The next group of characters I will be reviewing is…the characters from New Amsterdam.
*For the foreseeable future, some Character Review posts may not be published every Thursday as they have in the past.
*Warning: This post contains spoilers about the characters from the television series New Amsterdam. Read at your own risk if you have not watched the show.
There is something to be said about a well written, human character. They leap off the page and speak to us as if they were right in front of us, as flesh and blood human beings, instead of fictional creations.
Life is all about balance. Most, if not all of us have a lot on our plates. It is merely a choice of what to prioritize and what to put on the back burner. On New Amsterdam, Max Goodwin (Ryan Eggold) has more than enough on his plate.
As the medical director of the fictional New Amsterdam hospital in New York City, Max has to deal with the needs of the patients vs. the sometimes bloated and arcane bureaucratic hospital system. He is also married to Georgia (Lisa O’Hare), who is carrying their first child. On top of all this, cancer is ravaging his body.
Max’s trademark question within the hospital is “How can I help?”. This question often leads to unorthodox methods of doing business, which riles the feathers of those who hired him. As work ramps up, his relationship with his wife and his need to treat his cancer suffers.
After Lisa dies in birth, Max adds two more things to his plate: raising his daughter alone and dealing with his wife’s unexpected passing. After his grief passes, he briefly gets involved with Alice Healy (Alison Luff). Like Max, Alice lost her husband very early into her daughter’s life. Though the relationship does not last, it provides the emotional jumping point for Max to move on with his life.
To sum it up: Finding a balance for everything in our lives is difficult. In an effort to maintain that balance, one or two things may end up being inadvertently dropped. But, in the end, we find that balance. Max finds that balance, but not without some heartache and tough decisions.
Which is why he is a memorable character.
Writergurlny 