Back in September of last year, Steven Soderbergh spoke to us to help promote his Quibi (RIP) series, “Wireless.” Yes, that feels like ages ago and also shows just how quick the demise of Quibi was, but perhaps the best part of our conversation was when he teased the potential of a revival of “The Knick.” Well, months later, it appears that the third season of the underrated Cinemax series is still progressing with André Holland and Barry Jenkins leading the way. And in a new interview with Rolling Stone, Soderbergh not only talks about that new season but also hints at what the original six-season plan for “The Knick” looked like.
If you watched the first two seasons of Cinemax’s “The Knick,” you know the series follows the story of Dr. John W. Thackery (Clive Owen) and the staff of a New York City hospital in the early-20th century. Well, according to Soderbergh, Seasons 3 and 4 would have featured a fifty-year time jump with the final two seasons featuring yet another massive flash forward in time.
“Our six-year plan was Seasons One and Two as you saw it,” explained the filmmaker. “Seasons Three and Four were going to skip forward 50 years. It was going to be right after World War II, brand-new characters, brand-new cast. And Seasons Five and Six were going to be set five minutes into the future, with a mix of actors from the previous four seasons. I was really excited to do all of that.”
He added, “That was the plan for Season Three and Four. They were going to be in Cinemascope black and white. That was always in the back of my mind. Although that was, to me, tied to a very specific period. I very much wanted to shoot Seasons One and Two in color, because I felt there was a lot to be done with the palette.”
Obviously, that original plan is likely thrown out of the window. As the filmmaker explains in the interview, “The Knick” didn’t succeed on the level that Cinemax had hoped and a switch to HBO wasn’t in the cards. So, the series aired its last episode in 2015. However, as mentioned, one of the show’s cast members, André Holland, and filmmaker Barry Jenkins are pushing to bring “The Knick” back for a Season 3. We’re unsure what the third season is going to look like and how it might mirror the original plan. That said, Soderbergh said the show is moving along in development and a time-jump is likely still.
“But then in the interim [after its cancellation], even though they didn’t continue with the show in the way that we’d originally imagined, [Jack] Amiel and [Michael] Begler and Barry Jenkins and André have been developing a new iteration of the show that skips forwards in time, and that’s looking very promising,” said Soderbergh. “I can say that I read an excellent pilot, and that HBO has it. I hope that goes forward.”
A return of “The Knick” would be great, clearly. It’s one of the most underrated shows of the 2010s and probably was just well ahead of its time. And if Season 3 provides a clean entry for the series, as well as a continuation of the story/themes of the first two installments, then we could see how “The Knick” could be a massive hit, like it always deserved to be.
But then again, remember a pilot script doesn’t equal a full-season order. So, we’re still pretty far away from any official word about “The Knick” returning. However, there is hope.