‘The Knick’ Is the Perfect Historical Drama for ‘The Pitt’ Fans

Imagine this: you’re watching a TV show that thrusts you into the catacombs of a hospital that has an infamous reputation, so much so that the show is named after it, and you witness a dynamic ensemble of characters who deal not only with the trauma in front of them, but also their own personal and emotional struggles. Additionally, imagine that this show isn’t on network television and therefore doesn’t have to hold back on the more disturbing visuals that are a commonplace occurrence in such a setting, and that one of the doctors is battling addiction. Also, imagine that there is such a tremendous craft on display in all facets that the show is critically acclaimed.

If you imagined that you’re watching HBO’s The Pitt, you’re technically correct. However, if you’ve run out of episodes and need another fix that checks all those boxes, then you can luckily spend a little bit more time on HBO Max to watch The Knick. Some things that The Knick has that The Pitt doesn’t, though, are that Steven Soderbergh directed all 20 episodes of The Knick, and while the more contemporary series’ structure allows each season to unfold over the course of a single ER shift, it does limit character development. The Knick, however, unfolds over a larger period of time, as well as follows characters outside of New York’s infamous “Knickerbocker Hospital,” as these characters showcase more sides of their personalities.

A Disturbing Glimpse at Medical Torture and Treatment

Set in 1900, The Knick focused on Clive Owen’s Dr. John W. Thackery, the leader of The Knick’s surgery team. Arguably the only thing that rivals Thackery’s inventiveness and abilities to treat patients is his addiction to cocaine and opium. Other key figures in the series are Dr. Algernon Edwards (André Holland), a Harvard-educated Black surgeon who has to fight against discrimination while being more talented than everyone around him, Lucy Elkins (Eve Hewson), a new nurse at The Knick who has admiration for Thackery and disdain for his addiction, and Dr. Bertram “Bertie” Chickering, Jr (Michael Angarano), who aims to learn as much as he can from his peers, despite having a chip on his shoulder.

In addition to consistently delivering great performances, inventive direction, tight scripts, and gorgeous cinematography, The Knick regularly delivered horrifying depictions of medical trauma. Patients were reluctant to go to the hospital in the first place, as doctors seemed only slightly more sophisticated than butchers, meaning their afflictions had to be severe to even go to The Knick, but the methods that were commonplace and unconventional to treat these ailments were also intense. The grotesque nature of the show means it’s not at all for the faint of heart, even if it’s an accurate depiction of historical methods.

‘The Knick’ Never Got the Love It Deserved

Clive Owen’s character performing surgery in ‘The Knick’

Cinemax

Right from the start, The Knick impressed audiences, with Rotten Tomatoes calculating 87% positive reviews for Season 1 and an even more impressive 97% for Season 2. Owen would also earn a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor – Television Series Drama, so the reason we only got two seasons has nothing to do with how good the series was.

One major hurdle is that, given that it took place at the turn of the century, it was an expensive show to make. Given the number of fantasy series out there, it’s hard to believe that budget was the major constraint, but exacerbating the cost was that, airing on Cinemax, the show failed to earn substantial viewership. Airing between 2014 and 2015, streaming hadn’t yet become the go-to platform for TV, with viewers having to subscribe to Cinemax to access their content on demand. Spending so much money and not yielding returns meant it was an obvious decision to cancel the series after two seasons.

Having Soderbergh direct every episode, all while he was making his own movies, also required complex scheduling. There have been talks, though, that a Season 3 could potentially be in the works, with Barry Jenkins directing. Soderbergh has claimed that future seasons would take place in different time periods, but no substantial momentum has developed behind such plans.