New Amsterdam is finally on the verge of returning to the 2022 TV schedule after nearly two months of a break for NBC to air Renée Zellweger's The Thing About Pam, and all signs point toward an episode that could be very rewarding for the Dam Fam after such a long wait. Called "All Night Long," it will deliver a night of karaoke and drinking for the characters... and then the consequences the day after. TV veteran Nestor Carbonell stepped behind the camera to direct "All Night Long," and shed some light on what fans can expect when the doctors let loose.
Nestor Carbonell – who TV fans will recognize from Bates Motel, The Morning Show, and of course Lost – returned to New Amsterdam as a director after helming an episode earlier in Season 4 that was a big deal for Helen ahead of the move back to London. He spoke with CinemaBlend about how "All Night Long" stands out from the typical episode of the show, including "a lot [more] exteriors than in other episodes" that really served to "showcase Manhattan."
Carbonell also chose the karaoke bar that will be essential to the episode. When he spoke with CinemaBlend, he weighed in on what it was like to film karaoke scenes in a drama usually set within the hospital walls:
First of all, I read it, I go 'There's a lot here. There's so much here.' We're playing with time. There's a lot to shoot, but it was also an incredible opportunity to see these guys – you're absolutely right – in a space we'd never seen them. Like, we rarely see them as a group outside of New Amsterdam, certainly in a sort of social gathering like this, where they're just letting loose. And so it really was an opportunity to take a big swing and just see their personalities in a venue we've never seen them in before, and see them sing, which is a really vulnerable thing for anyone to do. Even though these guys are all phenomenal singers, you know, they were still vulnerable. All of them were like, 'Oh God, I don't know about singing this.' Some of them who had solos asked to see if they could do duets, and I was like, 'Come on, guys! You guys are all phenomenal singers.' But it was a great opportunity to really show, A – the relationships, and B– just a different side of their personas.
The episode description had previously revealed that there would be "consequences" to the night of revelry, and the director previewed that those consequences will be the result of letting loose socially. All of the characters really deserve to catch a break after how Season 4 has been going for them, especially if Reynolds' gesture at the end of the last episode in February is enough to reconcile him with the others. (And especially if Veronica Fuentes isn't around to ruin their good time, although fans will have to wait until the episode to see if she turns up.)
Seeing the cast of New Amsterdam sing should certainly be a treat; fans already know that the stars are talented actors, but can they carry a tune? Nestor Carbonell shared that they're "all phenomenal singers," and I for one am ready to see the song choices for the characters, as well as who duets and who goes solo. Karaoke will evidently showcase relationships and sides of the characters that don't always appear during work hours at the hospital, and that sounds like a great way for the show to return from a long break. Carbonell continued:
So that was so much fun, and also visually it was a way to to just show Manhattan. Even in some of the interiors like at Slate – Slate is a phenomenal karaoke place – and with building exteriors. And we have the most phenomenal art department doing the virtually impossible. They build a three story facade of a building that we used for a sequence. And it's freezing weather, so we had to at the last minute decide on 'Well, do we take a chance and do this outdoors? Or are there options here for a stage that can house something like this?' But the lion's share of all of that work obviously fell on the art department and they were phenomenal at replicating a building, and building one from scratch essentially. So it was a really ambitious episode. Every department was pushed to the limit and they all delivered. And then some.
The art department of New Amsterdam evidently went above and beyond for "All Night Long," so fans have some atypical visuals to look forward to as well as the drinking and singing that definitely aren't the norm for these characters. In fact, these characters have had tense relationships throughout Season 4, so it should be interesting to see who exactly attends, what happens that leads to consequences, and just how many of them will regret their drinking.
Find out with the Nestor Carbonell-directed episode of New Amsterdam, airing on Tuesday, April 19 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC. If you need a refresher on what happened on the show before the break (or just want to rewatch some earlier episodes), you can find the full series streaming with a Peacock subscription and the full fourth season streaming with a Hulu subscription. For when New Amsterdam and more big network TV shows will wrap for the season, be sure to check out our spring TV finale schedule.
