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The Knick - Clive Owen and Steven Soderbergh 1900s medical drama - Fridays on Cinemax

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R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus


The Knick stars Clive Owen as a brilliant doctor who works at the groundbreaking Knickerbocker Hospital in the early 1900s. The series was written by Jack Amiel, Michael Begler, and Steven Katz. Steven Soderbergh directed all 10 episodes of the first season.

Cinemax has renewed The Knick for a 10 episode second season, to air in 2015. Steven Soderbergh will return to direct all 10 episodes.

New York City, 1900: The Knickerbocker Hospital is home to groundbreaking surgeons, nurses and staff who push the boundaries of medicine in a time of astonishingly high mortality rates and zero antibiotics. The newly appointed leader of the surgery staff is the brilliant, arrogant renegade Dr. John Thackery, whose addiction to cocaine and opium is trumped only by his ambition for medical discovery and renown among his peers.

Into the all-white staff and patient hospital comes the equally gifted Harvard graduate Dr. Algernon Edwards, who must fight for respect while trying to navigate the racially charged city.

Trying to maintain its reputation for quality care while realizing a profit, the Knickerbocker makes an effort to attract wealthy clientele, while literally struggling to keep the lights on.
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Cast



  • Dr. John Thackery is an arrogant, self-absorbed, yet brilliant surgeon who burns the candle at both ends, but manages to shine in the surgical theatre.
  • Jacob Speight is a health department inspector who exploits the perks of his position, demanding a finder’s fee for every patient he brings to the Knick.
  • Cornelia Robertson not only serves as head of the hospital’s social welfare office, but also chairs the hospital’s board of trustees as proxy for her father, shipping tycoon Captain August Robertson (Grainger Hines).
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  • Dr. Everett Gallinger is an aspiring surgeon on Thackery’s staff whose hopes of being named assistant chief surgeon are dashed when an outsider is appointed to the position.
  • Dr. Algernon Edwards is a gifted, Harvard-trained surgeon – the only black member of his graduating class – whose determination to be recognized for his abilities in the face of racial prejudice is coupled with his desire to learn everything he can from the openly dismissive Dr. Thackery.
  • Dr. Bertram “Bertie” Chickering, Jr. is an eager surgeon-in-training who comes to the Knick for the romance and excitement of learning from a groundbreaking surgeon.
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  • Lucy Elkins is a naïve young nurse from West Virginia who has come to New York for adventure, and finds more than she ever imagined at the Knick.
  • Tom Cleary is the crude, jovial Irish ambulance driver who gets kickbacks for funneling rich patients to the Knick and takes great delight in harassing those who stand in his path.
  • Herman Barrow is an obsequious and deceptively greedy hospital administrator who robs Peter to pay Paul in order to keep the Knickerbocker, and himself, afloat.
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Videos and Articles

The Knick: Trailer
The Knick: Trailer #2
Tease
Tease #2
Tease #3
Tease #4
Tease #5

WSJ - 'The Knick' Portrays Gilded-Age Gore
THR - Cinemax Gives Steven Soderbergh's 'The Knick' Early Season 2 Renewal
Zap2It - 5 things to know about Cinemax's Steven Soderbergh-Clive Owen drama
Hitfix - The Knick creators discuss the journey from Shaggy Dog

Reviews

In short: gory, haunting, recommended.

- James Poniewozik
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The Knick is very good. If you're excited by a Soderbergh-Clive Owen team up, well, you should be. Aces.

- Mo Ryan
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More reviews forthcoming...

Promo Photos

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J

jtb

Banned
this looks so fucking good

it's crazy that Soderbergh is directing all episodes of this season and coming back to do another 10. I knew he was something of a workaholic, or at least a very hands on director given he acted as DP on most (all?) of his films as well, but even this seems like a big endeavor. I love it.
 
D

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
Cliff Martinez is providing an electronic score, which is fucking awesome. Soderbergh and Martinez have made an amazing pair over the last 25 years. That's got my excitement through the damn roof.
 
H

hateradio

The Most Dangerous Yes Man
The trailer looks intriguing, but how are Cinemax shows perceived? I have yet to watch any of their originals.
 
C

Clevinger

Member
hateradio said:
The trailer looks intriguing, but how are Cinemax shows perceived? I have yet to watch any of their originals.
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HBO's trashier little brother, I guess. I doubt this show will be perceived that way though.

If you like action, you definitely need to check out Strike Back. Banshee is good too.
 
I

ivysaur12

Banned
I'm so fucking excited for this show, especially since the freshman drama class this season has been so disappointing.
 
R

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
it was renewed before it aired its first episode? does that happen often?
 
G

Grifter

Member
Ugh, I just dropped DirecTV but this looks incredible. Do Cinemax shows go up on Amazon to rent as they air?
 
N

Norwegian Rudo

Member
ivysaur12 said:
I'm so fucking excited for this show, especially since the freshman drama class this season has been so disappointing.
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Are you referring to the network shows for the 14-15 season as "this season" here? I assume so as this past season was awesome (Fargo, True Detective and more).

