Dr. Elizabeth Wilder is the former Chief of Hematology and Oncology and Medical Director at New Amsterdam.
Elizabeth took over the Hematology and Oncology department for Dr. Helen Sharpe, who left for a Medical Director position in the United Kingdom.
After running the Hematology and Oncology department successfully for years, she became the Medical Director after Dr. Max Goodwin left for the W.H.O in Switzerland.
Personality[]
Elizabeth is confident and charismatic. Upon her first meeting with Max, she begins cursing extensively in sign language when told Helen Sharpe is the one she will be replacing if she takes the job. She is not shy to express how much she admires Helen professionally and that she thinks that she is 'foxy', despite being in a work interview with a stranger.
She is incredibly resourceful, which we know from Max mentioning that she had been given an 'Order Of The Star Of Ghana' for fixing water irrigation systems during her time in Medicins Sans Frontieres during her interview. Elizabeth also displays this throughout the show, having turned the morgue into a makeshift OR during the resistance, and knowing when the people around her can be resources in a situation and going to them in those times which we saw when she had gone to Mia for help with both Willow and Lewis.
Elizabeth cares deeply for her patients and the people around her and is willing to put her own livelihood at risk to help others. This is seen best in her determination not to give up when Willow wants to quit treatments, trying every possible angle until she found something that worked, and her starting the resistance. Her care for her friends is seen when she stands up to Veronica and takes full responsibility for the resistance, saying that Veronica does not need to punish anyone else but her.
However, Elizabeth can be fixed in her opinions and a little stubborn, as pointed out by Ben in Heal Thyself that not a lot of people can change her mind.
She can be quick to put too much faith in something and be gullible as a result. When Elizabeth meets Mia, she is distrustful of her, however after Mia helps Willow, Elizabeth is quick to invite her to the resistance. She also goes to Mia about Lewis, believing that she could somehow 'extend his life through the means and methods outside of the realm of scientific study'. She then falls for Mia's joking, thinking she's completely serious when she tells her that her dijon vinaigrette is an 'elixir from the springs of the Loxahache River, where in 1513, Ponstillion searched for the fountain of youth' which results in her offending Mia accidentally. However, this naivete allowed her to connect with Mia, who proved to be a loyal friend and a resource to her, when all the others were too skeptical and distrusting.
Elizabeth can sometimes feel alone, inadequate, and vulnerable because of her deafness. Despite appearing outwardly confident now, she used to struggle with feelings of insecurity and a need to prove herself to others 'when she was 19' and that 'she's still doing it now, but there's nothing left to prove.' This is brought up by her mentor, Beverly Clemmons, in Don't Do This for Me. In All Night Long, the audio goes silent after Max leaves Elizabeth alone on stage and she is simply signing with no one watching, showing how isolating it can feel. After this, she scrolls on dating apps searching for someone to talk to, not wanting to be alone, and ends up drinking at the bar while she waits for a response. When Elizabeth receives a text back for what seems to be a one night stand, she stops when she finally gets a notification that someone is at her door, and has to drink more wine to give herself courage. When she confronts the bartender in Unfinished Business, Elizabeth tells him that she makes herself vulnerable every morning she gets out of bed and steps into a world that wasn't made for her, a world that actively works against her, and that the one time she let her guard down, he gave her a reason to be afraid all over again. From this, you could infer that her hesitance to let the stranger into her home was because she felt unsafe, not only because she is a woman letting a man into her house, but a disabled woman.
Family[]
Elizabeth was born to hearing parents. Her older brother, Adam, is also hearing. As a child growing up, her family dinners were always silent so they could practice ASL for her. She and her family moved around constantly through the states so she could go to the best schools.
Her brother, Adam, has schizophrenia. He suffered his first episode in college, far away from home and family, and was arrested as law enforcement believed he was on drugs. Elizabeth mentions that he has been in and out of facilities for most of his life. During the pandemic, Adam moved in with her, and Elizabeth likely became his legal guardian then. This changed them for the better, and Elizabeth denies Max's offer to become Medical Director in We're in This Together, because now, he is her priority.
After Elizabeth moves to New Amsterdam, Adam has another episode. He is seen trying to pick things up in the Emergency Department in Family. Elizabeth the only one who can calm him down. She fights with Iggy, wanting to take him back home and out of the hospital, convinced that he will not hurt her and is not dangerous to her. When Iggy refuses, Elizabeth says she will get the court to sign on a release to take him home.
Elizabeth confesses to Iggy that she feels like she owes Adam. She believes if she and her parents paid more attention to him instead of being so focused on her, they could’ve seen the signs. It is revealed Adam faked the episode because he wanted to move out. He felt like he was a burden, saying that Elizabeth never went out anymore and that the other night when she had a ‘friend’ over for drinks was the first time she’d seen her happy in years.
After, Elizabeth wants to take him home, They have a heart to heart and Adam brings up a time in 8th grade when he brought her to the school dance because no one else would go with the ‘deaf girl’. He says that then, it was time for them to let her go, now it’s time for her to let him go. Elizabeth promises to always be there for him and they share a hug.
