The Pitt, new HBO Max show w Noah Wyle

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am still in the middle and am enjoying the show, but there is one thing bothering me. I hate how several of the women related to patients are portrayed as "unreasonable." For example, the daughter who wanted to intubate her father despite his dnr, the woman who did not want to donate her son's organs and the mother who does not want her son to get a spinal tap.

On an unrelated note, I wonder if anyone from the show team also worked on The Imposters. Two of the actors from that show are on this one.

LOVED Imposters. The Dana actress gets beaten badly in that show as well 🥹

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The finale was disappointing. Their exhaustion felt boring instead of anything emotional.

Yep, after all of the tension, excitement, and horror of the prior episodes this one was drawn out and a let down. Although it did ring true that all of the doctors would be physically and emotionally spent, it just wasn't a great episode and I was really ready for it to be over about halfway through.

Robby was so compelling for most of the season but started to OD on main character syndrome. Like Hawkeye in the later seasons of MASH or Kevin Costner in just about everything he's in, having the lead actor have that much control over the show he's in gets to be too much. [b]

Langdon deserved to be fired and arrested, I get him asking to be forgiven, but the demanding and insulting tone didn't make sense at all for a guy who would be taken away in handcuffs if Robby had so wished.

The Whitaker ending, with him dancing and homeless was dumb.

All this but especially the OD on main character syndrome part. Sorry but he shouldn’t have shoehorned his family so dramatically so early in in the show either. Same thing with MacKay and her ex. Who cares?!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The finale was disappointing. Their exhaustion felt boring instead of anything emotional.

It's definitely the come down episode after the last three. But I liked how quiet it was and especially liked a series of small moments that felt like a pay off from a whole season with a character, or told a small story on their own. Including:

- Mohan's arc in the episode, from being jittery and wanting more action early in the episode, to her break down in the bathroom, to cathartic release when they finally left the hospital.

- Related: loved that moment with Jahadi on the elevator where she just doesn't get off the elevator and the doors close, and then they reopen and she has to get off. Just the way that communicated her exhausting. And it was funny.

- Loved the scene with Mel and her sister when Mel finally picks her up. It's just a sweet scene no matter what and you can see their rapport and how much Mel cares for her sister, but there's also this heaviness as you realize what it means for Mel to be her sister's caretaker while also working this particular job. It made me think of what it is to have a demanding job while being a parent to a young kid, but even heavier because Mel is alone without a partner and her sister is never going to become independent. That's a lot.

- The reveal of that Abbott is an amputee, and just the casual nature of him removing his leg and cleaning it, and one of the nurses giving him wet wipes to help him clean off the blood. Obviously we knew from context cues that Abbott has been in combat and has seen some stuff, but that was a very stark indication of how serious his combat experience was and what he must have seen and experienced, and how that translates to his work in the ER. For a character who was only in a third of the season, he had a really amazing impact.

- The scenes in the trauma rooms after Robbie talks to Langdon but before he talks to Jake or Leda's parents and totally breaks down. The combination of how those scenes are shot and Wyle's acting just did a great job of communicating his state of mind, the overwhelm and exhaustion and profound sadness that sends him up to the roof later. You can see his eyes jumping from thing to thing because he's still in hypervigilant mode, but his brain and central nervous system are totally overloaded so he can't focus or process, even as he's also participating in a diagnosis and agreeing to a treatment plan. I have had a mental health crisis before (totally different situation, causes, etc.) and I felt seen in that moment. Quietly hitting a breaking point while still having to function, and maybe people around you notice things are off but can't see the degree to which you are just falling apart internally. The way they handled Robbie's PTSD and grief this season was so thoughtful and sensitive.

- On a similar note, that scene where Dana is packing up and you see her taking her photos from her work area and tearing up, likely meaning that she doesn't intend to come back. I really, really hope that is not the case because I love that character and actor and I want her to come back for Season 2. But from a character standpoint, it felt believable and really sad and touching.

The bigger plot moments in the episode (the roof scene, the Langdon/Robbie confrontation, McKay/David, Robbie/Jake, and Whitaker/Santos in their final scene) didn't hit as hard as these smaller moments for me. After a whole season of intense, nonstop action, I wound up liking the moments of silence and stillness the most in this last episode. It really worked for me.