And if so, hasn't that pretty much been the case for the last few years? Network shows suck in the autumn and everybody despairs at how TV is going downhill, and then we get a bunch of good/great cable shows after the new year.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
- Maureen Ryan's review: Clive Owen And Steven Soderbergh's Bloody Medical Marvel
In addition to the artful fusion of procedural chestnuts and Prestige Drama conventions, there's another combination that truly makes "The Knick" a real kick: It unites the cerebral observational powers of Soderbergh with subject matter that is literally visceral (never, ever watch this show while eating). There is always a sense of control in Soderbergh's exacting vision, even when characters and stories are spinning into chaos. The marriage of that rigorous intellectual sensibility to the pulsing, unpredictable life of a big-city hospital makes for a wonderfully lively concoction, one full of insight, curiosity and delightfully rich segues.
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I

ivysaur12

Banned
Norwegian Rudo said:
Are you referring to the network shows for the 14-15 season as "this season" here? I assume so as this past season was awesome (Fargo, True Detective and more).

And if so, hasn't that pretty much been the case for the last few years? Network shows suck in the autumn and everybody despairs at how TV is going downhill, and then we get a bunch of good/great cable shows after the new year.
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I am not. Outside of Fargo and True Detective, it's been bleak as far as new dramas go.

Tyrant and The Strain are blah, The Leftovers is bad, I couldn't get into Penny Dreadful, and there haven't been come-out-of-the-word work spectacles like Rectify or Orphan Black last year.
 
C

CrunchyFrog

Member
As a recent newcomer to hospital job life, especially in the surgery department, and as someone who's a sucker for Gothic London, this looks amazing. I'll have to catch it late though as I'll be out of town and away from my cable sub :(
 
indigo-cyclops

indigo-cyclops

Member
This makes me want Cinemax. The time period is essentially a trap for me. Love it; the shots look superb and the trailer was great.
 
R

RatskyWatsky

Hunky Nostradamus
RustyNails said:
Wow, who even has Cinemax.
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As of August 2013, Cinemax's programming is available to approximately 20,471,000 television households (17.93% of cable, satellite and telco customers) in the United States (20,226,000 subscribers or 17.71% of all households with pay television service receive at least Cinemax's primary channel).
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As much as I want to watch the show, I'm not getting fricking Cinemax.
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You should, all of their shows have been great so far.

INDIGO_CYCLOPS said:
This makes me want Cinemax.
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Thus, the raison d'etre of The Knick.
 
D

Discotheque

Banned
Oh wow I didn't think soderbergh would be directing much of this hence my lack of excitement for it

Him and Clive Owen team up, yeaaah this show is gonna be good
 
C

Cornballer

Member
- Matt Zoller Seitz for NY Mag: Cinemax’s Terrific The Knick Is a Statement About the Past
Not since Deadwood has a period-drama production designed to a fare-thee-well and steeped in nasty atmosphere been so politically astute about who has power over whom and why—­although the subtler brand of gallows humor and Soderbergh’s fondness for intricately choreographed long takes aligns The Knick with a different TV classic that Deadwood creator David Milch worked on, Hill Street Blues.
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T

Takuan

Member
Was just wondering what happened to Clive Owen last night.

Looks interesting. Love me some Clive. Will watch.
 
C

Cornballer

Member
- Poniewozik's review:
The show grows on you, though, or it did on me; Cinemax sent seven episodes and though I squirmed early on, I found myself happily bingeing them. As if you’re walking into a dimly lit brownstone, it takes a while for your eyes to adjust–but when they do, you see not just gore but a wrestling with the mechanics of life, not just grimness but an odd, vital kind of hope.
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- Sepinwall's review
In a time of abundant greatness, it is very good — and gorgeously shot — but it's not as revolutionary as the men and women whose work it depicts.
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C

Cornballer

Member
- Andy Greenwald's review for Grantland
But mostly it’ll leave you stunned. One of the reasons I love television is that it’s primarily a writers’ medium. Unlike film, in which directors take the lion’s share of the credit and blame, TV is dictated from the page. Though there are certainly exceptions, there generally isn’t the time or space for a director to establish much of a personal touch on a weekly series; it’s more a matter of getting through the required number of pages and getting out of the way. Even HBO’s True Detective, which was rightly lauded for its uniquely consistent look, is considered to be writer Nic Pizzolatto’s show. He’s the one steering Season 2, while director Cary Joji Fukunaga has been exiled from Carcosa.

As someone who cares about story and character above all else, this imbalance has never much bothered me. I’d rather analyze a bravura speech than a tracking shot any day. And yet The Knick is the first series that has made me stop and reconsider my priorities. Soderbergh not only directed every episode of this first season (of which I’ve seen seven), but also operated the camera and edited all 10 hours. The result is a level of visual virtuosity rarely glimpsed on the small screen.
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