New Amsterdam Character Review: Vijay Kapoor

*For the foreseeable future, some Character Review posts may not be published every Thursday as they have in the past.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 gets busy. We have work, we have school, we have families, etc. But what happens when one dominates the other and we begin to lose touch with what is important? On New Amsterdam, Vijay Kapoor (Anupam Kher), is the head of Neurology. Though he is a respected member of his field, his personal life is as much of a mess as his professional life is clean.

A widower with a grown son, Vijay has not had a relationship with Rohan (Vandit Bhatt) since his late wife’s passing. After plunging himself into work, Vijay tries to rebuild his relationship with his son. But even with all of the effort he puts in, the tentative new bond with his son fades. But there is one thing that will always keep the door open.

His son has a brief relationship with Ella (Dierdre Friel), who works in the hospital cafeteria. Ella is pregnant, but Rohan is nowhere to be found. Though his attempted romantic relationship with Ella died on the vine, Vijay recognizes the opportunity he has with his future grandchild. When her finances begin to run dry, Ella takes him up on his offer to move in together. They have some initial issues (as new roommates sometimes do), but in the end, Ella and Vijay come together, knowing that a new life will soon come into the world.

To sum it up: Ideally, we would all be able to maintain a work/life balance. But that is not always possible. Especially when emotions and complicated family dynamics come unto play. A man like Vijay would find it easy to bury himself in work and use it to mask his personal problems. But the fact that he is willing to face his past and learn from it shows that he is capable of moving forward.

That makes him a memorable character.

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Flashback Friday-Sorority Life (2002-2004) & Fraternity Life (2003-2005)

For some in college, the experience is incomplete without at least the attempt of pledging a sorority or a fraternity. But does that experience live up the images seen on the big and small screens?

Back in the early 2000’s MTV included Sorority Life (2002-2004) and Fraternity Life (2003-2005) on their schedule. Both series followed pledges and members of a handful of sororities and fraternities from across the country.

When both programs originally aired, I was the target audience. It was easy for me to get hooked on both series. But two decades later, both programs are showing their age and the questions that come with how real a “reality show” is.

Do I recommend it? Maybe.