10 New Amsterdam episodes to help get us through this hiatus

“The Denominator” (written by David Foster, directed by Michael Slovis)

“Denominator” introduced us to basketball!Max and his quick hustling but gameless having ways. Max’s expertise are medicine and his jogging routine complete with a stroller and baby Luna in tow. But you can’t knock the man for trying, and Max, ever himself, tries a lot this episode.

While “Three Dots” focused on the stigma of depression in some Asian communities, “The Denominator” tackles untreated hypertension in black men and their tendency not to go to the doctor unless ill. To counteract this, Max tries to set-up a blood pressure testing pop-up in a local barbershop, but it does not go well.

One of the best aspects of the New Amsterdam writers room is their ability to understand and articulate cultural differences and the history behind them within their storytelling. Time is taken in this episode to explain these men aren’t deciding not to go to doctors out of ignorance but rather generational pain that stems from ill-treatment by medical professionals and experimentation on black people.

As Reynolds explains to Max, they don’t trust outsiders. So, Max gives them the care they need. He trains Kenny, the barber whose shop he tried to start his pop-up in, and other barbers in the neighborhood to check their clients’ blood pressure and treat them accordingly. To Max, you meet patients where they are to care for them that includes ensuring their care through the means they are comfortable with even if that care happens outside of a hospital environment.