S05.E04: Heal Thyself

[secnarf]

Quote

Max mandates a personal health day for the staff at New Amsterdam and meets with surprising resistance. Reynolds finds himself intrigued by a persuasive new member of the staff. Bloom struggles with job stress after being taken off an essential medication. Iggy goes on his first date. Max convinces Wilder to get much needed surgery.

Original air date: Oct 11 2022

[bros402]

This episode sounds like it will be interesting in the way New Amsterdam can be interesting.

My predictions for the episode, my thoughts verbatim:
1. Bloom can't get ADHD meds due to the current shortage
2. Iggy will be excited for the date but be nervous and screw it up, apologize to the date, and his apology will be accepted
3. "much needed" surgery? oh god is max going to "convince" wilder to get a cochlear implant or something holy shit that is not going to go well at all

Edited October 10, 2022 by bros402

[Cloud9Shopper]

Max does not understand Wilder at all. Oh well, she’ll be fine in the next episode anyway. I was wondering if he was just going to carry those labels around with him all day considering he barely knows ASL. And how did he book the best hand surgeon in New York and get Wilder into surgery in not even 24 hours? I was laughing, though, at his you’re just so burned out and stressed speech at the beginning and Wilder’s eye rolls and clear disgust. 

I don’t see the point of giving Floyd a medical condition or possibly putting Max in a new relationship when there’s like, nine episodes left. But the whole Floyd being the worst patient ever subplot definitely tracks with other medical shows and real life. 

Good to know NA took a page out of ER’s handbook and has no OB available ever so the ER doctors end up delivering or dealing with pregnancy complications. 

I thought Lauren would have gone off the Adderall a long time ago considering she was addicted to it and that’s why she went to rehab.

Iggy, I never want to hear about your sex life in such great, excruciating detail ever again. 

[KaveDweller]

41 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

Max does not understand Wilder at all. Oh well, she’ll be fine in the next episode anyway. I was wondering if he was just going to carry those labels around with him all day considering he barely knows ASL. And how did he book the best hand surgeon in New York and get Wilder into surgery in not even 24 hours? I was laughing, though, at his you’re just so burned out and stressed speech at the beginning and Wilder’s eye rolls and clear disgust. 

And if she really was going to not be able to use her hands for weeks, wouldn't she need time to clear her own surgical schedule? But of course Max convinced her with his own health scare (that will obviously be resolved super fast).

I liked that new psychiatrist that was calling Iggy on his crap. Sucks that some patients at New Amsterdam get him while others are stuck with Iggy. Although, I still hate that they blew up what had been portrayed as a healthy marriage.

I also liked the new nurse (I think she was a nurse) that I guess is Reynold's love interest. "What, was your mother not capable of running a household?"

Bloom has the most annoying problems. She lost five pounds without trying, then spent a day stuffing her face with more food and lost another pound. I drink two bottles of water and the scale goes up five pounds.

46 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I thought Lauren would have gone off the Adderall a long time ago considering she was addicted to it and that’s why she went to rehab.

I thought she was addicted to Oxy? It started with Adderall, but she refused to take pain medication after some surgery because of her addiction.

[txhorns79]

33 minutes ago, Cloud9Shopper said:

I thought Lauren would have gone off the Adderall a long time ago considering she was addicted to it and that’s why she went to rehab.

This.  Having said that, it seems crazy to randomly force a doctor to go cold turkey on her ADHD medication, then let her go ahead and handle her emergency room shift as though nothing was happening.  And I'm not even going to get into the idea that not taking the medication for 12 hours somehow proves that Bloom doesn't need the medication going forward.  

I also don't need an episode length discussion about Iggy's sexual performance issues.  

On the positive, I really do like Sandra Mae Frank and hope she lands on a better show when this one ends.   

[izabella]

What an intense delivery!  That poor woman had to give birth with Bloom's scary face looking up at her.  Can you imagine being in labor and your doctor suddenly saying, "Damn!"  and "I can't do it!" and then shouting at you to calm down and breathe.  

4 minutes ago, txhorns79 said:

And I'm not even going to get into the idea that not taking the medication for 12 hours somehow proves that Bloom doesn't need the medication going forward.  

Is that what happened there?  I couldn't figure out why she was suddenly calm, and they were talking about her not needing the pills anymore. 

