Period Piece

‘The Danish Girl’ feels like a collection of dramatic vignettes rather than a unified statement

Two of Boardwalk Empire’s most longstanding veterans waved the long goodbye tonight in one of the hardest, heaviest, and most integral episodes the series has ever delivered.

The Knick has made some strong and effective leaps in the last few episodes, but none have been as big or as game-changing as the revelation of Thackery’s addiction to the Knickerbocker staff, and a host of others in its inner circle.

As Boardwalk Empire rounds the curve toward its curtain call, we’re given an episode that moves things along nicely while calling several characters to account for their actions.

The Knick has set itself as the show to beat this week, with it’s most tense and taut episode to date. “Get the Rope” sets its sights primarily on race relations, an issue that has been sweltering underneath the shows sticky surface for a long time now, but this week, it boils into the spotlight with a cruel and ugly candor.

“What Jesus Said” opens with Chalky and his loose cannon partner breaking into the house of the latter’s former employer. In what is easily the low point of the episode, Chalky’s plot consists of balancing precariously between his edgy accomplice, Milton, and the a mother and daughter whom they have taken hostage. Although on paper, the idea might sound engaging, it plays out in a mostly uninspired manner due to the fact that Chalky isn’t given a whole lot to do. These scenes, which take up roughly 1/3 of the main plots explored this week, consist widely of three other characters who we are given little emotional investment in.

Sometimes it’s the simplest things which bring us the greatest of joys. This is the recurring theme that echoes through The Knick as we reach the halfway point for its first season. From a first bike ride to a cold beer with a co-worker, it is the most basic of life’s pleasures that get our characters through another tough week at the Knickerbocker Hospital.