Relationships[]
Mia Castries[]
When Mia Castries joins the hospital in Talkin' Bout a Revolution, Elizabeth is one of the few doctors to clap for Mia when she finishes introducing herself. She turns around at Mia and smiles at her, clapping with her phone in her hand.
In The Crossover, Elizabeth meets Mia Castries. She bumps into her outside of the morgue as she and Ben Meyer are on the way to a resistance meeting. Elizabeth a suspicious of her at first as she is placed into the Oncology department by Veronica. She takes Mia’s jokes seriously, leading to an awkward first interaction. Elizabeth later turns to Mia for help with her patient, Willow. She tells Willow that she doesn’t know Mia, nor does she trust her, but she’s willing to put that aside if she can help her. Mia is able to help Willow and they share a touch and a smile. Seeming to now trust her, Elizabeth invites her to join the resistance.
When the resistance is exposed in Unto The Breach, Elizabeth eyes Mia carefully when she is taking deep breaths as they wait for everyone to arrive. When Veronica says that Mia had the chance to tell her about the resistance, but she didn’t. Elizabeth looks surprised, seeming to have suspected her as well.
Elizabeth goes to Mia looking for help with her patient Lewis in Two Doors. She puts too much faith in Mia’s abilities, accidentally offending Mia who blows up at her. When Mia finds her to apologize, Elizabeth smiles when she sees her. Elizabeth confesses she knows that she has tried every tool in her toolbox and Mia says she thinks she has one left in hers. Elizabeth stares at Mia for a moment, before she looks back at Lewis and smiles. Mia is able to help Lewis pass away peacefully but seems saddened by the realization he is gone. Elizabeth reassures Mia that she got him to his daughter’s wedding and places a comforting hand on her arm.
In the background of All Night Long when Casey is seen talking to the bartender, Mia and Elizabeth have their arms around each other's waists, smiling and swaying back and forth to the music together. When Elizabeth is on stage with Max doing karaoke, Mia is seen looking up and watching while she's giving Trevor a shoulder massage. At the end of the episode, Elizabeth gets another round of drinks for everyone from the bar and Mia touches her hand to get her attention. Mia takes two shots from her, and Elizabeth looks confused before she shrugs it off, amused.
In Heal Thyself, Elizabeth mentions that she has done acupuncture among the other treatments she has tried for her Carpal Tunnel. It is likely her time with Mia had led her to try acupuncture as it is clear throughout their interactions that Elizabeth was not very aware of alternative medicine at all or what it could/couldn't do prior to meeting her.
Ben Meyer[]
Ben Meyer is Elizabeth’s interpreter. He is able to lipread Elizabeth during surgeries when her hands are busy. He has worked with her for years and seems to be friends with her outside of work as well as in The Crossover, she asks him about how his date went. In Heal Thyself, Ben seems to be the only person at the hospital who was previously aware of Elizabeth’s carpal tunnel.
Trivia[]
- Sandra Mae Frank has read fanfiction for New Amsterdam! She responded to a tweet by DystonicPhonic94, who had linked their Elizabeth centric fic Sorry Kid, But You're The Hope, saying 'Beautifully written ❤️'
- Genevieve Angelson and Sandra Mae Frank have been vocal about their support for the ship between their characters, Mia Castries and Elizabeth Wilder, giving the ship their name, responding to fans on Twitter, liking tweet about the ship, fanart, edits and joining in on fandom jokes.
- They first named the ship in a series of tweets where fans on Twitter were asking if it was 'Wildies' or 'Wildstries', to which Genevieve replied, 'What do you think? @sandy21mae 🥰' and Sandra replied, "It's #Wildies alllll the way, 😎😉".
- Genevieve tweeted, "I'm callling it. #WILDIES." and Sandra quote tweeted saying, "Agreed, we make a great team, and the #DamFam fans agree! 🥰 Let's go with #Wildies 😎 BTW, I hope you enjoyed your salad..."
- In the comments of Genevieve's announcement post about guest starring on The Handmaid's Tale, Sandra referenced an ongoing joke within the Wildies fandom about salad dates, saying "Let's have a salad date soon, #missingyoutoowithlove ✨"
- In response to a fan asking if Mia Castries would be back for Season 5, Genevieve responded 'i bet if you send cupcakes to @aaronginsburg anything is possible." Sandra quote tweeted this saying 'And send #salads... a lot of salads."
- After the finale of New Amsterdam aired, Genevieve posted a boomerang of her and Sandra smiling at the camera from the BTS of All Night Long on her Instagram story with the caption 'I still have hope @sandramaefrank ⚡❤️#wildies @nbcnewamsterdam'. Sandra reposted this on her story with a salad sticker and 'How's it going with your salad?'
