New Amsterdam 4x04;

This week’s episode had an interesting combination of storylines with a large portion of the characters all wrapped up in deciding on what to do with donated land for the hospital while a few staggered off to lead their own episodic plots. Episode four of season four continues to find a enjoyable balance between the characters while also focusing on the season’s over-arching villain; Veronica Fuentes.

We open with the inevitable negative reaction that Max has towards the news that Veronica Fuentes is taking over his position as Medical Director at New Amsterdam. Right off the bat we get a look into the dynamic between Max and Veronica. They are opposites down to the core with Max obviously more focused on the patient’s lives and Veronica choosing to center on the financial gain for the hospital. They have a good back and forth with one another to start us off for this week. Even though her character is blatantly written for the viewers to hate, she sure does bring a level of drama that was much needed for the show.

Max vs. Veronica, winner takes New Amsterdam

One of the most entertaining scenes within 4x04 is when Max and Veronica are walking through New Amsterdam together and roughly seven doctors end up trying to strike a conversation with Veronica while ignoring that Max exists. It’s a sad reality in the current timeline that Max is losing all power and respect from his co-workers. While I can and will openly admit that we found this scene entertaining, the idea of Max being booted out is still disconcerting. When you hear how Veronica talks about the patients and Max’s attempts at being proactive in later scenes, her laughs and large smiles at all of the ideas suddenly presented to her becomes all the more menacing.

Besides the obvious issue with people losing respect for him, Max battles with Veronica to keep control over what their donated land in Desmond Park ends up becoming. After Domino falls from an infected foot that resulted from diabetes, Max suggests that they use the lot to build a grocery store. Veronica laughs it off and unfortunately for Max, by the end of the episode she sells the land to Unifell who apparently is a Chicken O’ Cluck co-parent. (no way in hell a company is going to put three bases for one business on the same street, but it is funny and who knows maybe Max and Helen will destroy that company for laughs)

Helen embraces her inner Max

Charged by a quick conversation with Max, Helen makes it her goal to leave the oncology department in ‘ship-shape Bristol Fashion’ before she leaves (can we talk about the cute finger to lips kiss she gives Max? Way to go writers, you are keeping a couple interesting post-canon.) One of the ways that she chooses to do this is by addressing the decently sized population of women who were listed as having dense breast tissue during a preliminary exam for breast cancer screening. Few of the patients ended with following up after receiving a letter in the mail. Helen makes it a mission to assure that all of them acquire either an ultrasound or MRI to confirm that they are all indeed cancer free and just have breast tissue that is thicker than average.

She and her tiny self ends up hauling boxes that are four levels high throughout New Amsterdam to try and figure out a way to solve the problem. Her first stop had been to Dr. Ketner who simply told her that all the patients would need to get referred again if they wanted their insurance to cover the MRI or ultrasound costs.

Somehow all the women that had been alerted initially of this issue end up at the hospital in a panic. They all are now questioning if they have breast cancer since they were so suddenly told to come back for a follow-up. Karen enters the scene in a panic and pulls Helen to the side claiming that the hospital isn’t equipped to handle all these people at once.

A highlight of the episode includes when Helen goes on a tangent about how the hospital could set up scan vans that could provide all these women with the ultrasounds and MRI’s that they need. Her passion and eccentric idea remind us and Karen of another wildcard, Max. At being told she is like Max; Helen seems taken aback. We were uncertain of how her reaction would play out in the story but it’s safe to say that we didn’t expect her to team up with Max to take down the hospital hierarchy. What an icon.

Lauren’s new drug

One sudden but not surprising storyline that arises for Lauren has to do with her seemingly acquiring a new drug of choice, her relationship with Leyla. Throughout the day we see a blatant level of distress from Lauren over the idea that Leyla and she don’t have any shifts together. Not being able to see her girlfriend causes her to change the schedule and interfere with other employees’ lives. At first, she doesn’t see the problem but as the episode progresses there seems to be a massive breakthrough for her. Iggy plays a big part in the initial realization for her, when he comments that her addiction to Leyla could be compared to the one that she had with Adderall in the first two seasons.

Apart from Iggy, another character makes a lasting impact on Lauren in this episode, Domino. A diabetic who lost his foot after a nasty infection took it over and the doctors couldn’t save it. After talking to him about ‘healthy living’ she changes the schedule to reflect what it was before she tampered with it. Her character development has been a slow but steady up-hill battle and we can only hope she doesn’t come crashing down.

Floyd’s DILF moments

Floyd has a short but sweet storyline this episode about aiding a girl who almost over-dosed on skin lightening pills due to wanting to fit in with her white adopted family. We witness him addressing the bi-racial girl and explain to her that she shouldn’t have to change her appearance to please the primarily white community she lives in. Rather, the community should change their prejudice against the black community. It wouldn’t be a realistic scene to suddenly see a whole community change their ingrained views, but it is so to see her parents becoming more aware of their daughter’s struggles. Floyd starts the conversation with them by saying that in the future calling out the systemic racism would give their daughter a chance to feel more loved for her differences rather than judged.

We enjoyed this storyline because it gave Floyd a chance to shine once more. Back-to-back episodes where he is finally getting the attention and scene dedication that he deserves is much enjoyed and we can only hope this trend continues as the season develops.

Iggy therapists everyone

The first patient he has in this episode is Lauren! Who is struggling with her obsession over being near Leyla constantly. He asks her if she has allowed her position of power to interfere with her struggle, apparently noting that he noticed the schedule shift that she made earlier. His comment seems to create a realization for her, and she becomes concerned that Leyla is her new drug of choice. Unlike with her addiction to Adderall, Iggy points out that Lauren is at the very least acknowledging that she is having an issue. Her attitude is completely different compared to when she would take the pills, he notes that her willingly discussing her problem is a big step in the right direction.

His next patient ends up being Helen after some of the many files she is lugging around get pushed over. She reveals that the day (aka Max let’s be honest) got his thinking about her legacy and how her messes will be there for everyone else to clean up after she leaves. It’s clear that she wants to exit the hospital in a good place but has no idea how to solve the issues that exist. Iggy tells her that if she wants a legacy that people there will remember, she will have to ruffle some upper management feathers. His advice here isn’t as profound as the guidance he gave to Lauren but it’s still effective and seems to calm Helen down a good deal.

Finally, he runs into Floyd as he is aggressively shaking a vending machine that appears to have jammed. After Iggy asks what happened, the two of them are next shown in the lobby getting coffees together to discuss the girl who swallowed the skin lighteners. Iggy is convinced that Floyd is reflecting his feelings about race onto the girl, but Floyd clearly doesn’t see it that way. By the end Floyd figures out that discussing his experience with her isn’t the answer but rather the vase for a conversation that he can have with her parents. He uses his life experiences to explain to them the problems that their daughter is facing and how he, as a POC, thinks the best way to handle it is. It’s a typical but effective result.

Scenes like this with Iggy are some of our favorites. He is simply doing what he does best here, helping people work out their emotional and mental distress without heavily interfering in the healing process.

Final thoughts going into 4x05:

The set up for Helen and Max planning to take down Fuentes and any other board member that will be in their way is something that we all have been waiting for since the show started. We have been both individually plot an upper management overthrown but never together. Along the way of their potential success, we think that this journey will test the dedication of all the other characters. It will be interesting to see if anyone betrays Max and Helen or if they all will remain the group that we know and love.