Method and Madness

"The Knick" opens with "Method and Madness," the debut episode of this medical period drama set in early 1900s New York. Jack Amiel and Michael Begler, the series' creators, wrote it, while executive producer Steven Soderbergh directed. Cinemax first aired it on August 8, 2014. The episode establishes the Knickerbocker Hospital and its staff, who battle the era's primitive medical knowledge and practices. Its central figure is Dr. John Thackery, now leading the surgical team, who juggles cocaine and opium habits with his drive for medical breakthroughs and his standing among colleagues.

Nielsen Media Research estimated 0.354 million households watched the initial broadcast. Factoring in repeat airings on Cinemax and HBO, that number grew to 1.7 million viewers. Critics praised the episode heavily, highlighting Soderbergh's direction, the performances, the score, and the production design. Soderbergh earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series at the 67th ceremony.

**Plot**

In 1900 New York, Dr. John Thackery leaves a brothel early to head to the Knickerbocker Hospital. He and his partner, Dr. J. M. Christiansen, operate on a pregnant woman with placenta praevia. They extract the fetus but cannot save either the baby or the mother. Thackery insists the procedure itself failed, not Christiansen. Later, Christiansen shoots himself in his office. At the funeral, Thackery delivers a eulogy. He then meets the hospital board, now head of surgery. He wants to recommend Dr. Everett Gallinger as his deputy, but benefactor Cornelia Robertson pushes for Dr. Algernon C. Edwards, citing his European training. Thackery reluctantly agrees due to the Robertson family's financial importance. During a demonstration of Gallinger's techniques, Thackery scolds new nurse Lucy Elkins for incorrectly placing a tube. When Thackery meets Edwards, he is shocked to find he is African-American. Refusing to hire a Black doctor, he tells Cornelia, prompting the Robertsons to cut the hospital's electricity. A patient develops sepsis, and Gallinger insists Thackery is needed for surgery. Elkins finds Thackery at home, suffering cocaine withdrawal. She must inject him, but his veins have collapsed, forcing her to administer the cocaine into his urethra. Thackery returns for the operation.