When does New Amsterdam season 3 premiere on NBC?

The wait is nearly over for New Amsterdam’s season 3 premiere. Here’s what we know.

Dam Fam, it’s been an age, but we finally have a premiere projection for New Amsterdam season 3. Thanks to TVLine’s exclusive first look at what is sure to be an emotional season opener, we now know our beloved show returns March 2021. Yes, we’re aware that still leaves speculation over which day in March we need to set our calendar reminders for, but at least we have a month to focus in on.

In the mean time, we can ponder over how New Amsterdam is going to handle its depiction of the coronavirus pandemic. The series is set in New York City, one of the hardest hit metropolises in the country that has had continuous fluctuating in case surges and deaths since the beginning of this crisis.

As we’ve mentioned before, executive producer Peter Horton told EW that we’ll be starting season three at the end of a case surge in the city. They plan on throwing us into the thick of things, which means we’ll be returning to the team at New Amsterdam in the middle of what has already been a harrowing experience, one they’ve been going through for months.

It’s a smart choice that allows the audience to be in a similar mental space as the characters we know and love rather looking back at the beginning of the pandemic, which already feels like millennia ago. Admittedly, so does season two.

It’s unclear how the writers will bridge the gap between where we left off in the series and a world changed by the coronavirus, but we can be sure of one thing: Rooftop conversations with Sharpwin are back!

Showrunner David Schulner told TVLine:

"“We try to tell our stories at a breakneck pace, which allows the quieter moments to feel earned. The Max and Sharpe rooftop scenes are a perfect example of that. They exist for the characters — and audience — to catch their breaths. By the time Max and Sharpe get to the roof, they’re exhausted by the day’s events and made more vulnerable because of them. They’ve earned their stillness. And their confessions.”"

While the shipper in me is dancing up a storm, don’t think I didn’t peep that both Max and Helen are mask-less in the first look image. It has to be a flashback because it’s doubtful that these two are bubbling together during the pandemic, no matter how much fans may want it. Not to mention Schulner already teased the following about Helen:

"“You’re going to learn everything you ever wanted to know about Helen Sharpe. Follow Sharpe home? Check! A family bombshell? Check! Someone sharing Sharpe’s bed? Check! All these revelations will not only surprise the audience, but they’ll surprise Sharpe’s closest friends at New Amsterdam. How well do they know her? How well does Sharpe know herself?”"

Now we aren’t sure if this means Daniel Dae Kim’s Dr. Cassian Shin is no longer on Helen’s radar as a love interest, but we are wondering what the show has in store for our deputy medical director. The above tease makes it seem like we may have a Helen-centric episode to look forward to, though we’re hoping it’s not due to her being the character that contracts COVID early on in the season.

Until we know more, I’ll be off living in a fantasy world where Sharpwin are cohabiting during the pandemic to help with stress, mental wellness, and taking care of baby Luna. While I don’t think it will happen in reality, I can dream and then be incredibly surprised if the show throws that unexpected fastball at us.

But, realistically, we’re hoping to return to Helen’s arc centered on her desire to be a mother and see how she handles case surges at the hospital. Unlike Max, Helen is prepared to triage patients if there’s no other way, and she has readied her heart for that possibility in circumstances where she may be called to do so.

New Amsterdam came close to making that call in season one episode 17, “Sanctuary.” Given the real life choices doctors have had to make in the wake of the pandemic, the good doctors of New Amsterdam are likely to be put in the same situation.

We won’t know more ’til we get closer to the season premiere, but New Amsterdam‘s third outing sounds like it’s going to be well worth the wait.

What do want to see from New Amsterdam season three? Serve up your thoughts in the comments below!