#New Amsterdam Season 3 Episode 10 Review: Radical

What an hour!

While there were decent cases and New Amsterdam Season 3 Episode 10 covered some social commentary, it was the relationships that sparked most of the interest.

Lauren and Leyla, Max and Helen, and Floyd and Malvo are all in various stages of romantic entanglements right now.

Floyd and Lauren took different things out of their experience with their polyamorous patient and all of his spouses.

Lauren was grappling with her feelings for Leyla. They seemed to hit her like a mac truck and sent her running from her apartment after a kiss.

Initially, you couldn’t tell if it was a case of queer panic or Lauren considers herself so damaged that she freaked out over the prospect of a good thing.

She left Leyla hanging, and it’s such an awkward situation, so it was reasonable that Leyla spent the entire day packing and unpacking and wonder if she, too, should flee to save herself and Lauren any embarrassment.

The chemistry between these two has been crackling for some time practically since they met. It was apparent these two were headed in this direction.

Something about spending the day witnessing the love the poly group had for their spouse seemed to open Lauren’s eyes and heart to what she could have with Leyla, and she went home and was honest with her.

Lauren: I was surprised, OK? I was just surprised.

Leyla: What, that I liked you?

Lauren: No. I was surprised that it felt normal. I’m not used to it. Normal. Real.

Leyla: You think this is real?

Lauren: I’ve been thinking about you all day, and I don’t think you should walk out that door.

Everything with Leyla felt real and normal, and Lauren isn’t used to that, but damn if she’s not ready to try. I love this for them.

I’ll reserve the U-Haul lesbian jokes even though it did make me chuckle that Lauren went from a single woman who basically lived at the hospital to living with a new girlfriend. 

Floyd was someone who didn’t understand polyamory and wasn’t hiding the fact that he found something immoral about it. He admitted that he’s a selfish lover in a sense, and he couldn’t envision sharing his person with someone else.

But he and Lauren had some great talks on the subject matter, and what exactly does he think he’s doing with Malvo right now? Whatever he has going with Malvo is something that he wouldn’t normally opt for, but he’s doing it anyway.

It feels like Floyd is playing with fire here, but we’ll have to see.

Agnes’ wasn’t so much dealing with relationship woes as she was trying to find her voice and figure out a solution to get rid of Kapoor’s replacement.

The woman was insufferable. Everything she did or said was irksome and offputting. She doesn’t have the mindset, compassion, or sense of duty to work in New Amsterdam.

She’s a terrible fit. Kudos to Agnes for finding out a loophole of sorts to get rid of her. The best part about it is that Max would’ve done the deed or backed Agnes up anyway.

It was a great moment for her, though, finding her voice and asserting herself.

Speaking of finding voices, Max is overzealous with his “wokeness,” and his latest mission was changing the name of New Amsterdam to honor the Indigenous peoples whose land New Amsterdam stood upon.

Karen about had a conniption, and these are the types of moments when Max doing his Max thing is pure entertainment. It’s always fun when he drives other people absolutely nuts.

The protest at the hospital was too funny, but the issue at hand wasn’t. Through Jane, the hour chose to address some of what plagues the Native community.

Tantoo Cardinal is an icon, and it was nice to have her back on screen.

By refusing to allow Max to treat her until he found an Indigenous doctor or listened to her, it forced Max to consider the unique set of issues that the Indigenous community faces in healthcare.

Max’s earnest attempt to track down a Native doctor based on percentages and rumor was embarrassing, cringe-worthy, and yet all too realistic.

And the reality hit that there is a disparity in the healthcare field. One of Jane’s students shared how when she expressed an interest in medical school, her teacher told her to consider landscaping instead.

The hour barely scratched the surface of the many different issues that the Indigenous community faces in healthcare beyond underrepresentation, poor access, and things of that nature.

I give the series credit for putting the spotlight on an issue that is barely covered in mainstream, but I also wish they’d have gone into it more.

Honoring the community with a ward at the hospital and establishing that program in Jane’s honor were great starts.

Meanwhile, Helen seems to be making some progress with Mina. The insolent teen is insufferable most of the time, but it was heartbreaking when she broke down after going through all of those files of deceased cancer patients.

She couldn’t fathom how Helen could carry on with a job like this and compartmentalize her feelings. It almost felt as if she was wondering if her aunt was some type of robot.

She’s having a difficult time with losing both of her parents. And she feels stuck with her aunt.

But Mina was good for bringing some of the Sharpwin sexual tension to the surface and acknowledging the elephant in the room.

It was hilarious when she, like many, assumed that Helen and Max were a thing, and Max bumbled through it like a fool.

Helen: Max.

Max: Yeah.

Helen: What you said earlier…

Max: What did I say?

Helen: I’m really glad we’re friends.

Max: Me too.

It was also amusing when he found out that Helen is no longer seeing Cassian, and the news piqued his interest.

But nothing compared to yet another intimate rooftop scene where the two came the closest they’ve ever come to kissing.

Max looked as if he was about to risk it all and shoot his shot with Helen once and for all, and she broke the spell by talking about how she’s glad that he’s her friend.

What friends stand millimeters apart, pressed up against each other, making googly eyes and such? Come on, Helen, there is no platonic explanation for this!

New Amsterdam loves toying with our feelings when it comes to these two, that’s for damn sure.

But it did give us some forward movement with whatever their thing is. Hell, even Max can’t deny that they’ve been in a form of relationship for some time.

And the distance between them has literally closed and culminated with a tight embrace. These two can’t seem to quit each other.

And am I the only one worried about Chance and his inability to quit Iggy?

It was concerning to find out that Chance’s idea of finding a new therapist was to go to Martin instead. It feels deliberate and like a stalker move.

It’s a reason for Iggy to be worried.

But Iggy still hasn’t learned to separate himself from his patients and put up certain barriers.

He got too personal with Safi again by making her decision to get gastric bypass about himself. Safi was well-researched, understood the importance of taking other measures to lose weight.

She also learned not to use negative language about herself, but she made a valid point about her genetics and body type. No one wants to talk about how a healthy diet and routine exercise may not work for everyone.

Some people, no matter how healthy and active they are going to be thicker.

I love Iggy to pieces, but it spoke volumes that his idea of failure when it comes to his patients includes them walking away from sessions with him not following his advice.

I’m glad the series has seemingly dropped the narcissist storyline in favor of Iggy’s compelling journey toward body acceptance. However, it’s moments like that with Safi that give credence to that Narcissism observation.

Over to you, ‘Dam Fanatics. Are you loving all of the ‘ship goodness happening right now? What do you think Chance has planned? Hit the comments below.

You can watch New Amsterdam online here via TV Fanatic.

Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.