The Knick: Sneak Preview Review 1.8: Good Loving, the Fix, and Typhoid Mary

I just saw The Knick 1.8 - courtesy of an advance screener provided by Cinemax and Starpulse - so herewith a brief review, certified specific-spoiler free.  As with all preview reviews, I'll discuss generalities, to give you an idea of the episode.  If you prefer not getting even an inkling of the story ahead, you probably should not read any further.

The main themes of this fine episode - a lot calmer than last week's - include:

• Good loving, for two couples, picking up where the ending of last week's episode left off, and with some explicitness in depiction.  We leave one couple thoroughly happy.  As for the other, well ...  
• Thackery's addiction plays an even more central role than usual, a state which was inevitable given his reliance on drugs and the state of the world - back then, as of now, in a constant series of wars, ever on the verge of disrupting all commerce, and sometimes doing so.  We also see Thackery in the grip of more than one powerful drug.
• We're treated to yet another example of prejudice, in this age in which targeting of groups different from the mainstream was so rampant.
• The Typhoid Mary story moves along, with a memorable denunciation of Mary by NY Health Inspector Speight.   This part of The Knick has taken on a special relevance, I think, given the arrival Ebola in America this week.
• Another medical toy - aka an instrument that could be a big help in surgery - is demonstrated. These Edwardian antique devices, high tech for their day, are one of my favorite parts of this series.

And so The Knick continues as one of most enjoyably played scientific histories to come along a television screen in a long time - actually, maybe the very first.  And I'll be back here next week with another sneak preview review, a day or two before the actual airing of the episode on Cinema.

See also The Knick: Paean to Scientific Method

 
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