"New Amsterdam" Debuts on Fox

Fox Broadcasting premiered its long awaited television series, New Amsterdam, on Tuesday, March 4^th. While the show is most assuredly well done, I'm not certain that it can pull the kind of ratings necessary to keep its head above water. I, for one, will be pulling for it.

I had hoped that in the opening episode the powers-that-be would answer just a few more questions about the background of the show's hero, John Amsterdam, (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). While it did somewhat address the issues of why and how he was imbued with immortality, it still left a lot of questions unanswered.

I guess the idea is that the audience has to tune in for more episodes in order to get the full picture behind John's undead status. This much we do know. He isn't a vampire and, therefore, doesn't suffer from any of problems supposedly related to that status. In other words, he doesn't have to drink blood and he can go out into the daylight.

He's not an immortal along the lines of the highlander in that he doesn't have to travel the world defeating and killing other immortals in order to receive his reward - - death. And make no mistake about it, after more than three and one-half centuries of immortality, John is more than ready for his life to come to an end. And it can, but only under certain circumstances.

So how did our hero become immortal? He, of course, did the heroic thing. In 1642, while fighting as a Dutch solider in the area that would eventually become New York, he stepped in to save a Native American maiden.

While he could do nothing to bring back her tribe, which was systematically being wiped out by the enemy, he decided to save at least one life and stepped in front of a sword in order to spare hers.

In response to him saving her life, she in turn saves his with a spell known only by her people. As he once again begins to breath, she tells him he will never grow old or die until he finds "the one and their souls are eternally entwined."

The one, it seems, is the woman to whom he was destined to be bound had he not made the decision that he did. However, throughout his many years of existence, circumstances beyond his control never allowed the pair to meet.

In the series opener, John is in the midst of one of his police investigations. He is hot on the trail of a man he thinks may have killed an as yet unidentified young woman. Just as he catches up to the perpetrator in the subway and begins to talk him down and take away his weapon, something unusual happens.

It would seem that he suffers a massive heart attack. Even a young female doctor who is in the vicinity at the time can't save him.

Of course we quickly learn that our hero isn't really dead. He is just regenerating from an unexplained event. Once he does, however, he manages to convince himself that what happened was the result of "the one" being somewhere in the same vicinity as him.

We also learn that "the one" is Dr. Sara Dillane (Alexie Gilmore); the young doctor who tried so valiantly to save him in the subway. Since John was out cold at the time, he doesn't have a clue.

Of course, if all of that is true, it opens a whole new can of worms. How can their souls become entwined if, every time he meets her, he dies? That is question that he can't answer. Nor can the only friend he has who is aware of his secret - - Omar (Stephen Harrison).

In the meantime, while he searches for "the one," John continues to do what he does best, save lives and bring criminals to justice as a New York City detective. At his side is his partner, Eva Marquez (Zuleikha Robinson).

I'll be honest. I think that the premiere episode could have been a bit stronger. Perhaps it should have been a two-hour episode. More time was needed to get the audience invested in John as a hero. Not accomplishing that from the very beginning may cause the show valuable viewers. I hope not, but I fear it is possible.

I also think that the characters need more time to "gel" as an ensemble. Right now, I have no reason to care about Sara. The little amount of time she spent on the screen in the opener was negligible; certainly not enough for us to invest in her as a heroine. In fact, I found her a bit wooden and perhaps a too cold.

I still think there is hope for this show but it will need to do a better job of grabbing on to the audience and pulling them into the story. That means that we need to know more about Amsterdam and we need to know it quickly.

Second, the characters have to gel together. We have to buy a bond between John and his partner; John and Omar, and eventually John and Sara. Right now that simply isn't happening. And while I think the writers have a sense of where the show needs to go, they have got to do a better job of getting the audience invested in their vision.

I think that Coster-Waldau can become a compelling hero. I could be wrong, but I sense there is something there that will make people invest in his character. On the other hand, as of now, I'm not so certain that his leading lady (Gilmore) has that capability. In this instance, I really long to be proven wrong.

I have hopes for this show but in light of all of the decent shows that have already been shelved this year, I know better than to count it.