Cinemax

Wow. That seems to be the only appropriate response to such a well-crafted and invigorating hour of television as The Knick’s latest, but it bears repeating: wow.

After four straight weeks of steady quality, one might suppose that it’s not much of a surprise how The Knick flounders away it’s seventeenth hour, but that doesn’t make it any less disappointing.

After a veritable barrage of bad news over the last few weeks, The Knick seems to be on a more redemptive arc this week, and it’s a nice change of pace.

As I’ve been noting throughout The Knick’s entire run, this is a show with a shocking propensity for gruesome imagery, and “Whiplash” is the most notable and arguably egregious example to date.

There couldn’t be a more apt title for the latest episode of The Knick, as “Wonderful Surprises” delivered a bevy of shocks and revelations at every turn.

With at least a half dozen character actions from the past and present leading to far-reaching consequences in “The Best with the Best to Get the Best”, Cinemax’s medical drama is proving to have quite a healthy memory.

As The Knick entered the second episode of its second season, it seems fitting that this is an hour which barters for the notion of second chances.

The Knick has returned for its second season, and anyone fearing that the grotesquely involving surgery scenes might take a backseat during a plot heavy premiere need not hold their breath.

In all of the craziness that is “We All Pay Eventually,” Banshee displays its growth over three gripping years by giving two supporting characters the chance to verbalize the heart of the episode, season and series thus far…

When it comes to pain, physical or emotional, one of the timeless cliches has been that we always hurt the people we love the most.

While “All the Wisdom I Got Left” continues most of the sub-plots Banshee has set up this season, the success of the episode will ultimately come down to how it handles Chayton Littlestone in the eyes of viewers.

Though the infiltration of Camp Genoa exists as a superb feat in and of itself, it also highlights the episode’s biggest concern: showing the strength of teamwork.

A question that doesn’t neatly fit into any of the five stages of grief under the Kubler-Ross model (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance) is “What could I have done differently?”

This week, Banshee pushes its own boundaries and gives its viewers one of the most enthralling, heartbreaking, intense, gorgeous and shocking episodes of television that will air all year.

What we get–among several other things–is a quieter meditation on parenting that shows some of the difficulties that Carrie, Gordon and Hood have either had to overcome or are currently trying to overcome.

“A Fixer of Sorts” is, to be clear, one of the best episodes of Banshee and a firm testament to the show’s deserved place among the best current TV has to offer as a medium of entertainment.

If last week’s season three premiere suggested the importance of legacy in Banshee, “Snakes and Whatnot” is the companion piece that shows how one’s legacy can be controlled by perception. It’s said that history is written by the victors, and several characters here–Rebecca, Chayton and Nola chief among them–want to make sure that they’re both taken seriously and come out on top.

Amid a full and explosive season three premiere that heavily features Chayton’s (Geno Segers) return to and influence on his Kinaho tribe, it’s a quiet exchange between father and daughter that sticks out

The Knick is the rare case of a show that arrived precisely at the perfect time for it. Some shows arrive too far ahead of their time, and are thus canceled prematurely. Some shows arrive on the back of a trend far too late to really make an impact. But The Knick? It arrived precisely when it should have. The trend of filmmakers making their mark on TV is still in an exciting growth stage, and the medical drama has been in need of someone like Soderbergh to come in and tear up the sutures.

The Knick has made some strong and effective leaps in the last few episodes, but none have been as big or as game-changing as the revelation of Thackery’s addiction to the Knickerbocker staff, and a host of others in its inner circle.

The Knick has set itself as the show to beat this week, with it’s most tense and taut episode to date. “Get the Rope” sets its sights primarily on race relations, an issue that has been sweltering underneath the shows sticky surface for a long time now, but this week, it boils into the spotlight with a cruel and ugly candor.

Sometimes it’s the simplest things which bring us the greatest of joys. This is the recurring theme that echoes through The Knick as we reach the halfway point for its first season. From a first bike ride to a cold beer with a co-worker, it is the most basic of life’s pleasures that get our characters through another tough week at the Knickerbocker Hospital.

While the new Cinemax series, The Knick, has had a promising run thus far, one would be hard pressed to deny the fact that it has been a bit uneventful. All of that has changed with the highly charged third episode however.

Beginning with Thackery receiving a visit from an old flame, “The Busy Flea” quickly sets the stage for a different kind of story. For one thing, Thackery’s former lover is not dropping by the Knick to catch up, but for a favor; the kind that only a surgeon can provide. The viewer knows right from the outset that there’s something amiss about this woman from the reaction of the admitting nurse.