'New Amsterdam' Season 3 Episode 1 Spoilers: Did the pilot crash plane into river due to his bipolar disorder?
Spoilers for 'New Amsterdam' Season 3
The third season of 'New Amsterdam', not surprisingly, opens to show us how the hospital is grappling with Covid-19. But the plot soon shifts to another epidemic of a different proportion, mental health. In Episode 1 of 'New Amsterdam' Season 3, the hospital is dealing with mental health and the stigma around it that becomes a challenge for Dr Max Goodwin and psychiatrist Dr Iggy Frome.
Season 3 of 'New Amsterdam' shows the hospital is functioning in a post-pandemic world. The hospital is not back to full strength but there is light at the end of the tunnel. But just as we see Max Goodwin giving a pep talk to the staff, we suddenly hear a loud roar above. In what seems like ‘Sully’ Deja Vu, the ‘New Amsterdam’ team rushes out to see a plane land in the river next to the hospital.
It then comes to light that the pilot of the plane suffers from bipolar disorder, a fact that he keeps hidden due to the stigma around mental health. Dr Iggy Frome tries to get to the bottom of what led to the crash, which is challenging because initially, the pilot is catatonic. But slowly, Dr Frome draws him out of his shell, leading to the pilot confiding that he has no recollection of how the plane crashed, a possible result of a bipolar episode.
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In the meantime, Max tries to protect the pilot from being arrested before Dr Iggy completes his psychiatric evaluation. Interestingly the co-pilot on the flight who has also been injured drifts in and out of consciousness saying "Hawaii 660". No one, however, can understand what she is saying. However, Max is keen to save the pilot from arrest and goes to visit the co-pilot and it suddenly strikes him that she may be referring to some technical details that led to the flight going awry.
Max rushes out then while the pilot is being taken away for further questioning, and asks him what does "Hawaii 660" mean. It then comes to light that "Hawaii 660" is the plane number of a flight that went down into the Pacific. It was an equipment problem that led to the plane going down.
The indicator on "Hawaii 660" told the pilot that they were flying faster than they were, so they slowed it down to an unsafe speed and went into the sea. Dr Max then asks the pilot what action should one take in a circumstance like this, and it turns out the pilot followed exactly the right protocol.
It then comes to light that it was not the pilot's mental health that caused the crash but rather a technical problem which through his skills, he managed to handle. It then turns out that the pilot rather than being harmful is a hero.
Dr Max and Dr Iggy Frome end up saving the pilot's reputation. However, the incident rakes up a lot of anger for Dr Iggy, who tells Max that he is tired of people with mental health issues living with so much stigma.
Is Dr Iggy's feeling so strongly simply from a professional standpoint or because he personally is suffering from mental health challenges? There have been some theories that Dr Iggy's food addiction will be a plotline that is focussed on as Season 3 progresses. Watch this space for more.
'New Amsterdam' premieres on Tuesday, March 2, at 10 pm ET/PT on NBC.