5 burning questions we have for the rest of New Amsterdam Season 2
By Sabrina Reed
As we wait for next week’s New Amsterdam episode, here are the burning questions we have for the back half of season 2.
Hello Dam Fam! Tuesday came and went without a new episode of our beloved New Amsterdam but that hasn’t stopped the speculation train here at Culturess. Here are the 5 burning questions we hope the rest of the season answers for us.
1. Will Max be moving on from Georgia this season?
Max’s grief arc is nowhere near done this much we know, but with single mom, Alice, on the scene things seem to be taking a lighter turn for our favorite medical director. Last week, Iggy was bold enough to tell Max that it was time for him to put himself back out there, and he playfully teased Max over his awkwardness when it came to whether he was going on a date with Alice or taking Luna to a play date.
The first half of season 2 saw Max pushing everyone, including Helen, away in order to grieve. He didn’t want to talk about his struggle with Georgia’s passing because he believed that if he let himself feel her loss completely he wouldn’t be able to be there for his daughter. But the Max we’ve been seeing for the past few episodes is clearly not in the same headspace. He has begun to accept that he is in a post-Georgia world and seems open to the possibility of his and Luna’s life growing beyond the two of them and their New Amsterdam family.
The fact that Max was even worrying over whether Alice was asking him on a date was a pretty big step for him as a widower. Their relationship could go somewhere or it could go nowhere but play dates for their daughters, but it’s significant that Max is curious–and dare we say optimistic?–about a new relationship. Alice seems like the perfect toe dip back into the possibility of the dating pool. They don’t have history, but they share an understanding of spousal grief and single parenthood and that just might be what Max needs right now.
2. Will Max find out about the workplace power struggle between Helen and Valentina?
He has to, right? The writers can’t possibly open the season with Valentina coercing Helen into making her Co-Chair of Oncology in return for keeping Max enrolled in her treatment trials and not have the man find out. Valentina has repeatedly put her own ambitions ahead of the health of her patients and seems to only be concerned with medical breakthroughs not her patients’ quality of life.
As a Helen fan it is aggravating seeing our girl stripped of her titles and dealing with the nightmare situation of being on her own when it comes to the knowledge of how far Valentina is willing to go in order to rise up the ranks. Helen has to get a win at some point because it is stressful watching her do what she can with the limited options at her disposal.
Helen is the only one of our main cast who is no longer the head of her department. We’ve yet to see her properly deal onscreen with the aftermath of the accident, Max pushed her away for three months leaving her without her best friend, she chose not to go ahead with inseminating herself so she could have a family of her own, she’s been demoted, and on top of that she has to deal with Valentina. Give her the win, let Max find out forthwith, please!
3. Does Iggy have an eating disorder?
I think he does. There has been too much focus on Iggy’s eating to not think we’re going there with him. While we’re used to seeing Iggy snacking, he did so openly in front of his co-workers and his patients. Now Iggy is stress eating, and he’s doing it alone. Last week he hid the evidence of his cupcake eating from Helen which was out of the norm for him. As is the speed at which he’s been eating.
The New Amsterdam team is not afraid of calling a spade a spade, so it’ll only be a matter of time before they put a name to Iggy’s behavior. But the other question is how his family is going to react to the state of his mental health? This is happening under the nose of his work family and his husband, Martin. No one is the wiser currently.
Martin has the most information about Iggy’s negative self-perception issues, but we’ve yet to launch back into their marriage. We know that Iggy issued a ‘nothing but healthy choices’ mandate in household, but he broke that vow at work and we don’t know how it’s going at home. This is a sensitive topic–as are most of New Amsterdam storylines–so we hope it is handled with care and given the time it deserves.
4. Is Reynolds leaving for San Francisco with Evie?
If he can’t tell Max, it’s going to be a no from us. Evie and Reynolds are an exceptionally cute couple, but they’ve been in limbo this season. They’re engaged, they’re planning their wedding, and Evie is only slowing down long enough to encourage Reynolds to keep up with her. Reynold’s mother warned him that Evie wasn’t going to be able to give him the life he wants, after all.
In order to be together, Reynolds has to give up his desire to be close to his family, to be there for Sunday dinners, and grow his own family into an extension of the one he grew up in. So far, he’s chosen to be with Evie but the longer he waits to tell Max he’s leaving the harder it’s going to be to leave.
It’s unclear if Reynolds’ emotional arc is being built to showcase that you can’t get everything you want in a relationship but the love you build is enough to sustain what you have with the person with whom you’ve chosen to spend the rest of your life.
If Reynolds does leave fingers crossed he and Evie get their own spin-off. NBC Entertainment chairman Paul Telegdy said, “I can imagine a whole world around New Amsterdam,” when the series got the green light for three more seasons. Who’s to say we can’t see our favorite cardio-thoracic surgeon and lawyer making the city of San Francisco their home and figuring out how they can help from the West Coast? With their love and skill, anything is possible.
5. What is going on with Sharpwin?
As a shipper, many of my questions boil down to Max and Helen’s connection. It’s been nice in this back half to see Max opening up to Helen again after the freeze out that was the first half. But we saw a season of this already, and while it’s nice to be slipping back into the groove with them again, a little reciprocity on Max’s part when it comes to being a listening ear would be extremely welcome.
Sharpwin’s connection was built on the strength of their determination to save Max’s life last season. Helen was the only one of the main cast who knew about Max’s cancer at the beginning of season one and even after Georgia was told, Helen was the one who held most of the stress concerning that diagnosis in the narrative besides Max.
Their shared journey and the resulting bond between the two of them created enough of a “vibe” between Sharpwin that Helen’s boyfriend, Dr. Panthaki, questioned her about it. There is literally a whole episode–entitled “The King of Swords”–that pokes at the potential between Helen and Max romantically. But post-the accident and Georgia’s death, Sharpwin lost much of their footing because of Max’s grief-driven decision to push Helen away.
Now, as Max is starting to be more open, the two of them are steadily making their way back to who they were to one another. The question is though just what are they to each other? Max fumbled his way through trying to keep Helen in his life even if she chose to leave the hospital, and they’ve referred to each other as friends but they don’t have the energy of friends.
Sharpwin are masters of heart eyes and vulnerability. There’s a soft, tenderness to their connection that’s drawn many a viewer into their relationship. It’s hard not to root for them romantically, and it’s difficult to let go of the potential of what they could be to each other considering how impactful their friendship and love for one another is already.
So I ask again, what is going on with Sharpwin? Will they ever address their “vibe”? Even Luna has been witness to the lack of chill Max has when it comes to Helen and important conversations concerning their relationship. Surely, we have to talk about it at some point, right? Right? A shipper can dream.
Questions, questions, and more questions. Can’t wait to get some answers soon. See you next week when New Amsterdam returns Tuesday, February 11. Stay Sharpe, Dam Fam!
New Amsterdam season 2 episode 12: Have a little faith. dark. Next