After a week without Max’s wife, Georgia, she’s back, attempting to win me over, but I am still on Team Sharpwin. That is beside the point, though. This week dealt with good news, ancient illnesses, and family in the way only New Amsterdam can, with a sprinkle of hope in all things. The show slowed down after last week’s intensely charged episode, but that was not just good, it was needed, because not every week can be a heart stopper.
Don’t worry, I still have plenty of great moments to discuss, like how I finally ship Reynolds and Bloom (though it may be too late).
Let me break ‘Anthropocene’ down for you…
It’s A Good News Kind Of Day
If there was ever a time when words cursed the outcome of a day, this was one of those times. Max was thrilled at the beginning, because Georgia and the baby are in the clear. Who was he celebrating with, though? Dr. Helen Sharpe (ok, I’ll leave my ship alone, for now). Max finally came clean to his wife about his cancer and the reaction didn’t look good, but I’ll have to wait for next week to know more. New Amsterdam faced issue after issue as the hour progressed thanks to Max’s early morning jinx.
Vijay Kapoor and Helen teamed up on a difficult case where the possibility of an ancient disease they had no way to treat was one of those issues I mentioned. I really enjoyed watching Helen and Vijay working together on the father/son patient pairing. They were an excellent team! I even got hit in the feels by Vijay’s reaction to the father and his son after his own reunion the week before.
Family Comes In All Shapes and Sizes
Frome and his husband brought their oldest adopted daughter to the donor dinner, because Frome’s parents were supposed to show and their little girl loves them. This little girl had me all kinds of choked up with her adorableness and childlike innocence. It turns out, Frome’s parents don’t approve of his relationship, or the fact that they adopted Muslim children and they chose not to show instead of putting on a fake face. Iggy came clean to his little girl in one of the most tender and well done scenes in television history. Anyone with any sense would be lining up to be that sweet angel’s grandparents.
Dr. Reynolds Kicking Ass and Taking Names
Jocko Sims had me at The Last Ship but he is, somehow, even more amazing on New Amsterdam. Is he stuck in his ways sometimes? Yes, but he also puts his patients first, a quality which he exhibited in ‘Anthropocene.’ Dr. Reynolds was on the code team for the prison and he brought back a prisoner who overdosed on ketamine. However, in a twist, the patient was not a user and a guard was using the drug to subdue the prisoners. Reynolds got Max and they took care of this problem, once again putting patients first. I absolutely love the direction they’re taking with Sims character and I hope to see so much more.
Favorite Scene
So, I haven’t been shipping Reynolds and Bloom because it seemed too forced in the beginning, but I’m starting to warm up. Bloom opens up to Dean Fulton (her bosses boss) after a few drinks at the event looking for advice on love. The show did a great job setting up the scene, because they had Bloom reunite with a friend when she first arrived and started this scene with just her face on screen.
Then the camera shifts to show that she is in fact speaking with Dean Fulton, and their exchange is adorable. Fulton gives her some excellent advice from his own experience (which was much more colorful then I’d expected). I love that this show is allowing Ron Rifkin to play a nicer guy. In the end, Bloom setup Reynolds with her friend, but her moment with Fulton was still one of the most precious scenes in the show’s history…so far.
Don’t miss New Amsterdam on NBC, Tuesdays at 10/9c!
