New Amsterdam - Sabbath - Review

This week's episode of New Amsterdam, "Sabbath", focused on Max's attempts to balance the budget. This week also featured a patient with a mysterious illness and teenager who is sick because of racism. Let's discuss.

At the beginning of the episode Todd informs Max that he has to slash two million dollars worth of programs to make payroll. Max comes up with some creative ideas including sending Reynolds to Mexico to perform surgery on patients to save money. Todd cracked me up with his response to this: "Why wouldn't I be happy outsourcing American jobs?"

Then Max asks Bloom to keep patients in the ED until they have a diagnosis. But, as Bloom points out, this would actually cost the hospital money as they would have to hire more staff. He also thinks about cutting daycare, but after realizing how much of a problem that would be for staff, he decides against that, too. Eventually, he has an epiphany and decides the hospital needs to add programs to balance the budget.

Honestly, I was worried that Max was going to have to cut something which I know would have devastated him. I'm glad he was able to come up with an idea, and it turns out Todd believed in him all along. I loved having Todd back this week; I hope to see him again soon.

Elsewhere, Cephas is brought in with a tumor caused from stress. He meets with Iggy, and we learn that most of the people in his life make him feel like he's not deserving and everything can be taken away from him. I had never thought about racism causing a tumor, but I guess it is possible. Racism causes stress and negative thoughts which can definitely take a toll on the body. I'm glad that New Amsterdam decided to show this story, and Helen's comments were very insightful. She shared that she faces microaggressions every day from people that mean well and people that should know better. Maybe we should all be more thoughtful before we speak.

Even though this was a serious story, Sandra from billing was great. "You hand wrote a non-option in the margin like Bern Bro during the 2016 general election."

The other big story this week was the woman in the ED who collapses because she can't feel her legs. The staff is puzzled, and even D.A.W.N. can't figure it out. Kapoor thinks the daughter may have a clue as to what's happening and discovers that she ate a hog dog which caused a tapeworm to form in her mom. This was a very interesting case, and it showed that while D.A.W.N. and technology are the future, we still need doctors to interact with patients. We still need that personal connection.

Other Thoughts:

- Max finally knows about Reynolds leaving. I wonder how he'll react. Is it just me, or does anyone else think Reynolds won't actually leave?

- I'm wondering how long Bloom's mom will stay, and why she decided to show up now.

- I thought it was so funny when Iggy stood in front of Gladys to protect her from Max and his budget cuts. It was much needed comedic relief. But, really, we can't lose Gladys.

What did you think of "Sabbath"? Leave a comment and discuss below!