Replacement

## Episode Chronology

**"Replacement"** is the third episode of the second season on NBC drama series *New Amsterdam*, and the twenty-fifth episode overall. It aired on October 8, 2019.

## Synopsis

Max takes a chance on a new assistant and goes toe to toe with the board on a new plan. Meanwhile, Iggy struggles to figure out what is causing a unit-wide illness and Kapoor receives some shocking news.

## Plot

Dr. Max Goodwin searching for a new assistant, a few who have very reputable resumes but he chooses to go with a military veteran named Todd Benson, who has never owned a computer and has had trouble transitioning between his old job. Todd informs him that he desperately needs the job as his insurance is running out and he needs to feel useful again, so Max reluctantly hires him as he admits his skill set includes making the train run on time. Max welcomes him.

Sharpe apologizes to Dr. Bloom as she stands in the bathroom while she urinates for her drug test. Lauren doesn’t feel bad as this isn’t the first time she has peed in front of her. Lauren admits she has been having sex with her physical therapist, shocking Helen, as she confesses she is totally over it. Helen is killing it as a doctor but Lauren reminds her that life is a little like a drug test, it counts more when she gets to watch.

Casey smirks at Dr. Reynolds joking that he looks like a guy who just paid off all his student loans; he admits that Evie is coming home tomorrow, after 6 weeks away. Floyd walks into his patient, Renee’s room who he just did heart surgery on two weeks prior and it looks like she opened the surgical site, she explains that she fell and was on the floor for 14 hours and it was the delivery man who found her; feeling utterly humiliating. He promises to get her fixed up.

EMTs bring in Vincent, who appears to be having a heart attack; causing Lauren to immediately order an EKG on him. He felt like he was coming down with the flu and she learns that he has blood in his urine. Meanwhile, Todd walks very respectfully behind Max, calling him “sir” as Max tells him to be less respectful and much more laid back. Floyd approaches them, making fun of Todd’s formal stance, but really wanting to get Renee more help so she doesn’t have to return to the ED. Max vows to take it to the board that morning.

In the board room, Max is alone in the room, wondering if he is in the wrong room when Todd informs him he is 5 minutes early. Todd explains if he cannot be on time, then it only shows he cannot be relied on for anything else. It shows discipline.

Casey gives Lauren Vincent’s labs and she finds out that he has poison in his system and they need to contact public health and Dr. Sharpe, as they may need to shut down the construction site he is working at.

During the board meeting, Max stops the meeting saying it is not important whether the hospital has a Masquerade Ball or not but what matters is their patient Renee and how she is back in the hospital only 3 weeks after her surgery and he would like to propose New Amsterdam have a nurse visiting agency, where they select nurses who go to their patients’ homes for aftercare. He is told he needs a second on the motion and no one raises their hand to support him. He is ignored but when they announce that they are electing a new board member in the morning and no one is running against the candidate the vote will be held in the morning; Max raises his hand and says he has the perfect candidate. Unfortunately outside the room he admits to Todd he has no idea who would be perfect for the role; Todd chastising him for lying to his superior. Max denies to Todd that he is anything like the board members who are rich people and all their friends are rich. He dismisses Todd when he can’t keep explaining himself.

Rohan comes to see his father Dr. Vijay Kapoor, informing him that his band has a tour coming up; they are going to be on the road for months. Kapoor tells him he is proud of him, offering to send him money while he is on the road but Rohan declines saying he needs to do this on his own. He asks his dad to look after Ella while he is gone so she doesn’t feel so lonely; Kapoor assures him he will.

Dr. Frome watches as his kids in therapy are sitting in a circle tossing a ball at each other, complaining how annoying each of them is. Shoshanna throws papers across the room, which causes Iggy to remind her it is okay to have emotions in this group, but they need to remember to intend. Emily feels alone, saying she doesn’t matter to anyone. Daniel agrees that he feels alone too, even when he isn’t. Emily suddenly gets sick, saying something smells like rotten eggs. Daniel and the rest of the kids begin to smell it, even though Iggy doesn’t smell it. He tells his assistant to get maintenance as they may have a gas leak.

