"Vile" New Amsterdam Finale Retcon Makes Helen a Villain, Fans Devastated
It was a show that seemed to give fans a little bit more faith in doctors and humanity.
Doctor Max Goodwin comes to take over New Amsterdam Hospital with his outlandish methods and willingness to break the rules for a good cause, and he and Doctor Helen Sharpe begin to work together to heal the broken system within America's oldest public hospital.
Not only did the pair improve the lives of their patients and others around them, but they changed their own lives for the better.
New Amsterdam gained respect and a loyal fan base, and things were going well for the first 3 seasons. Along came season 4 of the popular show, and things took a turn for the worse – and then broke fans' hearts with the season 5 finale, which dealt a shocking revelation about Helen that intended to ruin everything fans had come to know and love about her character.
It comes out that, in order to get the FDA to approve a drug with the potential to save Max's life, Helen approved an unethical and racist clinical trial. After Helen had left New Amsterdam, the trial was scrutinized and it was found that the majority of the patients were white.
There was no diversity in the trial group, but even more, shockingly this selection was made by Helen, again to save Max who had similar cancer. Not only does this go against all of the core morals a doctor should have, but she is also made out to be selfish and reckless and this move was totally out of character.
Why would the writers and producers of New Amsterdam do this to Helen's character? Some fans believe that they had some sort of personal vendetta against her character, or more likely, the actress that played her.
Fans feel this plot twist was a lazy move by writers, who went back and took a past storyline and brought it back twisted for dramatic effect.
There is just no way that Helen, who was a woman of color and advocate for diversity, and someone who spoke up often for marginalized communities would have promoted a racist cancer trial. Helen did so much for the hospital only to be villainized and have all of her friends turn on her at the very end, and Max was put on a pedestal.
For many fans, Helen Sharpe was the highlight of the show, and although they were devastated to learn of her character's departure, they had faith that New Amsterdam would give Helen the honorable send-off she deserved, and fans would have some sort of closure. Instead, fans were left angry and confused, with many voicing that they were glad to be done with the series following the final events.