Get the Rope

Lore & Background

In the episode, officer Sears is stabbed by an African-American man in self-defense, prompting a mob of rioters to gather outside the Knickerbocker Hospital. Sears' mother, Fionnula, demands the man be killed, and after Sears dies from internal bleeding, she incites the mob to attack every African-American. The hospital locks its doors, and Dr. John Thackery tells Dr. Algernon Edwards to hide. The man who stabbed Sears also hides in the Knick, angering the mob, which tries to enter the building. Thackery moves the staff to Edwards' underground clinic, and Sister Harriet suggests taking some African-Americans to a nearby monastery. With the horses stolen by the mob, the staff delivers patients on foot, covering them with blankets. At another hospital, Thackery, Edwards, Cornelia, and Elkins help treat patients. After the riots end, Edwards and Cornelia discover his clinic untouched, and their conversation turns flirtatious, culminating in a kiss. Thackery accompanies Elkins home, where they have sex; the next morning, Elkins finds they used cocaine.

Reader's Guide

The episode received critical acclaim, with critics praising the directing, performances, writing, character development, and themes. According to Nielsen Media Research, it was seen by an estimated 0.358 million household viewers and gained a 0.11 ratings share among adults aged 18–49. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported a 91% approval rating based on 11 reviews, with the consensus stating: 'In The Knick's most explosive outing yet, racial tensions come to a head, and the episode's nimble handling of a singular stressful event is gripping and provocative.' Critics such as Matt Fowler of IGN gave it a 9 out of 10, calling it the show's first full 'oh s***!' moment. Brandon Nowalk of The A.V. Club gave it an 'A' grade, noting how the plot moves from one problem to the next. The episode is significant for its unflinching portrayal of racial violence and the moral dilemmas faced by the hospital staff.

Did You Know?

• The episode was written by series creators Jack Amiel and Michael Begler and directed by executive producer Steven Soderbergh.
• Rotten Tomatoes reported a 91% approval rating for the episode based on 11 reviews.

The World of the Knickerbocker Hospital

The Knick is set in 1900 New York City, where the Knickerbocker Hospital serves as a crucible for medical innovation and institutional struggle. The hospital's staff—surgeons, nurses, and support personnel—operate within the severe constraints of early twentieth-century medical knowledge, constantly battling to reduce patient deaths and complications. Beyond the operating theater, the institution faces a persistent financial crisis, forcing its leadership to court wealthy patients while maintaining the quality of care that defines its mission. This dual pressure of scientific ambition and economic survival creates a backdrop where every decision carries weight. The series, created by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler, uses this period setting to explore how medical progress was achieved not in sterile laboratories but in the messy, resource-starved reality of a working hospital. The show ran for two ten-episode seasons on Cinemax, premiering in August 2014 and concluding its second run in December 2015.

Two Surgeons, One Operating Room

At the heart of The Knick stand two surgeons whose ambitions and backgrounds create an electric tension. Dr. John W. Thackery, portrayed by Clive Owen, is the brilliant but self-destructive chief surgeon, whose cocaine and opium addictions shadow his genuine talent for pioneering operating techniques. His character draws partial inspiration from the historical figure William Stewart Halsted. Opposite him, Dr. Algernon C. Edwards, played by André Holland, is a Harvard-educated Black American surgeon who trained in Paris and is arguably the most qualified physician in the building. Yet he must fight for basic respect in an all-white staff and a racially charged city, while also running a secret after-hours clinic in the hospital basement for Black patients who would otherwise be turned away. Their dynamic—Thackery's reckless genius against Edwards's quiet, hard-won excellence—anchors the series' exploration of race, class, and the cost of medical progress in the early 1900s.

Soderbergh's Multifaceted Vision

Steven Soderbergh's involvement in The Knick went far beyond the typical director's chair. For the first season's ten episodes, he directed every single one while simultaneously serving as director of photography under his pseudonym Peter Andrews and as editor under the name Mary Ann Bernard. This triple role gave the series a singular visual and rhythmic identity, with Soderbergh controlling the look, the cut, and the performance all at once. The production also benefited from deep period authenticity: Dr. Stanley Burns, founder of The Burns Archive, served as on-set medical adviser, working closely with actors and crew to ensure that everything from antiseptic atomizers to early X-ray machines to a prosthetic limb felt historically grounded. Jack Amiel and Michael Begler wrote the majority of episodes and served as executive producers alongside Soderbergh, Gregory Jacobs, and Michael Sugar of Anonymous Content. This concentration of creative authority made the first season feel like a unified authorial statement.

Cancellation and the Road Ahead

Despite the critical attention it received, The Knick's run on Cinemax ended abruptly. After the second ten-episode season concluded in December 2015, the network announced in March 2017 that the series would not return. For several years, the show's future hung in uncertainty. Then in 2020, Soderbergh publicly confirmed that a new season was in development, this time led by director Barry Jenkins, with Amiel and Begler having already written a pilot episode. The announcement signaled that the creative team still saw untold stories within the Knickerbocker Hospital's world. By 2023, Begler further confirmed that a spin-off series remained in active development, with its pilot set in 1919 Harlem—a setting that would extend the show's exploration of race, medicine, and community into a new neighborhood and era. These developments suggest that, for the writers and their collaborators, the Knick's story is far from finished.