The Knick - Season 1, Episode 08: Working Late a Lot
Trailer
The story of the series begins when Thackery already flows into the wrong new electrical system in the hospital, ordering Herman Barrow, the twisted admin at Knick, to bring more bodies so he and his team can test new surgical procedures. As more patients die, Algernon displays the exchange of procedures he learned in France, but was rejected by Thackery and Everett.
The Knick indulges in some vices in its latest, which should maybe be called "Working It a Lot," because there's a whole lot of bad behavior, sexytime, and sass this week in the period drama.
"Working Late a Lot" was in some ways an even more impressive technical achievement than last week's riot, finding its spectacle through internal rather than external pressures.
Is it really just a human story about one of the doctors, or is this all a set up for something truly shocking? With just two more episodes to go, we're hooked.
For two-thirds of a season on The Knick we've been waiting for Dr. John Thackery's cocaine addiction to bring him down - not for any moralistic reasons, but just because it seemed like it was destiny.
It's a testament to the directorial prowess of Soderbergh, then, that he can switch gears from the hectic turmoil of last week's racially charged mob violence to something as intimate and single-minded as 'Working Late a Lot.'
The storyline is also noteworthy for the subtle, usually unspoken hints it drops about how developed Thackery's colleagues and subordinates' sense of his addiction really is.
Well, after hitting a definitive climax last week, The Knick came through with an episode that is-both literally and figuratively-just one long hangover. Thematically appropriate? Absolutely. Fun to watch? Not so much.