The Knick (2014–2015): Season 2, Episode 5 - Whiplash - full transcript

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I told you I'm fine.

I feel much stronger today

and I'd feel much better still
if I were at home surrounded by my things.

Well, I'd feel better
if I could keep watch on you.

Hmm.

There could be some latent symptoms
caused by the malaria.

You know, fever, chills.

Take a pinch of this
at the first sign of any symptoms.

- It's Quinine.
- Oh.

Now all I need do
is lay in a stock of gin and limes

and I can make a party of it.



Worry about your other patients, John.

I'll look in on you later.

(SNIFFING)

(KNOCK ON DOOR)

One second.

(SNIFFS)

Yes?

THACKERY: In the last century,
neurologists have revolutionized

our understanding of the human brain.

Using electric currents, they discovered

that precise points of the brain can be
stimulated to reveal their specific functions.

Seated in front of you is Mr. Sidney Carton.

Mr. Carton was recently
involved in an accident

that resulted in the loss
of the top of his cranium.



Fortunately, for the benefit of
our experiments today,

his brain was left unharmed.

I will now deliver small currents
into the patient's brain to demonstrate.

We only have a vague idea
of what happens in any given area.

As you know, the brain itself feels no pain,
so Mr. Carton won't feel a thing.

Electricity can also affect our emotions.

I will now demonstrate.

(LAUGHING)

(CRYING)

Stop. Stop.

Stop it.

And what about desire?

Mr. Carton is a morphine addict.

He injects himself multiple times a day.

But for the past 24 hours,
he has been denied the drug.

(GASPS)

As you can see,
his need for the morphine is immense.

Other than discharging electricity,

this device, a rheoscope, can detect it.

Using it,

I hope to identify
the region of Mr. Carton's brain

that is stimulated by the morphine.

Gentlemen,

it seems that X marks the spot.

(APPLAUSE)

(GROANING)

What's the matter with you?

I...

I don't know. (SOBBING)

Have you eaten anything today?

It's her time of the month.

Cramps?

You having your monthly?

How old are you?

Eighteen.

Nobody's properly taught you
about the functions of your body?

All right.

I'll tell you what you're going to do.

You beg 20 cents off one of the nuns,
walk if you can to the pharmacy.

Ask the man there
to sell you a bottle of cannabis indica.

Cannabis indica.

I'll write it down for you so you remember.

Why not some hashish, too, while she's at it?

Are you fit enough to continue with work?

Yes, Sister.

At the very least, give the poor girl leave
to fetch a couple of aspirin.

Aspirin will not cure God's will.
It's the curse of Eve.

The curse of Eve
is to bring forth children in pain,

not to suffer menstrual cramps.

Much the same thing.

And I'll thank the likes of you
not to instruct me in matters of theology.

I was just trying to help the poor girl.

Like you helped all those unborn babies?

Don't let me catch you
talking to these girls again, Dolan.

Did you hear me, all the rest of you?

This woman is the worst kind of sinner,

an infanticide.

And you will not speak to her.

Not so much as a good morning.

Unless you don't want to eat.

PRETTYMAN: Henry, this is inspired.

Imagine the fortune you'd make
showing this on the Bowery.

You've single-handedly
brought self-abuse into the 20th century.

Pun intended.

PRETTYMAN: What I don't understand
is why you didn't jump in there yourself.

Well, somebody had to crank the camera.

I volunteer.

(LAUGHING)

(SOFT JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING)

(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)

What'll it be, sir?

Care for a White Lion?

Or perhaps a White Tiger's Milk.

ALGERNON: Just a couple of whiskeys.

Hmm.

I'm sorry, Bertie.
I couldn't think of anywhere else to take you.

No, no. It's a novelty.

My father will be scandalized.

(BERTIE CLEARS THROAT)

So, what is it
that you wanted to talk to me about?

I've had some bad news.

My mother has laryngeal cancer.

-I'm sorry, Bertie.
-Thank you.

That's terrible.

What course are you considering?

I thought perhaps
that you might have encountered

more pioneering procedures
during your years abroad.

Have you consulted
with Dr. Zinberg about this?

