New Amsterdam Review: Your Turn & The Big Picture (Season 2 Episodes 1 & 2)
Time jumps are an easy way for shows to advance their narratives and keep viewers in suspense where huge questions on the show are concerned. It’s a device used more often on TV than it should be these days.
But on New Amsterdam Season 2 Episode 1, “Your Turn,” the time jump is the best way to tell the story, and it’s used masterfully.
Unfortunately, I’ve watched the episode too many times by now to tell you honestly if Georgia’s death is surprising to me.
The first scene of the episode is believable. But, killing off Georgia is also the only way to truly open up Max’s world.
So, Georgia’s death probably wasn’t ever going to surprise me. I may have even predicted it in my review of New Amsterdam Season 1 Episode 22, “Luna.”
The story is beautifully told no matter whose death you predicted. The reveal isn’t a trick; it works naturally within the structure of the episode. One fact shows rarely learn is that fans hardly ever feel tricked by a well-crafted story, even if the ending is a surprise to them.
The key to success on this episode is structure and pacing. A lesser show may have saved all (or most) of the reveals until the last few minutes of the episode.
Helen, Lauren, and Georgia’s fates are weaved into the story at different times throughout the hour as the new arcs and plots are being introduced. Everything flows so well it’s not as distressing to watch as may be expected.
As for the present-day stories, some work better than others.
Iggy and Vijay’s plots are fluff. But Helen’s and Floyd’s set them up for potentially juicy arcs throughout the season.
On New Amsterdam Season 2 Episode 2, “The Big Picture,” we learn that Floyd is already keeping a secret for his intern Dr. Michael Duke.
It’s the second episode of the season! If Floyd already feels that much loyalty to Dr. Duke, who knows what trouble will come of this secret — or perhaps future bigger secrets.
This is intriguing for two reasons. Number one: Floyd sees himself in Michael. Floyd knows the uphill climb Michael faces as a black man in medicine. Dr. Reynolds also recognizes Dr. Duke’s skill.
But the second part of this equation is that Floyd is keeping the secret from Lauren.
I still like Evie, but it’s not difficult to notice that Lauren has sex with her physical therapist after a mess that Floyd caused, even indirectly.
It’s subtle, but the triangle is still there. At least cross your fingers that it is because Lauren and her therapist don’t have the best chemistry.
Even so, it’s good to have Lauren back.
Helen’s fate shouldn’t have been much of a question for dedicated fans. She’s as much a part of its fabric as Max at this point. But seeing her back at work is still comforting.
Storylines that pit women against women are never fun. But Dr. Valentina Castro is holding Max’s treatment over Helen’s head, and Helen’s decision to make her oncology co-chief is understandable, even though it’s definitely not the best one she’s ever made.
Max’s health is everything to the show and the hospital right now, so I may not like the fact that two women are fighting instead of supporting each other — but there is no denying the high-stakes drama element here.
Their dynamic could bring up some interesting work-related issues for the show to explore before Max’s health is ever in danger again.
Speaking of Max, it’s good to see he is pretty much himself, no matter what Dr. Kapoor thinks.
You can’t dictate how anyone grieves or reacts to any life-changing news. Vijay is at his most annoying when he thinks he has the answer to everyone’s life.
Max staying Max works just fine, though.
That’s saying a lot coming from me. I think Max’s eagerness to solve every problem perfectly is the biggest flaw of the whole series.
On Season 2, New Amsterdam seems to have grounded our hero the slightest bit, and it’s made all of his solutions so far this season believable enough.
On “Your Turn” he settles on simply getting Alma a lifetime supply of insulin rather than changing the way the hospital obtains or produces insulin for every single patient. It’s about time the show says outright that Max can’t win every fight his idealistic brain dreams up.
Which brings us to the New Amsterdam census and the fact that the entire staff makes fun of Max’s signature question: “How can I help?” All I needed was for New Amsterdam to acknowledge and make fun of the question before forgiving it for the duration of the series.
Regarding the results of the census, Max’s is a unique solution, but not an impractical one.
It’s worrisome that he’s hallucinating Georgia at home (and could be a sign cancer is worse than we think, right?), but his decisions at work are successful so far.
Rather than roll my eyes at the idea of chartering a bus for his whole staff I thought, “Well if he found the money, good for everyone.” Maybe because practically everyone with a long commute deserves a boss who cares enough to come up with that solution for time.
Either way, it’s a long way from Season 1 where many of Max’s solutions seem great but are a gross misrepresentation of the average patient’s hospital stay.
A bus for his employees? Max can have that…for now.
One of the biggest takeaways from these early episodes of New Amsterdam is that it seems like everyone is living under their own individual house of cards that might fall at any second.
But it’s going to be entertaining to watch each one fall.
What did you think of these episodes 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.