Happy Place

## Episode Chronology

**"Happy Place"** is the nineteenth episode of the first season on NBC drama series *New Amsterdam*. It was aired on April 23, 2019.

## Synopsis

Dr. Stauton wants Max to have a feeding tube inserted since he has lost weight because of the nausea resulting from his chemo and his throat being raw from radiation. He reluctantly agrees. An NYPD officer that was run over during a traffic stop arrives in the ED along with her partner and much of her colleagues. It is initially thought that the man that struck her was drunk behind the wheel, but Dr. Sharpe learns that he suffered a stroke and is ill. Dr. Reynolds performs the officer's surgery, but she doesn't make it. The officers decide to donate money their fallen comrade would've received to help pay for his treatment so he can recover. Dr. Kapoor and Dr. Frome work with a deaf patient that just received a cochlear implant. And Dr. Frome faces the fact that Jemma no longer needs him.

## Plot

Max walks with Helen talking about himself but speaking in the third person; complaining about his new doctor and how impossible it is to deal with her, persisting a tight treatment schedule and now telling him he needs a feeding tube. He wants a second opinion, saying he can’t say the friend’s name; but Helen says she will not talk to Virginia Stauton on his behalf. Max says she has gone rogue but Helen gives him her second opinion telling him to listen to his actual doctor, leaving him at Virginia’s office.

Virginia reminds him that he lost 5 lbs. in the past week, informing him of all the hazards that he is facing and the feeding tube will help medicate him; Max zones out as she continues to talk, finally saying, “Put me in coach!”
Iggy brings Jemma some cookies but she doesn’t seem happy to see him, saying she is good and returns to her room, slamming the door. Her guardian insists everything is great, Jemma is just stressed about a test. The social worker believes everything is just fine, but Iggy isn’t so convinced.

Vijay meets with Dr. Christenson’s patient, trying to find out what is wrong with their patient’s cochlear implant, reminding her they are testing her device, not her. Kapoor says it is almost impossible to predict what is going on as he is told she can’t take the subway without getting dizzy. Dr. Christenson comes out, telling them the device is functioning completely normal; so what is the matter?

Max and Dora find Dr. Floyd in the hallway, telling him is quarterly budget it is three weeks late so if he doesn’t give them the papers today he will not have any budget for next quarter; but luckily Dora is going to stay with him until it is finished, sequestering him to an office until he is done. Floyd protests asking Dora to do this but she tells him this is his department reminding Floyd he may be a doctor without a budget.

EMS rush in an NYPD officer Maria McNeil who was hit by a drunk driver, learning of her injuries from EMS. Her partner insists he is family as more and more officers arrive in the ED, causing Dr. Candelario to look around at a full room. Meanwhile, Max takes a call from the Police Commissioner when Helen joins him, warning him about all the NYPD in the hospital. He tells them this is a functioning ED and they need to clear the area, keeping it calm. EMS arrives with Leo Hardrow, with a possible DUI. He tells the doctors he can’t see and doesn’t know where he is. Maria’s partner recognizes him as the one who hit her and a brawl breaks out in the ED.

Max speaks with Detective Felix O’Connor who informs him that Maria and Angelo Russetti may be partners but they are more like sister and brother. He is messed up but he wasn’t going to do anything to the driver; he tells him to make sure they take care of Angelo and their focus needs to be on Maria and her recovery. Candelario reveals Maria is sort of stable but pretty banged up; Helen says they are waiting on results of the tux screen. Candelario and Helen move the driver, but Angelo watches the elevator to see where they are going.

Iggy finds Max, asking him to sign the psych visit he had with Jemma. He is concerned that Jemma is isolating herself; Max tells him that Jemma is a teenager, giving Iggy the paperwork back.

Floyd begins typing out his reports, one finger at a time. Max asks Floyd to give him someone on his team for a consult. Floyd says if he knew there was this much paperwork he would never have taken the position. He tells Max to pull Dr. Hastings off his next procedure.

Kapoor sees a sobbing Tori, who tells him she is alright. He tells her it is okay to be like this. She reveals they never fight as they met at a meditation workshop, but the part of her being able to hear was supposed to bring them closer together but it is driving them apart. Kapoor knows someone who can help.

