The Blues

## Episode Chronology

**"The Blues"** is the thirteenth episode of the first season on NBC drama series *New Amsterdam*. It was aired on February 12, 2019.

## Synopsis

Dr. Bloom is required to be evaluated by Dr. Frome and eventually opens up about her family and how she left behind her struggling mother and younger sister to go to school in Washington instead of staying behind in New York to care for them. She reveals that her sister is in rehab and that she feels responsible for what happened. Max tries to find employees at the hospital that are doing obsolete jobs, but does not want to fire them, but find them a new job at the hospital. Dr. Kapoor struggles to figure out what is going on between his son and the woman at the coffee stand he likes. He ends up making the situation worse and breaks down in tears.

## Plot

Lauren walking into the ED, where she begins to hustle before she has a VIP patient. She stands with Casey as EMS arrive with Alison, a captain of a fishing boat who is unresponsive and a diabetic patient. They page Max and Dr. Jessica Medrano as she could be Alison’s daughter.

Vijay watches as his son interacts with Ella when Floyd questions what he is doing. He tells Kapoor he doesn’t do family drama and recommends he speaks to Iggy about it, but suggests that Kapoor stays out of his boy’s love life. Jessica and Max come down to see Alison, who is only concerned about her fishing boat. Max is shocked Alison is still living on a fishing boat in New York City. Max scoots off to meet with Dora.

Dora tells Max about a nourishment consultant program, something he is supposed to know about. Dora is distracted by a phone call as Max takes off to talk to everyone about the different programs. He meets with the board, saying he wants to give people meaningful work and he is simply not firing anybody. He informs everyone to simply not their job for one full day and if no one is missing them, their job is obsolete and he will find them a new job, something that makes a difference; improving New Amsterdam.

Helen runs into the doctor who is interested in her; offering to take her to Philadelphia to see Radiohead. She declines, saying she would love to do the overnight with him eventually, so he leaves saying he will make her a bootleg. Max talks to Lauren about Alison as he brings her up to see Iggy, revealing she is the patient. She is furious.

Max runs after Dora, who wants to remember the moment Max chased after him. She won’t reveal to him about anyone who would try to contact him about their job being obsolete. Helen stops Max, wanting to know what’s going on; he tells her that Lauren is will Iggy. She feels she deceived Lauren as a friend, but Max says she did the right thing as a doctor and definitely as a friend. Iggy begins to question Lauren, but she demands to know what this is about.

Iggy reveals someone told him that she has a problem with Adderall. She knows it was Sharpe and feels insulted, trying to leave. Iggy says he has been empowered by the hospital to find out if she has been operating as an impaired physician. He suggests if she has a problem, she needs to tell Max and he needs to report it to the medical board but if she leaves she is fired!
Max talks to Floyd about Alison, wanting him to check her out as Floyd tells him to check out the guy in the basement who is always taking X-rays, if he is looking for someone who is obsolete. Max does go to the basement, questioning Ernest about why he has been in there since 2008 when the last x-ray was requested. Max says he is not getting fired, he wants to find him a job that would make him feel needed again. He prefers to ride it out until retirement where he is if Max isn’t firing him.

Kapoor meets with his son, apologizing and feeling he should be more supportive of his music career. Kapoor says he is trying to protect Ella and wants him to keep her out of their family business. His son says he is hanging out with her because he genuinely cares about her, admitting his reason for staying sober is because he was able to stay away from his father; he storms off.

Jessica’s mother, Alison tries to convince her to move back to Sheep’s Head Bay, but Floyd comes out, saying she needs to come back inside as he is her doctor. Alison suddenly collapses as she is smoking, Floyd yelling for a stretcher.

Lauren shares the irony is that she has a prescription for Adderall and now is being persecuted by a psychiatrist for a medication that is prescribed by a psychiatrist. She admits she might have doubled up on the meds to get through a double shift as they seem to run in together. She knows it is unethical and her drug use has never lead to the harm of a patient. She is insulted, feeling if she had done such a thing she would have turned in her license. Iggy brings up a patient, where the nurse caught the mistake that Lauren was about to give a patient meds they were allergic to. Iggy reveals it was not one single patient who filed a complaint she has been having multiple problems. He says she has looked him in the eyes and lied about it, giving her the opportunity to tell the truth and if she would hand in her medical license when confronted.

Floyd comes out of Alison’s room, informing Max that they still don’t know what is causing the spiking in her blood sugar. Max wonders if it is the smoking that causes the spike, suggesting Floyd to do exploratory surgery. Floyd objects, asking who does exploratory surgery any more and Max says they do!

Max finds an employee in the hallway, who heard his speech earlier. He feels he has one of those obsolete jobs. He wants to do more than sitting in a chair all day; as Max feels he is the whole reason he has started this search, but he has no idea what job he will give him.

