By Joanna Orland
SPOILER WARNING: This article contains spoilers for ‘The Pitt’ Season 1, Episode 12
In a time when medical dramas are a dime-a-dozen, The Pitt has broken through to become must-watch, important television. It goes beyond being just a medical show, reaching heights reserved for the likes of Band of Brothers, more than Grey’s Anatomy. Its story is elevated as it intertwines the narrative of the hospital with pressing issues of modern society.
It doesn’t just show its healthcare workers as the heroes many of them are, but it depicts them as real people — both extremely competent and incredibly flawed. How the hospital staff deal with the pressures they’re under at work is revealing of their character, and of what kind of person it takes to work in healthcare. The Pitt tells a very human story, across the spectrum.
‘The Pitt’ Is a Show About Modern America
The Pitt is a social drama as much as it is a medical one. It seamlessly threads societal issues into its narrative focus of healthcare. Season 1 covers gun violence, the emotional crises facing today’s young men, opioid addiction, COVID PTSD, anti-vax sentiment, elder care, abortion, sex-trafficking, the list goes on.
The show is a very empathetic examination of the difficulties we face today as a society. For every issue it touches upon with its patients, there are members of the staff who can relate. Perhaps they’ve seen it all too many times on the Emergency Room floor, but more often than not, they’ve personally been affected by something similar.
‘The Pitt’ Portrays the Human Toll of Healthcare
As The Pitt captures the chaos that can be found in a typical E.R. shift, it also explores the human side of it all, particularly focusing on the staff. They’re doing their best to help people while under enormous pressure and budgetary restraints. They don’t always get the results they want, and their jobs can be a heavy burden to bear.
There is a level of self-sacrifice to working in healthcare, as it physically, mentally, and emotionally takes its toll. The patients have to come first, even while the staff have their own needs. Dr. Heather Collins (Tracy Ifeachor) isn’t allowed a proper moment to mourn her own loss, as she miscarries while at work. Dr. “Robby” Robinavitch (Noah Wyle) is still reeling from the Covid pandemic. Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa) takes a punch to the face from a patient, and then after a quick scan, gets immediately back to work. The team lose a young child, and Dr. Robby barely gets to finish his speech on how to mourn such a loss, before the next case comes in. It’s a lot, and all in one shift.
As the E.R. Turns Into a Triage, the Staff Become Heroes
The mass casualty event of the Pittfest shooting is where everything that’s been building for the season comes to a head, in the most high pressure hours of the shift. Dr. Mel King (Taylor Dearden) overcomes her nerves, rising to the occasion as she donates her own blood to save her patient. Meanwhile, the more experienced Dr. Jack Abbot (Shawn Hatosy) tapes a blood bag to his leg so he can donate blood while simultaneously treating patients.
Referencing back to the Band of Brothers comparison, the mass shooting turns the hospital into a triage, almost like in a war zone. These doctors, nurses, and hospital staff put their own needs aside as they tend to the wounded. They work so well under pressure — so efficient in their care, down to colour-coding injuries based on severity.
It’s in the “6:00pm” episode that the audience is finally given a moment to take it all in, through the eyes of Dr. Cassie McKay’s (Fiona Dourif) husband, Chad (Rob Heaps). He unwittingly comes to the E.R. department to pick up his son, before realizing what he’s walked in on. Taking a quiet pause, he’s in awe of what he’s witnessing. He absorbs not only the horror in front of him, but the level of incredible heroic work his wife and the other staff are capable of.
The Pitt may be an excellent and realistic medical drama, but it’s also so much more than that. As it pays homage to the heroics of healthcare workers, it delves deep into their humanity. It holds a mirror up to our troubled society, and shows us that there are still people doing good in this world, even if it’s underappreciated.
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The Pitt is available on Max