NEW AMSTERDAM Post-Mortem: Ryan Eggold and David Schulner Break Down the Sharpwin Reveal in the Season 5 Premiere

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the NEW AMSTERDAM season 5 premiere.]

NEW AMSTERDAM wasted no time addressing the absence of Helen (Freema Agyeman) in the season 5 premiere.

After a montage of happier moments between Helen and Max (Ryan Eggold), the episode cut to present-day Max, despondent on his bed, holding a letter—which viewers heard via a voiceover from Agyeman.

My dearest Max,

If you toss this letter, rip it up, burn it, I won’t blame you. I’ve done the same to countless versions. What I did was unforgivable to you, to our friends, to sweet Luna. It was never my intention. None of this is what I intended. Everything I’ve ever said to you was true. Everything we had was real. But so was this thing that kept me in London; kept me from marrying you. I wish I knew what it was. I wish I could rip out of me, obliterate it, so I can be with you. Because you deserve all the happiness in the world. I wish I had an explanation to help ease your pain. But none has come. All I have is the time that’s passed and the desperate hope that it heals us both. Heals your heart, heals your mind. Heals Luna and heals our friends. Max you are beautiful and shimmering. And I was made better for being in your light. We all were. Please don’t use your light. May it shine again, even brighter than before.

All my love,
Helen

And that tiny bit of Agyeman isn’t the last time NEW AMSTERDAM fans will experience her in the show’s final season. “Freema’s been a part of our show since the very beginning,” executive producer David Schulner tells Give Me My Remote in the video below. “And I think this isn’t the last time you’ve seen Helen Sharpe. But it’s not the focus of our show. And it’s not the focus for Max in season 5. It’s a flavor that will always be there, because [Helen’s] clearly left an indelible mark on the show and on Max. But the season is…not even about closure. It’s about new possibilities.”

For Max, however, much of the premiere was him revisiting his relationship with Helen, trying to figure out what clue he missed. Agyeman, for her part, told the writers in season 3 she might not be with the show for the long-term, giving them time to incorporate

“There was a possibility of not even having Freema for season 4,” Schulner says. “So once Freema decided to stay for season 4, we made sure to lay the groundwork in case she didn’t stay for season 5. But she kept us in the loop the whole way, and we wouldn’t have been able to build her that runway to leave had she not. So we’re grateful for the extra time we got.”

Eggold calls the premiere a turning point for Max, who had been in denial about his unexpected breakup.

“I think in the first episode, Iggy kind of wakes him up to, ‘Are you looking at this the right way? Are you sort of remembering it the way you want to remember it?'” Eggold acknowledges. “And I think we can often do that. If you want something to work badly enough, you’re sort of willing to forego looking at it honestly. And you’ll sort of have those rose-colored glasses and see that.”

“I think a real arc for Max is learning when to let go, because he’s always such a helper and so proactive and so, ‘I can fix everything and everyone,'” he continues. “And that’s an amazing attribute—his generosity and his empathy. But, also, can be a hindrance. And I think this is really teaching him that—that sometimes helping someone, loving someone is letting them go.”

NEW AMSTERDAM, Tuesdays, 10/9c, NBC

RELATED:

• NEW AMSTERDAM: What You Need to Know About the Season Premiere
• NEW AMSTERDAM: Ryan Eggold and Peter Horton Tease Max’s ‘Road to Recovery’
• NEW AMSTERDAM Final Season Promo Teases ‘An Ending That’s Extraordinary’
• The NEW AMSTERDAM Team Previews a ‘Healing Journey’ in Season 5
• NEW AMSTERDAM Season 5 Premiere Photos
• NEW AMSTERDAM: NBC Releases Final Season Key Art
• NEW AMSTERDAM: Freema Agyeman to Exit Ahead of Final Season
• NEW AMSTERDAM: David Schulner on Max and Helen’s Possible Wedding, Plus the Hurricane That ‘Puts Everyone in a Dangerous Situation’
• NEW AMSTERDAM Director Jean Lee on Digging into the Emotion and Character History for ‘Truth Be Told’
• NEW AMSTERDAM Post-Mortem: David Schulner and Peter Horton on the Sharpwin Twist: It ‘Tests What Your Love is Really About’
• NEW AMSTERDAM Post-Mortem: Néstor Carbonell Reflects on Directing ‘All Night Long’
• NEW AMSTERDAM Post-Mortem: David Schulner and Peter Horton Break Down the ‘All Night Long’ Twists
• NEW AMSTERDAM’s Ryan Eggold on Sharpwin: ‘I Don’t Think Max Really Sees a Future Without’ Helen
• NEW AMSTERDAM to End with Season 5
• NEW AMSTERDAM Post-Mortem: Ryan Eggold on Max’s Win and Directing a ‘Beautiful’ Fantasy Sequence
• NEW AMSTERDAM: Ryan Eggold on Directing ‘Two Doors,’ Max’s Quest to Save the Hospital From Veronica
• NEW AMSTERDAM: Tyler Labine Teases Reynolds Being ‘In The Doghouse’ and a ‘Topical’ Case for Iggy
• NEW AMSTERDAM Exclusive Clip: Meet Genevieve Angelson’s Dr. Mia Castries
• NEW AMSTERDAM: ‘Talkin’ Bout a Revolution’ Photos
• NEW AMSTERDAM Boss David Schulner Shares Even NBC Didn’t Believe the Show Would Go Through With its Biggest Twist
• NEW AMSTERDAM Boss David Schulner Explains Why Veronica is Sticking Around
• NEW AMSTERDAM Post-Mortem: Jocko Sims Teases Malvo’s Bombshell Causes Reynolds to ‘Start to See the World Differently’
• NEW AMSTERDAM Post-Mortem: David Schulner Teases the Midseason Finale Twist ‘Changes the Show in a Big Way’
• NEW AMSTERDAM: Jocko Sims Previews the Hospital’s Deadly Superbug in the Midseason Finale
• NEW AMSTERDAM Post-Mortem: Jocko Sims on the Ramifications of Max and Karen’s Big Swing
• NEW AMSTERDAM’s Jocko Sims Previews the Fallout of the Hospital Shake-Up
• NEW AMSTERDAM Post-Mortem: Tyler Labine Previews the Hospital’s Reaction to the Sharpwin Twist
• NEW AMSTERDAM Season 4 Premiere: ‘More Joy’ Photos
• NEW AMSTERDAM Post-Mortem: Ryan Eggold and Freema Agyeman Break Down the Big Sharpwin Moment
• NEW AMSTERDAM: Ryan Eggold and Freema Agyeman Preview the Unconventional Season 3 Finale
• NEW AMSTERDAM: Jocko Sims and Frances Turner on Reynolds and Malvo’s Chemistry and Connection
• Ryan Eggold Previews NEW AMSTERDAM’s Timely VBAC Debate
• NEW AMSTERDAM Says Goodbye to a Series Regular
• NEW AMSTERDAM: Ryan Eggold Previews Max’s Reunion with Luna
• NEW AMSTERDAM’s Jocko Sims on Reynolds’ Return: ‘No One’s Safe’
• NEW AMSTERDAM’s Ryan Eggold on the Season 3 Premiere Twist: ‘We’re Not Invincible’
• NEW AMSTERDAM: What You Need to Know About the Season Premiere
• NEW AMSTERDAM’s Ryan Eggold Previews Max’s Search for a ‘Fundamental Kind of Change’ in Season 3

Follow @GiveMeMyRemote and @marisaroffman on Twitter for the latest TV news. Connect with other TV fans on GIVE ME MY REMOTE’s official Facebook page.

And be the first to see our exclusive videos by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases made through links/ads placed on the site.