Have you been eating ice cream?
A couple of big developments but one of them I saw coming a while back.
I know a lot of women who would be good with that as foreplay. 
I’ve seen a couple of episodes randomly and liked them, but I may now have to check it out in order.
IIRC, the first anesthetics were incredibly flammable. Or Inflammable. Whichever. Ether was used as early as the 1700s, but it also tended to blow up. Nitrous oxide and chloroform were in use in the mid-1800s.
I liked this latest episode! I like people doing good and getting along, though. Tension and conflict make me sad.
I think it is quite weird that Thack went from “No n*ggaz!” to joking with Edwards and “Stop beating this man!” in one week but whatever. His mind works in mysterious ways?
Good to see Cleary on the right side of things, too. He knows his “us” is the working man, not the white man.
I think the idea is that Thack sees the world more or less through how it can help him in his mission of improving medicine. He hated Edwards when he thought (more or less correctly) that Edwards would be a distraction to the hospital and his mission, that he was a symbol of the rich donars mucking around on his turf and didn’t believe Edward’s was capable of innovation due to his race.
Now that he’s seen Edwards is really capable of making medical discoveries on his own, he’s basically reversed his views. I don’t think that’s particularly unusual. I’ve known people that were pretty vocal homophobes till they were forced to interact with a gay person who had qualities they generally respected in others, and than changed their views over the span of only a few weeks.
Anyhoo, agree that its nice this show hasn’t, at least so far, made everyone an unlikable douche. That seems to be the route a lot of prestige dramas take, and it gets a little wearing.
BTW Cocaine was legal in 1900 but I don’t think a Dr. would tell people he was taking it.
I thought it was too much of a character change too fast. Thack’s immediate reaction when he saw Edwards clinic was to close it down. Then a week later, he was stealing equipment for it. That’s a little too much “suspension of disbelief”. Although his disdain for Edwards, at first, may not have applied to black PATIENTS. So his reaction to helping blacks in the riot wasnt necessarily out of character.
I did like how the whole cast banded together to manage the crisis.
I’m hoping that anyone who caught the season finale can tell me what the money Cornelia forwarded to Cleary was about. Was it payment for the abortion? It seemed like an awful lot considering there’d been a previous episode where Cleary asked one customer for only 8 bucks.
Blackmail.
I suspected that but it didn’t seem to concern her at all. She seemed a lot more worried about Edwards and the fact that her dad seems to be going bankrupt and that’s the reason she went on with the marriage.
This show seems to have a thing for leaving out details.
She’s got cash, so I suspect she just didn’t care that much. A lot of money for bearded Irish guy just is that much money for her.
Kinda wondering why Edward’s is still living in the slum though. He’s not funding his secret hospital anymore. Even in 1900 there must be some decent housing available for well-to-do blacks.
Anyhoo, enjoyed the show. Apparently they’ve been picked up for a second season, so we’ll get to find out how Thack deals with a brand-new addiction, if Edwards gets his own bathroom and how much more life can suck for poor racist blonde doctor.
Omg, that was amazing. I knew they were holding back the name of the drug they were giving Thack. I thought it was going to be Demerol but when I saw it was HEROIN, I was floored. Talk about going from the frying pan to the fire.
My other burning question is . . . Thack and Barrow don’t even seem to like each other. So how is it that Barrow is perfectly comfortable going to Thack and asking his assistance to committing murder - and why did Thack accommodate him.
I don’t think Thack knew Barrow went to the opium den guy (I can’t remember his name).
Barrow’s mob storyline seemed the most cartoonish of the whole series, but I LOVE this series as a whole. The whole history of surgery is really interesting to me and it’s amazing how far we’ve come and how much we take for granted now.
I enjoyed the season, but it’s amazing how wrong they got the addiction/withdrawal symptoms. The main problem is just that they portray Thack’s cocaine withdrawal as what should unequivocally be opiate withdrawal. It’s pretty well done opiate withdrawal, too (sweating, restlessness), but it’s not even close to cocaine withdrawal (fatigue and depression – basically Thack would just be nodding off constantly). They also gave him “bugs under the skin” as a withdrawal symptom, but that would actually result from too *much *(or tainted) coke.
I’m curious to see what they’ll do with next season heroin addiction. I assume they’ll go way overboard with how obvious the high is, and they’ll probably have to make the withdrawal identical to their cocaine withdrawal, because what else is left?
