New Amsterdam Review: Pressure Drop (Season 3 Episode 11)
New Amsterdam Season 3 Episode 11, “Pressure Drop,” is a classic filler episode. We deserve the levity, but very little happens to move the plot forward for any of our characters.
It’s entertaining to watch, but very difficult to figure out what to write. This is not a problem I expect to have with New Amsterdam.
Leyla unlocks the key to the entire episode when she asks Lauren, “Haven’t you ever heard of balance?” It’s a lesson all of the doctors at the hospital need to learn. Max most of all.
His idea to implement all of his new sustainability practices at once is intense. On one hand, this “rip the bandaid off” method makes sense because he is right that everyone is going to complain about something.
On the other hand, some of his ideas like the limitations on glove usage are very extreme for a hospital. If I need to be in the hospital, by all means, use all the gloves you want if it will keep me safe.
If New Amsterdam wants us to believe Max’s ideas are safe, we should at least see examples of real hospitals that have successfully implemented these changes at the end of the episode.
But let’s move on to Lauren because she’s the one the question is posed to in the first place.
Lauren has been a static character as far as her temperament. It makes sense. She has to be no-nonsense to run an E.R. and get the resources she needs for her patients quickly.
She’s been grumpy for so long that it is just delightful to see her truly happy. She is completely changed by love for the better.
So, it is jarring and a little bit sad that the first solution that comes to her mind when she realizes she has changed is to break up with Leyla. Lauren is very good at her job. But shouldn’t everyone’s first instinct be happiness for themselves?
Then again, Lauren is a recovering drug addict with mommy issues who probably equates money with happiness whether she likes it or not. She has just never had to be poor and learn what happiness is on its own.
Thankfully, Leyla laughs at the suggestion that they break up. She has the patience to wait for Lauren to learn what happiness is. Dr. Bloom needs someone who is going to stay.
So, maybe that’s the only reason we need to know to understand why Floyd is not her person.
For the first time in a long time, Helen is out of line when she yells at Lauren to get tougher because going soft is putting patients’ lives at risk.
Helen is the one who is going through something and needs to get her act together. Maybe what she needs is faith. Perhaps Mina is an unlikely source who will help her find some.
What did you think of this episode of New Amsterdam? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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New Amsterdam airs Tuesday 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.
4 comments
I am sad to say that for a while now New Amsterdam has been a parody of its former excellence. Max’s idealism has lost any realistic edge, Iggy is mean and silly, Helen and Mina move entirely too slowly.
Who played the father of the little boy found in the car? Looks very familiar.
I feel the same too. The show has become boring and unconvincing to say the least. I might stop seeing it soon.
What a dumb episode. The environmental extremism that puts the environment over people is ridiculous.
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