**Spoilers ahead** When Steven Soderbergh ended the second season of “The Knick” by killing off Dr. John W. Thackery, and tidying up the storylines of the major characters as much as possible, he effectively blew up the show. But that was by design. From the moment Cinemax said yes to the series, the plan was always for two seasons, after which Clive Owen and co. would move on and the show would reinvent itself in a different shape.
“I told [the network] that I’m going to do the first two years and then we are going to break out the story for seasons 3 and 4 and try and find a filmmaker or filmmakers to do this the way that I did. This is how we want to do this so that every two years, whoever comes on has the freedom to create their universe,” Soderbergh told us last fall.
“It was always conceived in two-year chunks,” he elaborated earlier this year. “The writers met yesterday to talk about what year three and four would look like — when would it take place, who are the characters…And that’s what we’re doing now.”
Well, it looks like a concept has been found, and Soderbergh, if all goes according to plan, is itching to get back in the operating theater. Speaking with Vox, the director revealed how “The Sopranos” writer David Chase influenced his approach to television, and explained where things are at with the next two seasons.
“If we can achieve what I’m hoping, story-wise, then I’d like to keep going. What I hope will happen is that we will figure something out that I’ll feel like I have to do this,” he added. It was that have to do it feeling that spurred Soderbergh to tackle the series in the first place, so here’s hoping he gets that spark again.
We can’t wait to find out what era of medicine the team decides to scrub in for next, but fingers crossed the wait isn’t too long.