New Amsterdam EPs On Series Finale's Full-Circle Twist, Max's Romantic Future And Stirring Up 'Crazy Emotions'

Warning: The following contains major spoilers for Tuesday's New Amsterdam. Proceed at your own risk!

New Amsterdam's very final episode kicked off with a surprise announcement: Max was leaving the hospital to go work for the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. The big move was part of his plan to devote more time to his daughter Luna, which must have worked out, because in the show's closing scene, New Amsterdam's new medical director addressed her staff and revealed that she's Luna, who's all grown up and in charge and played by Molly Griggs (Servant, Prodigal Son) in the future!

Back in the present day timeline, Max's decision to take on the new job put an abrupt end to his relationship with Elizabeth Wilder. But Max was committed to making Luna the center of his life, even if it meant leaving behind all the things he loves, he told Elizabeth. While handing her the keys to New Amsterdam, he reassured her that if he does come back, it won't be for the hospital. But technically, he is single, so does that mean there's hope for #Sharpwin? (More on that below.)

Elsewhere in the series ender, Iggy and Martin got remarried in a small family-only ceremony officiated by Gladys; Vanessa reached out to Lauren at an NA meeting; and Floyd appeared to have finally convinced a woman he loves to stay in New York.

Below, showrunner/executive producer David Schulner and EP/director Peter Horton break down the finale's Luna twist and whether Max's ambiguous romantic ending leaves the door open for him and Helen to reunite. Plus, scroll down to grade the series finale!

TVLINE | We didn't see Max pondering this new job offer or whatever conversations that may have resulted in for him. So walk me through your thinking in terms of why you wanted to end the series with him leaving New Amsterdam in New York and moving on in this way.

DAVID SCHULNER | In order to set up Luna coming back as medical director in the future, but to give that audience the surprise of, "Oh, my God, that's Luna in the future," instead of seeing this person taking over New Amsterdam, and you thinking it's in the present day and hiding the ball that it's Luna, we had to have Max leave. So, really, that decision to have Luna take over and give the audience the surprise that it's Luna is what dictated the fact that we had to get Max out of there.

PETER HORTON | That and the fact that we really love ambiguity and we wanted to leave that question of his relationship with Wilder a bit in the wind. With him giving her the keys to New Amsterdam, they're clearly not, at this moment, together. He's going off to Geneva with his daughter. They're still in love with each other, but the future is ambiguous, and we wanted to leave with that tone.

TVLINE | How long have you had this particular ending in mind for Max and with Luna being the New Amsterdam medical director in the future? 

SCHULNER | Well, we never expected the show to end. So once we knew Season 5 was our last, then we had that ending before we started the season, so we knew where we were going. But I think Peter and I, honestly, thought we had a couple of more years of strong stories left to tell, so none of us were thinking about ending, at all. ... My 11-year-old daughter came up with that ending, and I was like, "OK, 11-year-old daughter, like thank you very much, but I'll take it from here." And then one of our writers, Laura Valdivia, pitched me the same ending a week later, and I was like, "Oh, OK." And then a week later, [writer/EP] Erika Green pitched me the same ending on set, that Luna should take over as medical director, and I was like, "Well, I guess this is what we're doing."

TVLINE | It is such a full circle moment for the show, so it really feels right in a way. What message did you ultimately want to leave viewers with in that final image? 

SCHULNER | You end where you begin. Max in that auditorium on his first day was where we started the show, so it just felt so natural to end the show with the next medical director on her first day. Having that connection, her being inspired by Max to take this job just felt satisfying because it's as if it was planted from the beginning.

HORTON | And I think from a larger perspective, it was leaving the message that hope isn't personal, that it's not dependent on Max. It's not dependent on a person. Hope is in and of itself a power, and that baton will continue to be passed and hope will continue.

TVLINE | We don't really get any definitive answers about what the future holds for Max in his romantic life. How did you approach that part of his journey and who he should or shouldn't end up with in the end?

HORTON | On some level, the most satisfying answer to that question is Luna. He should end up with Luna, being the best dad he could ever be, because that's really his choice in the long run. As much as he loves and will always love all three of the women in his life that we got to go through, with Georgia and Sharpe and Wilder, the one that really is important to him, and the one that makes both of us love him most is that he chooses Luna. And then we get to see the manifestation of that choice, which is she's able to come back and embrace the world she, as a little girl, thought took him from her, and really get why he was doing what he did.

TVLINE | Obviously, people have very strong feelings about that subject matter. Did you find yourself having to walk a delicate line when it came to how you would conclude that aspect of his life, with regards to Helen versus Elizabeth?

SCHULNER | No, we're not here to be delicate. We're here to make strong, bold choices that stir up crazy emotions in our fans.

HORTON |  And we succeeded in this case. [Laughs]

SCHULNER |  That's what we're here for. We're not here to tiptoe around things. We're here to get people jumping off their couches... Our job is to make people feel things. And God bless them for being passionate about the show. I mean, God, that's so much better than apathy or a collective shrug. I want people yelling at the television set. That's the dream.

TVLINE | We don't see any conversations between Max and Elizabeth about his decision to take on this new job. They don't want to do long distance? 

SCHULNER | We definitely made a decision about what happens between them and then we cut it out of the show. Because we found it so much better to have you asking these questions, Vlada. The audience is left with wanting to know, [and] the audience is left with, "I'm saying they stick to together," or, "Dammit, Max, why did you do that? But I understand you want to be with Luna." The audience gets to participate in a way that they wouldn't have had... We made one small trim and it kind of opened up a new door for us, which is great.

TVLINE | Max clearly has feelings for Elizabeth before he leaves for Geneva, but since he's technically going to be single, at least in the immediate future, and he's living abroad, does that open a door for him and Helen to find their way back to each other?

SCHULNER | Oh, I like that theory.

HORTON | I like that idea. That's cool. Well, that's going to be up to whether Universal can get us another extension for the show. [Laughs] We'd be happy to answer that question given the opportunity.

TVLINE | But was that something in your minds when you were crafting this ending and leaving it more open-ended?

SCHULNER | No, I think what Peter said about Max choosing Luna is the choice we wanted him to make. But again, I love where your mind is going.

(Click here for more scoop on Freema Agyeman/Helen's absence in the series finale.)

TVLINE | The glimpses of Lauren and Vanessa, Floyd and Gabrielle having dinner with his family, Iggy and Martin remarrying, were those flash-forwards?

HORTON | Time is flexible in this last [episode]. [Laughs]

SCHULNER | Yeah, they didn't all happen on the same day.

TVLINE | Does that mean that Floyd convinced Gabrielle to stay and she never left for Tanzania?

SCHULNER | Well, I think she did leave for Tanzania. But the good thing about these temporary nursing positions is they're just temporary.

HORTON | That scene at the end where he's with his family... now he's there with the one who's right for him, and he's able to have the family he had always dreamed of, and it's the right time and it's the right lady.

SCHULNER | Yeah, with his dad there, too. It was really everyone.

TVLINE | And it was real nice to see Daniel Dae Kim again. That was a very pleasant surprise. Was that important for you guys to address his disappearance and show that he's been here all along?

SCHULNER | That actually wasn't important to us. But when we hit on this 53-person surgery, one of the reasons to do this medical story for the finale was because it gave us the opportunity to bring back all the characters we've loved over five years. So if you performed surgery at New Amsterdam, we did our best to get you into that finale, that final surgery. So one of the reasons to do it was so we could see people like Daniel Dae Kim again.