The Knick (OV)

Series premiere. Dr. John Thackery ascends to the role of chief surgeon at The Knick, but is forced by hospital benefactors to hire a black assistant chief, Algernon Edwards.

Already fuming over the hospital's faulty new electrical system, Thackery tasks Herman Barrow, The Knick's crooked superintendent, to deliver more cadavers so that he and his team can test out novel surgical procedures.

Thackery weighs performing surgery on a former flame, and orders Everett and Bertie to experiment on pigs. Barrow goes to extremes in order to pay off a debt and recover a missing tooth. After a bad day, Algernon takes out his frustrations at a local bar.

Algernon forces Thackery's hand during surgery, angering Gallinger. Abigail, in recovery, regrets her past choices involving Thackery. Cleary and Sister Harriet strike one deal, then another. Lucy learns of Thackery's secret life.

Barrow looks to pay down a debt by treating one of Collier's wounded men at the Knick, and tries to convince Captain Robertson to purchase a new Edison invention. Still marginalized by Thackery, Algernon attempts to improve on a hernia surgery.

After testing out a new procedure, Thackery and Bertie vow to reverse a series of failures in the operating theatre. Edwards finds his clinic, and his career, in jeopardy after a surprise encounter.

The stabbing of a cop by a black man stirs up racial tension on the street and in the Knick. Everett returns to work and a changed OR; Barrow fears for Junia's safety; Cornelia is impressed with Edwards' ingenuity; Lucy is escorted home.

Already on edge due to a citywide run on cocaine, Thackery worries that Dr. Levi Zinberg, a Jewish surgeon and inventor, will steal his spotlight at the next New York Surgical Society presentation.

A late-night crime sheds unfavorable light on The Knick, forcing Robertson to come up with hush money. Lucy goes to extremes to get drugs for an increasingly desperate Thackery. Gallinger despairs as Eleanor's behavior becomes more erratic.

Season finale. Refusing to collaborate with Zinberg on blood-transfusion research, an increasingly paranoid Thackery pushes himself to the limit, and beyond, in an effort to solve the riddle and beat his rival. Cornelia and Edwards arrive at a crossroads.