The Knick (2014) s01e10 Episode Script

Crutchfield

Evening.
You? You know, it would be nice if for just once in my life a lady wasn't disappointed to see me.
Climb in the back.
Hyah! Is it much further? We'll be there in no time.
I'd like to know exactly where it is we're going.
I'm not gonna say.
Don't you worry.
It's safe.
None of your fancy society types will be taking an evening stroll anywhere nearby.
But it wouldn't matter.
I've had more than my fair share of your type needing my services.
- Makes sense.
- In what way? Well, matters of the flesh.
Don't really matter how fancy the table is you're sitting at.
Everyone gets hungry.
With the amount of time you rich ladies spend making yourself pretty, it's no surprise someone wanted to put that to good use.
Men, they want what they want when they want it.
Then you all come to Cleary for the fix.
Hyah.
You promised it wasn't you who'd perform it.
You can relax.
It ain't me.
It's better.
This ain't the place for joking, Cleary.
It ain't no joke, I swear.
She's a paying customer like all the rest.
You're the Yes, I'm the one who does it.
You don't want this rhinoceros doing it, do you? But you're And you're a pretty, proper virgin on the cusp of her wedding day.
We're friends, Harry.
You could have told me.
So could you.
But then neither of us could, could we? This is where you leave, Tom.
Ah! Could have done without him in the middle of this.
Never wanted him there in the first place.
You don't have to do this.
Yes, I do.
You'll be married soon.
You can tell anyone who can count to nine that it happened on your wedding night.
I'll be your midwife and vouch for the baby coming early.
No, this has to happen here tonight.
I can only find the courage to ask for this just so many times.
At least talk to Phillip about it.
He may see things differently.
I'll get you through it as quick as I can, little daughter.
A tumor has amassed at the base of the skull which is the cause of the patient's terrible pain.
By trephining, I hope to relieve some of that pressure.
As you can see, my assessment is correct as the brain's fluid is immediately being forced out through the opening.
Syringe.
In order to keep the intracranial pressure at bay, it is my opinion that the hole I've just created should remain open even after the operation.
And now on to the tumor.
Surgical knife.
This is our surgical preparation room.
Good afternoon, Doctors.
Good afternoon, Dr.
Zinberg.
Taking a tour of our old gal? She's been through quite a few battles, but we've managed to keep her afloat.
Isn't that right, Thack? Dr.
Zinberg is making the rounds at all of the city's hospitals.
He's hoping to promote greater cooperation between the surgeons.
Curiously, I found our New York brethren much less willing than my previous ones in Chicago.
Well, I think that's changing, thanks to you.
My father and I recently sat in on the pulmonary abscess procedure you did on your last visit to New York Hospital.
He used what looked like this impossible suture on both layers of the parietal.
It was very, very impressive.
Dr.
Zinberg has agreed to perform a surgery for us here at the Knick.
Really? Who invited him? Mr.
Habershorn from the board.
Seems they've heard wonderful things from Dr.
Zinberg's patron, Mr.
Loeb, and wanted us to see for ourselves.
Well, you must remind me to send Mr.
Habershorn a note.
Well, you'll be a hard act to follow, Dr.
Thackery.
Your choice of leaving the skull open is intriguing.
I've always been a believer in osteoplasty, but this contradicts that.
Well, time will tell if my contradiction is correct.
Well, naturally, there are foreseeable complications.
I'd like to try it out on my next tumor patient.
Modify it.
Perhaps we can share our findings.
If that's all right with you, of course.
No, it's not.
Physicians and other disciplines believe the mind is not a place where sickness can fester, but I assure you it can.
This way, please.
Disorders of the mind must not be treated casually.
Indeed, we must be aggressive if our patients are to improve, hmm? Of course, Dr.
Cotton.
Step in.
I'm grateful for you taking on my wife.
Well, it came at the request of our teacher Dr.
Meyer at Johns Hopkins.
There's no man I more admire.
Henry.
Whatever the cost, our families are willing to pay it.
I want the best possible care for Eleanor.
Oh, well, she's receiving it.
Please.
Eleanor, you have a visitor.
Hello, sweetheart.
Eleanor.
Eleanor, it's me, Everett.
- Everett.
- In God's name What in the hell happened? It's all part of the treatment.
- We pulled all of her teeth.
- Why? My research has shown conclusively that all mental disorders stem from disease and infection polluting the brain.
So, the teeth and gums are havens for bacteria and sepsis.
