The Knick Episode 1.04 Where's the Dignity?

Cleary runs an underground rat-baiting ring. As a rowdy crowd looks on, a man in heavy boots attempts to stomp on as many rats as he can. He slips on one and gets bitten.

Barrow meets with the widow of a man who died at the Knick. Having already sold the body, he passes off a jar containing the remains of a cremated pig as the deceased and takes the woman's money.

Barred from participating in the surgery, Algernon talks Gallinger through his galvanic procedure for aortic aneurysms. When Gallinger makes the incision and the patient begins to bleed out, Algernon halts his instructions. The two surgeons stand off until Gallinger relents and hands over the scalpel. Using a wire of silver alloy he brought in with him, Algernon successfully completes the operation. When the procedure is finished, Gallinger punches him in the face. Thackery scolds Gallinger in front of the surgical theater audience. "A surgeon needs his hands," he tells him. "Next time, kick the man instead."

Cornelia and Inspector Speight visit Mrs. Hemming to discuss the typhoid outbreak that has ravaged her household. Speight's brusque manner offends their sensibilities, but he's determined to find the source of the disease.

At Lucy's urging, Thackery visits Abigail to monitor her progress. Her nose graft is taking well, but she'll never be the woman she was. They recall their past together, and Abigail regrets choosing what she thought would be a safe and boring life. Later, Lucy follows Thackery to the opium den and takes in his sorry condition.

Algernon's dad, a coachman for the Robertsons, picks up his son from the hospital to bring him home for dinner. While Thomas Edison demonstrates his wax cylinder recording device for the Captain and his guests, Algernon meets Cornelia's fiance, Philip. He informs Algernon of his plan to move to San Francisco after their wedding, which is a surprise to Cornelia. Philip's father Hobart tells Algernon about advances made in the development of an electric vacuum, and Algernon purchases one for surgical use in his underground clinic.

Dr. Bertram Chickering Sr. visits his son Bertie at the Knick. He doesn't approve of Thackery's unconventional methods - like massaging the heart of a dead patient to generate a pulse. While Dr. Chickering Sr. looks on, they receive the man who had been stomping rats the night before. He's exhibiting symptoms of meningitis. Gallinger treats the man, then returns home and plays with his infant daughter.

Cleary's ambulance is called in to take a girl who severely injured herself while attempting to terminate her own pregnancy. Sister Harriet and Thackery attempt to save her, but it's too late. Barrow prepares to sell the girl's body, but Cleary demands it instead. He brings Sister Harriet out to the Potter's Field where the girl is being buried anonymously - she had no family in the country. Visibly shaken by the experience, Cleary tells Sister Harriet he doesn't want to see another girl in that situation. He agrees to find the girls who need help and bring in Sister Harriet to provide the abortion services. They'll split the earnings 60-40 in Cleary's favor.