No, Dr. Zinberg is the kind of man
who wears both suspenders and a belt,

if you take my meaning.

He would never approve a procedure

that hadn't passed years of rigorous
laboratory experimentation and peer review.

I have to say I feel like it's because he's a Jew.

I believe being a universally despised race

has stiffened their resolve to never act rashly

and risk being thought a failure
in the eyes of a hostile world.

Some months ago,
I read a paper coauthored by Pierre Curie

on the treatment of malignant tumors using
radium and other radioactive substances.

I could translate it from the French
if you could find a copy of it somewhere.

GENEVIEVE: Bertie,
you smell just like McSorley's Bar.

Have you been in a saloon tonight?

BERTIE: How do you know
what McSorley's smells like, huh?

I didn't think they permitted women in there.

GENEVIEVE: I have ways
of getting into places.

Bertie, how on earth did you do this?

Well, I, too, have ways of getting into places.

You find anything?

No, but you're still researching adrenaline,
aren't you?

Yes. Why?

Because here's a paper about it
from the University of Krakow.

You read Polish?

Yeah. (CHUCKLES)

Very impressive.

Voila.

The French Academy of Sciences,
December 1900.

This is it.

So how often do you engage
in criminal activity?

Not often.

Please don't tell my mother.

If she found out
that I'd become a second-story man,

she'd be heartbroken.

(LAUGHS)

-(LAUGHS)
-(PHONE RINGING)

(CLEARS THROAT)

- Henry Robertson.
-(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)

What?

(GASPS)

Yeah, let me call you back.

(SIRENS WAILING)

(GRUNTS)

I'll go in the back.

- What happened?
- Dynamite explosion.

Subway excavation on Park Avenue.

- How many injured?
- Don't know.

They're still pulling bodies out of the ground.

But it's not gonna end any time soon.

Thack, where should we put them?

- The wards?
- No, we'll need them for recovery.

Fetch every operating table in the hospital
and get them into the theater.

- Help him, Edwards.
- No, I should stay and sort the patients.

No, Nurse Elkins is more than qualified.

Any questions?

- Should I use the hallways as a waiting room?
- Good.

Anything else,
just make it up as you go along.

Yeah, up front. You're driving.

You're gonna let me drive'? (LAUGHS)

I'm staying here.

Someone's got to ride roughshod
over the likes of them.

Ambulances coming in from all over.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Get the fuck out of here, man.

How in the hell do you drive this thing?

- So what do we have?
- His pelvis is shattered.

Need to resect the gut
and set the bone somehow.

There's no time. Splint the hips,
staunch the bleeds, and shove the rest inside.

- I don't need your advice, Edwards.
- He's right, Everett. Just do what he says.

How deeply embedded do you think this is?

Hopefully not as far as the lungs.

I don't see any external trauma,
but stand by just in case.

Lung's collapsed.

- Scalpel.
- GALLINGER: Bring him in.

Trocar.

(MAN 1 GROANING)

Dr. Thackery.

(MAN 2 GROANING)

- You got it?
- Dr. Thackery.

Okay, let's clean him up,
see how deep they are.

(MAN 2 PANTING)

ORDERLY: Coming in, right now.

(CLEARS THROAT)

Don't. Don't pull it out
or you'll bleed to death.

We're gonna get you right into surgery.

(PEOPLE COUGHING)

Ten grains of morphine.

That compound fracture can wait.

Let's get some pressure under his head.

Nurse Beckman? This is Henry Robertson.

Hello. Look, we have an emergency.
We need all nurses here immediately.

You live with Nurse Nash, don't you?

No need to get changed.

Report directly to Nurse Taylor.
She'll tell you where you're most needed.

And don't bother with
normal admissions protocol.

Just sign them all in as John Doe
and we'll sort it out later.

Nurse Taylor, I have
four more sets of hands for you.

Orderly.

We're out of beds and gurneys.

I need you to find every couch, bench, chair,
anything you can lay a patient on.

No room is off-limits.

Where the fuck do you think you're going?

Out of my way, Cleary.
I need to see a man about my carting fees.

- How many?
- That was the fourth.

