Vive la résistance!

Dr. Wilder is singlehandedly one of the best things to come out of this season, and she certainly was the best part about New Amsterdam Season 4 Episode 11.

So, when does she get a spinoff? Assuming, of course, that her picking up where Max left off as the series splits its time doesn't already constitute as one.

The winter premiere provided us with some great moments, from Wilder rallying the troops and performing an undercover surgery in the morgue to Helen and Max's romantic comedy montage as they prepared their new apartment.

And of course, maintaining a theme of exceptional guest-stars, we got the incomparable thespian Geoffery Owens as Santa turned sleeper assistant.

But we also got a great deal of the frustrating elements of the season and some new things tossed into the mix to irk our collective spirits further.

But Elizabeth Wilder remains one of the saving graces of this season, and I would kill for her.

Since they insisted on carrying through with this London plot, they needed someone to capture the essence of Max back at NAH. We suspected Wilder would fit the bill, but it was surprising that it took so much for her to find allies in Iggy, Lauren, and Floyd.

What is the meaning of this? Max made an agreement with that latte-drinking hellion to save their jobs at the expense of so many other people. You'd think they would have either motivation to avenge their close ones or feel indebted to Max to defeat Fuentes however they could.

Wilder: What would Max do?
Lauren: You didn't even know Max.
Wilder: My last hospital was run by somebody just like Veronica. All they ever cared about was, "Oh, how many people did you cut? How much money did you make?" Max reminded me that a hospital can be more than that. I can be more than that. I rearranged my entire life after knowing him for two weeks. You knew him for years. What did he do for you? What would Max want you to do? Right now?
Iggy: But Max isn't here. And he's not coming back.

• Permalink: What would Max want you to do? Right now?

Yes, they miss Max at New Amsterdam, but after years of his encouragement and inspiration, it's bizarre that it took a newcomer to initiate anything at all.

And then Lauren resented that Wilder would be the one to broach the topic when she didn't know Max long, but Wilder's response was perfect. It didn't take them long either to fall into line with Max. He moved them all early on, and they haven't been the same since.

Wilder's calm indifference to Fuentes was funny during the department head meeting because you knew it was all for show. But Fuentes is the absolute worst and confusing, too.

She pissed everyone off at the hospital. You can't gleefully bask in your villainy and get annoyed when no one wants to engage with you. The notion that she had to call a meeting and threaten to fire anyone who didn't show up, all to tell them things that could've been in a gosh damn email, is ridiculous.

Fuentes: I know that this budget squeeze has been very hard on everyone, so I'm excited to show to you exactly what you've been sacrificing for. Would you please join me in welcoming Dr. Mia Castries, chair of Holistic Medicine.
Floyd: Did she just say holistic medicine?
Lauren: I lost a third of my department for hand massages and crystals.

• Permalink: I lost a third of my department for hand massages and crystals.

But the problem is there is a way to show the business and for-profit aspect of healthcare that is the antithesis of this show's message while fleshing it out.

We've returned, and Fuentes is still a one-dimensional villain with poorly constructed and executed motivations. For example, she fired hundreds of necessary people and then hired others, contradicting her assertions about the budget.

She's slashing programs all over the place, but we're not seeing anything that makes up for it to explain why she cut them.

And if she's business-minded and about making rational, economical choices, why would she cut Iggy's vocational program when they were getting free, or close to it, services from capable people?

Everything Fuentes attempts to do undercuts her messaging and what she professes to be about, so even if she weren't the absolute worst, it's hard to go along with her antics and this long, drawn-out arc.

We've approached the half a dozenth time where she's instituted something that's a liability and could cost people their lives in the name of the almighty dollar.

This time around, she rejected Greg's surgery until he could have it scheduled through his insurance company, despite how dire it was and the likelihood of his death.

Fuentes thought she squashed everyone's spirits, but it lives on with Wilder. She's the perfect person to lead the cause, and no one would see it coming.

Her plan to not resist publically could work to her advantage, and because of her position as a recent hire who didn't know Max for too long, Fuentes wouldn't see it coming from her when she'd be more focused on the other trio.

I love Wilder and Ben to pieces, and the underground rebellion angle could make things with Fuentes more bearable. If Max couldn't do anything to take her down, maybe Wilder will have more luck.

Once she got the others onboard, it boded well. Iggy was shockingly chaotic with his plans. Wilder's out-of-the-box solution to work around Fuentes cutting Iggy's vocational patients was classic Max.