Max runs into Floyd in the locker room, saying he hasn’t gotten Renee’s homecare approved but they will have to accept his new candidate; Floyd immediately knows he is speaking about him and refuses. Max begs him, saying he needs an ally on the board. Floyd says he can’t because he has surgeries, but Max tells him if he was on the board they can create the homecare program making him have fewer surgeries; Floyd gives in. Karen Brantley (Debra Monk) does not want Reynolds on the board, saying money is how these programs get funded, telling him happy hunting.

Emily vomits all over the floor as Iggy attempts to handle it. He tells the other students to go to the classroom while he tells Emily that natural gas can cause the headaches and spots she is seeing. Iggy is informed there is no gas leak, causing Iggy to grow more concerned as Emily continues to get more sick. He asks for Dr. Kapoor to come to help him.
Lauren and Helen attempt to find out what made Vincent so sick from his work site was there any signs of cobalt there; no warnings or labels talking about heavy metals. Lauren has an idea and she tests his artificial hip and she discovers in the syringe that it isn’t blood but he is being poisoned by his artificial hip.

Kapoor needs to order more tests on Emily, he suspects that Emily is suffering from a complex migraine but now all the kids are vomiting and Iggy suggests he needs to change his diagnosis.

Renee is back in the OR, where Floyd tells her he has good news that he will have someone that will be checking on her post-op free of charge. He will see her when she wakes up. Max calls Floyd over, telling him that he isn’t on the board, as they don’t want him. Floyd is frustrated that he just promised Renee they would take care of her this time around. Max says he knows how they are going to keep this promise. He runs off to see Helen.

Helen shows Max how they stopped putting metal hips into people in 2016 for the very reason Vincent is in their ED now. Max says this is great because this is the very problem she will be resolving when she is on the board. He pushes it because he says he really needs one of them to be on the board, but she catches him lying when he told her that she was his first choice after he lets it slip that the board rejected Reynolds. She would love to help him, but the board won’t approve her because the board only wants people they would agree with.

Todd asks Max if he is all good, admitting he has 6 weeks of free time on his hands but doesn’t want Max to call the VA on his behalf as he isn’t a fan of socialized medicine. Max gets into a debate with Todd who actually doesn’t agree with New Amsterdam being a public hospital, but their discussion is interrupted when Kapoor and Iggy rush over informing him they might have an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease in the hospital, but they believe they can get in under control. Todd makes his point with this problem to Max.

Vincent learns the only way to stop the blood poisoning is to replace his hip with another one. He isn’t convinced because the worker’s comp won’t cover the surgery and 8 weeks it takes to recover. He is worried it will bankrupt him this time. Helen tells him it won’t happen and she promises that she will make the company pay for all of it.

Kapoor finds out the antibiotics are not helping and the symptoms are getting worse. Iggy realizes Shoshanna is missing, finding her in the low stimulus room, she insists she is fine and Kapoor checks her, she has no fever and no lung constriction. Iggy wonders why she is the only one who gets better. Iggy runs to the kitchen and says he knows how to make things better and finds a box of candies. He places them in pill cups and the nurses hand them out, saying it will heal them instantaneously. Iggy figured it out that this is nothing more than mass hysteria.

Lauren sits on a bed in one of the ORs, admitting to Max that she is working on being okay. He talks to her about filling one of the seats on the board. She immediately thinks he is talking about her and she quickly agrees because the busier she is the less time she has to think of the pain. He was thinking of filling it with her mother, she can be more like a Trojan horse for the good guys. Lauren informs him that she cannot be trusted and he will have to go Plan B, but he reveals Plan B failed several plans ago.

Max stands in the hallway, spinning his ring deep in thought. He is paged as Floyd gets a call from Evie, where he vents about his patient Renee. Evie informs him that she has been asked to stay another 2 weeks, feeling what is the point of all of this if she doesn’t see it through. He hangs up on her, also deep in thought.

