I watched the second season finale recently and I’m having trouble finding the words to adequately express how amazing this show is. Great thing I sat down to write about it, eh? A couple of months ago, I dug into the first season of The Pitt, and now that the second season has wrapped, it’s time to do it again. This season has far exceeded any expectation I could have had, but HBO does that for me with a lot of shows. Seeing the differences between the two seasons, I’m excited to dive in and explore what we got to see this shift.
The main difference to discuss is the shift in plot dynamics. Last season was a largely routine day until the Pitt Fest shooting. And while mass shootings are a fairly common event in the United States, it’s a large-scale event that doesn’t necessarily happen every day. This is where the second season subverts that norm. There’s no large-scale event this season; there are some chaotic and tragic things that happen, but nothing with a large-scale, violent effect like a mass shooting. Instead, this season, the impetus event is a cyber attack, but not even at our hospital. Due to other hospitals going down to attacks, our hospital preemptively goes Dark Ages. The correct call in this instance, though, could have probably lasted one more minute for some good photos of the board, but what’s done is done. It’s annoying and forces a lot of changes, which do, in some instances, end up affecting medical care. But overall, there’s a far worse killer this season.
Without a large scale event, what will do everyone in? Living in a web of constant systemic failures all around you will do it! We had several stories this season where someone’s care was affected by Medicaid and Medicare cuts. They even went so far as to include issues with the mail, which we know has seen large cuts over the last decade. But really, how is someone supposed to know about a deadline they need to meet if their mail is not correctly forwarded which then results in loss of coverage for the essential medicine they need to breathe? Then you have the constant medical misinformation people are absorbing off the internet as gospel. Yes, turmeric has seen some medical value at low doses but you need to speak with a professional before deciding to take 30,000 mg of it. Also, if you are pregnant, you need to seek prenatal care not only for your child but also yourself. Even with an entirely healthy pregnancy, things can go terribly wrong. And no, ultrasound will not harm a fetus. Stop listening to idiots on the internet, I beg of you!!! Then there’s the care of the unhoused and the lack of humanity exhibited to them, as well as communicating with differently abled people. There’s so often gaps in service that can create real crises, particularly with communication. Then there’s the untested rape kits waiting weeks for collection…don’t even know what else to say there so I’ll leave it at that. But yet, I still haven’t fully addressed the largest elephant in the room…
WE NEED TO TAKE MENTAL HEALTH SERIOUSLY. Full stop. Roll credits.
I’m proud of this show for taking the time to stop and say, ” You are important, and how you feel matters. You can’t ignore it forever, and running away doesn’t solve anything. Robby (Noah Wyle) needs therapy. Robby needs to sit and talk to someone about what he feels. A motorcycle trip or vacation to any place won’t fix that, no matter how long he’s away, unless it’s a visit to a psych ward. In fact, that’s often why people end up coming back from vacation in a bad mood. They expected it to fix something. Taking a trip to relax and taking a trip to run away are two very different things. This season put everyone through the wringer. McKay (Fiona Dourif), Mel (Taylor Dearden), and Mohan (Supriya Ganesh) are all lonely in varying ways. Javadi’s (Shabana Azeez) feeling pressure from both parents. I could write a thesis on Santos (Isa Briones) and Langdon (Patrick Ball). Not to mention Dana (Katherine LaNasa) and Nurse Emma’s (Laetitia Hollard) first day on the floor. And Whitaker’s (Gerran Howell) over here with the mess of hanging with the widow of his patient from last season, and somehow, with all that mess, he’s the most adjusted one!
And I think in a sense, Robby believes Whitaker is just a younger version of himself. And he sees this boundary blurring as an indication that Whitaker might follow his path. While I don’t promote doctors finding people to date based on their patient load, I think Whitaker meant to be kind and actually found what he was looking for in life. He gets to spend time on a farm, connect with his roots, while being a doctor in a fast-paced environment where he feels like he belongs and is capable. He stood up for himself with Langdon and has grown so much since last season. Robby might fear Whitaker following in his footsteps, but I argue that Robby might consider following Whitaker’s. I mean, don’t find a patient to date. But find a family? Or someone to talk to? Even if you have to pay her, Robby. Seriously, just go to therapy, dude. You 
fear Whitaker becoming you without realizing that won’t happen because he’s not you. Is it weird that a man fell into a family because he cared for the husband who died? Yeah, kind of. But you know what? Life is messy. So if happiness can come out of it, then that’s a mess I can get behind. Because life’s gonna be a mess regardless. Might as well find your joy where you can. On the flip side, Robby was dismissive of Mohan all season, and if there’s anyone finding an issue putting down boundaries with patients, it’s her. So the one person who needed that pep talk the most was the one you called out for having mommy issues…et tu, Robby? ET TU?!?!
What this season truly showed us is the damage of life continuing to be lived with poor systems around you. Whether that’s cuts to medical programs or the mail, ICE ripping people away from their families, or a lack of medical and mental health resources, the systems around us are slowly killing us. We have to lean on each other and our communities to get through this. And we will get through this. But we have to look out for each other and ourselves. What do they say on airplanes? Mask yourself before you try to help mask someone else. We need to make sure we’re saving ourselves so we can save each other. Make the therapy appointment. Drink your water. Wear your helmet. And look out for one another.
