Medical drama New Amsterdam is currently airing its second season after capturing viewer attention with its great first season, along with a cliffhanger ending.
The series stars Ryan Eggold as Dr. Max Goodwin, an unconventional medical director of the New Amsterdam Medical Center who, faced with his own cancer diagnosis, is hell-bent on making the hospital a better place, focused on serving its patients to the best of their abilities, beyond the red tape of bureaucracy. His catchphrase: “How can I help?”
Along with Dr. Goodwin is a list of supporting characters, including doctors, nurses, and others who all make the series compelling to watch each week. But while some characters add to the story, others could do with less screen time. (Note: spoilers ahead).
Less: Dr. Lauren Bloom
As the Head of the Emergency Department, the story about Dr. Bloom (Janet Montgomery) centered mainly around her addiction to painkillers in Season 1, after which she was discovered and forced to go to rehab to deal with her internal struggles and kick the habit.
She finished her program and originally decided to quit her job, but after miraculously saving Dr. Goodwin’s wife and doing an emergency delivery of their baby, then surviving a massive car cash, she decided to keep going. But she’s arguably the least interesting of the characters, and we could do without so much of her brooding, sarcasm, and anger.
More: Dr. Iggy Frome
The talented psychiatrist and Head of the Psychology Department at the hospital, Dr. Frome (Tyler Labine) is always fun to watch as he finds ways to break through to troubled patients, whether it’s a group of kids in a circle group or a random person crying in an elevator. The job really is his calling.
The psychological aspect to these shows is always compelling, and while Dr. Frome gets lots of screen time as it is, he’s one of the characters that we’d love to see more of as he attempts to truly make a difference for patients struggling with loss, abandonment, and mental health conditions.
Less: Georgia Goodwin
The wife of Dr. Goodwin, Georgia (Lisa O’Hare) has always just sort of been there in the background, wishing her husband didn’t focus his life so much on his work, and seemingly quietly resenting him for it, as she gave up her own career as a dancer. In Season 2, it is revealed that she sadly died from her injuries in the ambulance crash, leaving Dr. Goodwin a widowed single father.
Yet she’s still seen in flashbacks and as a figment of Dr. Goodwin’s imagination as he returns home every day, baby in tow, longing for his wife to be there. Call us selfish, but we kind of wanted to see him with Dr. Helen Sharpe (Freema Agyeman) anyway. Georgia never seemed like a good fit.
More: Dr. Vijay Kapoor
The veteran doctor on staff, Dr. Kapoor (Anupam Kher) is the Head of the Neurological Department and has a keen sense for diagnosing issues thanks to his decades of experience. Dealing with the loss of his wife and a strained relationship with his recovering addict son, there are complex layers to this man who seems to keep his personal life close to his chest.
Always there to offer some sound advice, help other doctors with their patients, and prove his worth, Dr. Kapoor is also downright hilarious. We want to see more of him on screen, and delve deeper into the character on a personal level, too.
Less: Evie Garrison
Played by Margot Bingham, Evie is the new girlfriend and now fiancée of Dr. Floyd Reynolds (Jocko Sims), who’s a cardiovascular surgeon and Head of the Cardiac Surgical Department. While Evie and Floyd’s relationship seems great, there’s something missing.
After having Evie meet his family, who didn’t approve due to her career aspirations and their traditional ideals about marriage, Floyd seemed to propose if only to prove that he’s in control of his own life. Is he really so madly in love with her as his actions suggest? We’re not so sure. Frankly, we’d love to see him back with Dr. Bloom instead.
More: Nurse Casey Acosta
This nurse, played by Alejandro Hernandez, offers up a nice mix of comic relief with a sense of duty. Always there to aid Dr. Bloom in the emergency department, Casey has expressed his concern about her use of pills, helped cover up her messes, and dutifully and masterfully aided patients. And he always seems to bring the mood up when he’s around, with his dancing, smiling, and joking.
While he’s only a supporting character, he demonstrates how important nurses are to the medical field, not to mention breaks misconceptions about gender roles in medicine.
Less: Dr. Helen Sharpe
Dr. Sharpe, Head of Oncology, is a great character, and we’re glad that she isn’t the one who perished in the tragic accident that ended Season 1. But she does get a ton of screen time that could be better used to help develop more compelling characters.
She’s integral to Dr. Goodwin’s care as he battles his cancer diagnosis, including getting him into experimental treatments, and there’s also some strange sexual tension between the two. There’s plenty to explore with Helen Sharpe on both a personal and professional level, but others deserve screen time, too.
More: Ella
Ella (Dierdre Friel) works at the café in the hospital and sparked up a friendship with Dr. Kapoor that was really sweet. It seemed they might have had romantic feelings for one another as well, though Dr. Kapoor is clearly still grieving the loss of his wife.
However, after Dr. Kapoor’s son discovered that his father gave Ella money to help pay for treatments for her sick dog, while refusing to give him any to help him start a new business, he befriended Ella to make his dad jealous. We haven’t seen much of either of them since, and we’d love to see Ella become a more important part of Dr. Kapoor’s personal life.
Less: Dr. Valentina Castro
Introduced in Season 2, Dr. Castro (Ana Villafañe) took over Dr. Goodwin’s treatment while Dr. Sharpe was recovering from her injuries from the crash. A former colleague, it is revealed that Dr. Sharpe fired Dr. Castro years earlier, and the latter still holds a grudge.
Now that her experimental treatments are proving successful in helping Dr. Goodwin survive cancer, Dr. Castro is using this as leverage to gain a powerful position at the hospital, alongside Dr. Sharpe. Dr. Castro’s tactics are dirty, and she seems like someone who will just be loads of trouble. While we love a good villain, but this one, we could do without.
More: Jemma
The first character to show us how much Dr. Frome cares and how great he is at his job, Jemma (Lizzy DeClement) is an angry, troubled teenage girl who was being kept at the hospital for treatment and observation. In and out of the foster care system, she had little faith in ever finding a family who would love and take care of her.
After finding her a good home, Dr. Frome went to visit her and realized that she was doing so well, she didn’t need to see him anymore, and in fact, seeing him was worse for her as it brought back those bad memories. It’s a bittersweet moment, and while her story is a success, we’d love to see her come back as a new woman and further develop a friendship between her and her former doctor.