[Frisky Wig]

It only took 2 minutes for me to roll my eyes and say “oh for fucks sake!” 
 

7 minutes in. This doctor can just take away Blooms Adderall? How is that a good idea? What about telling her to up her food intake, come back in a week and if she hasn’t gained or has lost, talk about other options? Wow. 

[Pepper the Cat]

I wonder if Max is going to give mental health days to all the other employees of the hospital. Nurses, therapists, cleaners etc.  

[TVForever]

I'm just starting the episode, but I must say (and I can't believe I'm about to) that this is probably one of the better of Max's "insane" ideas. Now, this being New Amsterdam, the execution is what's going to shoot this all to h*ll, but the idea is a good one. 

Edited October 12, 2022 by TVForever

[TooMuchRealityTV]

Should Bloom have been allowed to work through coming down off years of adderall? It seemed like there would be a lot of room for disaster there. I mean what if she had still needed it to focus? Someone could have died. She works in the ER.

Since we've already done Max with cancer I'm going to assume this is just a scare. Seriously, this is too close to the failed engagement and too close to the end of the series. Just let him be a do-gooder who runs a hospital. He's had his share of depressing storylines.

Iggy's psychiatrist friend was perhaps the one bright spot this week. Iggy should take notes from him on how to be a psychiatrist. Seriously. The show should have dumped Iggy for this guy a few seasons ago.

[TVForever]

Agreed on taking  Bloom off Adderall cold turkey. I don't know what kind of study(?) she's a part of, but taking an ER doctor/head off of those meds mid-shift just feels like a bad move. Especially since she has informed/reminded her prescriber (and he must already know) that she doesn't spiral just a little, she spirals a whole lot. 

[bros402]

Okay everyone. It's your favorite time...
 

PREVIOUSLY, ON NEW AMSTERDAM: iggy is still a monster to his amazing, caring husband

an addict in recovery made the decision to stay with her drug addicted sister because she feels guilty

reynolds gave his father a possible diagnosis that he will use to hide behind to excuse his shitty behavior

max was insulting with his lack of ASL

 

oh yay an episode starting with reynolds running... is this an episode in media res? i hope not, so annoying

if max paged the major department heads with an emergency message for no reason he should be reported to the board and the board should can his ass

max

if you say you did this to make them get their steps for the day in I will laugh so hard

he's having them take a nice deep breath in? wait where's dr whackadoodle, shouldn't she be doing this?

reynolds you have the sane reaction

and Bloom too

also how many lecture halls does this hospital have? This is a different one from the pilot as far as I remember

max how do you know that Bloom has nothing urgent to do, the ER can act up at any time

and why the HELL would you cancel all of awesome deaf doc's appointments? She's an oncologist! Putting off her patients is just horrible - it is a pain in the ass to get into the city to see a top oncologist, someones appointments are delayed a month now - or she is going to have to stay later or be less attentive to her patients during appointments

and it goes without saying for Reynolds

at least Iggy mostly sits at his desk all day and probably does most of the department head stuff out of everyone

max i bet you didn't bring in enough people to cover for the doctors you decided to give the day off

reynolds why are you just hooking yourself up to an EKG like that - whenever I have had an EKG I have had to take my shirt off. I doubt you can find the places for the leads on yourself without at least looking

oh no he has something wrong

is it just me or does wolff parkinson white syndrome get mentioned at least once on every medical show that has more than a couple of seasons?

oh. yay. iggy's on a date

bloom your gp is not your therapist

dr why would you stop bloom's ADHD meds right away - why not refer her to a nutritionist?

you should at least switch her to a non-stimulant

doc how is bloom supposed to gain 5 lbs in a week, that is pretty dangerous

why does new amsterdam have an employee of the month thing

and why is it just a shelf with three framed pictures precariously placed on it???

bloom, you are just rude by stealing his food

the super duper hardest prediction of the century: this is not going to end up being braxton hicks

I wonder what awesome deaf doc's surgery is gonna be? I'm guessing a spot of melanoma

oh, carpal tunnel? yeah i imagine that that is pretty bad for a surgeon to have - well, and her ASL

max are you going to clear a surgeon's schedule just to operate on one of the hospital's doctors

interpreter, you don't stand with max, you follow your client

there's another psychiatrist at the hospital?

