The Pitt Fans Need To Check Out This Underrated Clive Owen Series On HBO Max

Medical dramas have been a pretty regular television staple for a long time, but people really seem to love the HBO Max series "The Pitt." With each season set over the course of a single 15-hour shift in the emergency room of the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital, "The Pitt" is a pure shot of adrenaline each and every episode. Moving in as close to real time as you can get, we see the doctors, nurses, and other staff in the emergency room deal with all kinds of trauma cases ranging from simple stitches and wound care to the catastrophic injuries from a mass shooting event at a nearby concert. It's incredibly compelling television that happens to be pretty darn medically accurate as well, with some truly impressive special effects work to sell the blood and guts of it all (including a graphic birth scene).

For fans of "The Pitt" who are looking for another prestige drama with high stakes, gruesome gore, and explorations of social issues, there's really no better series than "The Knick." The Cinemax show, which is now streaming on HBO Max, was created by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler and directed by Steven Soderbergh, and every single episode is like a work of art. Set at the fictional Knickerbocker Hospital in New York City in 1900, the series follows troubled surgeon Dr. John Thackery (Clive Owen) as he and his medical staff try to save lives in a time when the foundations of modern medicine were just forming. Period dramas can be tricky, but "The Knick" eschewed stuffiness for a gritty, realistic look at what turn of the century medicine was like, all while featuring multifaceted characters and complex plot threads with something to say.

Much like "The Pitt," "The Knick" handles its more challenging elements deftly, examining how social justice and medicine have interacted since the early days of established hospitals in the United States. In addition to following the cocaine-addicted Dr. Thackery, the series also follows a young Black doctor, Dr. Algernon Edwards (André Holland), who tries to find any kind of medical equity for people of color, even when it means setting up a secret clinic in the Knick's basement. Then there's Cornelia Robertson (Juliet Rylance), head of the hospital's social welfare office, who represents the board of directors, navigating a world where women are relegated to nursing, not managing rogue surgeons. We also get to know some of the nurses, ambulance drivers, and more, rounding out the medical staff of the Knick much like the lovable but chaotic team on "The Pitt," just with much fancier clothing and significantly less oversight. 

While "The Knick" can definitely be a bummer (much like "The Pitt"), there are episodes that can leave you breathless. The season 1 episode "Get the Rope" takes place over the course of one horrible day during a race riot, raising tensions even higher inside the hospital as they contend with a mass influx of injuries, and it's as heart-pounding as anything you'd see on "The Pitt," with the additional bonus of having a bit of a history lesson in there too. Look, "The Knick" is phenomenal and it's a tragedy that it was canceled after its second season, though there have been rumors that a third season could happen with Barry Jenkins directing. Even without a complete ending, "The Knick" is well worth a look and is sure to satiate fans of "The Pitt" hungry for its next installment.