NEW AMSTERDAM: 14 Years, 2 Months, 8 Days
A hopeful, faith-friendly medical drama about prayer and miracles.
Should You Watch It?
This is a strong, faith-friendly episode that treats prayer and science as meaningful parts of caring for patients. The episode gives a defense of prayer and acknowledges that miracles can happen, while also showing doctors working compassionately within a frustrating healthcare system.
The medical situations may trouble younger or sensitive viewers. There is also some questionable deceitfulness as doctors try to change a patient’s diagnosis so insurance will cover treatment. Still, the episode is clean, hopeful, and emotionally generous.
If your family includes teenagers who can handle difficult medical material, this is worth watching.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESIn this second-season episode of NBC’s medical drama NEW AMSTERDAM, Dr. Max Goodwin encounters a prayer group meeting in the hospital lobby. As several patients face serious medical problems, Max initially prefers the old-fashioned solutions of science and medicine.
But as unexpected developments unfold, Max begins to reconsider what prayer means and seeks help from the group. The episode follows doctors and patients as science, faith, compassion, and uncertainty meet in the hospital.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this episode is exceptionally effective entertainment. Mostly set in the hospital, it does a great job of showing the doctors’ care for their patients and their frustration with the healthcare system.
The cinematography communicates what the actors do not always say, while the performances make the patients’ situations emotionally engaging. Ryan Eggold’s portrayal of Dr. Max Goodwin especially emphasizes the character’s empathy and great concern for others. The result is an inspiring episode that gives viewers hope for patients in the healthcare system.
The Worldview
The episode presents a strong moral worldview centered on doing the right thing for patients, no matter the cost. It also gives prayer and miracles a prominent place. A skeptical doctor begins by insisting on science, but he eventually prays for a patient and acknowledges the possibility of miracles.
The episode does not use the word “Christian,” and its doctors are not fully committed to prayer or to the broader moral worldview of doing what is right even when it is unpopular. Still, its secondary Christian worldview defends prayer and recognizes that some things may lie beyond what science can explain.
The episode’s treatment of prayer is not entirely biblical. The prayer group leader says that prayer changes us rather than changing God, and describes prayer as looking within. Scripture does teach that prayer changes the person praying, but it also presents prayer as bringing real requests to God. “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Strong moral worldview of doing the right thing for the patient no matter the cost, with a secondary Christian worldview giving a defense for prayer and a skeptical doctor prayers, says “Amen to that” and later admits it’s been a “day of miracles”
Foul Language
No foul language, but two doctors joke about a patient’s foul smelling urine
Violence
Low level of violence includes one doctor punches a door in anger
Sex
No sex
Nudity
No nudity
Alcohol Use
No alcohol use
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
No smoking or drug use, but a patient suffers from medical problems from. using E-Cigarettes;
Miscellaneous Immorality
some questionable deceitfulness as two doctors try to get a patient’s diagnosis changed to fit the code so insurance will cover it, along with a couple of scenes of wounds on a woman’s skin, and one reference to urine..
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The episode presents both medical treatment and prayer as important. How can Christians value science while still trusting God?
Psalm 111:2 · James 1:5Max begins skeptical of the prayer group and later prays for a patient. What can change when we bring our fears and requests to God?
Philippians 4:6–7 · 1 Peter 5:7Doctors try to change a diagnosis so insurance will cover treatment. When does trying to help someone become deceitful?
Proverbs 12:22 · Ephesians 4:25The doctors care deeply for people in difficult circumstances. What does Jesus teach about loving and serving others?
Mark 12:31 · Galatians 6:2The Final Word
This is a clean, beautifully acted, faith-friendly medical drama that gives prayer and miracles a serious hearing. Its medical situations call for discernment, especially with younger viewers. For teenagers and adults, the answer is WORTH THE TRIP — AGES 13 AND UP.