uh oh reynolds you can't go into surgery, max will be angry and rip you out of a patient's chest if he has to

oh good, this doctor rescheduled reynolds appointment so he can get the procedure he needs

uhh did this doctor violate Reynolds HIPAA rights?

of course she did

bloom you are going to blow if/when you eat all of this food

bloom how could you forget about the pregnant woman you tossed in a random room

um bloom if you are this bad after 3 hours without your adderall you need an extended release ADHD med

max she won't be able to speak for weeks after this surgery

oh good she said that

again, interpreter why aren't you following her

and everyone complaining to max segment, yay

oh yay, talking about iggy's pleasuring

um is that a patient's chart on the screen when this other doctor is sitting at iggy's desk

why is iggy pretty much looking into the camera at 20:21. pretty sure he was looking right into it for a split second, same at 20:26

iggy you should feel guilty for betraying your awesome husband

if i were the surgeon I would've sedated Reynolds to avoid the backseat surgery holy crap

max why were you walking right in front of awesome deaf doctor's line of sight to her interpreter, she has no idea what you said for that chunk of time

max if you are lying about that lump you are horrible

it sounds like he isn't

but max have you been following up with your regular scans

why did you get an MRI? Pretty sure ultrasounds are the first step to check out a thyroid lump, even in patients with a history of thyroid cancer. Or a CT.

jesus Bloom your stomach is a black hole

bloom why aren't you at least trying to self manage the ADHD with a bunch of coffee

why can't iggy's plot be him talking about how he destroyed his marriage, instead of the bad date

hey look this awesome guy decided to make iggy confront his crap

reynolds your dad leaving when you are a kid is an annoying thing for you to keep saying, but it is much better than the threesome

"someone just knock me out" smartest thing you have said in at least a season, Reynolds

why isn't someone from OB down in the ER

bloom the time to page OB was when she went into labor, not when you failed to get the cord out from around the baby's neck

oh god interpreter please don't put ideas into max's head like he is super persuading - he does it by chipping people down

max's results are in? I am guessing he's NED

oh, he needs a biopsy - was not expecting that

yay, back to the strangling baby - so everyone in OB is involved in this emergency C-section?

bloom talking out loud like this is probably stressing the mom out a lot

bloom from that angle it looked like you might have been blowing at the baby

i doubt the mom liked that, if she even noticed

wow that baby came up quick

wait how were you raising the bed the second reynolds was waking up - did you predict the second he would wake to have that perfect cup of ice chips for him? are you a witch

is this a new love interest for reynolds

um nurse you should identify yourself to the chief of the department

bloom you lost a pound because you had a bunch of water weight running around for food

doc you have to see that Bloom is in distress from the lack of ADHD meds, you need to give her something

oh good he noticed

no bloom you aren't suddenly okay without the meds if you have ADHD

you are probably going to encounter trouble the next time you are in the ER

wait, Iggy is supposed to be 40?

He looks at least 45.

wow, was that too much info even for Max? good job iggy

that was the worlds quickest biopsy and pathology for max! Must be a benefit of being the head of the hospital

max that list is nowhere near exhaustive - do you think he was carrying them around with him all day?

so max's cancer is back and he is lying about it, I presume

So, who is the worst doctor of the week? This is a tough one - Max actually had a good idea for once with making them take a mental health day (But they shouldn't have all done it at once).

Honestly I have two contenders for worst doctor in my mind: Bloom's bad doctor and Dr. Reynolds, Backseat Surgeon.

I think the worst doctor this week is... DOCTOR REYNOLDS, by a hair, because he tried to do his own surgery.

On another note - I wish I could be excited for Max's cancer plot, since it was somewhat decent last time and it was an okay portrayal of YA cancer (YA is 18-39). I just wish that they had kept Max's cancer an element the entire series - maybe have him at least having some scanxiety ffs. Since there's only 9 episodes left, this is going to be resolved quickly, which is honestly sort of a shame if the writers manage to write it decently. It might just be because I have cancer that I found it one of the more... interesting possibilities of the episode, but it is going to suck that these writers are going to bungle one of the very very very few times that a television show has a main cast young adult character with cancer (the last one I watched was this summer, when I was bored, and watched the pretty decent 2014 Freeform show, Chasing Life - that show had a pretty good portrayal of YA cancer, when it wasn't stuck in soap opera land).