I love this post so much. PP, thanks for taking the time to put into words so much of what I felt and observed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am still in the middle and am enjoying the show, but there is one thing bothering me. I hate how several of the women related to patients are portrayed as "unreasonable." For example, the daughter who wanted to intubate her father despite his dnr, the woman who did not want to donate her son's organs and the mother who does not want her son to get a spinal tap.

On an unrelated note, I wonder if anyone from the show team also worked on The Imposters. Two of the actors from that show are on this one.

Very true, although that was true for the patients in general, the guy who punched the nurse, McKay's ex, the kid with the hit list, the dad who got poisoned. Doctors >>> patients.

I love this show and I think been drawn to it in part because I've had several ER experiences in the last year and am still processing the trauma of those experiences so much of what is shown on The Pitt is on topic for that. And I had some amazing doctors and nurses during my hospital experiences and I do really appreciate how the show represents what the do and what they go through.

But I also had some really awful experiences in the ER and the show doesn't make any attempt to show what it's like to be a patient in an ER, and especially what it's like for a patient having one of the worst days of their life. I also think it would be realistic for the show to portray at least one of the staff (likely a nurse) just being straight up mean to patients. Because that's real. Everyone on the show is so unendingly kind and professional and amazingly that is true of so many people who work in emergency medicine. But there are pretty much always people who have either reached their breaking point that day (understandably, these are people who do in fact get spit on, yelled at, hit, etc., and I don't blame people for breaking under that) or who are simply not suited for it at all and are just jerks. That's a very real part of the ER experience and the show would be more honest if they showed that, if one of the nurses was just kind of an ahole or if you saw patients verbally mistreated where the patient really has not done anything to deserve it (so different than Robbie showing the measles dad the morgue room to scare him into letting them do the spinal tap, which was inappropriate but you understand because the measles parents had established themselves as unreasonable and kind of stupid).

I would be interested to see them explore that in another season. Not everyone is as patient and kind as Robbie and Dana and the rest of the staff. Sometimes a patient takes a stray that is totally undeserved, or gets stuck in an administrative hell while they are in real pain, or they don't know how to navigate the system and it results in substandard care. I'd like to see that because it's a very real part of what happens in the ER every day too.

What about the sickle cell lady who was treated like an animalistic drug seeker? The obese lady who was nearly misdiagnosed just because she’s fat?

I agree the staff are way too idealistic. Normally you get way more coolness and indifference than outright abuse. Like you’re just another number.

HOWEVER, I don’t want to see patients be treated disrespectfully for the sake of realness unless the perpetrator is appropriately disciplined.

Anyone watch Pulse? That was such a joke the way they treated disciplinary issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am still in the middle and am enjoying the show, but there is one thing bothering me. I hate how several of the women related to patients are portrayed as "unreasonable." For example, the daughter who wanted to intubate her father despite his dnr, the woman who did not want to donate her son's organs and the mother who does not want her son to get a spinal tap.

On an unrelated note, I wonder if anyone from the show team also worked on The Imposters. Two of the actors from that show are on this one.

Very true, although that was true for the patients in general, the guy who punched the nurse, McKay's ex, the kid with the hit list, the dad who got poisoned. Doctors >>> patients.

True, there are also men behaving badly, but whenever there was a female/male pair it’s the female portrayed as “irrational.” More female writers in the writer’s room, please!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The finale was disappointing. Their exhaustion felt boring instead of anything emotional.

It's definitely the come down episode after the last three. But I liked how quiet it was and especially liked a series of small moments that felt like a pay off from a whole season with a character, or told a small story on their own. Including:

- Mohan's arc in the episode, from being jittery and wanting more action early in the episode, to her break down in the bathroom, to cathartic release when they finally left the hospital.

- Related: loved that moment with Jahadi on the elevator where she just doesn't get off the elevator and the doors close, and then they reopen and she has to get off. Just the way that communicated her exhausting. And it was funny.

- Loved the scene with Mel and her sister when Mel finally picks her up. It's just a sweet scene no matter what and you can see their rapport and how much Mel cares for her sister, but there's also this heaviness as you realize what it means for Mel to be her sister's caretaker while also working this particular job. It made me think of what it is to have a demanding job while being a parent to a young kid, but even heavier because Mel is alone without a partner and her sister is never going to become independent. That's a lot.

