New Amsterdam has been exploring a love triangle for Reynolds after he made his return to New York early in Season 3, but his dynamic with Malvo and her husband makes for a love triangle unlike any other on television. He fell hard and fast for Malvo, even compromising his original stance on not starting a relationship with a married woman despite the open marriage. Now, several episodes into Season 4, Baptiste knows about his wife and Reynolds, and according to New Amsterdam director Dinh Thai, fans should be excited about what’s coming with the storyline.
Dinh Thai directed the November 2 episode of New Amsterdam, called “Harmony,” and he spoke with CinemaBlend about his experiences on the show and what is on the way for Reynolds, Malvo, and Baptiste in their relationship that is... unconventional, to say the very least. After revealing what fans can expect from the “gorgeous” beginning of the episode, Thai revealed what he’s particularly excited for fans to get to see:
Yeah, [writer] Shaun [Cassidy] and I put in a tremendous effort into dissecting the relationship between Reynolds, Malvo, and Baptiste. And what we ended up with was something really emotional and powerful. I was so excited about it that I shared that scene, the rough edit of that scene, with Shiri Appleby, who was directing the episode immediately after the episode I worked on, just so that there was a sort of a passing of that relationship off to Shiri so that she could at least understand where we left off with the three of them.
Although fans will have to tune in to New Amsterdam for the details of what’s on the way with Reynolds, Malvo, and Baptiste, Dinh Thai promised something both “powerful” and “emotional” that will evidently leave the characters in a place that should carry forward into the next episode. Thai – who is a veteran of NBC’s Emerging Director Program – actually returned to New Amsterdam for “Harmony,” after directing what turned out to be the Season 2 finale.
This episode certainly finds the characters in very different places from where they were at that point, which was inevitable after everything that went down in Season 3, but it wasn’t even clear until the very end of the third season what Reynolds would do about his powerful feelings for Malvo. When I noted to Dinh Thai that there’s really no dynamic on television quite like Reynolds/Malvo/Baptiste with the open relationship complicated by Reynolds and Baptiste’s working relationship, the director shared:
Oh, I know. And that was the challenge. There's some comedic moments about that relationship, and there's some really traumatic moments about that relationship. It was something that Shaun and I had to juggle, and we even made some adjustments during the editing, just to see which side of that relationship was better to watch, if it was a little more humorous or if it's a little more emotional, or a little bit more angry. I think that was probably the most fun part of the episode was to dissect that relationship, those three characters' relationships.
One of the most notable parts of the Reynolds/Malvo/Baptiste open relationship love triangle has been that New Amsterdam hasn’t just 100% played the awkwardness for laughs, which might not have been the case on other shows. The stakes are high for everybody involved, and everybody involved seems to have deep feelings invested. That’s not to say that the dynamic is all doom and gloom, and it sounds like fans are in for an intriguing balance to the complexities in “Harmony” and possibly even beyond.
The promo for “Harmony” may center on New Amsterdam delivering an ambulance crash that will hopefully be less catastrophic than its previous ambulance crash, but it’s clear that there is plenty of character work on the way as well. Check out the promo for what’s on the way:
Between the situation with the ambulance crash, the scenes involving Reynolds and his place in the love triangle, and the likelihood of more conflict surrounding Michelle Forbes’ Dr. Veronica Fuentes, and the plot is only thickening on New Amsterdam. Be sure to check out NBC on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET for new episodes of New Amsterdam, right after new episodes of La Brea. The fall TV lineup is going strong so far, and there is still more to come, so stay tuned!