Outside, Margaux cannot stand all the noises around her, covering her ears until Kapoor finds her, bringing Iggy to talk to her. Inside, Max takes a donut, begins his speech when Helen spots him but she is there to tell him the driver, Leo wasn’t drunk nor drugs in his system. He had a stroke but before she can tell him anything else, Det. Felix O’Connor says he cannot find Angelo and believes he went after Leo. They find him, ordering him to back off the bed right now. Angelo says someone has to pay as they all try to talk to him. Helen says he had a stroke when he was driving and is very sick, asking him to have some compassion as Leo is a war veteran. Max is paged but tells O’Connor to get him downstairs; only telling Helen that Maria is coding.

Max quickly assesses her, figuring out there must be a hole in her esophagus and needs immediate surgery. Helen tries to talk to Leo about not going downstairs, but he is extremely worried about the woman he hit. She promises she is getting the best care possible, and they need to focus on him. Helen tells him the stroke was caused by the tumor in her bladder. He knows what is wrong with him, but only wants to know about Maria. He doesn’t want treatment; he just wants to apologize for what he did. She advises against it as he crawls back into bed, refusing to talk about anything.

Iggy sits with Margaux and Tori, asking them to explore what is happening to them emotionally. He is sorry about the delay as they wait for an Interpreter. Both the women begin signing to each other, Iggy having no idea what they are saying; asking them to slow down. He assumes that Margaux feels like a burden but that is not how Tori feels. He suggests she tell her how she does feel about her and she does, loving Margaux’s spirit and fearless. Iggy tells her to tell Margaux, who begins to explain how she feels so far from that person and it is her fault they are there now as she wanted the implant. She is afraid she risked their relationship for the implants. She wants the implant to hear, but Iggy wants to know why she wants the implant. She pauses, explaining that she wants it...

In the ED, NYPD is collecting money for Maria and her recovery but when O’Connor gets to Angelo, who is angry that they are taking the money for her funeral; he is told it is for her recovery. Max tells them she is stable, seems to be responding to treatment but she needs to go into surgery. Max adds money to the pot and as he leaves, Angelo thanks him.

Floyd returns, learning about Maria’s surgery, suggesting they get to work. Maria feels she has to be pretty bad as she needs two doctors for her surgery. Floyd learns she got clipped by a grown man on a scooter and she is never going to hear the end of it. She agrees that she hates paperwork and would rather be on the streets, in the action. She tells them she is called “One Direction” and to place her in the line of fire as that is her happy place. Floyd says helping her is his happy place.

Helen looks at Leo when she gets his medical records, shocked at what she is reading. Iggy is optimistic, feeling Margaux and Tori will be stronger than ever. He is confident they can move forward with the MRI. Margaux has revealed that she wants the implant removed and wants to be deaf again.

Floyd scrubs in, doing his usual ritual; music is put on as Floyd is in his element and happy to be in the OR. Everyone dances a little while he proceeds. Helen meets with Leo who tells her that the VA didn’t have the right doctor for him, giving him a voucher and sent him on his way. She is curious why he didn’t use it; he wanted to but the doctor didn’t cover everything. He is on his own and couldn’t afford the difference after he served his country with pride. Helen tells him there is nothing for him to be ashamed of. He reveals he did 4 tours as an Army Ranger; she believes he deserves better than this but Leo never wanted to put anyone in harm’s way.

Helen speaks to Max, who says they take the voucher and will cover the rest. Helen talks about how the VA is only willing to cover 75%, yet he served in Vietnam. He says they will treat Leo, but they are told they cannot accept the VA voucher, but Max feels if the veterans are getting the help they need, he doesn’t see a problem. Both Max and Helen insist that Leo is getting the surgery today, but if they foot the bill for his surgery, they are setting a dangerous precedent for the entire country. Max issues an ultimatum of them helping Leo or get better care for veterans.

Kapoor respects Margaux’s wishes but reminds her removing the implant is a very risky surgery. Both want her pain to stop, suggesting there are other implants they can use. Margaux says several of her friends love their implants but she doesn’t. She misses who she was and how she experienced the world. She doesn’t expect him to understand but before the implant, music was something she felt, not it is just words. Her thoughts used to be her own but now cluttered with distractions. She thought she was missing something but she is only missing who she is. She loved hearing Tori’s voice but she heard her better when she couldn’t hear her voice at all. The two women hug as Tori cries and Kapoor nods his head.

