Reaction: The Pitt, "9:00 AM" | Season 1, Episode 3

Introducing a new, shorter way we're covering weekly TV (look for more to come)

Photo: Warrick Page/Max

Myles here. Welcome, everyone, to our first Episodic Reaction. As the TV landscape continues to expand, our coverage capacity is inherently limited by budget. But sometimes there are conversations we want to have, and there are smart people who want to start off those conversations, and why should we let the evils of capitalism stand in the way of that? As such, I’ve tapped Emma to get us started with some weekly coverage of Max’s throwback medical drama The Pitt, and then we’ll check in next week with another show that’s been requested a few times over the years to see whether we can use this as a strategy moving forward.

For reference, my prompt to our writers is to spend roughly half-an-hour reacting to the week’s episode—I can’t stop them from going beyond that (as Emma did here, given we’re joining this one midstream), but it’s really about creating a space for dialogue. So join me in welcoming Emma, and consider becoming a paid subscriber to get more reactions in your inbox as the season progresses.

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Given the overlapping creative team, the lead actor, and the setting, it makes sense to immediately address the ER elephant-in-the-room (especially considering there is an ongoing lawsuit doing the same). Considering the impact the juggernaut NBC medical series had on the TV landscape—hitting 48 million viewers in 1995—it is a challenge to separate the two titles; heck, even when ER finished its doors in 2009, it still hit 16.4 million viewers. I was there until the very end, and ER is one of three shows I consider formative to my chosen career (The X-Files and My So-Called Life are the other two), as confirmed by the recent discovery of an old school homework planner from when I was 13 featuring this early entry into this vocation (and a crush on Noah Wyle).

In The Pitt, Wyle (also an executive producer) plays Dr. Michael “Robby” Rabinovich, the senior attending in charge of an underfunded, understaffed, and overworked Pittsburgh emergency room that doubles as a teaching hospital. Dr. Robby is a mix of world-weary and compassionate, suffering panic attacks stemming from the experience of working through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adding a fresh perspective to the medical drama is tricky, but The Pitt’s unflashy aesthetic and not being boxed in my network Standards and Practices offers a different take amid the busy streaming landscape. While there are certainly similarities to ER in its first few episodes, The Pitt has nonetheless articulated its distinct format that takes a page out of the 24 playbook (minus the ticking clock).

In this case, a 15-hour shift in the emergency room is chopped into hour chunks for each installment, beginning at 7 A.M. After the two-episode premiere sets a fast-paced tone, the third episode—which we’re reacting to here—balances new patients with previously admitted, allowing us to get to know more about them and how the medical team responds to various cases. Personal information and history between the staff continue to be drip-fed, mostly avoiding clunky exposition and instead asking us to piece it together based on what is said and the vibe of the interaction.

What follows are the observations I took from this third episode, with admittedly some more general observations about the show thus far thrown in for good measure.

Photo: Warrick Page/Max

• “9:00 A.M.” opens with fourth-year med student Dennis Whitaker (Gerran Howell) still doing chest compressions on his patient, Mr. Milton (David Reivers). The Pitt reminds us that each episode bleeds into the next by throwing us straight back in. The continuity of care benefits the structure and emphasizes how long Whitaker has been doing chest compression. He looks sweaty and pale, and the physical aspect of this job is on display. It is only the third hour of Whitaker’s shift, and he already looks like a husk of a man, which is great attention to detail.

• “Listen, it sucks, but today was this guy’s day to leave this mortal coil. One hundred and fifty thousand people die every day in the world, and you got one of them.” There is something equally reassuring and enough to send me down an existential spiral by this one observation alone.

• Because The Pitt is on Max, cursing is allowed (even if the doctors want the patients to use fewer f-bombs). Medical procedures are more graphic than on network TV, and I am still not over the image of the degloved foot in the premiere. I don’t consider myself overly squeamish, yet I still had to semi-close my eyes once this week (when cutting open the chest of the nail gun patient; see below pre-chest and T-shirt cutting). If I can give you any advice, it is to avoid eating while watching The Pitt — I learned this the hard way during the premiere.

