New Amsterdam (1.6)

Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 9 PM

FOX

New Amsterdam, Season 1 - Episode 6 - "Legacy"

When police find a bullet-ridden body in an apartment in Chinatown, John and Eva are called to investigate. The deceased young man's striking similarity to Roosevelt, a lost son of John's from the early 1900s, prompts him to take a personal stance on the case. The search for the killer leads John to the Spoors, a violent crime family headed by Roosevelt's kin. The discovery makes John question the actions of his past and the reverberating consequences they have on those around him. (Fox.com)

Because there just wasn't anything funnier. (Fox)

Marmot: It's such a clumsy show.

Manatee: It really is. My first thought was how does his son from 1930 look exactly like this other kid, who he may or may not be related to?

Marmot: Indian magic, of course. It flows through his blood. I was really confused by the family in this one. The kid who died was the grandson of the old man in the wheelchair. John "Dutch" Amsterdam-York was supposedly the old man's grandfather. But I thought the brother of the victim said that his great-grandfather (Amsterdam) was a painter and left his family. So he should have said "great-great grandfather". Or did he and I just missed it because I was busy not paying attention?

Manatee: Hmm, I will have to draw a family tree for this one... which would require that I put in effort for this show. The wheelchair guy may have been their dad? Then the great-grandfather would have been correct.

Marmot: No I think the old man in the wheelchair was their grandfather. Whether it was the grandfather, great grandfather...it's just super-confusing. I think the show is going to exhaust its believability soon. I mean, how far can I guy run away from his family in 1913 without leaving New York?

Manatee: I think you are right. Also they need a better writer's asst or supervisor because too many mistakes are made, and their math sucks! It's great that the production designer made a "family tree" for Amsterdam, but how about one for the writers?

Marmot: I would like to think that they planned his whole life before they started writing, but I somehow doubt it.

Manatee: I'm sure each week they sat around and said what cool job can he have this week? Furniture maker? Artist? Doctor? and so on.

Marmot: Yeah, there's no consistency on this show.

Manatee: I know we have discussed the flashbacks in great detail before, but this week was particularly frustrating as it worked on 2 levels. How can 1 flashback relate to 2 different, totally unrelated issues in his life at once?! 1-The dead kid is his relative, and he must flashback to remember the Family Tree to relate to this week’s murder. 2- He also cheated on that son's mother and his new girlfriend wants to know if he cheated. How convenient that both unrelated issues in 2008 were in the same week in 1913! Also, if you were 400 years old, how good is your memory? My grandma's is not so good at 89. Nor can I always remember what happened a few years ago. How can he have such vivid memories from hundreds of years ago!? So much has happened to him, shouldn’t he have forgotten some stuff... like 1730-1790 or 1801-1815?

Marmot: Well, I have trouble remembering things that happened to me last week. Given that I am approximately 1/12 as old as he is (in marmot years), he should be forgetting on a 4th grade level. Wait, I think my math might be off.

Manatee: You could be a writer on the show then!

Marmot: I should be. Get me Dutchie Amsterdam on the line! Something else I really hate about this show is Blonde Sargeant. Are they sure that she's their boss and not some crazy woman who just showed up one day and started pretending to work there?

Manatee: I know - what was up with that "Partners are like married couples but without the sex" line? Why is she on this show?

Marmot: She's like that girl in an office who doesn't really work, but just walks around all day and makes a bunch of suggestive comments in an attempt to get someone to talk to her. Every office has one.

Manatee: I hate to ask? But which one of us is it in our office Marmot? Haha. What was up with the ending, where the Dr. Girlfriend just shows back up?

Marmot: Dr. Girlfriend is kind of an idiot. I would be frightened if she was my doctor.

Manatee: Never move to NYC, you run the risk of ending up in her ER.

Marmot: No kidding. First, her idea of a background check is Googling her boyfriend's name, then she doesn't consider that he might be 400 years old, even though that's what the show is about, then she straight up asks him if he's ever cheated before and just decides, "eh, what are the odds that he'll do it again?"

Manatee: Well, at least he isn't married!

Marmot: One last note about this show, and I think it's a big one. John Amsterdam is a boring character. A good character is flawed; they have internal problems that they struggle to fix. In most of his flashbacks, we learn things about him that make him inherently more interesting: he was an adulterer, murderer, coward, alcoholic - but all of these occur in the past, so the character we are watching - one who has atoned for his sins and is not literally waiting for death - is not very interesting.

Manatee: That's an outstanding point. I think you hit the nail on the head.