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callmebrycelee · 2 years

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NEW AMSTERDAM REACTION

This reaction is for the season 5, sixth episode titled "Give Me a Sign" which originally aired on October 25, 2022. The episode was written by Gisselle Legere and directed by Jean E. Lee. Spoilers ahead!

New Amsterdam really is on a roll this season and I know some of you may not agree with this sentiment but, as much as I love Dr. Helen Sharpe (Freema Agyeman), I'm not really missing her presence. Her and Max's relationship and the whole going back and forth between New York City and London became exhausting over time and it also hindered Max from doing the job he set out to do in season one. I don't want to blame everything that happened last season on Max and Helen, but it's very telling that Max seems more centered now that he's out of that relationship.

So, let's talk about the episode. There were five separate stories in this episode so I'm going to go story by story. Let's start with Dr. Lauren Bloom. When nurse Casey Acosta (Alejandro Hernandez) returns to New Amsterdam, everyone in the ER is excited to have him back, including Lauren who absolutely refuses to admit she is happy to have him back. When Lauren is working on a patient, her phone starts to ring. As Casey attempts to silence the ringer, he sees that Lauren is getting texts from her sister Vanessa.

Casey confronts Lauren, privately, about her being in contact with Vanessa. He asks her what he missed while he was gone. Lauren finally admits that she did miss him while he was gone and she talks about how she would turn to him to ask him for his advice but he wouldn't be there. Since the beginning of the show, Casey has served as Lauren's surrogate older sibling. He always gives it to her straight, even if she doesn't always want to hear it. She calls him her touchstone and her best friend which is such a sweet sentiment. Casey asks why Lauren is so intent to look after her sister at the expense of not taking care of herself. Lauren blames herself for Vanessa's addiction and doesn't want to abandon her.

Lauren checks her voicemail and sees one from Vanessa. It turns out to be a butt-dial and she listens as her sister talks about getting high and drunk. The message ends with her sister telling someone she is going downstairs to get liquor from a place called Leo's. Lauren googles the address, but rather than go confront her sister, she goes to an AA meeting instead. This is growth and hopefully a step in the right direction for Lauren. We've seen her go up and down over the last several seasons and I'm so happy that she is taking baby steps towards prioritizing her health and well-being over others.

Next up is Dr. Floyd Reynolds. Floyd is still intent on trying to help his dead-beat dad. What I find most interesting about this particular plotline is how a few episodes ago, Iggy made a diagnosis based on the very limited information Floyd provided him and now Floyd has taken that diagnosis and ran with it. I'm no medical professional but I think he should've gotten his father properly diagnosed by qualified medical professionals before going to him and telling him that he is bipolar. Ever since Floyd told his dad that he was bipolar he has taken this information and run with it.

I was listening to a podcast earlier today, and one of the hosts who is a mental health expert said something along the lines of trauma being something that's not the fault of the person but it's up to that person to take steps to manage their trauma. I feel like the moment Horace Reynolds (John Earl Jelks) learned he was potentially bipolar, instead of taking steps to manage it, he used it to scapegoat Floyd's mother and absolve himself of the trauma he inflicted on his family.

When Horace starts acting erratically and putting himself in mortal danger by standing in the middle of traffic, Floyd is faced with making a difficult decision. Recognizing his dad is a danger to himself and possibly others, he has him put on an involuntary 72-hour hold. I know there will be some fallout from Floyd's decision and I hope whatever happens, he takes a page out of Lauren's book and decides to put himself first.

Dr. Max Goodwin and Dr. Elizabeth Wilder's stories intersect at the beginning of the episode, but I found hers way more compelling than his. Wildwin is very much in motion, literally, because when we first see these two they are jogging together. I've said before that I like the idea of these two being love interests and I think they do a great job of not making Wilder a replacement for Sharpe, but I wish we got to see their burgeoning relationship from her point-of-view. Everything we see regarding them is filtered through Max's perspective and I wonder what she thinks about him. Max keeps Elizabeth from nearly being mowed down by a car but two other passersby aren't so lucky. A young man named Rafael (KJ Aikens) and his grandmother, Ana (Delores Hunter) are struck by the vehicle and taken to New Amsterdam hospital. While Elizabeth goes to work treating the two patients, Max is accosted by a kooky lawyer named Callie Cruz (Aida Turturro). This is where Max and Elizabeth's stories diverge.

Max's storyline is the weakest of the episode. Long story short, Max takes it upon himself to get a crosswalk installed at the very same intersection where the accident happened. We watch as he has time to go to court with Callie Cruz and even find some city workers to paint the crosswalk. In true Max fashion, all of his efforts are seemingly for naught and the episode ends with him, Elizabeth and Callie illegally painting a crosswalk that will more than likely end up getting painted over.