Edited October 13, 2022 by bros402

[Johnny Dollar]

This hospital needs to be shut down and every doctor (at least the five we get to see) should be arrested for criminal negligence.

The less I know about Iggy’s sex life, the better. And where was this other psychiatrist when Iggy was having one of his many crises in the past? He seems to be the only one who can get through to him.

Dr Walsh is starting to grow on me (no pun intended). It’s a shame the didn’t allow the character to develop earlier in the series.

[LexieLily]

8 hours ago, Johnny Dollar said:

This hospital needs to be shut down and every doctor (at least the five we get to see) should be arrested for criminal negligence.

The less I know about Iggy’s sex life, the better. And where was this other psychiatrist when Iggy was having one of his many crises in the past? He seems to be the only one who can get through to him.

Dr Walsh is starting to grow on me (no pun intended). It’s a shame the didn’t allow the character to develop earlier in the series.

Let's also arrest that pharmacist that apparently thinks it's okay to take Bloom off her Adderall cold turkey and send her off to work a 12-hour ER shift. 

[circumvent]

13 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Let's also arrest that pharmacist that apparently thinks it's okay to take Bloom off her Adderall cold turkey and send her off to work a 12-hour ER shift. 

I haven't watched it yet but this is probably the worst thing this show has come up with  - and this show is full of worsts. It is basic knowledge for any adult  who is at least mildly interested in daily life stuff.

[circumvent]

Everyone needs a day off but Bloom is working as always in the ER. Did I mess anything, was she excused to run the department? 

Eating all that at once would just give anyone a terrible stomach pain. Why do they write these characters as if they are completely ignorant of everything in life. And 25,000 steps don't make you lose one pound. If that were true, I would have disappeared by now. There is so much more that goes into that. On the other hand, the cure for ADHD is just stop meds cold turkey and go care for people that might die, but oh well, it might be worthy .

Carpal tunnel surgery - no. That's not how it is. Yes, it hurts but why have the surgery on both hands at the same time? It also doesn't need all that bandage. It is done one hand at a time and I don't know of anyone who got completely dependent on others after surgery. I had the surgery and didn't have help from anyone, other than driving me back home. I manage to care for myself, I managed to continue to care for a disabled person who needs a lot, a lot of physical support, and I managed to care for the house - dishes and all -  so I am calling bullshit, yet again, on the writers who made Wilder a damsel in distress so Max can save her.

Nitpick: Max forces everyone to take a day off, convinces Wilder to have surgery and she ends up having it on that same day, under anesthesia, which requires that one doesn't eat before. Since she didn't know she was going to have surgery, how was she cleared for it on the same day? How about the tests they do to identify where exactly they need to cut? Oh, yeah, this is New Amsterdam, it is all magic and magical thinking 🙄

[KaveDweller]

On 10/12/2022 at 1:46 PM, TVForever said:

Agreed on taking  Bloom off Adderall cold turkey. I don't know what kind of study(?) she's a part of, but taking an ER doctor/head off of those meds mid-shift just feels like a bad move. Especially since she has informed/reminded her prescriber (and he must already know) that she doesn't spiral just a little, she spirals a whole lot. 

Also, does she normally wait until she gets to work to take her meds? Wouldn't she have taken them that morning before she went to see the doctor, and would only start to go off them the NEXT day?

[circumvent]

8 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

Also, does she normally wait until she gets to work to take her meds? Wouldn't she have taken them that morning before she went to see the doctor, and would only start to go off them the NEXT day?

And who said she must comply with the doctor? Besides, anyone who depends on medication has a little extra for emergencies. The doctor doesn't have the authority to simply take the meds away on the spot. She could refuse, he would alert her of the "dangers" of being underweight, she would say "ok, I was informed" and walk away with the pills". The whole thing was ridiculous

[Granny58]

On 10/12/2022 at 12:10 AM, txhorns79 said:

And I'm not even going to get into the idea that not taking the medication for 12 hours somehow proves that Bloom doesn't need the medication going forward.  

thank you.  I eye rolled at this and said the same to my husband. 

