New Amsterdam

Reviewed by:
Robbie Throckmorton

We'll be honest—the prospect of another cop show had us going into this one with zero-point-zero-zero hope. Well, it's actually not that bad, provided you can overlook the fact that the show's main character is immortal. (Don't worry, it's much better than Moonlight). Yes, you'll have to suspend disbelief to accept the fact that this guy was cursed (or blessed) with the ability to never age or die until he finds Mrs. Right. But if you can, you might find yourself enjoying this quite a bit, so long as the love story angle doesn't become too sappy in later episodes. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays John Amsterdam, the undying homicide detective who has lived in New York since before the first skyscraper was even thought of. He came to America as a Dutch soldier in the 17th century, and was run through with a sword in battle. A Native American shaman, however, healed him and gave him his immortality. In present day, Amsterdam is a cocky detective who has trouble keeping partners, but it's through flashbacks that we learn of all his goings on in the past 400 years. Though we generally fell asleep in history class, this isn't nearly as dull as it sounds. In fact, since police-procedure shows are color-by-number at this point, the flashbacks are what will decide if the show sinks or swims. For us, it's worth at least a couple more weeks to find out.

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