8) The Knick
It’s rather fitting that Cinemax’s period hospital drama airs Friday nights, seeing as spending time at the Knickerbocker is a lot like going to a club, where heaven is found in the disorienting pull of a toxic hellhole. In expanding its worldview to include citywide corruption, institutional hypocrisy, and medically backed racism, The Knick’s second (final?) season was a classifiable depressant.
But the lows were worth weathering for the sublime pleasure that was watching Steven Soderbergh direct each episode with inexhaustible fire, and getting to see one of TV’s best ensembles trod the medium’s most finely constructed boards.
[zergpaid]No two scenes play out the same – either compared to one another or on repeat viewing – when performances, production design, and direction are always elbowing one another for your attention.
Ain’t no party like a Knickerbocker party, ‘cause a Knickerbocker party has the best music, company, and drugs.