IMDb rating:
Rotten Tomatoes rating:Just because you’ve seen one medical drama doesn’t mean that you’ve seen them all. Take New Amsterdam S1-3 as an example. Yes, there are doctors and patients and surgeries not for the squeamish. But this show is biographical, based on the 2012 book Twelve Patients: Life And Death At The Bellevue Hospital by Eric Manheimer, the doctor who ended up revamping, revitalising and successfully running the real-life Bellevue Hospital in New York City.
It starts with newcomer doctor Max Goodwin (Ryan Eggold – Tom Keen in The Blacklist) gathering his staff members at the New Amsterdam Medical Centre, revealing that he’s the new medical director and that they’re all fired. On the spot, right there and then. Anyone not willing to follow his belief is free to leave. Those doctors who want to stay and fight and remember why they got into medicine in the first place are welcome to join his team.
That sets the tone for Max’s approach to running the hospital and how he deals with problems. He’s mixing old-school beliefs with a new-school style of management, unafraid to ruffle feathers. Take note of that approach though, because you’ll quickly realise that Max is worrying about everyone but himself… for a very good reason.
In Season 3, the hospital staff are in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic’s early days and a plane crash floods the already overburdened staff with even more urgent cases. With everyone pushed to their limits, what Max has been saying about the fact that the medical system is broken is now blatantly clear. Other big storylines this season include Dr Sharpe (Freema Agyeman) being promoted to Medical Director, Max tackling systemic racism within New Amsterdam, and the tug of war between Max, Helen and Dr. Cassian Shin (Daniel Dae Kim).