Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS are ahead for Episode 16 of New Amsterdam Season 4, called “All Night Long.”
New Amsterdam is officially back after nearly two months off the air, and “All Night Long” delivered the kinds of twists that might keep fans up all night long as well. A night of fun, karaoke, and revelry took some very dark turns for several of the characters, and the episode ended on a cliffhanger with the lives of no fewer than five in the balance. For Max, this means facing the prospect of a medical crisis for another woman he deeply loves, after the death of his wife in early Season 2. Executive producers Peter Horton and David Schulner broke down what happened and what’s ahead for the medical drama.
The structure of “All Night Long” meant the same night playing out from different characters’ perspectives over and over again, and some had a better night than others. The morning after was pretty bad for everybody, ranging from hangovers to Bloom wearing a taco hat to a handful who were missing and not answering their calls.
The episode ended with the reveal of Helen passed out on the floor of the apartment, and big questions about what’s ahead for her and the others still unaccounted for. When the executive producers spoke with CinemaBlend about “All Night Long,” Peter Horton shared how Max will handle Helen’s health crisis after losing Georgia not that long ago:
It's certainly traumatic for him, because we saw him go through that loss, and he's been mourning that loss for years and finally starting his life up again, finally stepping out into an open-hearted world again. And then, boom, this happens, and suddenly there's Sharpe in the same ED, the same place where Georgia got brought in that same dilemma, on a gurney. Is she gonna make it? And, you know, talk about PTSD! That's a journey for him. It's just a big journey.
Poor Max is facing the possibility of losing Helen just after he was finally preparing to propose to her, which honestly seems like it would be enough for PTSD even if he hadn’t already gone through his heartbreak with Georgia’s death. And Helen's isn’t the only life in the balance, as Casey, Trevor, Dr. Castries, and Dr. Wilder are all presumably in the same situation.
Considering that “All Night Long” was originally intended to air back in February, maybe fans should be glad for the delay that means just a week of waiting for what happens next instead of two months. Dr. Reynolds made the point that they were all in the same bar the night before, so something must have happened that just those five were missing.
Since all the characters were in the same place but not necessarily all drinking the same drinks – Iggy certainly seemed to be sticking to bad champagne and potentially worse decisions – it seems like they could have either been drugged or drank something that had gone bad.
This episode did feature the debut of Adam Rose as a surly bartender. Executive producer David Schulner didn’t spoil the resolution to the mystery of what happened to the five characters, but did promise that the reveal will come soon:
16 and 17 are a definite pair of episodes. And, you know, everything comes out in 17. Who did it, why they did it. And why they targeted our doctors.
Well, that doesn’t sound good for Helen and the others, but if anybody can solve the mystery of what’s wrong with them and save their lives, it would surely be the doctors at New Amsterdam. Then again, they’re under an unusual amount of stress with people close to them in danger, and according to the EPs, those people won’t all be suffering in exactly the same way.
When I asked if there was any one of the five who fans should be particularly worried about or is worse off than the others, Peter Horton shared that “they’re all pretty bad,” and David Schulner elaborated:
Yeah, each in their own unique, bad way.
Even though things are looking pretty dark for the characters of New Amsterdam, fans at least have the good news that the show isn’t heading into another break, and the finale in the 2022 TV schedule doesn’t air until May 24. The next new episode that will reveal some answers about who targeted the characters debuts on Tuesday, April 26 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
At this point, the threat of Veronica Fuentes seems very distant, and all seems to be forgiven with Reynolds betraying the others after his big gesture to make amends, but there is still plenty to wonder about over the next week.
