New Amsterdam – Anthropocene
That hateful bed
The eternally optimistic Max wears a pensive look as he watches Georgia taking a phone call and tries to decipher what is being said. Georgia paces and Max tries unsuccessfully to extract information during the call. She returns to him with good news. The danger for her pregnancy has passed, the placenta previa has resolved and she is no longer chained to that hateful bed. Max suggests a litany of adventures for them to embark, but Georgia suggests a more reasonable dinner date. Just as they are making plans, Max remembers he already has plans for the evening: the hospital fundraiser. Georgia winces for him suggesting that it isn’t one of the favorite parts of Max’s job. They make tentative plans for a dinner date for the weekend.
Good News Kind of Day
Max is met by Dr. Sharpe as he walks the halls and she notices his particularly light mood. He comments that the baby is healthy, his wife is healthy, he and his wife are dating again. Helen notes that he has not yet shared his biggest, hairiest secret with his wife, something he swore he would do as soon as she was out of danger. She tries to hold Max’s feet to the fire, but he dances away from the commitment with a plea to let her have one day of not worrying about anyone. Helen knows he isn’t going to tell her on this day.
Meet the parents?
We catch up with the nerd herd (Drs. Frome and Kapoor) walking and talking as they regularly do. Iggy is discussing his parents visit to town to binge Broadway shows, but not Frome’s family. For the first time, we see the personal insecurities of Iggy breach the surface of his compassionate and careful demeanor. We quickly learn that Iggy’s parents have money for travel and leisure and it frustrates Dr. Frome that they come to the city regularly to see shows but don’t visit their grandchildren. In fact, we learn, they have only ever met one of Iggy’s children, his oldest, Sameera. That visit was so special to her that she has been obsessed with swans after they took the swan shaped paddle boat out during that visit. It was so important to Sameera that she has learned to fold napkins into swan shapes in anticipation of visiting with her grandparents at the fundraiser. Iggy offers to have her fold one for Vijay but is met with a polite declination. Dr. Kapoor is still not ready to attend the fundraiser this year.
Iggy is having a strained phone conversation just before the arrival of his husband Michael and daughter Sameera for the fundraiser. Michael tries to calm Iggy on their way to the fundraiser and Iggy finds himself unable to tell Sameera her grandparents aren’t coming. Michael finally forces Iggy to talk to him about what is bothering him. Iggy is heartbroken as he pushes out the reality that his parents want nothing to do with his family. His realization of his parents’ feelings “two gay dads and their Muslim children aren’t worthy of love”. Dr. Iggy Frome is a brilliant psychiatrist, but here we see more clearly than ever, he is also human. He longs for the same love an acceptance that each of the kids in his care need and want. Fortunately, he also has something they don’t. A built-in support system in the form of his husband Michael and a full bag of psychiatric techniques to help them all cope. When he finally reveals the truth to Sameera, she wonders if there is something wrong with their family. As he explains it to her, Iggy realizes that their family is special because it is a chosen family. He chooses not to be sad for their family and brilliantly shows his daughter how to cope. If we needed any more reasons to love Iggy Frome, the writers gave them to us in this episode.
An Accidental Date
During his conversation with Frome, Dr. Kapoor told us he wasn’t ready to attend the fundraiser this year. Iggy understood and suggested he share the tickets with a resident, but Dr. Kapoor had another idea. He wanted to offer them to someone who had helped him as a token of gratitude to someone he thought would enjoy the event. The next thing we know, our brilliant puzzle solving Neurologist has scheduled himself an accidental date with Ella to an event he does not want to attend. Solving medical puzzles generally comes easily to Dr. Kapoor while simple interpersonal interactions are often elusive. Neither person knows how to get out of this situation and despite the painfully awkward interaction, they agree to meet in the lobby after Ella’s shift.
As they await test results, Dr. Kapoor confesses to Dr. Sharpe that he has an accidental date. Despite his request for help, she offers nothing but the suggestion to avoid Ella forever. It may not entirely be the rigorous schedules that complicate relationships for these doctors.
Dr. Kapoor sends his resident to explain to Ella that he is busy curing an ancient disease and that is why he isn’t at the fundraiser. Ella is both taken aback at being stood up and a little relieved. Dr. Kapoor arrives very late and explains that he never meant to ask her out. The more he explains the bigger her smile gets. The awkward situation turns tender as Vijay shares his reason for not wanting to attend the fundraiser. It was something he shared with his late wife and it makes him miss her more.