- The reveal of that Abbott is an amputee, and just the casual nature of him removing his leg and cleaning it, and one of the nurses giving him wet wipes to help him clean off the blood. Obviously we knew from context cues that Abbott has been in combat and has seen some stuff, but that was a very stark indication of how serious his combat experience was and what he must have seen and experienced, and how that translates to his work in the ER. For a character who was only in a third of the season, he had a really amazing impact.

- The scenes in the trauma rooms after Robbie talks to Langdon but before he talks to Jake or Leda's parents and totally breaks down. The combination of how those scenes are shot and Wyle's acting just did a great job of communicating his state of mind, the overwhelm and exhaustion and profound sadness that sends him up to the roof later. You can see his eyes jumping from thing to thing because he's still in hypervigilant mode, but his brain and central nervous system are totally overloaded so he can't focus or process, even as he's also participating in a diagnosis and agreeing to a treatment plan. I have had a mental health crisis before (totally different situation, causes, etc.) and I felt seen in that moment. Quietly hitting a breaking point while still having to function, and maybe people around you notice things are off but can't see the degree to which you are just falling apart internally. The way they handled Robbie's PTSD and grief this season was so thoughtful and sensitive.

- On a similar note, that scene where Dana is packing up and you see her taking her photos from her work area and tearing up, likely meaning that she doesn't intend to come back. I really, really hope that is not the case because I love that character and actor and I want her to come back for Season 2. But from a character standpoint, it felt believable and really sad and touching.

The bigger plot moments in the episode (the roof scene, the Langdon/Robbie confrontation, McKay/David, Robbie/Jake, and Whitaker/Santos in their final scene) didn't hit as hard as these smaller moments for me. After a whole season of intense, nonstop action, I wound up liking the moments of silence and stillness the most in this last episode. It really worked for me.

Agree with all this. So many great nuances. The show arc needed a bit of a slower finale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am still in the middle and am enjoying the show, but there is one thing bothering me. I hate how several of the women related to patients are portrayed as "unreasonable." For example, the daughter who wanted to intubate her father despite his dnr, the woman who did not want to donate her son's organs and the mother who does not want her son to get a spinal tap.

On an unrelated note, I wonder if anyone from the show team also worked on The Imposters. Two of the actors from that show are on this one.

LOVED Imposters. The Dana actress gets beaten badly in that show as well 🥹

She's on this season of Daredevil, too! Small role - so small you can hardly call it a role - but it's fun to see her. She was one of the best parts of this show.

I'm still rolling around PP's observation that the people on this show are just too nice. I think that's right! We did see the chaos in the waiting room - and that one guy who got so frustrated he punched Dana in the face - so we know that things aren't great from the patients' perspective. But this is overall such a positive, optimistic show - grim subject matter aside. Even Whitaker being revealed as homeless is turned into a sweet moment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am still in the middle and am enjoying the show, but there is one thing bothering me. I hate how several of the women related to patients are portrayed as "unreasonable." For example, the daughter who wanted to intubate her father despite his dnr, the woman who did not want to donate her son's organs and the mother who does not want her son to get a spinal tap.

On an unrelated note, I wonder if anyone from the show team also worked on The Imposters. Two of the actors from that show are on this one.

Very true, although that was true for the patients in general, the guy who punched the nurse, McKay's ex, the kid with the hit list, the dad who got poisoned. Doctors >>> patients.

True, there are also men behaving badly, but whenever there was a female/male pair it’s the female portrayed as “irrational.” More female writers in the writer’s room, please!

I'm usually sensitive to that but did not clock that in this show - but you're totally right

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am still in the middle and am enjoying the show, but there is one thing bothering me. I hate how several of the women related to patients are portrayed as "unreasonable." For example, the daughter who wanted to intubate her father despite his dnr, the woman who did not want to donate her son's organs and the mother who does not want her son to get a spinal tap.

On an unrelated note, I wonder if anyone from the show team also worked on The Imposters. Two of the actors from that show are on this one.

Very true, although that was true for the patients in general, the guy who punched the nurse, McKay's ex, the kid with the hit list, the dad who got poisoned. Doctors >>> patients.

