Why You Should Get HBOMax: The Knick

 

    I’ve found in conversations with my friends and online that people seem to discount HBOMax as a streaming service. Everybody has Netflix or knows somebody who does, most people can find a Hulu login, if you’re into Star Wars or the MCU you’re shelling out for Disney+, but people don’t see the same necessity in HBOMax. I think that’s ridiculous because it provides such an incredible collection of high quality movies and TV, not even counting their deal this year to collect all of Warner Brothers’ theatrical releases. It’s the service I watch most by a wide margin. So I’m here to convince you to check it out one show at a time and maybe convince HBO to pay me because streaming services of all flavors are in serious need of curatorial input to help people wade through their flood of stuff.
    First up, The Knick. The Knick is a historical medical drama whose strength lies in brilliantly leveraging all three aspects. It’s an ensemble story that follows the (fictionalized) staff of the (real) Knickerbocker Hospital in Gilded Age New York City. The action centers around Clive Owen as the arrogant but brilliant John Thackery, pioneering surgical procedures to save people from at-the-time damning death sentences like placenta previa and appendicitis. The inciting incident of the pilot shows Thackery’s mentor commit suicide in his office, throwing the hospital into turmoil as the board requires Thackery promote a Black surgeon from Europe and family friend to the hospital’s owner, Algernon Edwards (André Holland), over Thackery’s pick. The Knick really brings the most out of its entire cast, however, also following the shamelessly corrupt hospital director yanked in all directions by debts and deceptions, the troubled surgeon looking to sabotage Edwards out of jealousy, the health inspector locating and containing outbreaks in the city, a coarse ambulance driver and a nun forming an unlikely alliance, and a young nurse and doctor becoming infatuated with the prestige of the Knick and each other.
    The world of The Knick feels so real not just because of its well realized characters but because the issues of New York City in 1900 beset the staff and the hospital at all angles. Thackery primarily represents the “moderate” position of not disliking Edwards or Black people personally, but not wanting his hospital to become a “political statement” in the course of integrating its staff. Thackery does really care about saving lives, though, so his decision to help a Black man in season one causes the hospital to be ransacked in a race riot. Throughout the first season, the hospital board is pushing to move uptown to follow moneyed patrons and flee the immigrant population coming into the city. A drug shortage caused by the Spanish-American War results in problems for the patients and the desperately addicted Thackery. (yes, of course the genius doctor has a cocaine habit. He’s like House if he were interesting, I promise.) All of this comes together because writers Jack Amiel and Michael Begler are able to make me believe that these people actually care about these things and aren’t just running down a bulleted list in a history textbook. The thing Thackery can’t understand is that Edwards providing quality care for Black New Yorkers is a personal motivation as well as a political one, and these kinds of character conflicts weave tight, interesting drama in every episode.
    No small amount of credit should go to Steven Soderbergh as well. This whole thing is assuming “Steven Soderbergh did a TV show” isn’t enough for you like it was for me. Master of doing a lot with a little, his directing makes The Knick feel sleek and modern no matter the subject. Small camera movements, cuts, or bits of dialogue do a ton of heavy lifting to build out the motivations of his characters.  Hell, the season one finale goes from “wrapped up nicely” to “out of the frying pan, into the fire” with a single rack focus at the end of the episode. Like all good directors, he trusts his performers to do their jobs well and gives them the space to do so, a quality I feel is often underappreciated. It helps that in his own words he seems to prioritize a good working environment. The subtle, anachronistic electronica score by Cliff Martinez is a stark contrast to the streets of 1900s New York but feels perfectly at home in a Soderbergh thriller (quite literally, they’re frequent collaborators).
    Unfortunately, the ending of the show really comes out of nowhere, though I’ll refrain from spoilers because I really want everyone to watch it. Two ten-episode seasons just wasn’t enough time. While it’s reasonable to view the show as 19 riveting episodes of television and one awkward hitch, it is far from unrecoverable in its premature cancellation and clearly the creators thought so too. Most people are bummed when their favorite show gets cancelled, sometimes even if it needed to end, but The Knick had so much more left to give us that it didn’t get the chance to. Cinemax originals have struggled to find their voice and place lately but the wonderful Warrior got picked up for a third season so go make some noise and tell your friends. At the very least, don’t miss this punchy, remarkable drama from one of the finest directors in the business.