New Amsterdam 4×16 “All Night Long” is about these characters, these relationships. As New Amsterdam now prepares to close out the season, and to embark on a Season 5 which will see the show bid us farewell, it’s easy to see how this episode is just about …celebrating the people, and the connections that have gotten us here, while also examining the choices these characters are making and what those choices say about who they are.
From Max and Helen’s relationship, which feels like it has never been more solid, to Lauren and Casey’s friendship, one of the pillars of this show — without forgetting the hint of Leyren or Floyd’s most important journey to come, fatherhood — there was a lot going on in the episode. Some of it was good. Some of it was bad.
And some of it was Iggy. Which, God save us, Iggy. But for every Iggy, there’s an Elizabeth Wilder making us relate to her, making us root for her, and making us feel like she’s truly been one of the team for a long, long time.
So, let us go into where every character is and where New Amsterdam 4×16 “All Night Long” leaves them.
SHARPWIN
There’s an ease about Sharpwin in New Amsterdam 4×16 “All Night Long,” one that comes from being on the same page about everything. This, of course, in TV and in real life, doesn’t mean Max and Helen agree about everything and will never have any arguments in the future. But it means that they have now adapted to seeing life as a unit.
It was a long time coming, and there are still some things to be ironed out, some conversations to be had on camera. But if we think back to Helen’s fears, the thing she was most scared about was that Max wouldn’t choose her. That he would never put her first — just like he never put Georgia first. Except Max Goodwin is a different man. One that has finally understood what his priorities are, what they should be.
And yes, that’s about Helen, but it’s also about himself. The Max Goodwin we saw in Season 1 loved deeply but never truly let himself be loved the same way. He was good at caring for others, but who cared for Max? The answer is …Helen Sharpe. From the beginning, she was the only one he let in. First, because of the circumstances, and then, because she was the only one he could imagine letting in.
On the flipside of that is Helen, a woman who lived her life behind walls she’d erected herself because that was easier than letting people in. Easier than feeling all the things. Easier than wanting and never getting. Except, with Max, she wanted. She got. He chose her, and then he chose her again, and again. Even when she gave him an out. Especially when she gave him an out.
They’re here, and they’re together, and they’re ready for the next step. They didn’t even need — we didn’t need — the scare from the end of the episode. But this is TV, and there needs to be some drama. But I’m 100% sure it’s just that: Drama. Max isn’t going to lose someone else he loves, not at New Amsterdam. Not just because he couldn’t bear it, but because we couldn’t either.
FLOYD
My feelings for Floyd’s storyline are still lukewarm at best, and knowing he is the father doesn’t change my mind. Because, what happens now? Does she stay? Is she getting a divorce? Is this the relationship I want for Floyd? The answer is no. But perhaps that is not what’s important here. Perhaps Floyd’s most important journey wasn’t about finding love …but about becoming a father.
Floyd Reynolds has lived all his life according to a set of rules and expectations he put on himself, and his relationship with Dr. Malvo has upended all of that. It’s upended him. And maybe, it’s made him a more compassionate, caring man. Because now Floyd understands that life doesn’t play by the rules, and neither do emotions.
Doesn’t mean I want this relationship for him, or that I’m rooting for endgame, but I can appreciate the growth and what it will do for every relationship Floyd has from here on out, be it friendships, romance or …fatherhood.
IGGY
Iggy gives me a headache, and it’s not just that Tyler Labine continues to go on and on about the Sharpwin drama that supposedly got this show cancelled, while the only drama in this show is actually Iggy’s slow descent into possibly a cheating asshole, but it is also, you know, that.
But let us remember all the things Iggy has done. All the marital issues we’ve seen him go through. All the decisions he’s made without consulting Martin. If four seasons of New Amsterdam have given us any relationship drama, it’s been thanks to Iggy. And that continues as he makes bad choice, after bad choice, despite the warnings from the people who love him.
