I’ve put off talking about New Amsterdam for a couple of episodes. Mainly because I wanted to see if it could keep up the wonderful attitude it had in the first episode.
The show really did surprise me. Right from the first few minutes, it set a good tone. We quickly got into the head of NY detective John Amsterdam, a man who’s called the area home for about 400 years or so. Unlike really old west coast vampire Mick St. John (who’s more than three centuries younger) over on CBS’s Moonlight, Amsterdam has more or less gotten over himself. In fact, he’s doing a lot better than just about any vampire that’s ever had a show.
I’m sure some of that has to do with the fact that he’s a) not a vampire and b) doesn’t have to chop off the heads of other immortals in order to finally grow old and die. No, all he has to do is find his true love.
And I think we can all relate to just how tricky that can be.
Well, he’s been at it for centuries, ever since he saved the life of a local Lenape back when New York was New Amsterdam (why they changed it, I can’t say… people just liked it better that way… everyone, sing along!) and was “rewarded” with near eternal life. He just can’t die. Not for long, at least.
New Amsterdam refers as much to the Big Apples original name as it does to the idea of the main character reinventing himself. Needless to say, he’s been there and done that before–and unlike most other Methuselan characters we’ve seen on the toob, he’s not all that shy about talking about it. Most people just think he’s joking. It must be the wonderfully dripping cynicism he usually wraps it in.
The show is enjoyable on a number of levels. With a decent bit of police procedural thrown into a mix of relationship issues (romantic, platonic and familial) and topped off with Highlander-like flashbacks to the long ago (but not so far away) events of Amsterdam’s past, there’s something here for almost everyone. Some of the interactions can be downright funny.
If you haven’t seen the show yet, pop on over to Fox’s website and catch up. I doubt it’ll be around past what episodes there already are based on the track record of the other time-traveling/sci-fi-ish shows that were (not quite) all the rage during the first half of the season.
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