That Thing We Thought Would Happen on 'The Pitt' Happened

Between The White Lotus, Yellowjackets, and even Severance (a little), prestige television is not prestige-ing as much as it should be this year. But lord god almighty, The Pitt continues to fire on all cylinders. Not only is The Pitt my favorite series of the year so far, but it’s the only scripted show I watch as soon as possible. I do not go to bed on Thursday night before watching The Pitt, even if it means I’m up an extra hour from the adrenaline rush the show fuels.

It’s brilliantly cast, the doctors and nurses feel like real people, and we even connect with the patients — even though we only spend brief snatches of time with them, often in a single episode. It’s not just a tremendous hospital drama; it’s tremendous television. While Noah Wyle is a lock for an Emmy nomination for lead actor, there may not be enough slots in the supporting categories to accommodate all the talent here. Katherine LaNasa and Taylor Dearden obviously deserve nominations, but Fiona Dourif, Patrick Ball, Tracy Ifeachor, and Gerran Howell could be in the mix, too.

This week, the inevitable finally happened. Several weeks ago, we predicted that someone on staff wouldn’t make it to the end of the shift, and we guessed the right doc. It wasn’t a hard prediction — The Pitt has been laying the groundwork all season — but there’s something to be said for leaning into the tea leaves instead of shock-twisting out of it. The result? Maximum dramatic impact.

Spoilers

But first, the other storylines: Roughly two hours after having a miscarriage, Dr. Collins is back to business as usual. And while I think we all suspect Dr. Robby is at least half responsible for that pregnancy, was I wrong to sense a charged moment between Collins and Dr. Langdon? She spends most of the episode tending to the broken leg of Dr. McKay’s ex — maybe not taking it quite so easy on him, given that he’s a dick.

Meanwhile, Dr. McKay checks in on her son and casually suggests that her ex’s current girlfriend might have been behind the ankle monitor he’s wearing. She also confesses to Dr. Robby that she called the cops on the incel, pointedly reminding him that protecting the girls he threatens matters more than protecting a potential school shooter. And as if that weren’t enough, she assists with a teenage pitcher who took a line drive to the eye. That’s where she ends up counseling Dr. Javadi, who lashes out at the boy’s father after he suggests his son — who might lose his vision — could be back on the mound by next week. McKay reminds her that while the dad may have been kind of a jackass, fear can sometimes disguise itself as bravado.

Elsewhere, Nurse Evans spends an hour in a hospital bed after being punched by last week’s asshole patient, though I suspect she’ll be back in rotation by next episode. Dr. King witnesses the gut instincts of Dr. (Slo) Mohan and wonders if she has any “special sauce” as a doctor, while student doctor Whitaker manages the case of a man suffering burns (and possibly a fatal outcome) from a tractor explosion (in a storyline mirroring a more comedic one from a recent episode of St. Denis Medical). One of the things I love most about The Pitt is how much emphasis it puts not just on medicine but on the patient/doctor/nurse relationship. Having spent a lot of time in hospitals (though less in the ER), I cannot stress enough how important that is.

But the big moment comes when Dr. Santos finally raises her concerns about Dr. Langdon stealing drugs from patients—after he spends much of the episode trying to undermine her. Dr. Robby confronts Langdon, forces him to open his locker, and finds that Santos’ suspicions were right: he’s been pilfering Benzos, apparently to deal with back pain. Langdon pleads for compassion, but Dr. Robby has none of it. By episode’s end, Langdon is out, his career potentially over.

With the shift already in chaos, Dr. Robby is now down a doctor and will have plenty of fallout to deal with. The question is: Will we see Dr. Langdon again — either this season or next? One potential to keep him in the mix is if he was sleeping with Dr. Collins.