New Amsterdam Episode 10 “Six or Seven Minutes”

Treatment countdown

Akashi and Helen handoff Max a sample for immunotherapy development.  They set the date for the evening with the promise of going Dutch for dinner followed the Lauren Hill concert.  Everything was on track for Max is treatments.

Helen receives a call from a friend to Georgia at the docks.  Max is not breathing, the 911 call dropped, the EMTs have not yet arrived and Georgia does not want to know what to do.  Helen talks Georgia through a tracheostomy and Max takes as it begins to breathe again.  And the helicopter the paramedics ask how long his airway was obstructed.  Georgia answers with six or 7 minutes.  The pallet as instructed to pick up speed and the call goes in with a possible cerebral hypoxia.

Integral to the Team

Dora is doing her best to keep everyone and IE with her pat answer quote Max is out of pocket for a few hours and quote.  It appears New Amsterdam doesn’t know what to do without Max Goodwin.  Dr. Richards needs to place an ICD in a patient whose insurance doesn’t cover it. He seeks out Max for approval to charge it to the community fund. Dr. Frome, clad in a pink reproductive rights shirt, seeks Max to inform him of a hospital wide nursing walkout. When Dora balks, Iggy assures her it is fine, Max gave them the idea.   Just as she escapes via the elevator, she’s met by Dr. Bloom also seeking Max.

In our first Kapiggy sighting of the new year, Frome and Kapoor discuss Iggy’s t-shirt while Kapoor updates Iggy o giving Ella money for the vet.  He is surprised by the gifted amount, but the conversation is cut short by pagers.  All our favorite doctors assemble at the helipad as Helen explains that Max is on his way by medevac.  That is not the most shocking part for the doctors, as Helen unveils Max’s biggest, hairiest secret.

Despite their shock, now is not the time for feelings.  Now is the time to ask, “how can we help?” The trauma teams meet the helicopter and sets off to work on our favorite medical director. Doctors all start assessing and tossing out opinions when Dr. Bloom throws them all out of the trauma room and pages Dr. Candelario.

A bewildered group of doctors start to question Helen when Lauren steps out of the trauma room.  The situation forces her to admit to overworking and needed fresh eyes to watch over and treat Max. As concern piles up, Dean Fulton joins the group. With Max out of commission and no way to know when (or if he would return), Dean Fulton assumed the duties of Medical Director. He chastises Helen for keeping this secret and holds both her and Max accountable for the lack of a plan of succession. Dr. Fulton is no Max Goodwin.  On the other hand, Max has instilled his spirit in the others.  Helen quickly calls Akash for a new start date of treatment for tomorrow.

As Max passes by on a gurney, Iggy tell Kapoor Max’s illness explains all the radical changes he had been making.  Vijay, unusually quiet during all of this is getting under Frome’s skin.  Iggy encourages Kapoor to talk to him and insinuates that Max’s presence has changed the Neurologist.

Missing Max

As Dean Fulton wraps his arms around being the medical director, he shuts down Floyd’s surgery from the community care fund.  Next, he beckons Dr. Frome and takes a hard line on the walkout.  In the void of Max’s presence, everyone is stressed.  Helen pushes Lauren on why she passed Max off and is burdened with yet another big secret.  Iggy and Kapoor come to terms wit the influence Max has had over them as New Amsterdam deals with the backlash of his absence.   Georgia hears how Max has impacted the whole staff and how the custodians await good news.

In the absence of any medical action for him to take, Kapoor visit Max and offers up a prayer. Which seemingly helps as they find an answer to Max’s condition.  His neurological status still hangs in the balance but they have something to treat.

While Kapoor takes the personal approach, Iggy honors the space left by Max by carrying on with the walkout.  In true Goodwin-like fashion, he makes it loud and honors his boss and friend in the process and tosses the disapproving Dean a pink shirt on their way put the door.

Dr. Reynolds is in the OR completing the insertion of an ICD device in Marina Lattimer when the Dean speaks up from the gallery. As the Dean threatens his job, Reynolds responds with his own Max-like response.  He is willing to risk his job for one patient and of the hospital refuses to pay, he offers to.

Boy Loves Girl

Meanwhile, we take a walk down memory lane with Georgia and Max. We see the cute meet of Georgia and Max, predictably having taken place in an ER. Max was treating a fellow dancer when Georgia walks in and capture: Max’s attention. We flashback to the clinic in Chinatown, where Georgia meets Max for a date. His cover story an implausible ruse regarding the theater on a Monday, was just enough for him to lead Georgia right where he wanted her… an alleyway. This alley was decorated and ready for a romantic dinner for two. The proposal, in true Max style, was accompanied by a page.  So after the yes and the kiss, Max runs off to see how he can help.

We also get to see the aftermath of the New Amsterdam job offer.  This moment that wrecked Max and Georgia.  It is here, in this scene, that we find out that Max’s high speed was his effort to get things in order to preserve his family time.  Georgia accuses Max of being obsessed. I don’t know if it is an obsession, but rather the core of who Max is.

Sometimes all you can do is Wait

With treatment underway, all there is for Georgia (and everyone else) to do for Max is wait.  Wait to see when or if he wakes, what his neurological status is if he does and how to proceed. Waiting at the bedside is an agonizing feeling and we all wanted to hold Max’s hand and tell him to wake up. Just when you think the worst, Max opens his eyes and speaks.  He is neurologically intact, and we can all exhale the breath we have been holding.

Helen is the first doctor to see Max awake and can’t stop the grateful tears from forming in her eyes as Max gives her a small wave with the hand not holding his wife and unborn child. Lauren is staring herself down in the window, just about to take another pill when her pager goes off.   Dora knocks on Reynolds’ door and he assumes he will be fired.  Instead a tearful Dora explains that Max is awake.

The doctors gather around Max’s bed and he offers his apology. He also tells Helen he wants to start chemo, he wants to be around for his wife and daughter.  Max prepares to resign when the doctors all offer to step up to keep Max around. Max tries again, when the Dean interjects with his support.  As a last-ditch effort, Max asks Georgia to help him out.  Just as he thinks she has done it, she turns it around on him.   Georgia finally sees that Max doesn’t love the hospital more than her and Luna, it just is who he is.

My Thoughts

This was a powerful episode of Max hanging in the balance (though to be fair where would they go without him).  More importantly it was a show of how people can influence others for good in such a short time.  These doctors who have not understood Max’s motivation or drive, but have picked up the core message of “How can we help”?

The whole closing scene was a tribute to the spirit of helping and letting our lives touch one another.  This isn’t over, the battle is just beginning for Max but with a team like the Dam, he has a great shot. Treatment starts in the next episode, hang on to your IV poles Dam Fam I have a feeling it is going to get intense.