I love this show and I think been drawn to it in part because I've had several ER experiences in the last year and am still processing the trauma of those experiences so much of what is shown on The Pitt is on topic for that. And I had some amazing doctors and nurses during my hospital experiences and I do really appreciate how the show represents what the do and what they go through.

But I also had some really awful experiences in the ER and the show doesn't make any attempt to show what it's like to be a patient in an ER, and especially what it's like for a patient having one of the worst days of their life. I also think it would be realistic for the show to portray at least one of the staff (likely a nurse) just being straight up mean to patients. Because that's real. Everyone on the show is so unendingly kind and professional and amazingly that is true of so many people who work in emergency medicine. But there are pretty much always people who have either reached their breaking point that day (understandably, these are people who do in fact get spit on, yelled at, hit, etc., and I don't blame people for breaking under that) or who are simply not suited for it at all and are just jerks. That's a very real part of the ER experience and the show would be more honest if they showed that, if one of the nurses was just kind of an ahole or if you saw patients verbally mistreated where the patient really has not done anything to deserve it (so different than Robbie showing the measles dad the morgue room to scare him into letting them do the spinal tap, which was inappropriate but you understand because the measles parents had established themselves as unreasonable and kind of stupid).

I would be interested to see them explore that in another season. Not everyone is as patient and kind as Robbie and Dana and the rest of the staff. Sometimes a patient takes a stray that is totally undeserved, or gets stuck in an administrative hell while they are in real pain, or they don't know how to navigate the system and it results in substandard care. I'd like to see that because it's a very real part of what happens in the ER every day too.

What about the sickle cell lady who was treated like an animalistic drug seeker? The obese lady who was nearly misdiagnosed just because she’s fat?

I agree the staff are way too idealistic. Normally you get way more coolness and indifference than outright abuse. Like you’re just another number.

HOWEVER, I don’t want to see patients be treated disrespectfully for the sake of realness unless the perpetrator is appropriately disciplined.

Anyone watch Pulse? That was such a joke the way they treated disciplinary issues.

Neither of these storylines are told from the patient perspective. And the woman with sickle cell was immediately identified as such by Mohan, who then immediately lectured the EMTs or cops (can't remember which) who brought her in. The obese patient was treated respectfully and kindly and the storyline was actually ambiguous -- she was misdiagnosed and Collins suggested to McKay that it was because of her weight. But if so, it was unconscious bias -- McKay didn't say or do anything to indicate that she was discriminating and even when Collins brings it up, she's unsure about it (but also not overly defensive or dismissive of the idea, because again, all the doctors in the show are incredibly professional and caring). Your left thinking it could have been bias but it also could have been a hectic day in the ED and maybe McKay would have made the same mistake with a non-obese patient because she's an R2 and might not be as practiced at spotting post-partum complications.

It actually would be interesting to see a situation like that from the patient's POV, because you could get a better sense of whether McKay was being biased. Was she dismissive? Did she ask about the patient's weight or weight- related issues while being dismissive of the fact that the woman has given birth only a few days prior? We just have no idea.

The show is about the healthcare professionals, I get it. And I love it. I just think there is an opportunity for some interesting nuance if the introduce more patient POV. They don't have to make the docs and nurses villains. They could show what it is to sit in a hallway bed or an exam room for hours, and not really understand what you are waiting on. Or how not understanding a question in your initial workup might result in an important symptom being missed. Or just how everything about the ER is foreign and scary to most patients and how that overwhelm can make it hard to communicate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The finale was disappointing. Their exhaustion felt boring instead of anything emotional.

It's definitely the come down episode after the last three. But I liked how quiet it was and especially liked a series of small moments that felt like a pay off from a whole season with a character, or told a small story on their own. Including:

- Mohan's arc in the episode, from being jittery and wanting more action early in the episode, to her break down in the bathroom, to cathartic release when they finally left the hospital.

- Related: loved that moment with Jahadi on the elevator where she just doesn't get off the elevator and the doors close, and then they reopen and she has to get off. Just the way that communicated her exhausting. And it was funny.

