In the second to last episode of the series, New Amsterdam prepares to say goodbye and wrap up the characters’ stories.
A Rock and A Hard Place
Max and Elizabeth are enjoying the honeymoon phase of their relationship until Elizabeth sees an issue in a clinical trial’s data and has to bring it to Max’s attention. She shows him that the demographic for participants in the trial was 89% white, so the data doesn’t give them an accurate representation of how it works for people of color.
Unfortunately, Max signed off on the results before Elizabeth talked to him, so he plans not to let the FDA get the data to approve it. Karen and the company that they worked with for the trial aren’t happy about this, and it gets pointed out to Max that New Amsterdam set the perimeters for the trial. Confused, Max looks at who would do that and learns it was Helen.
Privately, Elizabeth talks to Max about it and points out that Helen did it for him. The trial started when Max was still sick, and while the trial wasn’t for the same cancer that Max had, it was a very similar kind that had a good chance of being able to be treated the same way. Max asks Elizabeth if she would have done the same, and she confesses that she wouldn’t because it’s not ethical. She asks him the same question, and he gives her the same reply.
Max gets the parties involved in the trial to agree to do more runs with a more diverse set of participants before they move forward. Later, Elizabeth checks in because she’s worried that her answer to his earlier question was taken the wrong way. Max tells her that it wasn’t and they’re okay. They talk more about how they’re both doctors first and how that makes their relationship work.
Floyd and Gabrielle
Gabrielle is set to leave again, and she put down Floyd as a contact for the employers to talk to as a reference. She gets the job, and when she’s telling him that his call really helped, she mentions that he sang her praises so much that the guy made a comment about Floyd being in love with her.
The Cost
A patient of Floyd’s comes in complaining of issues with his lung transplant. Floyd is confused because the patient is on the transplant list and waiting for a new lung but hasn’t received one. The patient reveals to him that he’s tired of waiting, so he went to another country and bought a new lung.
His body is now rejecting the lung, so Floyd has to remove it. He brings up to Gabrielle that he’s frustrated that this lung is going to waste now because of how it was obtained. She suggests that they get it back to the donor. Gabrielle does some digging and finds the donor, but he refuses to fly out to get it back.
Floyd talks to him and learns that he won’t because he thinks he’s going to get in trouble. He sold it because he lost his job when war broke out in his country and needed the money for his family. Floyd reassures him that he’s not in any trouble.
Starting Over
Iggy and Martin are getting around to setting up their re-do first date. Martin tries talking to him like always, but Iggy insists on pretending that they don’t know each other at all. He brings Martin out skating for the date. Iggy keeps playing up that they don’t know each other, but Martin doesn’t want to. He admits that he’s scared if they do this again and what it could do to the kids if they don’t work out. They talk it through, and Martin gives in to him and his pretending they’re strangers.
Change of Pace
Lauren and Casey grab a ride on one of the ambulances leaving New Amsterdam in hopes of making it across town before a certain time to secure an apartment that Lauren was looking at. Along the way, they get dispatched to a couple of calls Lauren and Casey help out on.
The first one is a kid’s birthday clown that tries to juggle mini chainsaws. His injuries were minor, though, and he eagerly agreed to let Lauren stick him up there and not bring him all the way to the hospital.
They leave there and are called to a car accident. They tell Lauren that another unit can take it, but she insists that they get it. They find a dad and his son in one car with extensive wounds. Casey doesn’t expect the dad to make it, but Lauren crafts a makeshift retractor in the ambulance and manages to keep him stable until they get to the hospital. He survives the surgery and is doing fine.
On their walk home, Lauren and Casey spot a woman putting a for sale sign up on an apartment. They ask to look at it. Casey immediately writes it off because it’ll require a lot of work, but Lauren loves it and decides to get it.
Helping or Hurting
While walking to work, Iggy runs into a couple of cops with a frequent flyer at the hospital. Iggy offers to take her with him to work instead of them arresting her. At the hospital, Iggy brings her to a court hearing to put her in a conservatorship in New Amsterdam because she’s an alcoholic with severe mental health issues that refuses help. He doesn’t explain this to her, and she doesn’t learn that she loses all of her rights if she does this until her advocate brings it up in court. She’s upset by this and says that she doesn’t want it. Iggy pushes them to still make her a long-term patient despite it not being what she wants because the way she’s going is slowly killing her, but the court rules against him.
New Amsterdam has come to an end. Be on the lookout for our recap of the second episode of the two-part finale.