And they were all still breathing
when I got here.

Your hospital administrator owes me
a total of four simoleons.

- Now, will you kindly let me pass?
- No.

But I'll tell you what I will do.

I'll take your name down and I'll make sure

that Mr. Barrow's aware of
the Knick's debt to you.

I'm sure he'll get around to paying it
in three weeks or so.

Three weeks?

Or you can have your money
right now from me.

What's the catch?

The catch is I'm offering two bits per.

Two bits per body.

So instead of waiting three weeks
for the $4 I'm owed,

you're offering to pay me $1 right now?

Cash on the barrelhead.

(SCOFFS)

(MAN GROANING)

Excuse me.

Help me. Help me. You've got to help me.

- Take him straight to surgery.
- But I...

I have a wife and a little daughter.

PELL: Dr. Thackery.

Finish up and dress the wound.

Yes, Doctor.

(GRUNTS) Put him under.

I can't go slicing around.
He's losing too much blood.

- The X-ray is full.
- No time for that.

What are you doing?

I'm gonna use this wire as a probe.

If it comes in contact with any metal,

then it'll close the circuit

and we should be able to hear it.

Come with me.

Towel clamp.

I hear something.

- A crackle.
- Forceps.

(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)

Ambulances have begun arriving less often.

Good.

I had a look around the wards
and they're full to bursting.

Just what I wanted to talk with you about.

Have you any thoughts as to
how much we should charge

the subway construction company?

Charge them nothing.

Beg your pardon?

This is nothing less than a civic duty.
We won't take a penny for it.

It would be dishonorable.

Nobody makes a profit here today.

Quite a day.

I, for one, am glad to see it end.

And now we come
to the hour of our settlement.

That's 124 patients in total.

A new milestone for the Knick.

And myself, personally, I don't mind saying.

Cleary, you can't honestly
expect me to believe

you carted 124 patients here by yourself.

Let's just say I made a little arrangement
with the other fellas.

How much did you pay them?

Two bits a head.

Not a bad return.

$124 from a $31 investment.

(LAUGHS)

Unfortunately, I think you'll find
you squandered your capital.

The fuck are you talking about?

The president of the hospital's
board of directors has decreed

that no one will profit from today's calamity.

And that, I'm afraid, includes you, Cleary.

If you have any complaints,
you can take it up with Henry Robertson.

Fuck me sideways.

Hey, sorry I'm late. (SNIFFS)

How are you feeling?

Rather anxious, to tell you the truth.

I've been tossing in bed for hours.

Here's laudanum.

Help you sleep.

Three drops in a glass of water.

Is there anything I can help you with?

Just the bedclothes, please.

Put that away, John.

Please.

- Abby...
- Not here.

The only thing I can think to do for her now
is to help her sleep through the pain.

She could never abide laudanum, you know.

But I don't know what else to do.

Dad,

I've been studying a paper
that was published this past year in Paris

about radium and the treatment of cancer.

It's largely untested.

Do it.

(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)

(SIGHS)

Well, well.

Now what do you have to say?

I bet you'd feel the prize booby today
if I had let you invest in that subway scheme.

What ships are expected today?

The Phoenicia out of Hamburg
and the L'Aquitaine out of Le Havre.

The L'Aquitaine was expected last week.

She suffered mechanical difficulties.
Needs a month in dry dock.

The entire fleet needs a month in dry dock.

Well, what about all the new ships, Henry?

What the hell is taking so long?

They'd already be seaworthy
if you built them when I first told you to.

Now, in order to keep the old ships afloat,

I've had to dip into the funds we borrowed
to finish the new ones.

You can imagine
how we stand with our creditors.

Now is not the time to be timid.

We should sell at auction
every last rusty bucket

and put the money into new technologies.

Such as the subway?

150 wounded, six dead.

The city will be settling lawsuits
from now until the day we can fly to work.

Let me remind you
what Baron Rothschild said.

The time to invest
is when there's blood running in the streets.

(SIGHS)

I need to get going.

Mmm. Of course.

Thank you, Abby.

For everything.

Well, you cure my syphilis,
I make you breakfast.

Seems like a fair trade.

