I’ve never seen ER.  This is not an article about comparisons. 

Named “The Pitt” after the trauma center at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital, the show centers around Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch (Noah Wyle), Dr. Frank Langdon (Patrick Ball), Dr. Heather Collins (Tracy Ifeachor), and the rest of the medical staff as they face a grueling 15-hour shift and everything that comes along with it.

A Medical Show That Focuses On Mental Health

The overall tone of The Pitt might seem bleak to some, but in fact it’s reflective of the issues that the characters face throughout the season.  However, it’s not without moments of levity and human connection, providing much-needed room to breathe from the intensity. The pacing is generally brisk, with each episode title representing an hour of main character Noah Wyle’s shift (ie episode 1 titled “7:00 a.m.,” episode 2 titled “8:00 a.m.,” and so on), mirroring the fast-paced environment of the hospital, but the show also takes its time to delve into the emotional lives of its characters.

Beyond the immediate medical crises that the staff faces, the show takes a very realistic stance on the issues facing frontline healthcare workers in a post-pandemic world, such as PTSD and trauma, anxiety and depression, and substance abuse.  The show doesn’t focus solely on those issues affecting the staff, however.  Lack of institutional support, health misinformation, and even violence against healthcare workers plague this crew throughout the span of the season.  While these themes are integral to the plot, they never seem to overshadow any of the central themes or storylines that are vital to character development and are instead subtly weaved into each episode, achieving a deeper connection to the characters and thus humanizing them.

Creative Freedom To the Nth Degree

One of the things that immediately stood out to me, sometimes in both a positive and a shocking way, was the graphic nature of the program.  With the show being aired on (what’s back to being called) HBO Max, it allows for more creative visual freedom, and boy-oh-boy, does this show take advantage of it.  From exposed bone to an ACTUAL child breech during birth, The Pitt certainly utilizes the license allowed by being on a streaming service rather than traditional channels to a sometimes-disturbing degree.

The Most Accurate Medical Drama?

While The Pitt has received critical acclaim, it has also received acclaim from the medical community for not only the mental health issues depicted by the characters that I mentioned earlier, but also its accuracy in its medical terminology and procedures.  In fact, one of my favorite things to do after the episode was check out Dr. Mike’s reviews of the episodes for fact-checking (and also some breakdowns for terminology that I didn’t understand).  Nevertheless, no television drama gets it 100% right, because after all, they have to get ratings, right?

So…What Do We Think?

Not being one for medical dramas, but being an advocate for mental health, I personally loved The Pitt.  The characters had depth (not to mention Gerran Howell’s character being from my humble hometown of Broken Bow, NE), the pacing of the show was intense, but slowed enough at times to allow me to catch my breath and displayed warmth and humanity to hit me in the feels right when I needed it.  One of the more interesting aspects of the show that I didn’t notice until I was a few episodes in was that there was no score accompanying the show, which I thought was unique and only added to the realism.  Consider this writer primed for season two.  Let’s start the next shift.