The Knick Season 2 Episode 5 recap: There are more losses than wins

This is not a spoiler-free post. Dr John Thackery is yet to cure us of that disease!

You begin the episode with a hopelessness and disaster. you end it on the same note.

Henry Robertson wants to take the 20th century by it's horns. He is more of a risk taker than Robertson Sr. He has invested in the New York subway and it is satisfying to see that he handles a disaster in one of the tunnels with the same dedication he has towards using the new invention of moving pictures to be a pioneer of porn movies! 

The accident puts The Knick in full throttle. We see efficiency, innovation and dedication come together to save lives. Robertson Jr decides to waive the fees much to the dismay of Barrow and Cleary.

Barrow is the one we thought could think for himself. Turns out we were wrong. After knicking from the new Knick, Barrow used all that money to pay off Ping Yu. And then put up a bid for freedom of his mistress. He also intends to buy a place for her in the respected area of New York. Oh Barrow, did you really think that boudoir talk was real? No wonder you keep ending up with wrong people at the wrong time. What happened to that clever, cunning brain?

Speaking of clever, Bertie Chickering is not feeling so under Dr Zinberg's tutelage. He has impatience imparted from Thack and hence he decides to once again indulge in breaking and entering to get some papers about the adrenaline research and have Zinberg give him a promotion for next level. The idea, of course, comes from Dr Edwards. So don't be surprised if in one of the upcoming episodes you find Chickering back at The Knick.

Chickering's associate in this petty crime is Genevieve. The feisty journalist has managed to win over Chickering Sr and Mrs Chickering. Now they don't mind that she is Jewish and are pleased with the choice their Bertie has made. Guess Mrs Chickering will have to keep that manicure appointment with Genvieve.

Dr Edwards and Opal are still in the I-am-not-sure-if-I-love-you stage. Given the freedom Opal enjoyed in Paris where people are more accepting of people of colour than in the New York of 1900's, one wonders why she chose to come back. Her rebellious nature and interest could be the reason Edwards fell for her. But now one season in New York has beaten it out of him. No more. Opal takes Edwards to attend a lecture on 'The State of Negro in America' and that marks the change in Edwards from passive observer to an angry contributor. The fire is back in Edwards after being beaten by failed love affair, the issue with the good old eye.

Nurse Elkins has become a smart woman with no thanks to rapping by god and all thanks to time spent with Thackery. She continues to read the gynaecology books and do the dirty and secret job of attending on Ping Yu's hookers. She has taken the advice from one of the girls in consideration and is now conducting her own experiment. The lab rat is Roobertson Jr. He may have some serious come on lines and Elkins might have blushed at him. But a chaste, unsure kiss as they parted for the night has Robertson Jr hooked to Nurse Elkins. For once Nurse Elkins is in control!

Speaking of control, looks like Dr Thackrey is losing it. Thack has cured Abby's syphilis and is back to focusing on his addiction studies. In the theatre he opens up the skull of a morphine addict and using the electricity (another object that has caught Thack's fancy!) he successfully demonstrates the areas that light up like Christmas lights when the addict is given the needed dose of morphine. (Finding shrapnels lodged in them with electricity was a stroke of genius​.) Thack thinks that is the clue and hence that part of the brain must be removed to cure the addiction.

Not everyone agrees. Gallinger, after trying to cure Thack with the 10-knot experiment, thinks that sterilisation is the answer to curing the addiction. Gallinger thinks that the sooner Thack finds it, the better his chances will be to overthrow Dr Edwards. Alas, both of them are wrong. After removing the piece of brain, the man turns into a log. Experiment failed. Gallinger, on the other hand, gets boys from 'the idiot house' on Randall Island as his lab rats.

This is turn-of-the-century medicine for you. There are more losses than wins. It's more barbaric than you can imagine. It is looking for cures at the cost of humanity and morals.

The Knick season 2 airs on HBO Defined every Saturday at 9 pm