The Knick

Oh how I wanted to love this show. :frowning: Clive Owen. “Turn of the Century”, etc.

But he’s a medical genius who is abusive, rude, obnoxious and a drug addict. Hmm, where have I heard that before? :rolleyes::rolleyes::dubious:

Well I don’t think Dr. House ever had some poor nurse inject cocaine into his penis, so there is that. :slight_smile:

But I do think they once set a patient on fire as well.

The main plot might be a little second-hand but the backdrop is worth watching for.

Who still has Cinemax tho? Does it come bundled with other channels worth paying for? (Showtime, HBO)

I never watched House, so the OP’s complaint doesn’t apply to me. I like it, but not as much as I’d hoped. The early 70’s synthesizer music is pretty damned annoying however.

Hmm, this is on Skinemax, you say? Does the music go “bow chikka wow”?

Eh, the shows not really that similar to House, despite both having drug addicted, overly cocky doctors. If nothing else, Clive Owen’s character has probably already killed more patients then in several seasons of House.

I’ve liked it so far, though the lead is kind of the weakest part. They need to give him something to do other then find new places to inject drugs and complain about black people.

(I kinda like the soundtrack to. It gives it sort of a retro sci-fi vibe that seems appropriate for the setting).

It is kind of interesting how they’re basically inventing modern surgery. Reminds me of a line from the Aubrey/Maturin novels - “The surgery was a complete success. And I even have some hope that the patient will survive.”

Just saw episode 1 so far, but I thought it was a strong start. I was sort of expecting some lazy writing with that last surgery – black doctor saves the day at the last minute, and therefore is accepted by his white colleagues – but they avoided that cliche. I look forward to ep 2 and beyond.

Come on, man! Get it right! :smiley:

“bow chikka wow wow”

:smiley:

J.

In one of Stevenson’s Baroque Cycle books, a character dies because he “no longer has the strength to fight off the doctors”.

But yeah, I like that rather then having the genius doctor magically being able to save people, even he has a realistically low success rate. Even going in, some surgeries are basically viewed as a learning experience to help future patients rather then actually having a chance of helping the one currently on the table.

Where in the timeline of surgery are they? Have they started using anesthesia yet? I’m not sure I could watch a show that featured surgery with no anesthesia. Not good on watching torture, even if it’s technically medical care. Too squeamish I suppose.

I’m glad someone else is watching this. I’m fascinated by it. Admittedly, the plot is probably not the strongest quality of this show, but the backdrop is very interesting. I’m not sure why someone hasn’t already produced a gritty-early days of surgery-medical drama, but this one is well done.

They’re in the era of general aesthetics, so you’re safe. Even the gore isn’t as bad as I was expecting, considering its a show about surgery shown on a subscription channel. Perhaps due to their reputation (“Skinimax”), I think there’s a conscious effort not to go for the gratuitous violence and nudity other prestige historical dramas have gone for.

Last weeks episode was great, especially the scene with:

The black Dr. playing chicken with the other Docs during surgery

I think its the best show currently on TV.

I’ve watched eps 1-3 so far. Still very good. Excellent performances, and solid writing so far. Great start to a series.

We’ve watched the 3 episodes they “previewed” on HBO (don’t have Cinemax).

Meh. There are too many characters and subplots. Hard to keep everything straight. Lot of confusing stuff that you might find out what the deal was much later.

E.g., I love Cara Seymour. She has a tiny part as a nun. They pop in and show her doing a tiny thing here and there. That’s it. Why even bother?

A whole lot of very bad people doing bad things. But The Godfather it isn’t.

The ambulance driver and the nun are becoming my favorites. Everyone else is various degrees of icky.

What about Bertie? Everyone likes Bertie!

Bertie’s the WORST!

All of the main characters seemed to be sleepwalking through their parts in this last episode, mumbling dialog without enthusiasm, and interacting with all the gusto of mannequins. Not sure if I’m up for more of that.

Anyway, the health inspector subplot is clearly headed for

Typhoid Mary, though the timing doesn’t match. Mary Mallon didn’t start working in Manhattan until 1901 and wasn’t suspected of being a typhoid carrier until 1905 or so.