Dr. Edwards lobbies to be appointed chief of surgery; Dr. Gallinger refuses to return as Edwards' subordinate; Lucy's attempts to make amends with Bertie are rebuffed; Cleary schemes to make extra money.
Dr. Thackery sets his sights on a return to the Knick; Cornelia enlists Cleary to do a dirty job; Bertie makes a change; Robertson pushes a new subway initiative; Barrow drives up construction costs; an unexpected visitor surprises Lucy.
Thackery enlists Edwards to help him test a new hypothesis; Lucy learns that confession is not always good for the soul; a young journalist works on a story about one of Thackery's rivals; Barrow faces a new adversary at Tammany Hall.
Abby's worsening condition persuades Thackery to test out his novel syphilis treatment; Edwards comes clean to Opal but is surprised at her response; Cornelia probes a suspicious death.
The Knick faces an influx of patients following a subway explosion; Lucy takes advice from one of Ping Wu's girls; Thackery tests out his latest theory on addiction; Genevieve charms the Chickerings.
Bertie takes matters into his own hands at Mt. Sinai; Thackery investigates the efficacy of hypnosis; Cornelia visits the brother of a deceased immigrant with ties to Speight; Harriet agrees to make a change.
Thackery introduces a new kind of cure to his inebriation ward; Brockhurst demands the return of his girls; Cornelia presents evidence of the company's wrongdoing to Henry; Thackery performs plastic surgery on Abby.
How the doctor arrived is revealed; the conflict between Edwards and Gallinger comes to a head; Cleary and Harriet launch a joint business venture.
Thackery eschews Zinberg's advice; Cornelia confronts Henry about his role in the family business; Barrow defends his actions at the hospital construction site.
Dr. John Thackery ascends to the role of chief surgeon and is pressured by hospital benefactors to hire a black assistant chief, Algernon Edwards.
Dr. Thackery berates Barrow about an abundance of cadavers; Edwards opens a covert basement clinic.
Thackery is asked to perform reconstructive surgery on a former flame; Algernon experiences a very frustrating day at work.
Algernon angers Eleanor when he forces Thackery's hand during surgery; a recovering Abigail regrets her past choices involving Thackery; Cleary and Sister Harriet strike a deal.
Barrow seeks to pay down a debt by treating one of Collier's wounded men; Barrow tries to convince Capt. Robertson to buy a new Edison invention; Edwards tries to improve on a hernia surgery.
Thackery and Bertie vow to reverse a series of operating theatre failures after finding success with a new procedure; Cornelia helps Speight track down a typhoid carrier; Edwards finds his clinic, and his career, in jeopardy.
The stabbing of a cop by a black man stirs up racial tension; Everett returns to work; Barrow fears for Junia's safety.
Thackery worries that Dr. Levi Zinberg, a Jewish surgeon and inventor, will steal his spotlight; Bertie continues his courtship of Lucy while staving off his father's demands that he leave the Knick.
Thackery refuses to collaborate with Dr. Zinberg on blood-transfusion research; Cornelia and Edwards arrive at a crossroads; Barrow trades one creditor for another; Lucy requests Bertie's help.