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It’s easily up there with Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and True Detective (season 1) for my all-time favorite television. Steven Soderbergh executive produced, directed, edited, and personally filmed this enthralling medical drama set in 1900 which follows the life of the surgeons, nurses, and donors of a New York City Hospital led by its genius Chief of Surgery, John Thackery. It puts a microscope to the medical vocation and health conditions during the time period, while also exploring a wide variety of American 20th century society, from the schemes and profiteering of hospital administrators and ambulencemen to the determined mission carried out by nurses, nuns, and wealthy donors. Storylines are complex and arch multiple episodes and the deep character development that the show achieves in 2 seasons is astounding.
The Knick realistically portrays the difficult and hopeless situation of the poor during the turn of the century, especially in contrast to the power and luxury of the contemporary upper crust society. At its core, this show is a perfectly executed period drama that showcases groundbreaking surgical innovations against a backdrop of the characters’ personal challenges such as racism, addiction, and women’s health.
The best comparison I can make is to HBO’s Chernobyl. The main villain in Chernobyl is not man itself, but the unbridled danger of nuclear power in the hands of those who cannot wield it. The danger was emotionless, ethereal, unknown. Soviet citizens could barely comprehend the threat to our world and species during the power plant crisis in much the same way that the average person in America during 1900 faced incomprehension of medicine and had no idea if they would ever recover from an illness or wake up from a surgeon's anesthesia. The unpredictable and grim outcomes of the patients' numerous ailments and treatments reminded me of the feeling of fatefulness I had while watching Chernobyl.
The cherry on top of The Knick is that now, after having been off the air for 6 years, the show is being revived for a 3rd season, with one of the main cast members returning to be directed by Moonlight's Barry Jenkins. I feel like this show went relatively unnoticed so I wanted to make this appreciation post to draw more fans in anticipation of the new season.
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I could not believe Chris Sullivan wasn't Irish when I found out. Best Irish Accent ever on Screen by a non Irish Person IMHO.
Cant wait for a new season
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Yeah, I love the Knick. So underrated. It scratches a similar itch to Deadwood - not a western, different time period, but there's a similar vibe in how it tells stories of the past. If Deadwood is a depiction of how civilization formed out of the chaos, then Knick is a depiction of how doctors tried to make sense of all the blood. I'd really never thought about medicine this way... what doctors of the past had to go through/live with just to get us where we are today. I'd probably develop a serious drug problem, too, if I had to live with all that blood on my hands.
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It was amazing! Will it be on hbo? It needed to continue! !
ID: gq66lx9Yes. New one will be on HBO
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One of the things that I was following throughout the series was Thackery's racism. It was almost like a "will they, won't they" trope that they use for tv shows where they are trying to build a relationship between two characters.
Instead of it being about two characters falling in love, it was instead about whether Thackery was going to finally accept Dr. Algernon and his medical knowledge.
And medical knowledge was the name of the game in The Knick. Thackery wanted to be the top dog who had the most knowledge of cutting-edge medicine. There's even an episode, if I remember correctly, in which he's jealous about some other doctor from another hospital who has his own medical procedures and gave a lecture about it.
If I were patient back then, I'd be horrified that the doctors are trying to "try out" a new method when performing open surgery.
Thackery chased after new medical methods like a drug. He was obsessed with it. It almost seemed like he was too busy chasing after that, that he would set aside racism at certain times.
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I just watched the first episode today and got hooked instantly. It’s been on my list forever, and it’s definitely living up to my expectations so far.
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Soderbergh’s direction and editing made the show even better. Any other bad director would have turned this into some House like show considering it was on Skinemax
ID: gq6cb8oI will say it's probably his best work.
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I loved it when it was on, I couldn't wait to catch each episode, and was bummed that it seemed to just fade from consciousness. Now that it's on HBO it seems to be garnering some more of the attention it deserves. I've seen a couple of threads on it, and it always puts a little smile on my face to know more people are discovering it.
I'm super intrigued by how they're going to come back to it, and I'll be first in line to check it out!
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Clive Owen killed it as Thackeray!
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It just has so much energy and whenever Thackery’s wheels start spinning, it’s infectious.
It’s seriously the best show no one watched and I’m so glad it’s starting to get rediscovered. Everyone just has to understand how utterly graphic it is. It’s the only reason I’m scared of recommending it to people.
Andre Holland deserves so much recognition for his work on it too!
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You might enjoy All Creatures Great And Small (2020)
引用元:https://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/m069q6/the_knick_2014_is_one_of_the_greatest_shows_i/
what doctors of the past had to go through/live with just to get us where we are today
Imagine a future where picobots are coursing through your bloodstream to fix the damage caused by the proliferation of rogue angstrom waves after it is determined that the placement of internal fermions within the heart unintentionally interfere with the scarpin levels of 98% of the reproductive male population that reside within 67 miles of a soccer pitch. All because of some asshat that was convinced his asthmatic nephew could beat Messi's goal scoring record! Watch out for rich people trying to play god. And don't drink the tap water. Crazy guy. But unintended consequences and disaster averted! (barely!) Thanks to a recent brain implant procedure sponsored by Walmart and developed by Amazon, was disaster avoided. If the reanimation of Dr Zor-mol failed, well.. it would have been all for naught. Still, unfortunately 92% of the reproductive male population couldn't afford the treatment, but it could've been worse I suppose. And Messi's record stands.