• The format means there is a closer focus on recurring patients and loved ones who jostle for doctor and viewer attention alongside memorable one-off characters. What this means is we get to spend time with the Bradleys (played by Samantha Sloyan and Brandon Keener) as they process the news that their 18-year-old son Nick is brain-dead after a fentanyl overdose. Similarly, brother and sister Jereme (Mackenzie Astin) and Helen (Rebecca Tilney) are currently walking through the steps of realizing their elderly father is going to die. Both storylines underscore how doctors toe the line between giving all the options and highlighting how futile it is. Having guest stars of this caliber hammers home every heartbreaking moment, and I’m imagining that many are—like me—finding the show to be an emotional watch.

• Thankfully, there are some lighter moments to offset the tragedy. Whitaker gets covered in Mylanta and discovers he cannot get replacement scrubs without returning his old ones. He improvises by changing into a hospital gown and is teased by intern Dr. Trinity Santos (Isa Briones), who is quickly becoming the resident asshole.

• On the other end of the scale is Dr. Melissa “Mel” King (Taylor Dearden), who is incredibly earnest, socially awkward, and strongly reacts to death for someone in this profession—though her little joke about not being a pathologist is very sweet. A conversation about mothers between Mel and Santos offers a reminder that third-year med student Victoria Javadi (Shabana Azeez) is the daughter of a senior surgeon. Speaking of nepo babies, Dearden is Bryan Cranston’s daughter, Dr. McKay is played by Fiona Dourif (Brad’s daughter), and Briones is the daughter of Jon Jon Briones. Curious how everyone is feeling about the different med students and doctors so far.

• Seeing how Dr. Robby interacts with different team members adds layers to this character as he can go from empathetic to prickly. Dr. Samira Mohan (Supriya Ganesh) is great with patients, but her turnaround has earned her the nickname “Slow-Mo.” What impressed me about Samira was how she stood her ground with Dr. Robby and found time to help Whitaker through his post-patient death crisis of confidence. I would want Dr. Mohan to be my doctor if I ended up in this ER.

Photo: Warrick Page/Max

• Unlike the first two episodes, this episode does not include flashbacks to the pandemic, and I didn’t miss them.

• Keeping track of everything would be much harder without charge nurse Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa) reminding us where past patients are now and what is going on with the board (aka the “Deli of Death,” as Dr. Langdon calls it). Thankfully, this dialogue never feels overly forced or inorganic because these updates are part of this environment.

• “I don’t mean to be a dick,” Dr. Frank Langdon (Patrick Ball) set himself up there. However, resisting the chin dimple, baby blue eyes, and floppy brunette hair is tricky.

• We​​ didn’t see Jack Bauer trying to find time to pee. Luckily, The Pitt has not forgotten to address this issue, and Dr. Robby didn’t make it to the bathroom by the end of the hour despite being stood at the urinal at one point.¹

• Toward the end of the episode, an unseen person steals one of the ambulance rigs! Never leave the keys in the ignition, no matter what vehicle you drive.²

• The rats that escaped from the unhoused patient's clothing in the second episode are still on the loose. Dr. Collins (Tracy Ifeachor) doesn’t embrace Dr. Robby’s playful teasing (and they clearly have a romantic history). Dana says facilities aren’t going to be dealing with the rodents anytime soon, suggesting the rat spotting will be a weekly occurrence. This is one of a few different bits of recurring storytelling—interested in hearing which ones are standing out for everyone.

And thus concludes our first Episodic Reaction. As we come full circle, a final provocation: after three episodes, do you think The Pitt will shake the ER comparisons by the end of the season? Or perhaps it’s already managed to do so for you? Excited to jump back in for more in the coming weeks.

1. Myles here—there’s something weirdly comforting about how collectively every one of us who lived through 24 discourse were immediately like “Look, he needs to pee!” [/Leo Pointing Meme]

2. Myles again with a Fun Fact: this actually happened when I was visiting a friend in the hospital.