Amidst the drivel that has been gracing TV screens in the last few months comes an original, refreshing new show called "New Amsterdam." Showing Monday nights at 9 p.m. on FOX, "Amsterdam" centers on homicide detective John Amsterdam, a man with many secrets and an even bigger trick up his sleeve: immortality. During a raid on a Native American village in the 1600s, Amsterdam gives up his life to save a young girl from his own brutal men. She then resurrects him with some sort of ancient Native American spell, promising a life of eternal youth and immortality until he finds his one true love
The plot then flashes forward to the present day as the audience sees a suave, if cynical, John Amsterdam who is still living in present-day New York City. He has taken pictures yearly of the city as it grew from the colony of New Amsterdam to that of the mighty New York City of today. The pilot ends with an incredibly cool run-through of the buildings of Times Square, starting out with just a dirt road and some buildings and evolving into the massive stream of buildings, lights and billboards almost anyone can recognize.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays John Amsterdam, and with his good looks and old-school charm, it is incredibly easy to fall into the show. His portrayal of a lonely man obsessed with death is impeccable, especially since one can sense his isolation and cynicism from the first few minutes of the pilot episode. While investigating a murder case, Amsterdam chases a suspect into the subway, only to experience a nonfatal heart attack.
He later comes back to life in the morgue and realizes that the only possible cause of his near-death experience is that his soul mate was nearby in the subway. He obtains a video camera of the subway that day (after solving the mystery, of course) and begins his search for the love of his life so that he too can experience death like the rest of humanity.
While the acting and storytelling are both superb, involving flashbacks and mysterious homicide cases, the themes of the show may be a little too heavy for today's audiences. Amsterdam wrestles with the gift of immortality and his ability to see the world as it grows and flourishes - as well as having all the time he needs to explore different career paths, marriages, children and lovers, while having to deal with the pain that comes with the death of everyone he loves. The show asks whether it would be better to live one life and eventually die or live an infinite number of lives but have to face the eternity without loved ones. And judging by the pain Amsterdam feels, the show evidently suggests the former is the better option.
Another tricky theme is that of love and soul mates. Is there really one person for each of us, or are there multiple possibilities of love, each no better than the other? Also, if there is one person for each of us, what if those two people never meet? Couldn't it then be said that because two people never met, they clearly weren't meant for each other? The fact that it has taken John Amsterdam nearly 400 years to find the love of his life (and the audience still doesn't know whether she is out there) does not bode well for the romantic notion of soul mates and true love.
Still, this show is worth a look because of its smart and unique premise, as well as the mystery surrounding John Amsterdam and his past. The show reveals his past one piece at a time, much like "Lost," only there's one person to focus on instead of 15. Whether or not the show will be able to stay on the networks after the regular television shows air again has yet to be seen, but as there is nothing like it on FOX, and quite honestly, the rest of cable television, it seems likely that "New Amsterdam" will stick around for a little while longer.