- What will I have to do for dinner?
-(MRS. ALFORD CHUCKLES)

Sorry.

Old habit.

(SIGHS)

You can come down now, Lin-Lin. You're fine.

No sores or warts.

What do you see?

Nothing that's bad.

- That's from me?
- Mmm-hmm.

You're lucky.

We're gonna have to start
the two other girls on mercury treatment.

Thank you.

If you ever have any burning,
itching, or pain down there,

you come to me immediately.

No work.

Maybe work a little.

No, no sex.

You don't have to have sex to make money.

Well, you can't guarantee
that a customer won't want intercourse

and that's a problem.

I make him want other things.
When he's in my hand,

I control him.

That's when I can get anything I want.

(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)

HENRY: Quite a weighty tome
for a delicate dove like you.

It's a medical textbook.

You know, I've noticed
an interesting phenomenon

associated with medical textbooks.

Whenever I chance to open one,

I'm always convinced that I

suffer from whatever disease
happens to catch my eye.

I don't think you'll suffer this one.

Oh, God.

-It's just a disease of the uterus.
-(CHUCKLES)

Surely you're not unacquainted
with that part of the woman's body.

Whatever do you mean, Nurse Elkins?

(SIGHS)

You've been through the nursing staff
like Grant through Richmond.

And you think that has

acquainted me to an unusual degree
with female anatomy?

Stands to reason.

My adrenaline research.

I look forward to reading this
over the weekend.

But if it's all I expect it to be,

consider your position here
significantly improved

and in short order indeed.

I was hoping you'd say that.

(CLEARS THROAT)

Here's a paper
published by the French Academy of Sciences

on the treatment of cancer
using radioactive substances,

and it found that malignant tumors
are more susceptible

to the influences of radiation
than normal tissue.

And I was wondering
if it might be possible to use that fact

to isolate a tumor and improve
its chances of successful removal.

An intriguing hypothesis.

Let's talk about it after you've finished
your work with adrenaline.

(CLEARS THROAT)

RICHARD: Well, we're all here.

Gentlemen, may I introduce Edward Croker,

chief of the Fire Department
of the City of New York.

Chief Croker.

There will be an investigation, of course,
after which they'll convene a grand jury.

But I can tell you right now,

the upshot is the poor bastard responsible
for the dynamite storehouse on Park

will be posthumously charged
with criminal negligence.

And that, for all practical purposes,

will discharge us
from any legal responsibility.

However, I believe it will still be necessary

to buy out the residents of Park Avenue
whose homes were damaged.

By my reckoning,
$1 million should do the trick.

Can I rely upon you gentlemen
for a third part of it each?

RICHARD: Henry, will that be a problem?

No. No, it won't.

CORNELIA: I paid a visit
to Mr. Speight's residence

and I think you'll be interested to learn that

his family and all of his belongings
are nowhere to be seen.

I found that in the fireplace.

It's a second-class ticket
on the Ardlethen out of Rotterdam.

I can't make out the holder's Christian name,
but his surname is Petrizzi.

I looked it up
and the ship arrived here just last month,

so there's a possibility
Mr. Petrizzi is still in town.

I found that
in the inside pocket of Mr. Speight's jacket

after the coroner sent over his clothes.

The pages have been mostly washed clean,
but there is one entry there.

Pasteurella pestis.

Well, that's bubonic plague.

GALLINGER: ls that the brain of Mr. Carton,
your morphine addict?

THACKERY: No, no, no, no.
This is just a lab sample.

Mr. Carton is still very much alive.

So... (SNIFFLES)

This corresponds to the part of his brain

that lit up like a Roman candle
when he was given the morphine.

I'm working under the hypothesis

that by detaching the affected area,
his cravings may be eliminated.

The risk is accidentally damaging
another part of the brain in the process.

May I offer an alternative?

Like what?

Something far less drastic.

Vasectomy?

Everett, unless you know something I don't,

I really don't see
how severing the tubes of his testicles

will cure Mr. Carton
of his morphine addiction.

No, but it'll certainly prove effective
of curing society of the likes of him.

That sounds like the eugenicist line.