Iggy comes to see Jemma, admitting he messed up big time. He forgot to bring her the drink, calling himself a “bonehead”. He questions her about the visit earlier with Sofia, reminding her that she can tell him anything. She says that is the problem because she told him everything and all the bad stuff that happened to her and now when she sees him, she feels like she is still broken and doesn’t want to be that anymore. She cries as Iggy processes what she is saying. He tells her he is proud of her and how far she has come, and she doesn’t need him anymore, but that is a very good thing. They both nod as he says it is his time to go and that is all right, but just try to remember that she was never broken; the two hugs before they part ways.

Floyd and Christensen continue with their surgery, which was moving smoothly until her blood pressure drops and her stats fall. Floyd works quickly as the blood is pouring out of her heart; they have no idea why the wall is blown and she is bleeding out. Her pulse is too weak and her heart is still in pieces. Floyd is told by Helen there is no more blood to pump as it is all gone. He shakes his head as he is asked if he is going to call it; Floyd calls time of death at 4:16.

Max returns to the NYPD officers where he offers condolences. He spots Angelo with his head down, but Angelo feels it shouldn’t have gone down like that and she shouldn’t have died. Max says he knows but Angelo says Maria should have never been out there, but he had a migraine today, so she steps up and he stays in the car. Being a cop was her whole life, no husband and no kids; NYPD was her family and that was all that mattered. Angelo says she wanted to be a hero and she gets killed at a traffic stop. Max says she was a hero the moment she put that shield on.

Floyd sits in the stairwell when Evie finds him. She tries to comfort him. Margaux is prepped for surgery, giving her wedding band to Tori, they exchange I love yours and Kapoor takes her in the OR. Max comes to Leo’s room, introducing him to Angelo. Angelo brings the bucket, revealing the guys have been talking and Maria didn’t have any family and would want the money to go to the fallen hero's fund; the money goes to Leo to get him fixed up. He says he can’t accept it but Angelo says Maria isn’t there anymore and he wants to pay for his surgery. Leo asks why he would do that and Angelo tells him, “We take care of our own!”

Max is on the table, where he thanks Virginia as he waits for the feeding tube to be inserted. Iggy listens to his young patient, who talks about being a broken thing, that no one cares about, not knowing why she is there; he looks at her sadly. Helen comes to see Max but he reminds her that she isn’t his doctor anymore; she tells him she is still his friend and holds his hand.

Margaux’s surgery is done, she wakes up smiling as she knows she can’t hear. Tori is right by her side. Kapoor comes in, explaining everything that happened but she is simply happy to not hear anything.

## Cast

* Janet Montgomery as Dr. Lauren Bloom (credit only)
* Freema Agyeman as Dr. Helen Sharpe
* Jocko Sims as Dr. Floyd Reynolds
* Tyler Labine as Dr. Iggy Frome
* Anupam Kher as Dr. Vijay Kapoor

Guest Starring* Zabryna Guevara as Dora Williams
* Lizzy DeClement as Jemma
* Margot Bingham as Evie Garrison
* Nana Mensah as Dr. Camila Candelario
* Michael Basile as Paramedic Rob Moreland
* Kim Ramirez as Anesthesiologist Dr. Alicia Smith
* Stacey Raymond as Paramedic Kerry Whitaker
* Liba Vaynberg as ICU Nurse April Kosloff
* Em Grosland as ED Nurse Kai Brunstetter
* Judith Ivey as Dr. Virginia Stauton
* Maximilian Osinski as Angelo Russetti
* Lauren Ridloff as Margot
* Zephyr Ingle as Kayana
* Rachel Nicks as Dr. Hastings
* Chuck Cooper as Leon Hargrow
* Donnetta Lavinia Grays as Sophia
* Nathalie Carvalho as Blanca
* Aaron Roman Weiner as NYPD Detective Felix O'Connor
* Barbra Wengerd as NYPD Officer Marie McNeil
* Gameela Wright as Dr. Christiansen

## Multimedia

### Videos

New Amsterdam 1x19 Promo "Happy Place" (HD)