NEW AMSTERDAM: THE DENOMINATOR (TV)
Summary
One in this dramatic medical series, inspired by the book by Dr. Eric Manheimer, about a radical medical director who attempts to revolutionize the United States' first public hospital. In this episode, Max joins a local pick-up basketball game during his morning run with Luna, and he rushes to help when one of the players, single dad Marquis Cannon, suddenly collapses. At the hospital, Iggy frets about his impulsive desire to adopt another child and is stunned when Vijay happily reveals that Ella is pregnant with his grandchild. Lauren, still struggling with her pain from the ambulance crash, enjoys a soothing "PT session" with Dr. Ligon, and Helen meets cancer patient Molly Richards, whom Dr. Castro has placed on several experimental treatment regimens. Max tells Marquis that he has dangerously high blood pressure, and when Marquis makes it clear that he distrusts and avoids doctors, Max visits one of the other basketball guys, barbershop owner Kenny, and offers to set up a clinic for an hour a week in his shop, pointing out that black men are predisposed to hypertension and heart disease.
Lauren summons Iggy to talk to her young patient Xander Martone, who injured himself banging his head on a wall, and when Xander describes aggressive mood swings and demonstrates hand tremors, Iggy begins to suspect neurological damage. Castro takes offense when Helen questions her about Molly's treatments, and Floyd outfits Marquis with a heart monitor. When he collapses again, his 14-year-old daughter Harmony sternly advises him to accept Floyd's scary-sounding suggestion of open-heart surgery. Kenny angrily "fires" Max from his shop after Max unintentionally scares customers with his descriptions of the many dangers of avoiding regular check-ups, and when Max seeks Floyd's advice, Floyd tries to explain why many African-Americans distrust unknown doctors and are unlikely to accept a stranger's help. Ligon stops by to visit Lauren, but she coldly informs him that their "pain-management" arrangement is a one-way street only. Under Helen's gentle questioning, Molly admits that she wants to stop her painful cancer treatments and misses being "in control" of her own life. Iggy and Vijay determine that Xander is suffering from lead poisoning, and when they search the Martones' home, they realize that the entire neighborhood was likely affected when lead paint was carelessly removed from a nearby overpass.
Max rethinks his plan and proposes a new idea to Kenny, and during Marquis' surgery, Floyd is displeased when Duke openly questions him and suggests a different method, the McCarthy technique. The city's Deputy Comptroller, panicked at the idea of a huge settlement with the affected neighborhood, tells Iggy and Vijay that they have "no proof" that the lead came from the overpass, and after confirming that she's of sound mind and feels her quality of life to be "lacking," Helen carefully offers Molly a way to end her pain if she chooses to. Floyd struggles to repair Marquis' damaged heart and Max tries to prepare Harmony for a tragic outcome, and Castro angrily confronts Helen, revealing that Molly checked herself out and abandoned her experimental treatments, though Helen remains firm that she acted in the patient's best interests. Xander's mother Tess finds a damning photo proving the lead poisoning's origins, and Lauren is embarrassed to find that Ligon has left on vacation and wasn't seeking a booty call after all. Vijay is shocked when Ella tells him that she may not keep the baby after all, and after reassuring Harmony that her father will recover, Floyd quizzes Duke on the McCarthy technique. Brantley is baffled to learn of Max's plan to teach Kenny – and barbers all over the city – to perform blood-pressure tests and administer medication as needed, but Max serenely explains that medicine should be available wherever patients feel most comfortable and by individuals that they know and trust. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: November 30, 1999 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:43:03
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 138367
- GENRE: Drama, medical
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Drama; Drama, medical; Heart disease
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 2018-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Peter Horton … Executive Producer
- Michael Slovis … Executive Producer, Director
- David Schulner … Executive Producer, Created by
- David Foster … Executive Producer, Writer
- Y. Shireen Razack … Co-Executive Producer
- Aaron Ginsburg … Co-Executive Producer
- Graham Norris … Supervising Producer
- Tony Roman … Producer
- David Declerque … Producer
- Laura Valdivia … Producer
- Eric Manheimer … Producer, Based on the book by
- Janelle Reyes … Associate Producer
- Stephen Wertimer … Co-Producer
- Erika Green Swaford … Consulting Producer
- Shaun Cassidy … Consulting Producer
- Jon Howard … Visual Effects Producer
- Craig Wedren … Music by
- Jefferson Friedman … Music by
- Ryan Eggold … Cast, Dr. Max Goodwin
- Janet Montgomery … Cast, Dr. Lauren Bloom
- Freema Agyeman … Cast, Dr. Helen Sharpe
- Jocko Sims … Cast, Dr. Floyd Reynolds
- Tyler Labine … Cast, Dr. Iggy Frome
- Anupam Kher … Cast, Dr. Vijay Kapoor
- Marcus Callender … Cast, Kenny
- Kathleen Chalfant … Cast, Molly Richards
- Kevin Daniels … Cast, Marquis Cannon
- Justus Davis-Graham … Cast, Xander Martone
- Crystal Dickinson … Cast, Tessa Martone
- Ian Duff … Cast, Michael Duke
- JJ Feild … Cast, Dr. Zach Ligon
- Dierdre Friel … Cast, Ella
- Alejandro Hernandez … Cast, Casey Acosta
- Demi Vills … Cast, Harmony Cannon
- Ana Villafañe … Cast, Dr. Valentina Castro
- Debra Monk … Cast, Karen Brantley
- Kedrick Brown … Cast, Cameron
- Lawrence Evans … Cast, Barber #1
- Lee Garrett … Cast, Damien
- Em Grosland … Cast, Nurse Brunstetter
- Meltem Gulturk … Cast, Nurse Andie
- Chris Lamberth … Cast, Lucas
- Adam LeFevre … Cast, Nathan Laettner
- Jaimie Linn … Cast, Circulating Nurse
- Stacey Raymond … Cast, Paramedic Whitaker
- Matthew Shortell … Cast, Pablo Alonzo
- Liba Vaynberg … Cast, ICU Nurse Kosloff
- G.K. Williams … Cast, Rodney Roberson