‘New Amsterdam’ Boss Teases Wilder vs. Veronica & Everyone ‘Chasing Joy’
Preview
When New Amsterdam resumes its fourth season on January 4, things have changed at the hospital. With Dr. Max Goodwin (Ryan Eggold) and Dr. Helen Sharpe (Freema Agyeman) moving to London, Dr. Veronica Fuentes (Michelle Forbes) and Dr. Elizabeth Wilder (Sandra Mae Frank) have officially taken over for them, as medical director and chair of oncology.
“You’re going to learn more about [Wilder] and learn that she’s not perfect and she has struggles just like the rest of us,” executive producer David Schulner tells TV Insider. “But she is an awesome character and we love her and we love Sandra Mae Frank. We needed someone with Freema’s gravitas to fill that void, and we felt that Sandra May really brings something unique and different, but also can take over the department that Sharpe left behind.”
In addition to seeing Wilder interacting with everyone on staff, “we’re going to learn about Dr. Wilder’s family pretty quickly,” he adds. “She teased to Max early in the season that she couldn’t take the medical director job because she is responsible for her brother who suffers from schizophrenia. So we’re going to meet her brother [Adam, played by Garrett Young] in Episode 13. We’re going to learn about their history and Wilder’s history.”
Plus, expect to see her leading the charge in New Amsterdam’s resistance to Veronica. “She is going to pick up the mantle that Max set down when he left,” Schulner says. “All of our characters have gotten beaten up by Veronica pretty badly.”
Considering how the fall finale ended — including Max and Helen leaving, Dr. Leyla Shinwari (Shiva Kalaiselvan) finding out about Dr. Lauren Bloom’s (Janet Montgomery) “donation” to get her that residency spot, and Dr. Iggy Frome (Tyler Labine) possibly making a bad decision about a new hire — will this season still be about “more joy”?
“Everyone’s going to be chasing joy. Everyone’s going to be running toward it. It doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy or it’s going to happen instantaneously. It doesn’t seem realistic in my life. So joy is hard earned and sometimes fleeting and hopefully long lasting, but our characters have to earn it,” the EP explains. “I think Max and Sharpe certainly did. When they left New Amsterdam, it was with the intention of finding their bliss, chasing their joy, and unfortunately it just took them away from New Amsterdam, But hopefully that moment was the culmination of joy. And we’ll see more of that in London.”
Speaking of things that bring us joy, how about possibly seeing Timothy Omundson and John Christopher Jones as Kit and Bob again after how entertaining they were in “Laughter and Hope and a Sock in the Eye”? “I know,” Schulner laughs. “Our writers are trying to spin them off as we speak.”
New Amsterdam, Returns, Tuesday, January 4, 2022, 10/9c, NBC
