New Amsterdam Won't Have Max and Sharpe Become a Thing in Season 3

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for the New Amsterdam Season 2 finale. Read at your own risk!]

We're still a long ways away from seeing any new episodes of New Amsterdam any time soon; due to COVID-19, a timeline for resuming production is still very much a mystery. One thing we can be sure of when NBC's hospital drama resumes, though, is that Max Goodwin's (Ryan Eggold) and Dr. Helen Sharpe (Freema Agyeman) won't be consummating the clear attraction they have for each other in the near future.  

Of course, the Season 2 finale New Amsterdam ended up airing wasn't what producers and writers initially had in mind but still, the episode introduced Daniel Dae Kim's character Cassian Shin, and ended the poorly-timed romance between Max and Alice (Alison Luff). Sadly though, Dr. Shin's arrival on the scene means that the hole in Max's heart won't be filled with the woman he should be with anytime soon; in an interview with TV Guide, creator and executive producer David Schulner confirmed that the images we saw of Sharpe and Cassian smiling happily at each other are indicative of a new normal in the hospital. 

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"Sharpe and Cassian are going to become a thing," Schulner said. "They're good for each other, and it's great for her to see that Max's way isn't the only way." Sharpwin hive, brace yourself for a rough future.

Sharpe's newfound friendship might seem doubly tough for fans to see given that Max and Alice decided to part ways, since this means he's all alone again. To be fair though, that situation always had an air of finality to it; Max is still grieving, figuring out how to be a single dad, running a hospital, and probably not in the best space to date. Alice seemed nice and all, but deep down, both seemed to sense that they weren't meant for each other.

"Alice revealed herself to be a rebound relationship," Schulner said. "As much as Max wanted to be ready to move on, Alice showed him he wasn't ready to move on."

As heartbreaking as it might be to see Sharpe and Max further away from each other than before, their apparently stalled affections for each other also set up a third season full of juicy conflicts. Cassian, with his hands-off, slightly breezy attitude towards things going on in the hospital that don't involve him personally, is sure to bump heads with Max, and with Max having to watch him and Sharpe date from the sidelines, New Amsterdam will have no shortage of drama in future episodes.

Schulner told TV Guide that, as much as Max and Cassian clash going forward, Max does respect him -- even if their contrasting philosophies mean some friction ahead. Then again, the hospital will be facing an unprecedented crisis when we see the staff again. "I don't think romance is going to be on his mind [going forward]," Schulner said. "Or maybe it could be: sex and death are very closely linked. After being so close to this pandemic anything is possible."

New Amsterdam aired its last episode of Season 2 until it returns from hiatus and has been renewed for Season 3; it's streaming on Hulu.