And once Iggy heard the idea, he ran with it. It made perfect sense, too. If the vocational patients proved that they were assets through their volunteer work, the fields they were in at the hospital would've wanted to keep them on anyway.

Trevor: I don't know how you drink that stuff and still look as good as you look.
Iggy: Yeah, right.
Trevor: Are you kidding me? The way you're wearing that jumper? It fits you like a glove.
Iggy: Oh, thank you. It was a gift from my hu- from a family member.
Trevor: You should ask for a few more. You're killing it.

• Permalink: You should ask for a few more. You're killing it.

The only outlier was poor Kris/Chris/Santa. Again, Geoffrey Owens was such a freaking delight. His passionate diatribes about the magic of Christmas and what it entails were unexpectedly inspiring.

I love the idea of these mentally ill individuals dazzling, impressing, and inspiring everyone, and showing that their mental illness does not mean they're incapable of being model citizens.

Not only is it good that Kris/Santa got a new job and can stay at the hospital, after all, but he's working beneath Fuentes. He's a perfect asset for the resistance. He'll have all the insider information they can use to their advantage.

Plus, it'll be hysterical when Fuentes realizes that her assistant is one of Iggy's patients. It's a promising development that has potential within a storyline that remains frustrating and bleak.

It was the only decent win Iggy had because his confidence boost with Trevor around only means trouble is on the horizon. Why is Iggy, Iggy?

I know he has these self-esteem and body issues, so Trevor's praise is something he's living for, and he doesn't want it to stop, but nothing good can come from this.

He's actively not mentioning his husband. At this point, I want to buy Martin a drink. Iggy does the most, and loving him is exhausting.

It took Lauren a bit to come around to Wilder, but she went guns blazing into risky behavior for her patient. Lauren was on fire with the one-liners, and bless the woman for dealing with freaking Mia.

Mia can shove her crystals where the sun doesn't shine.

The messed up thing about how this played out is that holistic and alternative medicine already gets a bad wrap for something that's as rooted in the history of healing as modern medicine as we know it.

It doesn't help that the face of holistic healing is typically some young blond woman who acts like she's going through a phase she activated one day after scrolling through Pinterest while drinking Starbucks.

But Fuentes fired hundreds of people and cut medical programs that were necessities to pay the salary for this sarcastic woman and her rocks and generic comments about Chi.

Lauren: I don't know how things were done in the lost city of Atlantis, but here, int this hospital, where we practice real medicine, we just don't take out doctor's patients, are we clear?
Mia: Yes. Listen, I don't want to bum you out, but Atlantis was not a real place
Lauren: Get those needles out of him.
Mia: This man needs his Chi realigned.
Lauren: And I'm a Pisces.

• Permalink: And I'm a Pisces.

Ideally, her holistic methods could work alongside medicine, not in opposition. The chances are that will be the case down the road based on those interactions between Mia and Lauren.

Although Mia is aware of how she and her skills come across, she's still agitating because of her association with Fuentes. We also don't know what she'll do with the information about the secret surgery. It makes her even more of a wild card.

It was also annoying that her and Lauren's testy exchanges felt too similar to a classic enemies-to-lovers arc.

For now, Leyla is out of the picture. She's taken a rotation at the VA for however long, and Lauren can't get in touch with her. While disappointing that Leyla isn't around right now, it's a natural progression after what happened.

But I would've preferred to see them navigating their relationship and working through it while having to be alongside one another at New Amsterdam.

It's an alienation with Lauren with Casey and Leyla gone, so that's another reason her scenes with Mia were so irritating, too.

And we're still not free of this damn storyline with Floyd!

What's left to say about this? It's a waste of Floyd, and the storyline blows! Nothing about how they're presenting this is doing any of the characters any favors, makes them endearing, or is a decent depiction of polyamory.

I'm having some feelings. This place feels like New Amsterdam again, for the first time since Max left. And it's because of who walked in.

Iggy

• Permalink: I'm having some feelings. This place feels like New Amsterdam again, for the first time since...

It's like something out of a C-List, lousy rom-com. I have zero investment in it, and I felt nothing about Lyn's geriatric pregnancy, miscarriage scare, and fear that her baby could have some form of dystrophy.

She sounded ludicrous for getting upset at her men for wanting to know who the father was. Everything about this situation is messy, and no matter how many times she sits down and has talks where she makes all the decisions and assumes they agree with her, it won't change how dramatic this is.

Claude and Floyd's conversation about fatherhood will go down in the show's history as one of the top awkwardest conversations and exchanges of dialogue ever.

