New Amsterdam 4×10, “Death is the Rule. Life is the Exception” is an episode that’s indeed an exception. The kind of an episode that even a hypochondriac like me can and should watch from beginning to end. I’m here for Sharpwin—their scenes are the ones I watch and skim every episode for, but the context within this episode makes for a meticulously remarkable kind of mid-season finale that really gets to the heart of the show. As the trailer shows, last days call for goodbyes, but this is a drama, and sometimes (most of the time), it means the writing will ensure that the universe could have other plans.
Why are these people fighting for what they’re fighting for? Who are they fighting for? What makes New Amsterdam so special as a hospital? “Death is the Rule. Life is the Exception” delivers the answers through a special kind of hour.
I’m always amazed at this show’s ability to pack such an emotional punch even when the viewer might not be as attached—even during the most subtle, quiet scenes that scream so loudly, it could be the very antidote to whatever is happening. (Or the things this show most definitely isn’t about apparently like ships.)
The New Amsterdam mid-season finale is, in short, complicated. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing—it’s an important thing. It’s a realistic element that brings answers to tough questions and pushes characters towards making decisions.
As far as Helen Sharpe (Freema Agyeman) and Max Goodwin’s (Ryan Eggold) scenes are concerned—because, we all know that’s what I am mostly here and what so many of you are as well, though there will be no spoilers here, the best I can say without giving anything away is that I continue to be in awe of how intensely the two of them can speak with just one look. I continue to be in awe of heart eyes, the little moments, and the detail that their scenes are always worth replaying over and over again.
No matter what predictions might be, New Amsterdam 4×10, “Death is the Rule. Life is the Exception,” is the kind of episode that hits all the right emotional marks.