Spoilers ahead for Episode 15 of New Amsterdam Season 4, called "Two Doors."
Max is back in town on New Amsterdam, and he's not going anywhere until he ousts Veronica Fuentes from his old job. While it initially seemed like he didn't actually have many options to try and take her down since he's no longer employed at the hospital, he and Brantley cooked up a way to try and get a seat on the hospital board, with some unexpected help from Reynolds despite the betrayal. Unfortunately, Max is scheming against Fuentes while the love of his life is an ocean away, but he and Helen made do by the end of "Two Doors." Star Ryan Eggold spoke with CinemaBlend about their "delicate" love scene, plus more for what comes next.
Ryan Eggold also directed "Two Doors," so he was pulling double duty in the unconventional Sharpwin love scene that saw Max and Helen finally reconnecting... over the phone. It was proof of how the show can keep Freema Agyeman part of the show even though Helen is in London, as well as how their love story can survive the separation. Eggold explained how he approached the final phone scene between Sharpwin as both an actor and the director:
I was really excited to shoot that just because it was something that we hadn't seen these characters do yet. And it was kind of sensitive, delicate stuff. And there's a real intimacy to it. And as an actor, it was just simply about sitting down and just feeling that stuff, just missing someone and wanting to connect and trying to touch them physically when you can't, trying to touch someone but you only have the words and you only have this telephone. And as a director, it was really about finding that sense of connection and emotional intimacy. It wasn't about sex or phone sex or anything like that as much as it was about desperately wanting to connect with someone and be near them when you can't. So it was just finding that sense of longing, and then that sense of real connection, even if it's through a telephone. That was really fun stuff to shoot. We found some great shots and Freema is always amazing on camera. So it was a joy.
Playing phone tag (and some hilariously poorly-timed flirtation about a gazebo) for most of "Two Doors" was a look at what kinds of challenges they're facing now that Max and Helen are on opposite sides of the Atlantic, but the love scene at the end showed that they have what it takes to survive the separation. Plus, Max did finally catch a break in his mission to take down Fuentes at the end of the hour, just when it seemed like his mission to recruit workers to the urgent care center seemed like a total failure.
New Amsterdam brought back all the people who lost their jobs in the original set of layoffs, plus Bloom herself, to lend a hand to Max, but it wasn't because Max asked. Instead, it was Reynolds who called everybody up after struggling to work with Fuentes on a case. Casey, Gladys, Baptiste, Agnes, Sandra Fall from Billing, and Bloom turned up at the urgent care, which bodes well not just for Max's mission, but for Reynolds perhaps earning forgiveness.
Bloom would be well within her rights to not want to do anything that Reynolds suggests, since his betrayal cost her job despite his good intentions. But she showed up, and could be one of Max's most valuable allies on the outside. Ryan Eggold weighed in on what Reynolds' move to recruit all of these people means to Max moving forward:
It means everything. I like the way that they wrote that story, that it plays out in that episode of these two guys kind of being at odds and both feeling betrayed by the other. Floyd feeling like Max left them to fend for themselves, and Max feeling like Floyd sold everybody out. And I think they sort of realized they're kind of mad at [themselves]. Like, Max is mad at himself and Reynolds is mad at himself. And Reynolds makes this beautiful gesture to right things that I think completely catches Max off guard when he's sort of lost hope. And then you have this great touching moment with everybody, where we get to end on on Janet [Montgomery] showing up and throwing our tagline in there. And it's cool. It was cool to get all those characters in one room. That was really fun.
Bloom was the one to say "How can I help?" in this episode of New Amsterdam, so the future is looking at least a little brighter than it was right after Reynolds' betrayal. There was even some humor in the storyline before Reynolds made the call to recruit allies to Max's cause, particularly with Gladys revealing that the nationwide nursing shortage has turned her into a very hot commodity with the pick of her jobs and hours. With Gladys living her best life before deciding the help Max out, Ryan Eggold said:
Gladys is just crushing it. I mean, sunglasses, shopping. That was some of the humor that we were playing with, was like these characters are happier, or free. You know, that New Amsterdam comes at a cost and they're out enjoying having these great situations. But then what brings everybody back is that their family in this place is worth saving, you know?
Max took a big step forward in his mission to oust Fuentes thanks to the off-screen intervention of Reynolds, but there's still a long way to go unless they can pull off a miracle. Wilder and Iggy are dealing with their own issues within the hospital, and Reynolds probably can only step so far out of line while on Fuentes' radar. Ryan Eggold previewed what's next for what seems to basically be The Resistance 2.0:
I know that it's going to be an uphill battle. And I know that Max doesn't even really have all the answers of how he's going to do this. But I know he believes in this board seat being the beginning of that. And of course, the challenges will be greater than what he's anticipating, but he's got his foot in the door. I don't think Max is leaving until he figures this out.
Max is back for however long it takes to oust Fuentes from the hospital, which is good news for the doctors he'd left behind in New York, but perhaps sad news when it comes to Sharpwin sharing any scenes in the flesh any time soon. Fans can at least be happy that the good guys are gaining some ground against Fuentes just when it seemed like all hope was lost, and the promo for the next episode indicates that Max could be about ready to pop the question to Helen. He has to get inventive if he wants to defeat Fuentes, and his odds seem better after "Two Doors" than they did after Vijay died.
Unfortunately, New Amsterdam is now heading into another break. Miniseries The Thing About Pam will take over the 10 p.m. ET time slot on Tuesdays starting on March 8 on NBC, and the hospital drama won't be back until April 19. Still, it sounds like there's a lot to look forward to, and you can always revisit past seasons of New Amsterdam with a Peacock account, plus more viewing options in the 2022 TV schedule.