- Elizabeth is likely around 33 years old as she tells Adam to 'blame 2003' when they are talking about her 8th grade dance. This would have made her 13-14 years of age at the time. As the show takes place in current time, she would be around 32-33 years old when it aired in 2022.
- In All Night Long when Elizabeth is swiping a dating app, both men and women appear, meaning she is either bisexual or pansexual.
- She had a friend over for drinks who is referred to as a she. It’s the happiest Adam ‘has seen her in years’. This may imply that they were more than friends.
- Elizabeth did Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) in Ghana. She was awarded an Honor of the Star of Ghana for having fixed irrigation systems during her time there. Sometimes she just likes to wear the badge out.
- She was a chair at the Murtha Cancer Center at Walter Reed Hospital before working at New Amsterdam.
- Elizabeth is always seen wearing the same pair of gold earrings throughout the show. The right earring is of the constellation Cassiopeia, the left are two stars.
- She did her residency at the Texas University MD Anderson Cancer Research Center.
- She did her fellowship at NIH Clinical Center in Maryland.
- On Halloween one year, she dressed up as Dr Doug Ross from the TV show ER. The show and his character is implied to be Elizabeth's inspiration to become a doctor.
- There is a degree on her wall from The University of Rochester stating that she is a Doctor of Philosophy.
ASL Trivia[]
- Elizabeth signs 'WHY' differently to how it is usually signed. In one variation, it is signed just slightly away from the face with the three middle fingers curling down into the 'Y' hand shape where the thumb and pinky are out and the other three fingers are tucked in. An older variation is with four fingers tapping your forehead, then pulled away into the 'Y' hand shape. However, Elizabeth signs it with her four fingers flicking down twice.
- In the flashback scene in How Can I Help? where they are children, Adam calls Elizabeth 'Lizzie'. The sign he uses for this is the handshape for the letter L, pulled from left to right.
- Throughout the show, Elizabeth and Ben both sign Veronica, Floyd, Lauren and Iggy by the first letter of their name, shaken twice. None of the characters are given a specific sign name.
- This is seen in The Crossover when Elizabeth tells Mia that "Veronica can't know." and the sign she uses for 'Veronica' is the handshape for 'V' shaken twice.
- In Unto the Breach, Ben is seen in the background interpreting when Veronica says "But I certainly hope you follow the lead of Dr Reynolds in the future." and it is again the handshape for 'R' shaken twice.
- In Family, the English translation misses a lot of the meaning in the conversation that takes place between Adam and Elizabeth.
- In one scene, the sign for "HELP-me" is repeated three times, emphasizing just how much Elizabeth has helped Adam. It's simply translated to "You have helped me." when it could be better translated as "You have helped me, again and again already."
- Adam signs, 'you-HELP-me+++, FINISH."
- This is the same for when Elizabeth tells Adam, "You may have ditched me at the dance, but you were still waiting for me when it was over." the meaning is changed in the ASL as it's a little closer to, "You thought you left me at the dance? No, you didn't. You were there, waiting for me when it was over."
- Elizabeth signs 'DANCE, YOU-' and then both of her pointer fingers come up (classifier 1, representing a person each.) Her right hand representing her, and her left being Adam. Her left hand leaves the right, showing that Adam left her. But, her left hand still stays up in classifier 1 as she signs 'NO' with her right hand and shakes her head, trying to tell him that he's wrong about him ditching her at the dance. 'YOU STILL' and gestures up and down with her right hand at her left, showing that Adam is still there before she signs, "WAITING WHEN DANCE FINISH."
- It is a similar case in the last line that Elizabeth says to Adam, "Just like you, I will always, always be here for you. Right outside the door." There is a lot of depth in the latter half of the ASL that is lost in translation, the signing meaning a little closer to, "Just like you, I will always, always be here, supporting you. Even when we're apart, I'll still be watching out for you."
- Elizabeth signs, “SAME YOU, I WILL ALWAYS, ALWAYS HERE SUPPORT.” Elizabeth's pointer fingers on come up, representing a person each. Her right hand is her, and her left hand is Adam. She separates the right from the left hand, and then her right hand turns into the sign for "LOOK", facing the left hand. She is letting Adam go to be on his own, but she is still watching him, even when they're apart.
- In one scene, the sign for "HELP-me" is repeated three times, emphasizing just how much Elizabeth has helped Adam. It's simply translated to "You have helped me." when it could be better translated as "You have helped me, again and again already."
Appearances[]
- New Amsterdam (2 Seasons; 26 episodes)
- Season 4: More Joy; We're in This Together; Laughter and Hope and a Sock in the Eye; Talkin' Bout a Revolution;The Crossover; Family; Unto the Breach; Two Doors; All Night Long; Unfinished Business; Rise; Castles Made of Sand; I'll Be Your Shelter
- Season 5: TBD; Hook, Line and Sinker; Big Day; Heal Thyself; Grabby Hands; Give Me a Sign; Maybe Tomorrow; All the World's a Stage; The Empty Spaces; Don't Do This for Me; Falling; Right Place; How Can I Help?