Ironically, Iggy also manages to show how good a therapist he can be in New Amsterdam 4×16 “All Night Long,” by doing the one thing he’s incapable of doing in his personal life — putting himself in someone else’s shoes. Sometimes, things don’t have big solutions, just little ones that help you cope, and Iggy the therapist is very good at those. Iggy the husband, however? He should go see Iggy the therapist. It would be super nice if the two parts of him met.
LAUREN
For me, it’s always been hard not to root for Lauren. Even when she crossed the line with Leyla, Lauren wasn’t being malicious, she was just being Lauren, caring too much. It’s the same thing we appreciate in Max, so we should all be more than capable of appreciating it in Lauren, too. And just as we call out Max for his dumbass tendencies, we can do the same for Lauren — while understanding her decisions are not worse than his, we are just conditioned to think they are because she’s a woman.
One thing about Lauren, though, is when she hits rock bottom, she gets up and keeps trying. With Casey, who really and truly is her best friend, and whose respect wasn’t something she was ready to lose just as she lost Leyla. And yes, with Leyla, the woman she loves — the woman she can’t bear to let go of.
When you hurt someone, sometimes the only thing you can do is give them space to let them figure out what they need from you. But when they do …you gotta be there. You gotta be willing to prove that what you can be counted on. And I have absolutely no doubt that this setup for Leyren, just as the setup for Sharpwin, is leading somewhere good. It has to. Leyla and Lauren still look at each other like the next step they take should be towards each other, not away from each other. And that means something. No, it means everything.
ELIZABETH
Elizabeth Wilder has been a breath of fresh air in Season 4 of New Amsterdam, so much so that at times it’s hard to remember she hasn’t been around from the beginning. Her easy camaraderie with Max at the bar, the way she just gets along with everyone, but also the way the show takes its time to focus on her, to give her a storyline that is wholly hers makes her as much a part of this ensemble as the characters that we have rooted for since the beginning.
We’ve seen Elizabeth the sister, Elizabeth the doctor, and New Amsterdam 4×16 “All Night Long” gives us Elizabeth the woman, and it does so seamlessly. She isn’t — hasn’t truly been, since she was introduced — just a secondary character. We just haven’t really had a chance to see this side of her. This is a medical drama, yes, but we’ve followed the love lives or lack thereof of just about every other character. Why not Elizabeth?
If only we weren’t, you know, worried. Mysteries like the ones New Amsterdam set up in this episode don’t typically end with everyone happy, and it feels like something is going to go bad on one of these storylines. We just truly hope it isn’t this one.
CASEY (AND MIA) (AND TREVOR) (AND LEYLA)
New Amsterdam 4×16 “All Night Long” does a really great job at making us care about everyone, about the characters we always have but never got enough of (Trevor), about the characters we just haven’t had a chance to see enough of lately (Leyla), and even about the characters we don’t really like (Trevor) or are on the fence about (Mia). It needs to, if it’s going to set up the cliffhanger effectively.
For me …well, all I’m saying is, as long as everything is fine with Casey, and we can bring Leyla back for a longer storyline in what’s left of this season and Season 5, well, I will take whatever needs to happen with Trevor and/or Mia. In fact, if we should be worried about someone, it’s probably Mia. We at least care a little bit about her, and Trevor …well, no one’s gonna miss him when he’s not around, right?
Well, maybe Iggy, but then again, that says it all.
Things I think I think:
- Helen, you could have stopped at home, dropped off that bag.
- But hey — I would have gone straight to the karaoke bar, too, just to see that look on Max’s face.
- Lauren’s taco hat is a highlight for the character. The reasons she’s wearing it, too.
- Her friendship with Casey is very important to me, okay?
- But also, ALSO, the way she tries to hide from Leyla, first with Max, and then behind a plant. Girl, you’re such an adorable mess.
- Max, you’re such a cliché. Practicing in the mirror.
- WHAT IS WRONG WITH HELEN? If something happens to Helen, we ride at dawn.
- Or Casey.
Agree? Disagree? What did you think of New Amsterdam 4×16 “All Night Long”? Share with us in the comments below!
New Amsterdam airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on NBC.
