Is Freema Agyeman in New Amsterdam season 5 at all?

Freema Agyeman is one of the best parts of NBC’s medical drama series New Amsterdam, so fans were understandably upset when they learned she would not be returning for New Amsterdam season 5.

Her character, Dr. Helen Sharpe, has been a crucial part of the show’s ensemble since the beginning, especially when paired with Ryan Eggold’s character, Dr. Max Goodwin. The “Sharpwin” relationship is easily a fan-favorite.

Beware, some spoilers ahead for New Amsterdam season 5

Agyeman announced via Instagram that she was departing the show ahead of the fifth and final season. But does that mean she didn’t return for the ending at all? Here’s what you need to know about Agyeman’s (and Helen’s) involvement in New Amsterdam season 5.

Is Freema Agyeman in New Amsterdam season 5 at all?

Dr. Helen Sharpe does return in New Amsterdam season 5, but Freema Agyeman doesn’t. In short, Agyeman did not come back to film anything new, but the producers did repurpose old footage to make it look like she did.

Did Freema Agyeman come back to film those new scenes for New Amsterdam season 5?

At the end of season 5, episode 10, Max sees a news broadcast showing Helen back in New York, discussing her research on television. Having just started to move forward with his new love interest, Dr. Elizabeth Wild, Max is shaken by his ex-fiancée’s sudden return.

In the following episode, Helen actually texts Max and asks him to meet up with her at a bar. Max goes to the bar and sees Helen there, but never actually approaches her, instead choosing to refocus on Elizabeth.

As viewers, we also see Helen at a bar, but based on some sleuthing by Pop Culture References and the help of a few Twitter users, it looks like that footage was re-used from a season 2 deleted scene. It’s unclear where her “news broadcast” segment from the previous episode was pulled from.

If Agyeman had really returned to shoot something new, it’s very unlikely the writers would choose not to give her an on-screen speaking role with Eggold, at the very least. In situations like these, you can generally tell whether or not some camera trickery is afoot. Helen’s only time “speaking” to Max is through text and the shot where we see Max in the window behind Helen while she’s sitting at the bar could easily have been spliced together in post.

So, in short, no, it doesn’t seem like Agyeman returned in any capacity for season 5. Another indication is that she isn’t credited for either episode on either IMDb or IMDb Pro. And surely there would have been far more significant fanfare if she really had come back to film something new!

Freema Agyeman wanted to return for the New Amsterdam series finale

According to series showrunner/executive producer David Schulner, Agyeman did want to return for the show’s series finale, especially after her “cameo” in the previous episodes. But the timing didn’t work out right. Sadly, they couldn’t make it work with Anupam Kher, who played Dr. Vijay Kapoor, either.

Schulner told TVLine, “[Freema] was totally up for returning for the season finale. It’s our one regret that her and Anupam Kher — his character [Dr. Kapoor] died, obviously, on the show — but we would have loved to honor those characters and actors as well in the finale, but we just couldn’t make it work.”

New Amsterdam season 5 is coming to Netflix on Wednesday, September 20. Watch seasons 1-4 of the series right now.