Why would Floyd think Claude would consider backing off if the child isn't his when he's MARRIED to Lyn? Floyd's attempt to make that comparison between him and Claude doesn't even make sense! It's not the same thing at all.

Floyd: If, you know, this is my kid, I'd like to be a dad like that. My dad wasn't exactly the role model I'd wish he been.
Baptiste: Floyd, you're going to be a good father. Damn good.
Floyd: Thank you.
Baptiste: And if this child isn't yours, there's no shame in stepping away. Lyn and I will be just fine.
Floyd: I mean you and I took the same test. You ever think about what your plans would be if this child is mine?
Baptiste: My plans? Oh, is that how this is?
Floyd: You see any other way?

• Permalink: And if this child isn't yours, there's no shame in stepping away. Lyn and I will be just fine.

Claude is married to and lives with Lyn, and for that alone, the baby can legally be considered his regardless. It's a weird as hell situation all around where Floyd and Lyn constantly look like dicks with their behavior, and Claude gets treated as if his reactions are always wrong.

Somehow, this happy trio destroyed the paternity results and had this bizarre sitcom moment in the end, but can they please burn this whole arc with fire? It's dreadful!

It's annoying that they wasted so much of our time with this storyline, especially in the winter premiere.

Meanwhile, the happy Sharpwin montages are always fun.

They lived their best life when they arrived in London and got the apartment ready for Luna. They christened the apartment with hot makeout sessions. The paint fight was the cutest thing, and Luna running toward Helen and huggingher will live in my head rent-free.

Helen: Why are you smiling?
Max: Because I am a terrible receptionist. Really bad at it. But also, I'm in awe of you, and everything you are.
Helen: Well, you shouldn't be. You should be very deeply frustrated with me because this whole transition has been way harder than I expected it to be. And I'm so worried that you're going to hate it here and worried that you're going to think it was a mistake and resent me for it. What with everything that you left behind --
Max: I love it here because I love you, and you know, you're here, so I love it here.

• Permalink: I love it here because I love you, and you know, you're here, so I love it here.

It's those moments that you cling to when the rest of the London arc tests your patience.

It's not bad that they're in London, and the show's concept exploring the pitfalls of socialized healthcare there and comparing and contrasting that to American healthcare is a bright idea.

No healthcare method is foolproof, and as much as socialized healthcare is idealized, it doesn't come without its fair of issues and requires some tweaks and improvement.

Leave it to Max to be the one to pinpoint them and spark a rebellion among patients.

Once a renegade, always one, and while adjusting to life in London is challenging, Max will always be Max. Helen is thriving in her position at Hampstead, and it's led to a bit of a role reversal, as now it's Max's turn to be the supportive figure in her life while she takes on healthcare.

She's ambitious, but her views on improving things are heavily influenced by her time spent in the States, and Roderick from NHS isn't a fan of that, and he's resistant to her idea of change.

It's the type of thing we've seen Max endure for multiple seasons, but now it's Helen's turn to navigate within the system in creative ways with obstacles in her way.

She's passionate about her work here, and it's one of the things about this arc that works.

What's off right now is that it feels like Max jumped into relocating and uprooting his life because of his love for Helen, but he didn't have a plan.

It's weird to see him as a receptionist at the clinic, and he's as chaotic and American as ever there. But even though he has his license to practice in England now, you can't imagine him doing so at a London hospital or practice.

The same problems he had at Hampstead, which prompted Helen to fire him, are what he'll face no matter where he goes. And while Max won't resent Helen for this move and these changes, the same may not be the case for viewers, which sucks.

Sharpwin is a solid couple, and thankfully, they've committed to the pairing and don't appear to plan on breaking them up, but they're throwing many challenges their way. Max is a fish out of water, and I wonder how long he can stay upbeat in London when he doesn't have as much to do.

Helen: You're fired.
Max: I'm what?
Helen: I can't hire you, Max, and you are fired from being quite possibly the worst receptionist ever. Today,I had to face the fact that my American fixes are not going to work here. They're not going to work in this system, and that includes you. I know that you're looking for something, and I will do anything to help you find it, but I have to figure out Hampstead on my own. I need to make it work.

• Permalink: I can't hire you, Max, and you are fired from being quite possibly the worst receptionist...

He got a taste of bucking against the system, though, so he'll find some good trouble to get into while there. He and Helen both intend on shaking things up. London better brace itself for Sharpwin.

Over to you, 'Dam Fanatics.

Was Mia the absolute worst? Which storyline is frustrating you the most? How thrilled are you that Wilder is resisting? Hit the comments!

You can watch New Amsterdam online here via TV Fanatic.

Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.