Elizabeth's storyline is way more compelling and frankly more realistic. While Max is off galavanting around New York City, Elizabeth stays behind to treat Rafael and his grandmother. Rafael manages to come away from the accident with a few bumps and bruises but Ana isn't so fortunate. Ana needs to have surgery, an extremely risky surgery that could result in her being paralyzed from the waist down, and with Ana unable to make the decision herself, Rafael is left to make it on her behalf as her designated healthcare proxy.

I felt so bad for Rafael. I can't imagine being that young and having to make a decision where there was a 50/50 chance the person you love is going to be able to walk or not afterwards. I thought Elizabeth and Floyd did a great job of being honest with Rafael and coaching him through a very difficult decision. Rafael determines that his grandmother should have the surgery because she is the type of person who never backs down from a situation. Ultimately, the worse becomes reality when Ana is left paralyzed after the surgery. The scene that follows was beyond heartbreaking. I felt so bad for Rafael because he will have to go the rest of his life questioning whether or not he made the right decision. He, like Lauren and Floyd, made the best decision they could make in a shitty situation and unfortunately there are consequences.

Our final story of the night is actually my favorite and it involves a very competent Dr. Iggy Frome, something we don't often get on this show. At the beginning of the episode, we get a Iggy gets his groove back montage. We see him petting puppies, at an art museum, on a nature hike, and attending a wine tasting. The museum tour guide asks Iggy what feelings the painting he is standing in front of is invoking in him and that's when Iggy says that he has ruined his life. I think that's a bit of an overstatement but I do think Iggy was very rash in his decision to leave Martin and probably should've thought things through a little bit.

Iggy doesn't have too long to contemplate his navel because his case of the day involves a young boy named Jael Gonzalez (Oliver Reilly) who is deaf. Jael, clearly, has been having a difficult time as of late and has even been acting out and when Iggy asks his parents (Justin Huen, Natalie Woolams-Torres) if he knows ASL, they tell him that Jael's pediatrician recommended not having him learn sign language, holding out hope that he can become a verbal communicator. Iggy tells the parents that because he has gone so long without being able to communicate, his development is stunted. I felt so bad for Jael. I can't imagine not being able to communicate with those around me. He is unable to communicate using words and he is being discouraged from talking with his hands. To make matters worse, the pandemic came and people started wearing masks which means now Jael can't read lips. The level of isolation Jael is feeling can't be fully understood because he can't effectively communicate how he feels. If the theme of this episode is people being placed in situations where they have to make difficult decisions, it's safe to say that Jael's parents' decision to keep him cut off from the world was a poor, poor decision.

Iggy does what he does best by sitting Jael down and having a conversation with him using a mixture of hand gestures and carefully sounding out words so Jael can read his lips. In the moments we see Jael interact with Iggy, it's like he's a brand-new person. There's a light within him that we didn't see when we first met him and it took very little effort on Iggy's part to bring that light to his eyes.

The solution to Jael's case comes in the form of Iggy telling his parents that he has found a school in Massachusetts, which is four hours away, where Jael can be treated. Admittedly it must be hard to send your small child away to a different state to be treated but honestly, I feel like the parents owe it to Jael because their action, or rather their inaction, has placed him in the position he is currently in. I thought Iggy was wonderful in this story and this is the Iggy I wish we got more of. He is super competent at his job and we finally got to see it.

Iggy's story arc ends with him going to the very small gym in New Amsterdam. Now this scene threw me at first because I thought Iggy was vibing with the guy lifting weights. Turns out that was not the point of this scene. The guy encourages Iggy to do some dead-lifts and Iggy does one. After he does one rep, we are led to believe that he has an epiphany of sorts. the Iggy we saw at the beginning of this episode was lamenting the direction his life is heading in. Hopefully going forward, Iggy will begin to put the pieces of his shattered existence back together again.

Overall, I would rate this episode a 7.5 out of 10. I think we've gotten better episodes this season and I think we have some amazing episodes headed our way. What really weighed this episode down was Max and Floyd's storylines. Max works best when he's in the hospital, so taking him out of New Amsterdam felt jarring at times and I kept thinking to myself, surely this man can't be this naive about how the world works. As for Floyd, I'm still unsure as to what his endgame is when it comes to his dad. I think he'd be better off investing his time in relationships that could actually go somewhere. I've always suspected that while Dr. Floyd Reynolds is a great doctor, the writers don't know what to do with him when he's outside of the operating room. As for what worked about this episode, I really like Elizabeth and Iggy's storylines. I thought they did a great job of illustrating how the decisions we make in our day to day life can have a lasting impact on those we love. After the episode, I saw the preview for the next episode and it looks like our characters will be dealing with the overturning of Roe v. Wade. I'm sure this will be a powerful episode and I can't wait to watch it and write about it. Until next time ...

#tv reaction #blw reactions #new amsterdam #nbc new amsterdam #New Amsterdam season 5 #iggy frome #tyler labine #max goodwin #ryan eggold #floyd reynolds #jocko sims #lauren bloom #janet montgomery #elizabeth wilder #sandra mae frank

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