New Amsterdam - Six or Seven Minutes - Review: This Job is Who You Are + POLL

New Amsterdam is finally back for its midseason premiere! Previously Max was diagnosed with a squamous cell carcinoma, a form of throat cancer, and he decided he wanted to try precision targeted therapy, an experimental procedure, so he could continue to run the hospital instead of undergoing chemotherapy.

A patient who received her heart from Max's deceased sister showed up, sending him into a tizzy. When Max and Georgia went on a picnic to release the ashes of Luna's heart, he collapsed on the dock.

SCENE-BY-SCENE RECAP

Marina Latimer arrives at the hospital in the back of an ambulance for the third time this week. Lauren uses the defibrillator on her chest but appears worried. She tells the staff to buzz Floyd to get her placed in his immediate care.

Pictured: Zabryna Guevara as Dora - (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)

Dora is taking the reigns briefly as Max is "out of pocket" for a few hours. Floyd needs approval to do Marina's ICD surgery and take it out of the hospitals care fund since she doesn't have good enough insurance to cover it. Dora is concerned about it but Floyd assures he and Max have a whole system worked out. Meanwhile, Iggy arrives to let her know the hospital-wide walkout in protest of recent law changes regarding accessibility to emergency contraceptives is a-go. Dora looks concerned but he reassures her it was Max's idea to begin with. Lauren needs assistance with a private matter, one she doesn't feel comfortable disclosing to Dora and Vijay has a question too, pushing Dora to announce they will all have to wait for Max's return.

Pictured: (l-r) Freema Agyeman as Dr. Helen Sharpe, Sendhil
Ramamurthy as Dr. Akash Panthaki (Photo by: Francisco
Roman/NBC)

Doctor Panthaki arrives to pick up some of Max's samples in person from Helen. Whilst there, the two of them discuss their planned evening to see Lauryn Hill in concert, both deciding it is officially a date.

Helen's romantic interlude is interrupted by a panicked call from Georgia who is dealing with Max's collapsed form. He has a faint pulse but his breathing is raspy and hard to hear. Helen must walk her through an impromptu procedure to make a new pathway in Max's throat to help him breath. She uses a pocket knife and a plastic straw to do so but it doesn't work until she blows air into the straw to assist in enlarging his lungs.

When the medevac finally arrives, Georgia learns there is a possibility Max could have cerebral hypoxia. The EMT informs her "there's a big difference between six or seven minutes."

We get a flashback to Max and Georgia's first meeting in a dream-like interlude titled "Boy Meets Girl". In it, Georgia and her friend arrive at the hospital after a fouetté contest goes bad. Her friend dislocated his elbow by falling off a pool table at an after-party and Georgia beat him in the dance-off. Max is immediately captivated by Georgia and challenges her to a fouetté contest right there, knowing full well he'll lose. Loser buys dinner, he offers as she performs and he takes her to the hospital cafeteria after fixing her friends arm.

While the medevac is on its way to New Amsterdam, Casey is worried about Lauren, who promised to take some time off to take care of herself. She claims she can't, not until she finds Max since she can't just stop running the ED.

Floyd is taking care of Ms. Latimer who worries she is a burden on everyone. Floyd assures her she isn't, she just has mediocre insurance but they're going to treat her like she has Cadillac insurance and cover the entire ICD surgery.

Pictured: Dierdre Friel as Ella
(Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)

If you were wondering what happened with Ella and her chihuahua Gertie, she's recovered nicely as in Vijay stops in to check on her. Iggy says he didn't know Vijay worked on canines, he tells him about loaning her two thousand dollars. Iggy is understandably a little shocked. Both of them suddenly get paged, interrupting their chat.

With the medevac carrying Max and Georgia finally arriving, Helen decides it is time to inform the hospital staff of Max's condition, hence why she paged everyone to the helipad. The news stuns all of the doctors, especially considering Helen has been aware of this since Max's first day on the job.

Everyone is eager to help Max but it causes too much clutter and commotion in the ED so Lauren kicks everyone out. Although Casey points out she should page Doctor Candlelario and not try to take this one herself given her condition.

Pictured: (l-r) Jocko Sims as Dr. Floyd Reynolds, Freema  Agyeman 
as Dr. Helen Sharpe -- (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)

Vijay asks why Max hasn't started chemotherapy treatments and Helen tells them about Max's decision to try an experiment immuno-therapy trial instead. Floyd is wondering what happens next when Lauren returns. Helen and Floyd both question why Lauren isn't in there and she tells them Max deserves a doctor with fresh eyes since she just pulled back-to-back doubles. Helen is clearly suspicious of Lauren's decision. Dean Fulton arrives to announce he'll be temporarily taking over as medical director.

Dora, Dean Fulton, and Helen meet in Max's office. The Dean needs access to staff, surgery schedules, and Max's "hot list" in order to figure out what to do next. He's disappointed that no one had a plan in place after discovering Max was sick but he finds out through Helen that Max planned to continue running the hospital even through his treatments.

To try and keep replacement talk at bay, Helen places a call to Doctor Panthaki. She wants to try and get him to move up Max's therapy to tomorrow. He promises to do what he can.

Max is being intubated in the ED, blood fills one of his breathing tubes and poor Georgia feels devastated and scared of what will happen to him. Doctor Candlelario decides to move him to the ICU.

Another dream-like flashback sequence of Max and Georgia's beginnings starts, this one titled "The Best Night". Max is taking Georgia to a performance by Pina Bausch's company, or so he claims. Georgia deduces fairly quickly he may not be being entirely truthful as it's a Monday and theaters are dark on Monday and her company was in Finland the day before. She's right, he doesn't take her to a show. Instead he has a street cornered off with flower petals adorning the ground, a violinist, and a dinner table for two under the lanterns above. He proposes to her, even ignoring his pager as it goes off (he's on call). Georgia says yes.

