New Amsterdam Review: Six Or Seven Minutes (Season 1 Episode 10)
Since we know Max is alive by the end of New Amsterdam Season 1 Episode 10, “Six or Seven Minutes,” let’s start with the burning question on my mind: Is it actually possible that Gertie the chihuahua is fake? Did Ella actually lie to Dr. Kapoor as Dr. Frome suggests?
No, right? Ella isn’t lying. Dr. Kapoor’s $2000 saved a dog’s life and he might accuse her of lying because Iggy Frome is not as hopeless a romantic as Vijay Kapoor and myself. But in the end, the doctor and the coffee girl are going to fall in love, right?
I can’t stand any other outcome. Seriously, Ella and Kapoor have one of the most compelling relationships on the show — and I don’t think any other medical show would think to have a doctor fall in love with a barista. So, she can’t eventually become one of Iggy’s psych patients. While that would be an interesting storyline, I like the potential love story better.
So, now that that matter isn’t settled at all — Max. Let’s talk about Max. Well, actually, to talk about Max we have to talk about Georgia first. The scene where she creates an airway for him is intense, at least until you stop to think about whether it feels realistic.
The plain truth is that it doesn’t feel realistic at all.
Sure, Helen is talking her through it. I am with them up until it fails and Georgia has to blow through the straw. She’s a dancer, and that’s her husband. Also, she’s pregnant. Panic manifests itself differently in different people, but watching the scene I can’t help but think that despite the setback, everything goes too smoothly.
But watching any medical drama is an exercise in suspending disbelief. I’m willing to do that here, but it isn’t something I can just ignore.
Neither is this: Max is the Medical Director of the hospital. Because of that, he should have a bigger team answering to him/willing to put in extra time than Drs. Sharpe, Kapoor, Frome, Reynolds, Bloom, and Dora. They might be the heads of their departments, but seeing as he has the janitors pulling for him, there should be a few more people in that room when he wakes up.
As a whole, the episode is lovely to watch. Lovely is a weird word to use when the main character’s life is hanging in the balance, I get that. But I don’t think many viewers are fooled into thinking he’s really in danger here.
The flashbacks add a sentimental quality to the episode. Giving them titles is quite unnecessary and disrupts the flow of everything a little bit, but I really appreciate the insight into Max and Georgia’s relationship. I would’ve loved more than three, but the flashbacks we do get serve their purpose.
They teach me about Georgia — this whole episode does — and I love her journey. She’s reliving her love story through the flashbacks (instead of naming them she could’ve said the titles in the scenes before them.) She loves the man who puts the hospital and his patients first. But when you add a child into that mix, the child has to come first.
I’ve never disliked Georgia. But the flashbacks make me realize that she has always known who Max is. She loves the man who is a doctor, not just the man in spite of the fact that he is a doctor. It is quite ironic that just when he’s willing to pull back she realizes working is what will save his life. For me, her journey is the most satisfying of the episode.
I’m not sure I believe that he’ll be ready to get back to work by the next episode. But we’ve already established that I’m happy to suspend disbelief for the sake of this story. I like it enough.
I appreciate that everyone has a sort of “Ah Ha!” moment with Max’s life on the line. He’s changed all of them. Kapoor talks more. Reynolds is willing to foot entire surgery bills for his patients. Iggy has time to walk out with the nurses (OK, but don’t children need him?) Sharpe has become a patient-first doctor, not just a spokeswoman.
Max’s speech on the dock with Luna’s ashes also gives me an “Ah Ha!” moment of my own. I’ve always known that Luna is a huge reason why he’s a doctor. But I don’t think it resonated with me that to him, every single patient is his sister. That’s why he has had such a hard time putting Georgia and even his baby first. He couldn’t save his sister, so it matters to him that he saves everyone else’s.
I also very much appreciate that Georgia makes it clear in one of the flashbacks that every other doctor’s life is nothing like Max’s. I mean, other TV doctors have a lot more sex than the ones on New Amsterdam. I love that about this show. But it’s nice that they point out the elephant in the room. It’s so much easier to watch shows that at least try to explain their flaws.
What did you think of this episode of New Amsterdam? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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New Amsterdam airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on NBC.
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Esme Mazzeo
Esme Mazzeo is a lifestyle and entertainment journalist from Long Island. When she's not writing for work, she's writing for fun, or searching for something to satisfy her sweet tooth. She thinks rainy days are the best kind of days. Certified night owl.