man.
Trevor: Haha, good point. That was a strangely sweet scene on an otherwise unsentimental show. Of course, it was bizarre as hell with Cliff Martinez’s score, but it showed that Thack is always willing to learn and try new things – remember in the pilot, when he made Nurse Elkins inject cocaine into his urethra? The man’s adventurous!
Also, does everyone at the Knick hit on Lucy? She likes the waxworks at the horror museum, though, so I can understand why. Seems like my kinda girl.
Margaux: If only they knew her dad is Bono…that might change things. But I can understand, in the context of the show, why Lucy is the most desired of them all. She’s innocent, has an accent, easy on the eyes, etc. I already feel bad for Bertie, shit isn’t gonna work out in his favor. Homie is friend zoned. But speaking of coupling up, I could watch Cleary and Harriet trade insults all DAE, “you’re not following anything smart.”
Trevor: Whoa, back the fuck up, Lucy’s dad is Bono? Okay, nevermind, I don’t wanna bone her in a wax museum just to go home and get a lecture on AIDS from her dad.
Margaux: Hahaha, I just want to ask her if she knows how to get her dad’s stupid new album off of my iTunes – GET OFF MY CLOUD BONO.
Cleary & Harriett is turning into my favorite Odd Couple-style show on TV. Another pair that is slowly starting to like each other. That shot of them in the bar, they seemed to genuinely enjoy each other’s company. I also like how committed Chris Sullivan is to making Cleary an asshole. “You didn’t think I’d bend an elbow with the yellow menace, do you?”
Margaux: See but I just don’t buy that deep down, Cleary is truly an asshole. I think he doesn’t keep it a secret how hard he’s worked just to be a lowlife, he has a huge chip on shoulder and attempts to cover it with his overly cocky crap. If he was really a dick, he’d of already turned in Harriet and never said a word to her. I think he’s seen enough to know that even if he can’t personally help, he knows how to blackmail someone who does into doing it. “What? Can’t I watch?”
Trevor: Yeah, I guess “ball-buster” would be a more fitting description. I’m totally okay with The Knick’s Wire-esque approach to storytelling if we get more of Cleary and Harriett in every episode. (I also like that this show is so consistently good that I’m comparing it to The Wire every week.)
Margaux: In a simplistic sense, it is The Wire in some ways (corruption, back door dealings, racial tension) but what The Knick does really well was shown in the last few minutes of “They Capture the Heat.” Nothing ever gets better but you don’t see it every single time because you don’t need to, it’s “just another Tuesday at The Knick.”
Trevor: That’s how I end every soul-crushing day at GAMbIT.
Star count? “They Capture the Heat” was another solid episode, even if a whole lot didn’t “happen” to advance the overall narrative.
Margaux: That was what struck me for the first time once the closing credits rolled, oh- not much happened tonight…
But I was still exceptionally entertained and if even possible, more excited for what’s to come at The Knick. 4 stars.
Trevor: You read my mind, something something X-ray joke.
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