Dr. John Thackery ascends the ranks of the hospital and is pressured to have a black member of staff on his team. When a patient develops complications, nurse Lucy Elkins finds Thackery at home, suffering from cocaine withdrawal. She injects him & he returns to operate.

Since the hospital does not treat black people, Edwards creates a makeshift clinic in the hospital's basement to treat those turned away. Barrow is pocketing hospital funds to try and pay on a loan to a mobster. Thackery, meanwhile, demands cadavers for experiments.

A former lover of Thackery's asks him to operate on her nose which has been ravaged by syphilis from her promiscuous husband. Edwards must leave in mid-surgery in the basement to pilfer the hospital for thread. Barrow settles his debt by selling a cadaver for $75.

Algernon forces Thackery's hand during surgery. Abigail, in recovery, regrets her past choices involving Thackery. Cleary and Sister Harriet strike one deal, then another. Bertie's father, Dr. Bertram Chickering, Sr., scolds his son for his career choices.

Barrow looks to pay down a debt by treating one of Collier's wounded men and tries to convince Capt. Robertson to purchase a new Edison invention. Marginalised by Thackery, Edwards attempts to improve on a hernia surgery. Everett and Eleanor fear for their baby's health

After testing a new procedure, Thackery and Bertie vow to reverse a series of failed surgeries. Euphoric after helping track down a typhoid carrier, Cornelia is less than enthusiastic about becoming Mrs. Phillip Showalter. Edwards finds his clinic and career in jeopardy

The stabbing of a cop by a black man stirs up racial tension on the street and in the Knick, forcing Thackery and Edwards to take action. Everett returns to work and a changed OR. Barrow fears for Junia's safety, while Cornelia is impressed with Edwards' ingenuity

Already on edge due to a city-wide run on cocaine, Thackery worries that Dr. Levi Zinberg will steal his spotlight at the next New York Surgical Society presentation. Cornelia, Speight and Bertie go to court in an attempt to keep 'Typhoid' Mary Mallon quarantined.

A late-night crime sheds unfavourable light on the Knick, forcing Robertson to come up with hush money. Lucy goes to extremes to get drugs for an increasingly desperate Thackery. Cornelia and Edwards proffer different solutions to a shared dilemma.

Refusing to collaborate with Dr. Zinberg on blood-transfusion research, an increasingly paranoid Thackery pushes himself to the limit in an effort to "solve the riddle "and beat his rival. With the Knick in the midst of yet another crisis, Robertson calls for a vote.