Dr. Bloom’s addiction to Adderall has become a major cause for concern over the past few episodes of New Amsterdam. Dr. Helen Sharpe ended up reporting Bloom for her problem, and Bloom will be faced with a decision on the Feb. 12 episode: get help or she’s fired. HollywoodLife talked EXCLUSIVELY with the cast and executive producer about this intervention.
“It’s a big episode for Bloom [Janet Montgomery] for sure — and Iggy [Frome],” Tyler Labine, who plays Iggy, told HollywoodLife at the SCAD aTVfest on Feb. 9 in Atlanta. “She definitely gets some help sprung upon her that she might not be ready to accept, but Iggy, being the passionate and bullheaded doctor that he is, he is there for her through all of that. We really quickly have to shift our old relationship from colleagues to patient and doctor. It’s weird for both of us.”
Getting the scene between Bloom and Frome right was key for executive producer David Schulner, and he revealed that this type of situation is not uncommon. “It’s a big decision because it’s one that happens a lot in the medical field and one that Dr. Manheimer, who the show is based on, had to do several times over the course of his tenure as medical director,” David said. “So to be able to know that we were doing it right and to know we were portraying it in a truthful way was helpful for all of us because it’s such a terrible dilemma.”
One person who does not know about Bloom’s addiction is her co-worker, Dr. Floyd Reynolds. He will find out that Bloom has been struggling soon. “In the next couple of episodes, eventually Reynolds, who doesn’t know about her Adderall problem, is going to find out. It’s going to flip his world upside down a little bit. He’s going to be devastated,” Jocko Sims teased.
With Sharpe being the one who reported Bloom, Freema Agyeman knows that the characters have a long way to go until their relationship is back to normal. “There’s definitely going to be some groundwork to make up to rebuild that relationship,” Freema told HollywoodLife at the NBC midseason press junket in NYC on Jan. 24. “I think Sharpe, if she had the decision to make all over again, she would probably make the same decision because she is a professional and Bloom was endangering herself and other people. Whether Bloom accepts that straightaway remains to be seen.” New Amsterdam, which was recently renewed for a second season, airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on NBC.