Ella finds Vijay, who tells her that Rohan took off on the tour. She’s been trying to get a hold of him for the last two hours. She tells Vijay that there is no tour, Rohan lied, he simply bailed. She tells Kapoor that she is pregnant and walks away. Kapoor is called back to the children’s ward where Emily is in full seizure mode. Everyone is getting better but Emily.

The hip replacement company meets with Helen and Vincent, offering to cover his surgery and rehabilitation 100% but Helen tells them that is not good enough as she found out they were simply coating the metal hips after they were deemed unfit to use. He wants the ceramic hip, which is triple the cost and they want it free of cost and provide it to any patient who needs their hip replaced after their little stunt. They tell Helen they only entertained this meeting because they are fans of Dr. Helen. She informs them she will go on TV and inform the world of what they are doing if they don’t comply, promising to bring the joint fluid they found in his body.

Max reminds Helen they will destroy her, but she has no worries as this is what she is all about. He worries this will end her career and he cannot do this without her. He isn’t fully there yet after Georgia died, feeling a part of him is still on the ambulance. She thinks he is using Georgia to manipulate her but he doesn’t want her to feel the emptiness. He knows it isn’t fair. She promises when he needs her she is there for him; for all of it but not at the expense of her patient.

Dr. Helen does proceed with going on TV, about to expose the company for what they have done; making Max very nervous. Helen gets a message from Max stating Wedlow Medical caved on all her demands. When they come back from commercial, she backs down and says she is taking on the FDA, urging patients to call their representatives as they need to be the ones to initiate it.

Lauren knocks on Dr. Zach Ligon’s door, saying they do have a session for the next 7 minutes. Meanwhile, Emily has a scan done of her body while Kapoor urgently attempts to reach his son. It is discovered that Emily has a tumor in the lining of her brain. Iggy says it sounds a lot worse than it is. Emily feels she is the one who made everyone sick, but he explains everyone saw what it was doing to her and it affected them; meaning she is not alone. The kids are outside her room with signs saying for her to feel better; making the little girl smile from her bed.

Vijay comes to see Ella, saying his son is gone; admitting when life overwhelms his son he runs away but he doesn’t. He will wait for her. She asks what he said to her and he said, “I am there for you!”

Max just comes out of Renee’s room, telling Todd he doesn’t have the votes to help her and he is breaking his promise. Todd feels no amount of money will help Renee but Todd suggests getting her a dog, so a dog walker can come by twice a day. Max asks if he would like to be on the medical board.

At the board meeting, Max presents Todd to the members; Karen is very much against him but Max shows them what Todd did today with an innovative solution. Max assures them that Todd will not vote in whatever way he wants him to because they don’t agree on anything. Karen asks if there is a second and the votes have it. Sgt. Todd Benson is the newest board member. Max tries to get his position a paid one and he gets a second motion.

Evie speaks to Floyd, sorry she isn’t home; missing each other but feeling so far away. There is a knock at her door, and when she opens it is Floyd with samples of wedding cake, saying they need a decision by tomorrow.

## 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* Vandit Bhatt as Rohan
* Margot Bingham as Evie Garrison
* JJ Feild as Dr. Zach Ligon
* Dierdre Friel as Ella
* Alejandro Hernandez as Casey Acosta
* Debra Monk as Karen Brantley
* Megan Byrne as Gladys Miller
* Kim Ramirez as Anesthesiologist Alicia Smith
* Sol Marina Crespo as Scrub Nurse Kat Della Cruz
* Darren Pettie as Todd Benson
* Abigail Dylan Harrison as Emily Whelan
* Shannon Beeby as Lora
* Akeda Abrams as Nurse Hammad
* Pat Bowie as Renee Hamrick
* Chris Costa as Matthew
* Alex Danilov as Anthony
* Javier Eusebio as Daniel
* Isabel Gonzalez as Vivian
* Sofia Lopez as Therapy Kid #2
* Zoe Manarel as Shoshanna
* Leon Morgan as AD
* Kevin Pasdon as Paramedic Irving
* Robyn Payne as Bianca Jarrett
* Shivani Sahu as Therapy Kid
* Brian Sgambati as Brad Kagan

## Multimedia

### Videos

New Amsterdam 2x03 Promo "Replacement" (HD)