I recently discovered a TV mini-series titled “The Knick”. The first season contained ten episodes. It was directed by Steven Soderbergh and starred Clive Owen.
Unfortunately, by the time I discovered this show, all ten episodes had already been broadcast. But, that was a good news/bad news situation because I was able to watch all ten episodes in a single sitting and it was truly fabulous.
IMHO, this show is one of the very best I have ever seen. It should rank together with Game of Thrones, Fargo and The Americans as the best TV shows ever broadcast. The writing, directing, set decoration and (especially) the acting were all truly fabulous. I loved it.
Some of you may be surprised to see me mention “set decoration”. Perhaps I can discuss that later in more detail if anyone is interested. I would love to discuss it more, but fear some may object.
I’m surprised I couldn’t find any thread for the show here. But I will start one now and I sincerely hope that anyone reading this post will take a look at it. I’m sure you will love it as much as I did. It has been renewed for a second season. There is a fair bit of controversy. So even if you don’t like it, you may well find plenty of things to discuss. The following is a link to a press release. I’m sure there are many other press releases and you can Google to find them:
There is a lot going on in a turn-of-the-century-New-York-City hospital, including nuns performing abortions (on the sly) and procedures conducted in a manner that will make you cringe and scream.
On other boards, people have complained about “all the gore”. But I think that only serves to help people better understand how medicine was practicd back then as well as today and maybe it just might be a good idea to show the sights and sounds of the surgery back then.
There are some very powerful characters. One is a lovely lady who has been afflicted with leprosy and the disease has believe it or not eaten away her nose
Aside from Clive Owen, there is another well-known actor who I was certain played the doctor’s boss (named Dr. Christiansen) who shot himself in the head with a revolver. That was Matt Fewer who has never gotten as much acclaim or attention as he deserves.
The first time I saw Dr. Christiansen, I was mistakenly under the belief that he was being played by some other well-known actor instead of Matt Frewer. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the name of that actor no matter how hard I try. I’m wondering if any of you can help me. If you watch the surgery being performed in the first episode, you can get a close up look at the face of the doctor and that should give you a real good idea of just who I may be talking about. If anyone knows just who I may be thinking of, I sure would appreciate if you would let me know. Thank you.
Aside from that, there are a few real good possibilities for some long-term possibilities in this show.
In the very first episode, we are introduced to a black man named Dr. Edwards. He apparently grew up with some lady, although we are never really given the full picture of what their relationship was, they are certainly, at the very least, close friends. This lady arrranges for Dr. Edwards to be given (actually, she insists he is given) a job as the assitant to the seinor surgeon at the hospital. In any event, this post is becoming too long and so I will have to leave it here for now and continue in another post.
The hospital is kept on its feet by a very wealthy family who insist their daughter take hold of the reins on a day-to-day basis. She is a ver lovely lady and there is def a connection between her and Dr. Edwards.
With his beard he looked like James Cromwell. I wonder if that’s who you are thinking of. Matt Frewer in The Knick. James Cromwell.
Here is an earlier thread on this board for The Knick: The Knick.
Thack’s noseless old girlfriend had syphilis, not leprosy. That’s why it was doubly embarassing for her - she got it from her cheating husband.
Oh yes! You are quite right. Please forgive me.
That entire story could represent a full season. There are several other stories (or arcs) that could represent full seasons. Oops. Gotta run. BBS.
We watched it, and it was entertaining, but certainly not worthy of the glowing review in the OP. I kept waiting for some of the actors to turn to the camera and pronounce “ACTING!”
Yes. I can appreciate your feeling that way. I’m not going to argue the point with you because when I said this show held the same ranking as Game of Thrones, The Americans and Fargo, I knew that I would get plenty of dissenting opinions. So, I can’t really object. However, if you can only wait for a few more episodes or if you can re-watch some of these episodes for a second time, I think you will find what I meant.
Darn! I just watched one of the episodes for the second time and I thought to myself, "Oh boy! If someone posts an opinion that takes issue with my OP about how this show ranks up at the top of the very best shows ever made, I have to bring their attention to this. Now, of course, I can’t remember exactly what that issue was. Doggone! It must seem pretty foolish to post this and I apologize for that. If I do remember, I will certainly let you know.