The series finale of New Amsterdam is just days away from airing on NBC, and fans have known that the end was coming since back in March of 2022. Although the show isn’t going to tie off every loose end, the penultimate episode did see Max face the temptation of seeing Helen again for the first time since she didn’t show up to their wedding and ended their relationship. He ultimately chose not to reopen that emotional wound by meeting with her, but was that really closure for him? Executive producers Peter Horton and David Schulner weighed in ahead of the finale.
Helen returning and reaching out stressed Max out enough that he was ready to leave the hospital for an ill-fated day in the wilderness, but ultimately gave him the clarity to realize that he wanted to pursue a future with Wilder rather than revisit the relationship that ended in heartbreak. When the executive producers spoke with CinemaBlend about the final episodes of the series, I asked if Episode 11 gave Max closure or if there’s still time in the two-part finale event for some curveballs about Helen, and Peter Horton said:
I think him making that decision is closure with all of its complexities. Closure is never closure, but a decision is a move forward. It's choosing your future, rather than trying to figure out your past. That's a very heroic choice. It's hard, because there's so many unanswered questions for him about Helen. But he was wise enough and heroic enough to know going back in there – kind of what Bloom says to him at the campfire – you're not going to get anything out of it. It's just going to be more pain. As much as our kind of monkey brains want to have some sort of explanation for things like that, there really isn't a good one, and not one that will really satisfy. So he chose healing and he chose to go forward. I think that's kind of the end of it.
Helen’s return to New York didn’t mean a new heartfelt Sharpwin scene to give Max some more answers than he got from the letter that involved actress Freema Agyeman participating in the Season 5 premiere. That wasn’t altogether surprising after the reveal that New Amsterdam wanted to bring Helen back more to test Max’s resolve than restart their relationship. Time was running out in the serise! After ten episodes of trying to move forward, he finally achieved it in Episode 11, with two more left to go. According to David Schulner, Max will never just forget her:
Just like Georgia will always be with him, Sharpe will always be with him, and Wilder will always be with him. I feel like that's as close to real life as we can get.
Max actually went through the heartache of losing a woman he deeply loved early in the series, when wife Georgia died in a horrific accident. It took some time for him to be able to move forward without any feelings of guilt; would he have taken more time with Wilder if time wasn’t running out with the series finale approaching quickly? Whatever happens in those last two episodes, the executive producer established that the women he has loved stay with him.
New Amsterdam does still have a lot to do before the final credits roll, between all of the storylines that are still ongoing and what actor Jocko Sims said about the last episodes delving into the pasts of the doctors more. See how the medical drama says goodbye with the two-hour series finale event on January 17, starting at 9 p.m. ET and continuing at 10 p.m. ET on NBC. You can also revisit earlier days of the series streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription, and find some upcoming viewing options with our 2023 TV premiere schedule.
