New Amsterdam Review: Unto the Breach (Season 4 Episode 14)
The resistance is dead on New Amsterdam Season 4 Episode 14, “Unto the Breach,” and the quality of New Amsterdam isn’t far behind.
It’s easy to suspend disbelief for television when the purpose of storylines makes sense. But nothing on “Into the Breach” has a point.
Just as New Amsterdam Season 4 Episode 13, “Family,” does a poor job honoring Vijay, so does this episode.
Objectively, it’s “good” to see Rojan, even though overdosing is obviously tragic. But why doesn’t he have to confront Ella and the fact that he has a child? Is he back just to satisfy a need to see one of Dr. Kapoor’s relatives? If so, it only proves the point that Vijay’s death is unnecessary.
The resistance is a unique idea in theory, but the storyline is cut off too early to be truly impactful. Aside from a couple of surgeries in the morgue, we mostly see Dr. Wilder having conversations about the rebellion she’s leading, we don’t see it actually happening.
Veronica has even been absent from many of the episodes where the resistance is in effect, so we don’t get to see the real oppression that the doctors are fighting against.
The mission doesn’t even have time to go wrong. Thinking dramatically, this choice is confusing.
Of course, in reality, it would be awful if anyone died because of “underground” surgeries. But resistance New Amsterdam is a fictional TV show.
There is no harm in letting us meet and begin to care about a patient whose life is eventually put at risk because of reckless doctors. That’s exciting, it’s what we are tuning in for.
What is dramatic about making us believe it’s Mia who rats out the resistance, not showing us who actually does it, and then having Veronica be the person to reveal that Reynolds is a traitor?
Absolutely nothing. It’s a waste of time. Plus, knowing Reynolds, he has a bigger plan anyway. He’s not actually a jerk who would expose his friends for no reason.
If he is, New Amsterdam is not the show that I thought it was anymore, which is very possible.
I don’t understand what’s heroic, valiant, or even a little bit interesting about splitting Max and Helen up so that he can save the hospital and go running back to her.
New Amsterdam brought its fake hospital to a strange rock bottom too quickly for there to be any stakes in Max “bringing it back to life” at all. The only partially intriguing aspect of splitting Max and Helen up is her saying it would be “impossible” for him to lose her.
That’s foreshadowing that he will lose her, and now I want to know why. It’s not a burning desire I won’t ever be able to quell, though. New Amsterdam is a better show than this.
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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.
One thought on “New Amsterdam Review: Unto the Breach (Season 4 Episode 14)”
This episode was probably the worst yet. Max quit but suddenly he can “fight a war” with the hospital? He has no power or influence to have any type of leverage in regaining any type of authority there. Moving Max and Helen to London essentially killed the show and any real storylines.
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