Margaux and I take a look at a slow but gorgeous episode of The Knick.
Trevor: Is this the best shot show on the air right now? God, the camera work in “Working Late a Lot” – which overall was just a “pretty good” episode of The Knick, as opposed to “deliriously good” – was fantastic. And it’s worth noting that the director of photography (and editor) is Steven Soderbergh, who might be the hardest-working man in Hollywood.
Margaux: I’m so glad you feel that way because, #same. I love the way The Knick plays with various characters point of view and the cacophony of sound, it elevates the material, constantly keeping it interesting. For most of “Working Late a Lot” I too felt like I was on the cocaine roller coaster with Thack.
Trevor: What got me was that board meeting. Barrow is tallying up the cost of last week’s riots, other hospital business is being tended to, but the camera stays on Thack, and Clive Owen’s subtly expressive face. Every shot in “Working Late” was amazing, and even if the episode wasn’t up to the standards set by “Get the Rope” or “Start Calling Me Dad,” goddamn if this wasn’t one of the most gorgeous hours The Knick has ever produced.
BUT I have to say, this was a pretty damn slow episode. It’d be easier to look past that if The Knick weren’t usually so propulsive.
Margaux: I think a lot of the reason it felt so slow was the choice to focus on The Tale of Two Romances. You know both couples are ultimately doomed so exploring the topic further left me a little, “to be desired” about the episode.
Trevor: Yeah, and as loving as Thack can be – keep in mind, for all Thack’s faults, he still looks like Clive Owen – he can be a real dick when he’s going through cocaine withdrawals. Poor Bertie, that guy can’t catch a break. First Michael Arangano gets brain cancer in Lords of Dogtown, now Clive Owen is fucking the woman he loves.
Margaux: Yeah, Bertie’s admission to his father outside the courthouse that he’s “in love with Nurse Elkins” was utterly painful. If not, a touch surprising because how is her relationship with Thackery not obvious – pretty sure Edwards picks up on it from the moment Thackery discovers there is a shortage of cocaine, top of the morning!
Trevor: Edwards knew right away. I love that he didn’t say anything about it, that was a nice touch. He’s more concerned about the hernia paper he’s not allowed to present. That’s one thing I consistently love about The Knick – everyone is, first and foremost, a healer, even Thack, who took Dr. Chickering Sr. to task for implying that Bertie would be better off if he was better paid.
Margaux: Dr. Chickering Sr. made sure to lay the hate on thick after Thackery presented the paper. “I don’t want Bertram working in a place where a doctor put a gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger” “it was the temple”; I’m not exactly sure where what lit the fire under old Chickering’s ass to come after Thack but he really made no secret of his real feelings on the Knick the whole episode.
Trevor: I’d still rather listen to Bertie Sr. than Typhoid Mary – what a bitch! And honestly when she was applying for work, my stomach kinda dropped. It was like watching a horror movie: “Don’t go in there, that’s where the typhoid is!”
Margaux: I was surprised that Irish-Catholics could be anymore unlikeable. Jesus, that woman! I couldn’t believe the judge. She tested negative 5 times out of a possible 16, if we’re talking Math pop quiz, that’s a D+ at best – come on Judge! I wasn’t too surprised she signed up for work under a different name, she was pretty indignant about feeling “healthy as a horse”, I was more upset by the woman who was happily sending her out! What kind of Turn of the Century background are in place?!?!
Trevor: The turn of the century sucked. First Edwards can’t present the paper that he wrote (and just put Thack’s name on), then Gallinger is reassuring Thack that he’ll never again be upstaged by a Jew.
I understand why the racism and anti-Semitism is so bald-faced on The Knick, because it’s historically accurate, but it can be very uncomfortable to watch (in a good way, if that makes sense).
Margaux: Dr. Zinberg was quite the hot topic throughout. Not only for his revolutionary microscope but when he refuses to not divulge what his next lecture topic is, totally within his rights, he’s called an arrogant Jew – or something to that offensive effect. That’s funny because no one gave Thackery shit for not being on enough cocaine to take questions, post hernia lecture.
Seriously, when Thackery sneaks off for a bump (Sarah Michelle Gellar in Cruel Intentions style) before he reads his hernia paper, I felt as buzzed up as Thack. It was a real trip and true hat tip to Soderbergh’s directing and editing.
Trevor: And again, that wonderful, freewheeling cinematography.
How do you feel about Cornelia and Edwards? I’m happy for her because she seems happy, and after Typhoid Mary’s release, she could use it.
Margaux: Another instance where I thought the directing and editing was more telling than the conversation itself. The way Cornelia was shot, from up above, in Edwards’ cultural love den – she’s the one in the position of power. And as usual, Edwards is at the mercy of her whim (and white people in general). Cordelia is still engaged to Showalter and his creepy ass Dad – last we checked, and she must know that not only would her relationship with Edwards be controversial – it’s still extremely frowned upon. They are doomed, unfortunately. I just wonder how it will end. Just like how I wonder the new Gallianger baby will fair – it’s looking real bleak over there. And baby Grace was abandoned at the Knick for fucksake.
Trevor: Yeah, not to mention that Eleanor Gallinger seems to be losing her marbles. She’s knitting a hat for “Lillian,” and won’t even acknowledge the new baby, who went all day without being changed.
I had this thought: do you think Thack is contemplating suicide? He came down pretty hard from the cocaine, told the lady at the opium den that he wanted to “go out and stay out,” and at episode’s end he had a vision from Dr. Christiansen’s point of view.
Margaux: I think that Thack is definitely coming to terms with the fact that he’s nothing without the coke. And for the foreseeable future, the well is truly dry. Barrow flexing his sub-par negotiation skills to attempt to broker some medical cocaine was rough, you can feel the city on the brink of explosion – the pinch is on for everyone. I always like the slices of life outside the Knick.
Trevor: Man, that’d be a depressing ending. Clive Owen runs out of coke, kills self, roll credits.
Star count? I’m leaning towards four.
Margaux: I’ll second your four stars, just for the cinematography and directing on its own.
About Author