[Granny58]

On 10/13/2022 at 1:04 AM, bros402 said:

doc how is bloom supposed to gain 5 lbs in a week, that is pretty dangerous

to be fair, I could do it 😋

[KaveDweller]

13 hours ago, circumvent said:

And who said she must comply with the doctor? Besides, anyone who depends on medication has a little extra for emergencies. The doctor doesn't have the authority to simply take the meds away on the spot. She could refuse, he would alert her of the "dangers" of being underweight, she would say "ok, I was informed" and walk away with the pills". The whole thing was ridiculous

Yeah, the doctor could refuse to write a refill, but who waits until they are out of meds to ask for a refill? It couldn't be more contrived if they tried.

[NJRadioGuy]

On 10/12/2022 at 1:33 PM, TooMuchRealityTV said:

Since we've already done Max with cancer I'm going to assume this is just a scare. Seriously, this is too close to the failed engagement and too close to the end of the series. Just let him be a do-gooder who runs a hospital. He's had his share of depressing storylines.

I have a gut feeling that the cancer recurrence is endgame for Max in the series finale, or perhaps the penultimate episode with the funeral and postscripts for all the characters in the finale. It would really be fitting. Bonus points to get a cameo by Freema there holding his had when he runs down the curtain and joins the choir invisible.

I actually didn't hate this episode, although I think I may need to find an ophthalmologist from all the eye-rolling I was doing. And like everybody else, I never want to hear about Iggy's sex life again.

[KaveDweller]

1 hour ago, NJRadioGuy said:

I have a gut feeling that the cancer recurrence is endgame for Max in the series finale, or perhaps the penultimate episode with the funeral and postscripts for all the characters in the finale. It would really be fitting. Bonus points to get a cameo by Freema there holding his had when he runs down the curtain and joins the choir invisible.

I actually didn't hate this episode, although I think I may need to find an ophthalmologist from all the eye-rolling I was doing. And like everybody else, I never want to hear about Iggy's sex life again.

I could see that if it weren't for Luna. I don't see them orphaning her as an ending to the show. Plus they see to be setting up a romance with Wilder for his endgame.

Edited October 16, 2022 by KaveDweller

[NJRadioGuy]

1 hour ago, KaveDweller said:

I could see that if it weren't for Luna. I don't see them orphaning her as an ending to the show. Plus they see to be setting up a romance with Wilder for his endgame.

He and Wilder get close as things get worse and maybe she becomes Luna's guardian/foster/whatever? Since it was brought up at this point in the final season it definitely smacks as being Chekov's cancer. I really hope I'm wrong.

[circumvent]

5 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I could see that if it weren't for Luna. I don't see them orphaning her as an ending to the show. Plus they see to be setting up a romance with Wilder for his endgame.

That's what I think too. It would be too cruel to have Luna orphaned, even the thought of it.

I remembered something I don't think anyone really comment on yet: Max and the board of words, the most inefficient way of having Wilder communicate while she is in the "long recovery after carpal tunnel surgery" ( I already commented it is bullshit. I had the surgery, it hurts for a couple of days but it never stopped me from doing anything. Maybe the signing would be hard but she would not be bandaged as if her hands are useless). It's been many years since autistic (mostly) started using apps that have words and pictures so they can more easily make people understand them. Something similar would be much better than the archaic solution Max found, point to each word until the desired one is found to have a basic communication of needs. A little attachment on her "very bad hand" for a stick, and she touches, lightly, the tablet. The computer or tablet can even speak the words for her. Do this people know assistive technology?

[bros402]

On 10/15/2022 at 9:20 PM, NJRadioGuy said:

I have a gut feeling that the cancer recurrence is endgame for Max in the series finale, or perhaps the penultimate episode with the funeral and postscripts for all the characters in the finale. It would really be fitting. Bonus points to get a cameo by Freema there holding his had when he runs down the curtain and joins the choir invisible.

I actually didn't hate this episode, although I think I may need to find an ophthalmologist from all the eye-rolling I was doing. And like everybody else, I never want to hear about Iggy's sex life again.

On 10/15/2022 at 11:03 PM, KaveDweller said:

I could see that if it weren't for Luna. I don't see them orphaning her as an ending to the show. Plus they see to be setting up a romance with Wilder for his endgame.

honestly I would love if this show went full dark for the end - orphaning Luna would definitely be an interesting choice by the writers... but since it actually happens in real life, it definitely will not happen in this show!

and of course the last scene would be Iggy's sex life in graphic detail - as much as NBC's Standards & Practices allows.