If we can prevent those unfortunates
from producing their own offspring,

the amount of congenital defectives
will be decreased.

Subsequent generations of our race
will be that much better going forward.

Your race?

Well, I suppose this is progress.

In the antebellum South, they would cite
the Bible as justification for Negro inferiority.

- Your point?
- Well.

Now instead, you justify your racism
using some asinine pseudoscience.

I can understand why you're emotional.

Future knowledge always sounds
like pseudoscience until it's accepted.

- I have something you should accept.
- For God's sake, gentlemen.

Even this brain is
getting bored of this horseshit.

Please.

HENRY: I think the Carton Clos du Roi '93
with the meat,

then the Meursault-Perrieres '87 with the fish

and...

Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label '93 with dessert.

You'll like dessert.

Sherry's makes its own ice cream
in the basement.

Ah.

Sweet nectar of the gods.

What is it?

Oh!

The latest thing.

Something I brought back
from San Francisco.

Equal parts vermouth and Old Tom's gin.

It's called a Martinez.

Well, it tastes like cherry-flavored kerosene.

You possess a very discerning palate, Lucy.

Do you know the history
of this type of cocktail glass?

Well, it's modeled after the glass
from which the Greek gods drank Ambrosia,

which is said to have been molded originally
from the actual breast of Aphrodite,

goddess of love.

You see that little indentation
between the bowl and the stem?

The explanation for that
is on account of the old girl's nipple.

Mr. Robertson...

Henry.

I don't see any such thing.

While it is a very pretty glass, certainly,

I believe you're suffering
from wishful thinking.

Are you blushing?

You weren't such a delicate flower
earlier today

when we were discussing
a certain point of female anatomy.

You're a practicing nurse.

Are you by any chance acquainted
with a phenomenon called whiplash?

Because I believe
I'm suffering from it right now.

Actually, I find the sensation rather enjoyable.

There they are.

Now, good night, Leonard,
and good night, Ethel.

Sleep tight and don't let the bedbugs bite.

All right?

Oh my.

Oh my goodness.

It's been ages since we've been together

and I know that men have needs
for hygienic purposes.

Especially a man like you

who works so hard.

Yes, I do work hard, my dear.

So what's wrong?

Nothing. Nothing's wrong.

I'm very lucky to be married to you.
Everyone says so.

So what's the matter?

I just...

What are you doing?

I'm afraid I have some business to attend to.

Now?

I'll be late.

No need to wait up.

Herman?

On God. (SOBBING)

(SNIFFLES)

Oh God.

GARRISON: We're inferior.

We're condescended to.

We're taken for granted.

We're made fun of.

We're attacked. We're ignored.

We're worthless. We're a pestilence.

We're invisible.

That's the story of the Negro in America.

That's the tale they tell.

That's what they say.

Does what a man says matter?

We were born in this country,

the land of equality by birth.

That's what it says.

That's what the man says it says.

So again.

Does what a man says matter?

ALL: Yes.

Do his words matter?

Do his laws matter?

ALL: Yes.
ALGERNON: Yes.

GARRISON: Yes!

Because when a man's words
or laws don't matter,

that's when you have chaos,
that's when you have conflict.

That's when you have corruption.

When a man's words or laws don't matter,

forget about justice

because people don't even know
where to look to for justice.

So does it matter what a man says?

ALL: Yes.

The story of the Negro in America

is the story of America.

(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)

Dr. Everett Gallinger,
may I present Dr. Samuel Reid.

- Pleasure to meet you.
- How do you do?

We were just discussing
a most distressing problem

concerning mental defectives
in our community.

Your advice on the matter
would be invaluable, Everett.

- Won't you have a seat?
- Thank you.

Dr. Gallinger, I operate the idiot house
on Randall's Island.

It's a state-financed home for boys
the courts have deemed to be morons.

Sounds like a worthy institution.

The problem is once the boys reach manhood,
we are legally bound to release them,

which, unfortunately, leaves them free
to engender more idiots like themselves.

I see.

Well, gentlemen,
I believe I have a solution for you.

BERTIE: So then he said to her,
"Well, I'm not Mark Twain."