Thus to cure the patient, we must rid the body of all sites of infection.
But her teeth? She is a beautiful woman.
Who has gone mad.
Now, you must see this as a kindness.
Her teeth had to go.
I believe in this treatment so strongly that I have removed my own children's teeth as a preventative measure.
So this is common practice? It is not generally accepted.
My colleagues thus far choose to remain in the Dark Ages, but I'm confident when my results come in, they'll soon adopt my technique.
- Then it's been effective? - Not as yet.
But we've only begun to attack the sites of infection.
I think her tonsils and adenoids will have to come out.
And if that fails to bring improvement, her colon will have to go as well.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Jesus.
Get off him, Junia.
Fuck.
That's more than I expected from you, Herm.
But what I got in my pocket is less than I expected from you.
You missed a payment again.
I thought after the favor I did you at the hospital You don't miss a payment! I made that clear, you dim fuck.
And then you come to my place and blow money on whores? I just wanted to see my girl.
She's my girl.
They're all my girls! And that was my money you spent to plug my girl.
Show him a blue burner, Jimmy.
- No, no, no, no.
- Take 'em away! Or I'll give you 10 like you won't forget.
Please.
Ah! Oh, fuck.
Nothing breaks a man like a good cock punch.
Seen it kill a fella once.
Your change purse seems to be holding its own, though, Herm.
But it's swelling.
To the size of a billposter's bucket.
I'm tacking on a grand for being late and doubling your rate for it being a repeated offense.
I'll get some ice.
Stir that gravy, Duchess.
Don't want the sugar in there to candy up.
Yes, ma'am.
Joella, take that turkey out, but don't carve it yet.
That meat needs to rest.
Algie, you come to help your mama? Oh, I'd only get in the way.
Don't let him fool you, girls.
This boy can cook as good as his mama taught him to.
Glazes a ham better than any of them chefs over in Paris.
Thought I'd come by a little early for the lunch today.
Is Cornelia out of her room yet? Woke up feeling bad.
Been sitting in the parlor.
Girl has the wedding jitters if you ask me.
I'll check on her.
Always so considerate.
No one can see in.
They can all see in.
Are you are you all right? It's done.
Was it terrible? It was our child.
I wanted to be there with you.
I did.
But I couldn't.
You understand? I think we made a mistake.
- Yes, our affair was the mistake.
- No.
You were looking for a risk to take and I just happened to be it.
- No, that is not true.
- That is true.
Now we are living with the consequences of that.
And we should be grateful to have escaped with our skin.
Now we have to be realistic.
I don't want to be realistic.
You never have wanted to be realistic.
You will marry Phillip.
He's a good man and the two of you will have many splendid, healthy children together.
And this all of this mess will barely be a memory.
No.
I don't think I should attend the luncheon today.
Please convey my regrets.
In front of you is a man, age 32, suffering from splenic anemia.
Now this is evident in the slight green coloration of the skin.
This disease is rare, insidious, and up until now prognosis was anything but hopeful.
Unfortunately, gentlemen, it is only too true that the entire subject of blood making and blood breaking is as yet very imperfectly understood.
But I believe the answer lies right in the name of the disease itself the spleen.
I thought you were at lunch at the Robertsons'.
This seemed more interesting.
Where are the atomizers? He doesn't use them.
He says they're as modern as dinosaurs.
I am now going to separate the spleen from the splenic artery.
Suction.
More clamps, if you please.
We are through.
The patient still has a long road of convalescing ahead of him.
And we have a long road ahead of us in fully understanding this disease and how our blood behaves.
However, we may not be as far off as we once believed.
My distinguished colleague Dr.
Karl Landsteiner of Vienna and I have been working together.
And if our experiments continue to prove successful, we will soon propose to you, gentlemen, that we are not of all the same blood, but, in fact, of three distinct bloods.
The question is why do transfusions fail? Multiple reasons.
The principle being that the transfused blood begins clotting in the new body, immediately killing the recipient.
And that is where we'll start unlocking the mystery.
I'll need both your bloods.
For what purpose? For the purpose of beating Zinberg and not allowing him to bask in another triumph.
This is one of the main focuses of his research.
He's already around the track and we are at the starting line.
Look, the man upstaged us at the medical conference.
Our exceptional hernia presentation had to play second fiddle to his gadget.
He then arrives at our theater acting all innocent when it is clear that his only intention is to spy and to steal.