- Loved the scene with Mel and her sister when Mel finally picks her up. It's just a sweet scene no matter what and you can see their rapport and how much Mel cares for her sister, but there's also this heaviness as you realize what it means for Mel to be her sister's caretaker while also working this particular job. It made me think of what it is to have a demanding job while being a parent to a young kid, but even heavier because Mel is alone without a partner and her sister is never going to become independent. That's a lot.

- The reveal of that Abbott is an amputee, and just the casual nature of him removing his leg and cleaning it, and one of the nurses giving him wet wipes to help him clean off the blood. Obviously we knew from context cues that Abbott has been in combat and has seen some stuff, but that was a very stark indication of how serious his combat experience was and what he must have seen and experienced, and how that translates to his work in the ER. For a character who was only in a third of the season, he had a really amazing impact.

- The scenes in the trauma rooms after Robbie talks to Langdon but before he talks to Jake or Leda's parents and totally breaks down. The combination of how those scenes are shot and Wyle's acting just did a great job of communicating his state of mind, the overwhelm and exhaustion and profound sadness that sends him up to the roof later. You can see his eyes jumping from thing to thing because he's still in hypervigilant mode, but his brain and central nervous system are totally overloaded so he can't focus or process, even as he's also participating in a diagnosis and agreeing to a treatment plan. I have had a mental health crisis before (totally different situation, causes, etc.) and I felt seen in that moment. Quietly hitting a breaking point while still having to function, and maybe people around you notice things are off but can't see the degree to which you are just falling apart internally. The way they handled Robbie's PTSD and grief this season was so thoughtful and sensitive.

- On a similar note, that scene where Dana is packing up and you see her taking her photos from her work area and tearing up, likely meaning that she doesn't intend to come back. I really, really hope that is not the case because I love that character and actor and I want her to come back for Season 2. But from a character standpoint, it felt believable and really sad and touching.

The bigger plot moments in the episode (the roof scene, the Langdon/Robbie confrontation, McKay/David, Robbie/Jake, and Whitaker/Santos in their final scene) didn't hit as hard as these smaller moments for me. After a whole season of intense, nonstop action, I wound up liking the moments of silence and stillness the most in this last episode. It really worked for me.

I love this post so much. PP, thanks for taking the time to put into words so much of what I felt and observed.

+1. I really enjoyed it, and more of a peek into the character’s personal lives.

[Anonymous]

No word about Dr. Collins, but everyone else is coming back. Langdon post-rehab: https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2025/04/12/the-pitt-confirms-who-is-definitely-returning-for-season-2/

[Anonymous]

Just finished the finale. I think the slowed down wrap up was necessary and it was actually nice to not have a show end on a cliffhanger for once. It’s always annoying to know you have to wait 12-18 months to see some las minute plot twist resolve. The show follows a very realistic rhythm and the final episode tapered like the end of a real day that has gone on too long. It’s amazing how each hour of the show felt so real in terms of where you were in the cycle of the day. Pretty amazing tv work.

I did think the park scene at the end was unrealistic - who the hell would hang around for another minute after a day like that?! And what doctor would just drink alcohol in a park outside the hospital? But I guess they had to wrap it up somehow!

One of the best shows I have seen in a while.

[Anonymous]

Beards are so sexy!

[Anonymous]

The scenes in the trauma rooms after Robbie talks to Langdon but before he talks to Jake or Leda's parents and totally breaks down. The combination of how those scenes are shot and Wyle's acting just did a great job of communicating his state of mind, the overwhelm and exhaustion and profound sadness that sends him up to the roof later. You can see his eyes jumping from thing to thing because he's still in hypervigilant mode, but his brain and central nervous system are totally overloaded so he can't focus or process, even as he's also participating in a diagnosis and agreeing to a treatment plan. I have had a mental health crisis before (totally different situation, causes, etc.) and I felt seen in that moment. Quietly hitting a breaking point while still having to function, and maybe people around you notice things are off but can't see the degree to which you are just falling apart internally. The way they handled Robbie's PTSD and grief this season was so thoughtful and sensitive.

This is so well stated. The way they showed Robby’s PTSD in the last few episodes, including the tearfulness that kept breaking through, really reflected what I experienced before getting treatment.

[Anonymous]

Watched first episode and not impressed.

Have they portrayed someone over 90? And was it done realistically? As in, they’re old, nothing we WILL do for them, to costly.