Can Veronica Fuentes please slither back to the fiery pits of hell and reclaim her spot at Satan’s side where she belongs?
Hopefully, this woman gets everything that she deserves and more. Her ongoing role as the harbinger of chaos, discord, and disruption continued on New Amsterdam Season 4 Episode 8, and now we’ve lost some of the most revered supporting characters of the series.
Again, inquiring minds want to know how New Amsterdam defines “joy.” It hasn’t delivered on this widely teased theme much. So far, heartbreak, stress, and a host of other emotions take precedent.
If you happen to be a fan of other medical or first responder dramas, then the ransomware plot is all too familiar. Believe it or not, hospital cyber attacks have become such a massive problem that it’s no wonder so many series have jumped on board this type of storyline over the past couple of years.
Still, it’s a reasonably predictable storyline that happens with such frequency that it’s difficult to become invested more often than not. By now, we’re merely watching it play out to see if, this time, someone has a fresh, new take on it.
The conclusions drawn are often the same. It’s terrifying how reliant we are on technology as a society. Tech dictates every facet of our lives, and when something goes awry, our world comes to a standstill.
Medically speaking, one of the fascinating aspects of a cyber attack that affects all the equipment and machines on the network is how it pushes medical staff to get creative and think on their toes.
Yes, everything about the ransomware attack is disturbing and scary, but it’s one of those rare moments when you witness characters rise to the occasion and bring new things to the table. They get to showcase their skills, how they adapt under pressure, and tackle unexpected challenges.
Floyd had to think on his feet in the OR when it was evident they couldn’t use most of the surgical equipment necessary to complete their operation. It required him to come up with innovative ways to solve issues rather than rely on technology.
Max, this is a political job, if I’m cashing in a chip that big, I’m going to need something in return.
Fuentes
As an aside, it was an installment that would’ve benefited from Leyla appearing in it as she’s shown how well she knows old-school techniques. In contrast, others have gotten too comfortable only understanding how to use whatever tools and machines get the job done.
Lauren had to pull out a pacemaker to save Chester and use whatever machine she hadn’t used in ages. Helen and Agnes had to come up with a way to remove the chemo out of their patient’s brain without relying on the same equipment that pumped five times the amount into her head in the first place.
New Amsterdam already has a hell of a lot on their plates on any given day, so hackers holding it hostage as it extorts money out of them by leaving patients in peril was more than it could take.
The way it all played out is what makes hacking a hospital and demanding an astronomical payout like $10 million so effective. People’s lives are on the line, and therefore, it makes the hospital highly motivated to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.
Clyde: I don’t want to fight you to keep this job, Floyd, but I’m not going to lay down.
Floyd: Who says we have to play her game?
Clyde: What are you up to, Floyd?
Floyd: I don’t know. But if you ask me, she doesn’t know what she’s messing with.
Even if New Amsterdam redirected patients to other hospitals and limited what they could do until it was resolved, it didn’t change how many people were on the brink of death at that exact moment. They wouldn’t have survived the however many weeks it would’ve taken for the FBI to get the situation under control.
Max didn’t have many options for getting this handled in the best way possible to everyone’s benefit. He wrestled with what to do for a bit, and as painful as it was, he concluded his best shot was to sign Veronica’s budget even if it cost him his friends and the best the hospital had to offer.
Veronica’s budget plan felt like it was designed specifically to hurt Max, and that’s one of the craziest things about her presence. Many of her suggestions meant to better the hospital don’t make any sense. They aren’t economically sound, let alone good for the staff or patients.
Hospitals are facing staff shortages all over the country, so was it to New Amsterdam’s bottom line cutting all the best doctors heading their departments? Doctors like Iggy and Floyd pay for themselves.
Veronica: I know how difficult it was for you to sign that budget.
Max: No, you don’t.
Veronica: These people are not your friends, Max. They’re your employees. And today, sacrifices were made. Believe it or not, you did what was best for the hospital.
At the rate Veronica has been going, it didn’t sound as if there would be a New Amsterdam left to save with the changes she was making, which seemed counterproductive to her supposed intentions.
Veronica showed how ruthless she could be and how much she treated all of this as a game when she exploited the ransomware attack to force Max to sign the budget. She knew Max well enough to get that he’d do anything that was in the best interest of the patients.
She would’ve sat back while people died, which again, isn’t economically sound when they’d get hit with a litany of wrongful death suits and the like.
The woman is diabolical. Her mind was always on getting what she wanted out of Max, and seeing him at is worse than saving other people. And then, once he signed it, she messed with his head.
She made it seem like she’d do whatever it took to ensure the ransom got paid if he signed the budget. However, once he did, she acted as if mentioning how they should pay was enough.
It was an uneven deal, and given that they ended up paying the ransom in the end anyway, I’m unconvinced Veronica didn’t have the power of persuasion there; she only claimed she didn’t as a way of getting under Max’s skin.
She treats everything like a game or a score to settle as if her entire purpose of coming to New Amsterdam was to make Max miserable and break him. For what reason? Why does she get off on making Max’s life hell and hurting him? It’s deranged.
Max’s moment with Helen was sweet, but goodness, both of them have to know that nothing is okay right now. Helen tried so hard to support Max and reassure and comfort him.