Lauren wants to know what is next, but Iggy wants her to talk about her childhood, or he can just file the report right now. She sits down, saying her mom was a disaster and her dad was a saint. Iggy divulges more with Lauren, who reveals her mom was an alcoholic. She talks about how everyone thought her mom was so much fun; but of course, the party ended. Her mom would start complaining about something and then get really mean; denying any physical abuse. Lauren says she was the one who always cleaned up her mother since she was about the age of 7. She says having Genie as a mom was the silver lining to learn how to be good in a crisis.

Iggy brings up her dad, saying he left her in a tricky situation. Lauren denies it, saying her father took a dermatology practice and turned it into a million dollar practice. She admits he was gone all the time, but always took her call. Iggy confronts her, saying her dad wasn’t there; she described him as an emotionally closed off workaholic who is in complete denial that his personal life is on fire… who does that sound like?

Max is met by another employee who works tech in the accounting department. She reveals she has spoken to people many times about her job, but feels it is obsolete. He thinks her job is cool, but she says it was a great job when the hospital still used the system she installed. He says he will remember that with her new job; she wants to know what and when that will be, but he has no idea.

Floyd and Dr. Kapralien perform surgery on Alison. Floyd says he is going to check all 23 feet of the bowel but Kapralien feels he may have been crazier than Max is. Meanwhile, Kapoor goes to Ella, explaining he was looking out for her, but may have hurt his son in the process. He reveals that he thought his son had taken an interest in her only to hurt him. She gets offended that he’d think his son wouldn’t be interested in her for her, and walks away from him.

Lauren complains that this is why no one likes therapists as he is taking her life and twisting it around. She admits her dad was not perfect, but she knew he loved her. He isn’t blaming her father but wants to know why he went all the way across the country to attend college and asks what she is running form. Lauren sits down, saying she runs like her dad. She is not running from anything, she is running to “crisis” and “helping people.” She feels the hospital is lucky to have her. Iggy thanks her for her words, asking if she thinks she can get her Adderall under control. She believes she can and practicing medicine is the best thing for her recovery. Iggy agrees and tells her to get back out there; to show them how it done!

Lauren walks out of his office, pausing as her eyes fill up with tears. Helen stands in front of her, confessing she didn’t know what else to do. Lauren tells her, “No problem! I was cleared!”
Jessica and Max watch as Floyd checks every inch of Alison’s bowel. Jessica says her mother is stubborn and this is all a recipe for disaster. Floyd finds the tumor in Alison’s bowel, plans to cut it out and send it to pathology; something that gives Max an idea. He rounds up everyone who came to him about their obsolete jobs, he tells them he is hiring them all for a clinic in Sheep’s Head Bay. He delegates all their jobs, telling Jessica she will be caring for the community who raised her and needs her now. Ernest arrives and will head the radiology department in the new clinic.

Lauren returns to the ED, but the sounds and visuals are overwhelming for her; forcing her to return to Iggy’s office. She tells him to ask her again, and when he asks her what she is running from, Lauren shakes and reveals how she lied to her mother after her father died. She didn’t tell anyone about her moving across the country, knowing they wouldn’t be okay without her. She knew if she didn’t go, she would never get out. She dropped her daughter off, tucked her in and left. Her sister is in rehab for the fourth time.

Iggy says that is not on her as Lauren feels she could have saved her mom and encourages her to listen to him. He comforts her, saying she could only save the one person she could and what she did was an incredible act of strength. He needs her to be strong to do one more thing, she cries, admitting she needs help and he says they can do that. Lauren asks if he was really clearing her for work. He smiles and says he would never allow a drug addict lose in the ED.

Helen finds the doctor outside, saying him being spontaneous and lovely is what made this absolutely terrifying for her. She hasn’t wanted to take a chance with anyone in a very long time, but he makes her want to. She reveals she has baggage, but she is so tired of dragging it around with her. He sees that she has an overnight bag, both laughing that she literally took her baggage with her. He holds out his arm as she asks if he is interested in going to Philadelphia with her.

Iggy finds Kapoor in the hallway, looking out a window. Kapoor says he needed Iggy’s advice, but he was nowhere to be found. He reveals that things are bad with his son and only friend, Ella. He pleads for Iggy’s help to fix things; Iggy hugs him agreeing to do so.

Max stops Lauren’s car, asking her how the VIP is doing. He says she may not feel it, but she is very important to everyone and to him. He tells her that her job will be waiting for her when she gets back. She leaves, trying to hold back the tears, without success.

## Cast

* Janet Montgomery as Dr. Lauren Bloom
* 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
* Alejandro Hernandez as Casey Acosta
* Dierdre Friel as Ella
* Michael Basile as Paramedic Rob Moreland
* Vandit Bhatt as Rohan Kapoor
* Sendhil Ramamurthy as Dr. Akash Panthaki
* Kate Nowlin as Dr. Jessica Medrano
* Dale Soules as Allison Medrano
* Jeff Kim as Dr. Alan Kapralien
* Toni L. Martin as Nurse 1
* Michael Puzzo as Ernest Wilson
* Jaime Lincoln Smith as Kevin Travers
* Jamar Greene as Custodian 1

## Multimedia

### Videos

New Amsterdam 1x13 Promo "The Blues" (HD)