Pictured: Anupam Kher as Dr. Vijay Kapoor -- (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)

Iggy thinks Max's sickness makes sense. It explains why he was willing to make a cardio unit that doesn't care about money, fill vending machines with fruits and vegetables, and stage a hospital walk-out. He's saying screw the system because he might be dying. He also points out Max's effect on Kapoor, who is more smiley now than solemn like he was before. He questions Ella's character because she took two thousand dollars from him. Kapoor doesn't take kindly to that suggestion, pointing out that there is only one Kapoor and he offered the money to Ella, she didn't take it.

Dean Fulton doesn't approve of Marina Latimer's ICD surgery. Floyd points out she has garbage insurance and it will change her life if they cover it for her. He also notes Max would have approved it had he not collapsed. But Fulton currently has veto power and he tells him the job of a public hospital is not to change people's lives, it's to save people's lives and Marina is stable.

More bad news as Fulton also shuts down Iggy's planned walk-out. Iggy points out they work in healthcare yet they can't offer comprehensive healthcare but Fulton doesn't care. If he doesn't call it off then everyone is going to pay the price as he is forced to shut down wards, send doctors and custodial staff home, and find replacements for the nurses.

Lauren wants to check up on Max to give Georgia a report but Helen is cold to her. "He's not your patient," she says, reminding Lauren she passed him off. Helen didn't buy Lauren's excuse for why as she asks her for the truth. Never has she heard Lauren describe her eyes as anything but fresh. Lauren finally comes clean about her shifts at Bronx General and her Adderall abuse.

Pictured: (l-r) Anupam Kher as Dr. Vijay Kapoor, Tyler
Labine as Dr. Iggy Frome -- (Photo by: Francisco Roman/NBC)

Iggy's words to Kapoor affected him more than he cared to admit before but now he's ready to talk about it. He questions if Ella really does have a dog or if he was conned. Iggy is baffled as to how he can be focused on that right now when the whole hospital is upside-down. Kapoor admits he is a "new Kapoor" and Iggy says maybe he's a "new Iggy" too. "What do you think this new Kapoor and new Iggy should do?" Kapoor asks.

While Georgia is waiting for an update on Max's condition, a janitor stops by to tell her that her husband is the first man in his position to care about the custodial staff. This triggers another memory and we segue into another interlude titled "Good News Bad News". In it, Georgia finds Max's job offer from New Amsterdam and it causes a fight between them. They agreed to put their careers second and the baby first. Even though Max claims to find a way for it to work, Georgia doesn't believe him. When the hospital calls it always wins and she doesn't want their daughter growing up feeling second-best to his job. This is the moment she decides to separate from him.

Kapoor comes to Max's room to offer a prayer for him and Georgia. Afterwards, she leans in to kiss him but notices a strange rash on Max's face. She asks Helen what it is and if she hurts him, she says no, she may have actually saved his life.

Max has paraneoplastic syndrome, a consequence of cancer that manifests in the body through making everything red and swollen. Now that they know what it is, they can treat it. It doesn't necessarily mean that he will be alright though but at least it's a start.

Iggy goes ahead with the protest anyways, it would be a shame to let all those homemade protest signs go to waste. Fulton looks on in annoyance. Iggy offers him a shirt.

Marina Latimer is getting her ICD after all. Floyd has gone ahead with it and even when Fulton questions why he would risk his job for one surgery, Floyd states he's risking it for one patient and if the hospital won't pay they can bill him.

We get to see the final moments before Max's collapse. He was talking to Luna while dispersing the ashes, telling her how he has to start living for the people he loves like Georgia and his daughter. Back in the present, Max finally wakes up. Helen runs in and the two share a silent moment.

Lauren is about to take another pill when she gets the page that Max is awake. Floyd is in his office when a tear-eyed Dora interrupts to tell him the good news, and all the doctors gather around Max's bedside. Max's chat with Luna made him have an epiphany about what he loves and values in his life. He doesn't want any risky experimental procedure, he wants to start chemo which means he has to resign. Except no one is going to let that happen, not even Dean Fulton who has seen his influence and impact in the hospital. He will stay on as medical director, delegating his duties to the other doctors while he's receiving treatment. Even Georgia finally understands why this job is so important to him, and ultimately she believes he has to stay on because this job is who he is, who he's always been, and it may just help keep him alive.

MY THOUGHTS

Wow this was an incredible first episode back for New Amsterdam. I'm thankful the show has returned from its hiatus with a stunning episode. Lisa O'Hare truly shined this week as Georgia and her journey at the hospital, seeing Max's influence, has helped her understand why this job is so important to him. I'm rooting for these two now. While I still like the idea of Max and Helen, I'd be sad to see Georgia and Max not make it.

Speaking of Max's influence, I was so impressed with Iggy and Floyd's decisions to move ahead with the ICD surgery and the walk-out. I had a feeling they would but it's nice to see how much they've all grown and changed due to the impact Max Goodwin has had on New Amsterdam.

I worry for Lauren though. Now that Max will be delegating his duties it's unlikely she's going to take time off. But I don't think her pill habit is going to go away so easily either. I have a feeling Casey or Helen may end up telling someone if she continues to make potentially deadly mistakes from exhaustion in the ED.

Is Ella a con-woman? I though that was a strange suggestion from Iggy. I mean yes, two thousand dollars is a lot of money to give to someone on a whim but I think it's pretty obvious Kapoor may have feelings for Ella. Either way, I never got the vibe she might be lying about her dog. I hope that's not a path the show decides to go down.

A new episode of New Amsterdam airs Jan. 15th on NBC.