There is a difference between wishing to learn and collaborate and looking to steal another man's work.
Zinberg is a thief! He's a fake.
He steals other people's work and he passes it off as his own.
And I am not allowing him to do it again.
From now on, this will be my main focus.
Beginning today, Dr.
Edwards, you will take the lead in all surgeries while I concentrate on this.
Um, until when? Until we win one of those new Nobel Prizes.
Dr.
Thackery.
Dr.
Thackery, you need to take a moment and consider yourself.
You are, if I may say, acting irrationally.
And I I think the cause may be more pharmaceutical in nature than you realize.
I did not ask what you think.
I told you what to do.
- Bertie.
- Yes? Come here.
You much of a bleeder? - I don't believe so.
- Hold still.
Okay.
Oh! Ow! Yes.
I'm gonna need you for a special assignment.
Okay.
You've got to find out everything you can about Zinberg.
What he's doing, how far along he is in his research.
How? Well, he's a man who believes in sharing.
Test that theory.
I need to speak with you urgently.
In private.
I want you to introduce me to your Chinaman.
Who? The one they brought in here after you saved his life.
I need you to call in the favor he owes you.
Why? For what? I want him to kill Bunky Collier for me.
What are you talking about? You have to ask him for me.
I have no choice.
What is this? What have what have you gotten yourself into? I owe him.
I owe him nearly $10,000 and it's growing every day.
Every minute that we stand here, I'm incurring more debt than any man could fairly pay in a lifetime.
And you want me to ask a favor of Ping Wu? You're talking about bargaining with the devil, Herman.
You know, Wu is not a man to get involved with.
He doesn't believe he can die.
And from the scars on him, he might be telling the truth.
Oh.
- It's lovely.
- Thank you.
Ivory? Yes, it's carved from the tusk of the elephant Frederick shot on safari last year.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
Perfectly exquisite.
And now for something old.
Eunice.
Oh, they're stunning.
They belonged to Hobart's mother, Phillip's grandmother.
It was Hobart who thought you'd look beautiful in them.
Thank you.
Use them well.
I will.
Everett.
Everett.
What the hell? Gentlemen! Gentlemen, stop this right now! What is going on here? He attacked me! - You destroyed my life! - You destroyed yourself.
Dr.
Gallinger, you are suspended from service until you straighten yourself out.
Everett.
Everett.
- For God's sake, man - John, you gave up on me.
Edwards was not my hire.
You were my choice.
And if you had to make that choice again, would I still be it? I didn't think so.
Take some time.
Go home, collect yourself.
Come back a new man who can give Edwards a run for his money.
Go home to what? You were all I had left.
Now look at you.
Don't you look antiseptic.
Perhaps you can complete your task by sneezing into my patient.
Earlier, you spoke of the coagulation problem in transfusion.
Now it's been accepted into fact that normal blood takes You are conversing with me about your experiments now? How much more evidence of your absurd behavior do you need? I am on to something that cannot wait.
So normal blood takes but if you administer citric acid, then that time increases.
That could mean that each individual has varying levels of citric acid in their blood which we have yet to discover.
Yes, but the coagulation time also increases with certain diseases.
Tuberculosis or leukemia, for example.
And decreases with others.
How do you explain that, then? Silk suture, please.
I want blood samples from everyone on the ward.
Not the patients.
The nurses and the orderlies.
I'm glad you contacted me, Dr.
Chickering.
Well, my father's been after me about it for a while now.
Well, he only wants a good situation for you.
And I have that with Thackery.
Yet here you sit.
I won't take a pupil from his mentor, despite your father's request that I do so.
Well, he doesn't quite understand.
Dr.
Thackery must be a good man and an excellent influence for you to have such loyalty.
I wanted to collaborate with Thackery.
Your brain surgery, our blood work.
Your hernia and previa procedures, our endoscope.
We could have been excellent partners.
I don't think Thackery believed you were being sincere.
I only want to solve problems and help people.
I'm sure Dr.
Thackery feels similarly.
Of course.
We're close on the blood types.
We're learning more every day.
Imagine being able to safely transfuse.
The lives saved.
But we're stuck.
The final hurdle is proving harder to negotiate than we imagined.
What's this? It's what I was going to present to the next society meeting.
It's what we have so far.
Call it a show of good faith.
I'm not concerned with who figures it out as long as it gets solved.
I don't know what to say.
Say you'll help us.
If Thackery agrees to collaborate, put our minds together and find the answer, the documents are his.
