News broke before the fourth season ended that New Amsterdam would wrap with a fifth and final season of just thirteen episodes. While the early cancellation meant that the team behind the scenes could use Season 5 to build to the ending instead of having to scramble at the last minute, fans have had to watch each episode knowing that the end is nigh. Now, NBC has made an announcement that means a big farewell for the medical drama… but it’s not all good news.
New Amsterdam will get to end its final season with a two-hour series finale on Tuesday, January 17. It’s not clear if the show will plan on making it a cinematic two-hour event or just air two separate episodes back-to-back, but a two-hour finale means that the medical drama is getting some special treatment on its way out, and hopefully with a happy ending! Even if it’s sad for fans that the show is ending, at least it seems that it’s getting a finale to be excited about.
The downside is simply that we’re now one week closer to the very end than it seemed before the announcement of the two-hour finale. At the time of writing, seven of the final season’s thirteen episodes have already aired, with only six episodes left. Now, the show will end one week earlier than expected. Sure, we’ll still get all thirteen episodes, but the end is coming sooner.
Personally, I’m not sure how New Amsterdam will wrap up all the dangling plot threads in just six more episodes, but it should be fun to find out. Max was able to move forward pretty quickly after the heartache of losing Helen, and has formed a growing bond with Dr. Wilder. Iggy’s relationship complications didn’t end with his declaration to Martin at the close of Season 4, and it seems that the show may be building to the two getting back together. It wasn’t that long ago that Iggy seemed like he needed an intervention!
Plus, Reynolds building a relationship with his dad has been complicated as well in light of his dad’s mental health struggles, and he still hasn’t been able to find the romantic partner who would be the right fit. Bloom (whose storyline about abortion was one of the most powerful of the episode about reproductive rights) has been trying to reconnect with her sister, who is still struggling with the substance abuse problems that Bloom herself managed to overcome earlier in the series.
While there are more questions than answers about what happens next, it seems safe to say that the remaining episodes leading up to the two-hour finale will be quite eventful. Based on the promo for the next episode – called “All The World’s A Stage” – the show will revisit Bloom’s issues with drugs. Take a look:
Tune in to NBC on Tuesday, November 15 at 10 p.m. ET to catch the next new episode of New Amsterdam as the weeks count down to the series finale, now coming a week sooner than expected. New Amsterdam’s return in the new year will happen quite early: January 3, before the series finale on January 17. Find more important dates in the new year with our 2023 TV premiere schedule, and revisit New Amsterdam days gone by streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription.