(LAUGHS)

(CLEARS THROAT)

- All right, dear?
- Mmm.

Maybe a little port.

Forgive my appearance, Miss Everidge,

but I didn't want to miss you.

Bertie's given me clippings of all your stories.

GENEVIEVE: Oh. (CHUCKLES)

And did you have a favorite?

I think it's the one
where you dined with the Red Indians.

I'm just glad
you came back with your scalp intact.

Bertie.

Didn't you read the clipping?

They were very civilized hosts.

They would never scalp a guest,
especially such a lovely one.

Bertie was telling us that Genevieve also
translated a paper for him from the Polish.

Yes, Dr. Zinberg was duly impressed.

A linguist as well as an adventuress.

How did you come to learn Polish?

It's my parents' native tongue.
I spoke it growing up.

Your parents are Polish?

Mmm, Galician Jews.

Oh.

I hope that doesn't present a problem.

After all, your savior was also a Jew.

There's some debate about that.

No, well, he was a Jew, all right.

You know how you can tell?

His mother thought he was a god
and he thought she was a virgin.

(LAUGHING)

(ALL LAUGHING)

I hope I wasn't being too presumptuous,

but I saw you hiding your hands earlier.

It's very kind of you.

I'm afraid I haven't had the strength lately
to take proper care of myself.

Well, I could come back next week
and varnish them, if you'd like.

You mean paint them?

Good heavens.

I've never in all my life painted my fingernails.

My mother would turn over in her grave.

You know, I don't think I've ever seen
quite such a large handbag.

Well, tool of the trade.

"Allzeit bereft, " as the Germans say.

"Always prepared."

Would you like to see?

If you don't mind.

Well, my reporter's notepad
and pencil, of course.

Press credentials.

Um...

My billfold.

A lucky kachina doll, given to me by the Hopi.

This is a photograph of my parents.

And a photograph of Bertie.

I don't know how my family's going to get on

when...

With help.

Well, thank you
for the best meal I've ever eaten.

Well, the first of many, I hope.

Whiplash.

An injury caused by a sudden strain
to the muscles of the neck.

WU: Who died, Mr. Barrow?

HERMAN: What do you mean?

WU: My father told me
riches and honors depend upon heaven.

HERMAN: Ah.

Well, I hardly knew my father.

WU: Consider yourself fortunate.

Mine was a violent man and a son of a bitch.

HERMAN: Did he come here
to work on the railroad?

WU: The California Gold Rush.

He insisted I be educated
in accordance to strict Confucian principles

in expectation of the day
he would strike it rich

and we would return to China.

He wouldn't even permit me to learn English
when I was still young enough to master it.

But he never struck the mother lode
and I fell in with gangsters.

I suppose I was
a great disappointment to him.

Your debt to me
is now repaid in full, Mr. Barrow,

and this part of our business
has come to an end.

Not quite.

I'd like to discuss a remedy
to Junia's indentured state.

A remedy?

Do I understand you to mean
I am some kind of disease?

Forgive me. I spoke thoughtlessly.

You spoke like a man who runs a hospital.

$3,000.

$1,500.

$2,000.

Done.

Very good.

Oh.

I'll have the money for you shortly.

Then rest assured I will keep her safe
and gainfully employed until you do.

Gentlemen,

the source of addiction.

STERN". The place is perfect
for a man such as yourself.

A family man of means.

That's how you would describe yourself,
isn't it, Mr. Barrow?

Beg your pardon?

- I believe you said you have two children.
- That's right.

The nursery is on the ground floor

and this is the parlor,

a gracious stage for your wife
to entertain upon.

My wife will never see
the inside of this room, I assure you.

I'm sorry?

Nor even my kiddies.

How much?

$7,000 for two floors facing the street.

The ones facing the park are somewhat more.

A steal, I assure you.

Once the subway opens,
your investment will soar.

THACKERY: Mr. Carton?

Mr. Carton, can you hear me?

GALLINGER: Let's get started.

Will you come with me, Moishe?

Do what the nice man tells you to do.

Your name is Moishe? You're a Yid?

Uh, yes, sir.

Very good.

Remove your trousers
and hop up on the table.