A Blooming Friendship
Dr. Bloom strolls in on Helen, needle in hand aimed at herself. Our favorite ER doctor is as quick with her wit as she is with her decision making. She quips about preferring coffee, but the conversation becomes more serious when Helen shares that it is HCG. The two women discuss Helen’s choice to try to get what she wants, a biological child. These two hard charging women share a deep conversation that is only half verbal. Janet tells Helen she is proud of her for trying. With that, Dr. Bloom offers to help and unsympathetically jabs the needle into Dr. Sharpe’s skin. A slightly shocked look and the heavy emotions dissipate, but the foundations of a deep friendship remain.
Janet shares with Helen that Floyd had apologized and noted that it was sincere. When Helen pushes her on how she feels about it, Janet admits she isn’t sure and that getting over him was easier before. Dr. Bloom suggests that Dr. Sharpe could use some fun and should come to the fundraiser when she is finished with the patients.
An Ancient Emergency
We catch back up with Dr. Bloom in the ED briefly discussing the open bar as a major reason for attending the scheduled schmoozefest this evening. Two gurneys come bursting through the door, car crash victims Dan Marken and son Christopher Marken. Both have survivable injuries and are bickering throughout the report from the EMT. The Markens, are being transported through the ED in wheelchairs as Dr. Bloom starts to leave for the fundraiser. Both men start seizing and tests suggests that the patients need both a Hematology and Neurology consult. Dr. Sharpe and Dr. Kapoor will team up to assess the patients as Dr. Bloom exits for the fundraiser.
The Markens don’t seem to grasp the severity of their illness despite having been moved to the ICU. Dr. Sharpe advocates for keeping it that way as they prepare to run a battery of tests. Kapoor’s gut tells him it is Naegleriasis (water-borne amoebic infection) but Sharpe thinks an arbovirus is more likely if mosquitoes were present. They agree to run a full panel of blood work to determine what ails the Markens. The panel comes back clean with no positive pathological markers. Drs. Sharpe and Kapoor fear that they are facing an ancient unknown pathogen, but Max offers a viable alternative in mercury poisoning. It fits the possible exposure model, fits the symptoms but cannot be quickly confirmed. The only way to know is to attempt treatment. The catch? Using a chelating agent for heavy metals in the absence of heavy metals is dangerous. The doctors must choose which of the men to treat and they choose the son in case they are wrong. A younger person can better fight off the side effects. The Markens don’t have mercury poisoning and the doctors return to square one, with one patient in significantly worse shape than before. The elder Marken, Dan, pleads with the doctors to help in an emotional moment that brings Dr. Kapoor to tears and reinvigorates the duos puzzle solving resolve. When Helen is trying to print a report, but it is unreadable she realizes the key. The newest tests will not recognize the old strains. Helen and Vijay realize that everything in their collective experience tells them the Markens have Naelgeriasis. They begin treatment and the Markens respond well. Puzzle solved.
An Arresting Situation
We first find Dr. Floyd Richards answering a page to the Corrections ward. Dr. Richards is on the Code Team and gets called for rapid response. He is delayed by the Corrections Officer and required to process through the checkpoint as usual, wasting precious seconds. He rescues a prisoner from cardiac arrest and notes a puncture in the patient’s chest. According to reports, the patient said nothing and “dropped like a sack of potatoes”, but that doesn’t fit with what Dr. Richards sees.
Floyd is doing his own detective work as he follows up on Manny Harris, the patient in Corrections. He asked for a consult from Dr. Bloom. Floyd Richards is a smart man, who often outsmarts himself. Dr. Bloom knows he asked for her to consult after the debacle wherein he suggested her skills were lacking. The surprise in the conversation is when he admits to it. It looks like the strategy worked after all as Dr. Bloom agrees to bury the hatchet. She also noted that Manny Harris tested positive for Ketamine but had obtained the drug in the hospital given that his labs were clean when he arrived in the ED the week before.
Dr. Richards is tending to Manny and tells him that he can’t keep using ketamine like he is because it could kill him. Manny genuinely doesn’t know what Dr. Richards means an contends that he isn’t using. Dr. Richards isn’t convinced but Manny continues that he is just trying to get his time in and didn’t start the fight. Manny tells Dr. Richards that the guard injected him with the ketamine.
Max and Floyd take the information regarding the guard to the warden who is staunchly unconvinced. She contends that her staff are thoroughly vetted and Riker’s is full of incredibly good liars. As the temperature of the encounter increases, Max tries to avert escalating conflict. He uses more flowery wording on this night, but at it’s core his question to the warden: How can I help? She doesn’t buy it.
