The Knick “Get the Rope” 

Well, that escalated quickly. I’m not only talking about the riot. Phinny Sears approaches a black woman he thinks is a prostitute. He wants to convince her to become one of Bunky’s girls so he can get his cut, but both she and her man take offense to Phinny’s proposition. Her man stabs Phinny in the street and leaves him there to die, while a few white men pursue both of them. From there, tensions escalate. An angry mob of white men outside The Knick start attacking any black person who happens to be out on the street. The staff at The Knick can only do so much for the injured and soon they start to worry about their own safety. When the mob gets into the hospital, Thackery and Edwards know they must take their patients elsewhere.

It’s disturbing to see that the police are leading the charge to get into the hospital. Not only that, but they and the mob are attacking any black person they see on the street. I get that the police are up in arms because Sears was a cop. But to see their behavior after Sears dies, is disturbing. And that mob doesn’t care about punishing the culprit, they just want to make any black person pay. Even Edwards, who was trying to help save Sears’ life.

Sister Harry volunteers to take the patients well enough to walk to the church. It’s close and even the angry mob won’t risk the wrath of God. The only nearby hospital that will take the patients too injured to walk is a negro hospital in Little Africa. They hide Edwards under one of the gurneys and start their journey. When they’re detained by a man looking to make trouble, Lucy comes up with a brilliant excuse for why the patients are covered — leprosy. She tells him he can look, but in a week that man will be “down on your knees trying to find where your testicles rolled off to.” I mean, I knew she had some spirit. I’m just glad she can think on her feet as well.

So, there are many times I have to look away from my screen during this show. The surgeries look real to me and there’s really only so much I can take. And I feel like I need to share my pain. When the group makes it to the hospital in Little Africa, the staff stays to help with the other patients that are already there and need to be treated. As Thackery is sawing a man’s arm off, we see Lucy standing there holding it. When it’s completely severed, Thack tells her to put it down. It seems like Lucy needs a moment — I know I certainly do — but she says she’s fine and there are so many more patients that need their help. And then the scene gets even more interesting. Thackery asks for a towel, but it’s for Lucy. Awww. He does care.

Maybe it’s seeing how well Lucy did under pressure or something else, but Thackery’s impressed. He offers to walk her home while the rest of the staff return to The Knick. Lucy invites him into her room and into her bed. We all knew it was only a matter of time before this happened. And when she asks him if it’ll hurt, he says he can make it “painless and perfect.” I thought I’d be upset, because I really do feel like Thackery’s lifestyle isn’t a healthy one and I don’t want to see someone like Lucy pulled into it. But she’s a grown woman and she needs to make her own choices. So I’m going along for this ride. And she looks so happy afterwards. I hope Thackery continues to surprise me when it comes to Lucy – in a good way.

I’ve also been enjoying Cornelia’s friendship with Algernon. After the scare they get from the mob, they give in to their feelings. I kind of love the idea of two childhood friends falling in love. I mean, I don’t know if that’s what this is. But I do love how much they care for each other. I don’t care what their skin color is, but the rest of the world does at the turn of the last century. The fact that Cornelia is white and privileged (and engaged) is going to be a problem if this progresses any further. We know Cornelia feels trapped in her current relationship, but I think her sense of familial duty will probably win out. We’ll see. I’ll be hopeful that Cornelia can choose a future she wants until I see something else happen.

Gallinger and Bertie

Things have obviously changed quite a bit in the time Gallinger has been away from The Knick. When he sees Edwards assisting Thackery in the theater, it’s Bertie he tells to step aside. Even he can see that he’s lost his place by Thackery’s side. It’ll be interesting to see if and how Gallinger tries to worm his way back into Thack’s good graces. Bertie, on the other hand, has really stepped it up. Last week he helped Thack with that procedure and this week Thackery’s confident enough in his skills, that he leaves Bertie behind as the physician on call. Bertie even performs a surgery on his own with the help of Nurse Pell. He seems to be gaining confidence and I like that. I hope we continue to see him shine at work.

The Knick airs Fridays at 10/9c on Cinemax.