If not I will trust you to do with them what you think is right.
Why did Thackery not come? Why did he send you? Do you mind if we speak alone? This is not an average request.
Thackery works for me.
And I need to protect him.
And if this goes wrong, it can't lead back to him.
That's why I'm here instead.
What does he want? To have you make good on your debt to him for saving your life.
He owes a great deal of money to Bunky Collier.
Collier's threatened Thack's life.
Abused him terribly.
He's beaten him, humiliated him, and dealt with him unfairly.
He wants Collier dead.
He said that? His words? Are you sure that's what he wants? Very.
Let me take you home.
We can sleep and see how it looks to you in the morning.
He's too far ahead.
He could be getting ready to publish next week.
Would you fetch me some of my medicine, please? What? I don't like what it's doing to you.
I don't care what you like.
I need to work.
I need to concentrate.
So, please, just do as you're told.
- John - Now, Nurse Elkins.
You see what it's doing to him? I do.
Then leave it here.
- Let him go without it.
- I can't.
You haven't seen the alternative.
I have.
It's much worse.
Excuse me.
Neely, I told him.
I told Phillip if he presented San Francisco as a fait accompli, you would feel the way you're feeling now.
- What are you going to do? - What do you mean? Are you getting married tomorrow? - I have to.
- Neely, don't.
You're a Robertson.
There are ways.
Can we talk about you, please? How are you? How's San Francisco? I don't know if you've noticed, but Dad isn't isn't Dad anymore.
He's not not the same.
Has something happened between you two? No.
No, I'm talking about the business.
When I arrived in San Francisco, things were a mess.
I spent most of the last year trying to renegotiate some of the deals he made.
They would have proved fatal to the company if I hadn't.
If that's true, it makes me sad.
Me, too.
Oh, good morning, miss.
I didn't expect to find you awake.
Couldn't sleep.
It is a big day.
Yes.
After you, sir.
Everything you could ever want.
- Morning, Harry.
- Thomas.
Lot of good stuff in these Sears catalogues.
Pianos, headstones, ovens.
- You looking for anything? - What do you mean? Something for yourself.
Something nice like you always wanted.
Like a fancy table clock or a repeating rifle.
Why on earth would I want a rifle? Bears.
- Here? - It was in the papers.
Pet shop man lost his out of his front yard in Brooklyn last week.
Attacked a granny and the postman before they took it down.
Thank you for your kindly offer, but I'll be fine.
Me, I'm thinking about getting one of these fancy new automobiles.
Learning to drive it proper.
Only $495.
Says in here all you need is an electric plug and a what was it? - Desire.
- Desire for adventure.
Can you picture me piloting one of them around the city? Imagine all the escaped bears you could find.
I must be going.
Enjoy your daydreaming.
Ah, dreaming is for blokes not smart enough to get what they want.
- Have fun at today's big event.
- Cleary.
Pouncey.
Please give Mrs.
Robertson my deepest appreciations.
We are all blessed to know her this fine day.
Bertie the Wise.
You saw Zinberg? I did.
- You have information for me? - I do.
Hold that thought, Dr.
Chickering, because I, as of 6:41 this morning, have solved this rotten riddle.
See, I at first thought the answer lay in the blood's coagulability, but Dr.
Edwards showed me the error of my thinking.
I then began to hypothesize that the number of red blood cells per cubic millimeter is what differentiates us.
But as we know, that number can fluctuate for multiple reasons sickness, altitude And aren't there around six million blood cells per cubic millimeter? Exactly.
And as I was about 9,000 cells into a count of one of my samples, I found something.
It's not the number, it's the size.
In some cases, there were 75% that were 7.
5 microns.
In others, it was only 25%.
I studied sample after sample.
And then a beautiful pattern emerged.
Come, take a look.
Come.
Come.
See, this is the group that was 75% at 7.
5 microns.
Look.
Okay, this one is 60%.
Look.
This was 42.
And finally, 18%.
Zinberg was wrong.
It's not three types, it's actually five.
Do you see? Honestly, no.
It's there, damn it.
I know it's a Sunday, but that's no reason to leave your brain in bed.
Come on and wake up.
Wake up.
Look again.
I doubt even the great Zinberg will have reached that conclusion.
Has he? Your look tells me he has.
No, he has not.
So we have won.
What he's found is remarkable.
And he's open to sharing it.