But no matter how many times he mutters their new mantra out loud, he doesn’t believe it. As long as Veronica is around wreaking havoc like this, he can’t buy the things he’s saying.
The two of them leaving is already a sizeable blow to the hospital, but Veronica is damn near burning it down before they leave.
It’s not convincing that they’re leaving, yet they’re almost done packing. We keep waiting for them to pull the plug on this move, but it hasn’t happened yet.
They both keep finding new reasons to stay invested in what’s happening in the hospital. Helen got swept up in her case with Agnes, mentoring her. The two of them are great together, and Agnes has come into her own. She’s such a fantastic doctor.
Max: I keep telling myself that we’re not abandoning our friends, that we’re not turning our backs on the hospital, but… I don’ know what to do.
Helen: The only thing you can do. You have to tell them yourself before they find out from someone else. Max, look at me. It’s going to be okay. Say it.
Max: It’s going to be okay.
The idea of Helen mentoring her is cute, but Agnes was right to decline Helen’s offer. She barely pulled through after Kapoor. If Agnes invested in this relationship with Helen, only for Helen to leave her, too, it’d be unfair.
Our coveted supporting characters shined during this installment, and by the end of the hour, we understood why.
Clyde was another person who stood out, namely with his honor. He knew what Veronica was planning, putting him and Floyd against each other, and he didn’t want to subscribe to that. But he also wasn’t going to stand back and watch Floyd take his job, either.
The two of them went from their awkwardness over Lyn to working together like the A-Team. They kicked butt together, and it was a lovely sight. Clyde is an endearing character when they spend enough time on him, and it’s installments like this that confirm it.
Clyde: You’re right, you know?
Floyd: About what?
Clyde: Fuentes. She doesn’t know who she’s messing with.
It succeeded in making those final moments of him drinking in his office after Veronica laid him off hit so hard.
Gladys has always been the backbone of the Psychology department. Iggy doesn’t function without her. She’s the right hand to the man, and honestly, these days, she’s proven more valuable and on top of things than Iggy. You can’t envision a world where Iggy can do anything he does without her.
They’re unofficially a packaged deal, so Gladys losing her job is like Iggy missing a limb.
Iggy needs therapy, and for whatever reason, he still isn’t getting it. But Gladys is the closest he gets to therapy sessions and someone giving him wise advice and steering him in the right direction.
They went into overtime trying to figure out how to medicate their patients properly, and it was a unique problem. Interestingly, Iggy went from still hesitant about seeing patients to finding that passion and confidence again. However, he got there by identifying too much with Angelo and making it personal.
Iggy getting too personal and close with his patients and inserting his personal baggage into the equation is a large part of his issue in the first place, so that was an interesting case.
And freaking Casey is a forever MVP of this series and one of the top unsung heroes who always deserves so much more. No one can call Lauren out the way that Casey does.
Lauren admitted to Floyd and Iggy that Veronica was extorting her for money, but Casey was the one who figured out she paid to get Leyla into the program.
You know when the staff finds out, and they will find out, you’re going to lose all of their respect. Hell, you already lost mine.
Casey
How long did Lauren think she’d hide that from everyone? It wasn’t adding up, and Casey could figure things out when he realized they had one extra resident, but the nurses were still understaffed. It’s bad enough there is always this issue where doctors take nurses for granted, and nurses get shafted in comparison.
It pissed him off to learn that while they’re overworked and underpaid, Lauren paid to get her girlfriend in a program for selfish reasons. And she dared to lie to him about it as if he couldn’t read her like a book.
He knows that Leyla’s relationship with Lauren contributes to her issues. It has affected how others treat her. When Leyla learns the truth, it’ll be crushing for all involved and potentially a relationship ruiner.
And Casey was right about how Lauren could lose the respect of the department that reveres her. When he told her she had already lost his respect, you could see Lauren crumble where she stood.
Casey: How does your girlfriend have a residency slot here? A fifth slot we never had here before?
Lauren: I wrote her a letter of recommendation. That’s all, and I don’t really appreciate–
Casey: Please, don’t lie to me.
Lauren: I’m not.
It’s a hell of a place to leave things. Now, ironically, Casey got the heave-ho so Lauren could keep her job, and who knows if things will be okay again between the two friends?
Max found a way to keep Lauren, Floyd, and Iggy, but it came at a high price. One-hundred forty-eight people no longer have jobs at New Amsterdam, including all of our favorite supporting characters, and there’s still no guarantee Veronica won’t find other ways to screw over the people Max saved.
Max’s decision was a selfish one, too. How does the show even begin to rectify this?
Where does one file a formal complaint about the hour taking away Casey, Gladys, and Agnes like this? I want to sue!
Lauren: How many, how many were let go?
Max: One-hundred forty-eight.
Lauren: Oh my God.
Max: Today, I protected you from Veronica, but I can’t protect you tomorrow.
Over to you, ‘Dam Fanatics.
What, and I can’t emphasize this enough, the hell was that? When will Veronica answer for her sins (and Karen too, for that matter)? Will Lauren’s actions catch up to her as Casey predicted? Let’s discuss all the things!
You can watch New Amsterdam online here via TV Fanatic.
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.
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