As Max and Floyd discuss the warden’s resistance, Dr. Floyd is called back to corrections for another code. Both Drs. Richards and Goodwin tend to the patient and revive him. They transport him to the hospital proper for monitoring and Max urges Floyd to come with. Undeterred, Floyd Richards faces down the guard Manny says injected him with Ketamine. He captures a confession on his phone that he shares with the warden. The warden agrees to fire Officer Jeffers and commits to ensuring the practice of drugging the prisoners ends with her.
Show Me The Money
The Dean visits Max as he finishes putting on his tux for the evening. If the Dean is there to offer a pep talk, he fails spectacularly. He tries subtly telling Max that the evening is all about him and the success of their fundraising campaign is on his shoulders. Dr. Goodwin unsurprisingly replies that he prefers to talk about the patients, it isn’t great for fundraising, but fiscal discussions aren’t his forte’. The Dean asks how he managed to raise money in Chinatown and Max said he had a secret weapon. He needs that weapon to keep his job. The last medical director was fired after raising only $3.4 million at his fundraiser.
We next see Max and the Dean preparing for Max to talk up the crowd at the fundraiser. Max assures the Dean he can handle this and start speaking with an attendee. He is stopped cold by the arrival of a beautiful blond in a floor length floral print dress. He walks away from the donor to greet Georgia Goodwin. She is celebrating her release from bed rest with Max.
Max is at the podium awkwardly trying to start the fundraiser. He uses a little humor and brief introduction of himself and as he starts to talk about the patients, his eyes meet the urgent across the room beckoning of Drs. Sharpe and Kapoor to tell Max that the Markens may be suffering from an ancient unknown pathogen.
Having returned to the fundraiser, Max finds Georgia speaking with Andrew Nomura, a billionaire donor. In the presence of Georgia and that dress, Max has a one-track mind, dancing with his wife. She gently chastised him as they dance until Dr. Richards asks to cut in.
While Max is out helping patients, his secret weapon indeed saves the day. Georgia overhears the grumbling donors and casually strolls over to tell them about their new medical director. He is radically different. He is an award winner of medical treatment and has a proven record of turning around medical facilities and perhaps most radical of all: instead of spending time at a fancy event with donors trying to get money, he is tending to patients. She suggests Max to be a medical director worthy of their financial backing. The goal has been exceeded and the donors are interested in a medical director that cares more about patients than ceremony.
Romance In The Air
The whole evening, Janet Bloom has busied herself with drinks and sorting out her feelings for one Chief of Cardiac Surgery. She has mulled it over, discussed it with girlfriends and now we see her going over it one more time. This time, with the Dean who we find out is a hopeless romantic despite three failed marriages. He tells her to bet on love. Just as we think we know what she will do, she introduces the recently arrived Floyd Richards to her friend Evie from the legal department. It seems Dr. Bloom has decided to settle on matchmaker for this evening.
The Whole Dam Fam
We take a lap around the room and see the New Amsterdam family enjoying themselves despite their various challenging personal circumstances. Max has met the fundraising goal and pleased the Dean. Janet is free of the “what ifs” and happily dances the night away. Floyd and Evie hit it off and are already engrossed in a conversation, though Floyd’s eye does wander briefly in search of Dr. Bloom. Iggy, Michael and Sameera dance freely and happily, chosen family surrounded by chosen family. Dr. Sharpe is regaled by stories by the Markens in the ICU, the only member of our family not to join the fundraiser. Even Vijay and Ella look satisfied with the evening as they enjoy cake and company, albeit not a date. It looks as if nothing could spoil the evening here at the Dam…
When the room is nearly clear, Max dances with Georgia who tells him to move home. This good news day is about to take a turn as Max holds Georgia and reveals to her his biggest, hairiest secret.
My Thoughts
First of all a brief PSA from someone who deals with seizures regularly: DO NOT HOLD A PERSON WHO IS SEIZING DOWN. You could get hurt and you could hurt the person having the seizure. One day, medical shows will get this right, but until then we still need PSAs. If you want more information, please visit: https://www.cdc.gov/epilepsy/about/first-aid.htm
Now onto my thoughts. Each week this cast gets better and better. Their nonverbal conversations are convincing we learn more about the outside the hospital lives of each doctor and their stories are also riveting. One of my favorite supporting characters is the Dean of Medicine. He has no choice but to be the bad cop often, but as we get more of his story his likability increases. I suspect a showdown at some point that leaves the viewers unsure for whom they should root. The friendship between Janet and Helen is beautiful. Neither woman must concede anything for this friendship and they are able to be blunt and honest. Iggy Frome nearly broke my heart this week but showed us that he knows the pain of not being accepted, of feeling different and we can see the deep well from which he draws in treating his patients. These visits to New Amsterdam can be taxing but so rewarding. Will we see you at the Dam next week? I know I’ll be there.
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