I think he's quite sincere in his pledge to collaborate, and if you would just be willing to share Oh, and let him gain the glory on the backs of our ingenuity? I honestly do not - think that is his intention.
- No, we will be first! And we will be first without him! Were you followed? Followed? No.
What do you mean? He's got, you know, people, spies everywhere.
Maybe you're one of them.
Thack, I am no such thing.
And I think you need rest.
All right, you can go.
Did he enlist you in this? I volunteered.
Can you still do what I asked? It's all arranged.
She's perfect.
Her anemic condition was brought about by chlorosis.
They've tried arsenic, bone marrow, hydrotherapy nothing's worked.
Maybe we shouldn't interfere.
The patient is sick enough.
It seems cruel.
She's got nothing else.
Let's give her a chance.
A transfusion of blood may be just what's needed.
Well this is certainly your lucky day.
When you wake up, you'll be cured.
Nurse Elkins.
Blood is flowing.
Pulse is rapid.
Pulse is erratic.
Pulse is weakening.
- What's happening? - It's not working.
I have no pulse.
Fuck.
John.
What have I done? Excuse me.
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
Bertie.
Excuse me.
- Bertie.
- Lucy, what's wrong? It's Dr.
Thackery.
Congratulations! Thackery.
John.
John.
John, it's the drug.
It's destroying you.
John.
You need to stop.
I can't.
- John.
- I can't stop.
We'll find someone who can help you.
Right, Bertie? So it's all true, then? I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Dear God.
- Bertie.
- What? Please.
I don't know what to do.
You think I know what to do with this madness? - You have to help him.
- I don't have to do anything! Please, Bertie.
Whoa.
Mr.
Cleary? - That's me.
- Got something for you.
Thank you.
Hee.
Hup.
Sit him up, please.
How much cocaine have you injected today, Doctor? That's quite a tolerance.
You've seen people in his condition before? In my practice, more than a bit these days.
Women of a certain breeding who have become dependent on the drug.
Can you help him? In the meantime, keep him comfortable.
Your man is no more.
He wasn't my man, Mr.
Ping.
He was causing Thackery the trouble, remember? His request.
And I am sure he'll be grateful you came by to let us know.
I've known Thackery a long time.
He loves my woman, my opium.
He always pays.
But you Where did you get that? From Collier's desk.
A man who owes me 9,000 as long as you owe Collier would be fed to my pigs.
That book is not I can read left to right, not just up and down.
This my book now.
I was so close.
What? What did you just say? I was so close with that girl.
No, you weren't.
I read Zinberg's papers.
There's nothing to do with the size of the blood cells.
It has to do with the agglutinating antibodies.
Certain people have one type, others another.
You were off by a mile.
Hello.
Dr.
Chickering.
I believe Dr.
Hackett is expecting us.
Would you empty your pockets, please? Is there someone you would like to list as the next of kin? There's nothing you can do for him now.
There's no use in sitting there worrying about him.
Perhaps you could advance us the drugs and we could pay you once we've charged the patients.
Your patients can't pay.
This has always been the Church's issue with the Knick.
Your policies create dependency.
Why would they advance us anything? Our chief surgeon is gone.
His predecessor killed himself.
And the only man left here with a scalpel is a Negro.
But there is a solution.
Same one we've had all along.
Close the Knick and move uptown.
The decision has to be made now.
Metropolitan Hospital has made an offer for my land uptown.
I can't hold it for us any longer.
In light of all that's happened here I think it's time we bring this matter to a vote.
All in favor of shuttering this place and moving the Knick uptown? Aye.
Then it's decided.
Welcome to Cromartie Hospital.
I'm Dr.
Hackett.
When Dr.
Chickering Sr.
called ahead on your behalf, he asked that you be registered under an alias to protect your privacy.
Is there a name that you prefer? Crutchfield.
Excellent.
- Favorite teacher? - My mother.
You have been steered to the right place.
Thank you.
As our reputation has grown, we've begun to specialize in treating cocaine madness.
The withdrawal of the drug from your system will be the hardest part.
From the looks of you, you've done enough damage to yourself already.
We here at Cromartie Hospital believe that the pain of detoxification is counterproductive to restoring your health.
So we have developed a series of treatments designed to ease your suffering, including a miraculous medication that can virtually eliminate the misery of withdrawal.
Don't worry.
It's from Bayer the aspirin company.
Safe as can be.
Rest assured, these treatments will only be for the first month or two.
Time to start getting better.

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