There’s a good chance you’ve heard of Cinemax — and an ever better chance you don’t subscribe to the premium cable channel.
And that’s a shame, because you’re missing “The Knick” — one of the best shows on television, now early into its second season.
With CBS rebooting “Star Trek,” perhaps it’s apropos to paraphrase that show’s iconic intro vis-à-vis “The Knick” — which boldly goes where few TV dramas have gone before. Set in a turn-of-the-(20th) century hospital in New York City, “The Knick” operates in its own dark, languid universe inhabited by characters at turns noble, riveting, repulsive and morally/ethically bankrupt. That they’re all woven into a multi-pronged storyline that’s majestic, evocative and seedy — often simultaneously — is even more impressive.
For the uninitiated, “The Knick” stands for The Knickerbocker, a hospital that’s seen better days. Its brilliant chief surgeon, Dr. John “Thack” Thackeray (Clive Owen), has a manic drive for unorthodox (read: groundbreaking) surgical procedures, vividly enhanced by his drug addiction.
(He’s mostly into cocaine and opium, perhaps explaining his quirky sartorial choices. What’s with those white shoes, anyway?)
Last season, before Thack inevitably spiraled into the abyss, he hired a second-in-command: Dr. Algernon “Algie” Edwards (André Holland), a skilled, innovative African-American surgeon whose skin color doesn’t sit well with either the hospital’s board of directors or most of his colleagues. Algie, of course, is painfully, heartbreakingly aware of this; last season, he literally beat himself up in his pent-up frustration and rage at his situation.
(Don’t be fooled into thinking that New York City in 1900 was much more progressive than any of its Southern counterparts. It wasn’t — at least not in this world.)
Other characters vital to the The Knick’s lifeblood include West Virginia-bred nurse Lucy Elkins (Eve Hewson), who idolizes Thackery despite, or maybe because of, his shortcomings; on-the-take hospital administrator Herman Barrow (Jeremy Bobb); socialite/hospital benefactor Cornelia Robertson (Juliet Rylance), whose family employs Algie’s parents (forging a strong bond between them); Tom Cleary (Chris Sullivan), The Knick’s ambulance driver with a heart of gold buried beneath his thick Irish brogue; and WASP-y surgeon Dr. Bertram “Bertie” Chickering Jr. (Michael Angarano), who’s got eyes for Nurse Elkins.
The series was created by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler and is directed by Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh (“Erin Brockovich,” “Traffic,” “Side Effects,” to name a few) — which explains its almost tangible atmospheric feel (many dimly lit scenes from that era of low-wattage electricity and leftover gas lamps).
I like the way in which “The Knick” takes its sweet time in telling the multi-layered stories in its checkerboard mosaic — without the in-your-face pacing that permeates just about every prime-time drama.
Perhaps that’s a luxury of airing on (pay) cable, with no advertisers (and/or ratings expectations) to worry about.
Or perhaps it’s just plain old damn good TV.
“The Knick” airs Fridays at 10 p.m. on Cinemax.