By JESSE WEISSMAN
The Knick begins with a POV shot from its protagonist, Dr. John Thackery, the new head surgeon at Knickerbocker Hospital, played by Clive Owen. He sits in a Chinatown brothel in 1900 New York City. The brothel is darkly lit, doused in a haze of vice and drugs. There is no doubt that the shot is beautiful (the entirety of the first season is directed by Steven Soderbergh, who has moved to television after his self-proclaimed retirement from film). However, one can’t help but feel that we’ve seen this before. Thackery, at least so far from the two episodes I’ve seen, doesn’t seem to possess many characteristics beyond being brilliant yet unlikeable and troubled. When the viewer sees him inject cocaine into his body over and over again, addiction isn’t what comes to mind. It’s tedium.
Courtesy of Cinemax