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When studios across America closed earlier this year due to the novel coronavirus epidemic, New Amsterdam Season 2 had 19 of its episodes filmed. However, when one of those was deemed "too horrifying" in our current climate, the decision was made not to air it. This means that the April 14 episode of the NBC show will serve as the season finale.
Originally, New Amsterdam Season 2, Episode 18 was due to be "Pandemic," a look at what could happen if a major flu outbreak affected New York City. However, with the world facing an actual pandemic, the series' showrunner David Schulner wrote an essay for Deadline describing why he decided to shelve the episode.
He wrote: "Sometimes, what the mirror reflects back is too horrifying to look at...We shot a fictional pandemic episode right before a real pandemic hit. People are dying in real life. Do we really want to watch fake people die too?
"New York State now accounts for seven percent of the world's infections. And by the time you read this, it will most likely be more. The images we put on screen, of New Yorkers fleeing parks, autopsies in makeshift labs, are hard to watch. Some would say exploitative. Some would say in bad taste. Now they won't say anything. Because the mirror has been taken down. For better and for worse."
This announcement came a few days after a number of crew members tested positive for the virus, as did cast member Daniel Dae Kim. Ironically, Kim was due to be introduced as a doctor who joins the hospital in response to the pandemic.
According to this essay, the episode will air in the future, "just not now." This suggests that the "Pandemic" episode will air as part of New Amsterdam Season 3, which has been confirmed by NBC alongside Seasons 4 and 5.
The announcement that the "Pandemic" episode had been shelved also came a few days after New Amsterdam delivered what Schulner called "half a truck load of PPE, masks, gloves, gowns and face masks" to the New York State Department of Health.
Although New Amsterdam has its pandemic episode in the can, it is not known when the show will be able to film the rest of Season 3. The NBC series films at Bellevue and Kings County Hospital, both of which are currently involved in a real fight against the pandemic, and New Yorkers are currently being told to work from home until at least April 29.
Seasons 1 and 2 of New Amsterdam began at the end of September, but it remains to be seen if Season 3 will be able to follow suit.
New Amsterdam Season 3 is coming soon to NBC.
