'The Knick' Episode 7 "Get The Rope" Recap [SPOILERS] Love Is In The Air - But So Is Hatred, Violence, And Racism

Episode 6 of The Knick deals with racial tensions peaking in downtown New York after a black man stabs a police officer. Honestly though, nothing could really prepare viewers for just how real this episode got. In our weekly recap, take a look back at "Get the Rope," the episode we all felt coming in many senses and many story lines. (SPOILERS to follow)

Read our episode 6 preview right here!

We open with a flashback showing Dr. Christiansen boasting about John to a colleague, Dr. Halsted, a top doctor in the country (and based on a real doctor from that time). They then show off a new practice thought up by the young doctor, "The Thackery Point," which is used to find the appendix on any patient for an appendectomy. Clearly a very high point of John's career, we cut from this flashback straight to the cocaine den of Chinatown. Thackery wakes up to save a dealer's life, then ask for his own fresh bowl.

The main plotline of the episode kicks off with Phinney Sears propositioning a would-be black prostitute to come into business with him and his partners. Well she isn't a hooker and her man doesn't appreciate the proposal. Phinney gets stabbed and eventually dies after surgery.

Phinney's mother informs the group of people that had been waiting to hear an update on the stabbing victim that he died, and then tells them all to kill all of the black people they can find. A riot ensues, Thackery saves one man, but all hell has clearly broken loose.

Eventually the mob moves into the hospital, forcing Thackery to move the black patients into the basement. As we mentioned in our preview, everyone finds out about Edwards' cellar hospital.

Basically, this incident is showing everyone's true colors and it's all pretty surprising. For instance, Cleary pulls the ambulance full of black patients to the Negro infirmary.

Only in the final minutes of the episode does everything calm down. The black patients were taken care of and it turns out Algernon's basement clinic is untouched.

After leaving the infirmary together, Nurse Elkins and Thackery have sex. They use the liquid cocaine to make it "painless and perfect," as John puts it. The episode closes with Lucy smiling, trying to hold back her excitement from her roommate.

Summing up some smaller points:

Barrow's reaction to hearing about the whores uptown was pretty priceless. Actually, everything Barrow did was just stupendously him.

The banter between Algernon and Cornelia was really cute. Obviously we finally saw a payoff this week (they kiss!)

Gallinger is super salty about everything changing around him and seeing him having to escort the black people to the church was pretty great.

What did you think of this episode? Let us know in the comments section below!