19 hours ago, circumvent said:

That's what I think too. It would be too cruel to have Luna orphaned, even the thought of it.

I remembered something I don't think anyone really comment on yet: Max and the board of words, the most inefficient way of having Wilder communicate while she is in the "long recovery after carpal tunnel surgery" ( I already commented it is bullshit. I had the surgery, it hurts for a couple of days but it never stopped me from doing anything. Maybe the signing would be hard but she would not be bandaged as if her hands are useless). It's been many years since autistic (mostly) started using apps that have words and pictures so they can more easily make people understand them. Something similar would be much better than the archaic solution Max found, point to each word until the desired one is found to have a basic communication of needs. A little attachment on her "very bad hand" for a stick, and she touches, lightly, the tablet. The computer or tablet can even speak the words for her. Do this people know assistive technology?

I was also thinking of putting "why doesn't she consider AAC" in my Worst Doctor live notes (I type as I watch, pause if I have a really ranty thing I have to type) - I am guessing she doesn't want to even consider it because she would view it as infantilizing (which tbh is how I was expecting her to view Max with the board, but maybe she was on enough pain meds to not care) and I imagine she definitely would not want to see patients while she is using an AAC (but she could always work from home/do telehealth, have it type something, then her interpreter interprets and patients are none the wiser)

[CoyoteBlue]

Also, Wilder CAN verbalize. Maybe not for detailed patient conversations / medical orders / etc, but she can say "water" and other basic words/phrases intelligibly enough.

[tinkerbell]

Catching up on my DVR shows.  Good lord, this was ridiculous.  All the doctors have to take a day off to deal with their health. Ok. That makes sense. But no, they all have to take off TODAY. And see the doctors and specialists they have been procrastinating seeing. But aren't THOSE doctors also supposed to take the day off?  How are they supposed to take care of themselves when they have to take care of doctors?

Never mind the patients who had made appointments and arranged to be available for their procedures, only to have them cancelled so all the doctors could tend to each other.

[bros402]

So, it hasn't been mentioned in a few episodes - but when Max told Wilder at the end that the scan came back negative, did anyone else read his tone/body language as him saying that to not stress her out right after she got out surgery, or was it genuinely NED on the PET?

[SnarkySheep]

Maybe all the doctors would need fewer mental health days if Max wasn't texting multiple 911s, causing them to drop everything, run frantically to him, gasping if there was a mass casualty event or the hospital about to fall down or what.

My lord, if I worked for someone who intentionally fake-raised my blood pressure like that, I'd keep running...home.

[possibilities]

I think they were implying that Lauren didn't really have ADHD; she started to feel better when she was doing the breathing with her patient giving birth, and maybe her problem all along was (1) she was an addict, and (2) she had massive anxiety and no stress management skills. The morning dose would still be in her system, but she was psychologically dependent on the Adderal, so her anxiety about detoxing is what was causing the immediate effects th second she knew she wasn't going to take another dose on schedule.

I loved Iggy's shrink, but I have to say, I don't think it's necessarily a problem to not want to have sex with a stranger. Iggy wanting to get to know the person first struck me as healthy! But I accept the premise that he wanted to be able to do it, and I'm a stereotypical lesbian and not a stereotypical gay man, so all of this tracks.

Floyd was annoying but I found his surgery scene funny. I loved the women in the OR pointing out his sexism and his ego-mania and his control-freak insanity, and doing it with the perfect combination of stink-eye and explicit verbiage. Also, the nurse in recovery with the ice... I hope she's not his next love interest, because he doesn't deserve her and she deserves better. But it's TV, so she's probably going to be The One or some BS of the sort. I also loved the doctor who did his EKG and was talking about her mammogram-- I think she was also the surgeon, but the mask in the OR made me unsure.

I guess Leyla is no longer working the same shifts as Lauren. They seem to have disposed of her and Casey, which makes me sad. I'm enjoying Walsh, though.

I can't face Max having cancer again. It's too upsetting. Let's end the show on a high note, please, not the serial orphaning of Luna. Lately I'm kind of a sap in search of inspiration and happy endings and have had more misery catharsis than I know what to do with.