'The Pitt' Finale Was Exhausted, Raw, and Kind of Perfect

A show less sure of itself wouldn’t have had the confidence that The Pitt displayed in last night’s season finale — the confidence not to go out with a loud, noisy, fast-paced, cliffhanger-heavy episode. That’s not The Pitt. Instead, it closed out its season like the final hour of a shift that had already gone several hours too long, slowing things down for a calm, character-driven episode about exhausted employees wrapping up and heading home after one of the longest days of their lives.

What I could feel — almost in my bones — was just how tired everyone was after 15 hours on their feet, treating patients and saving lives. The emotional and physical toll on the hospital staff was palpable. Samira started the shift practically vibrating with energy, riding the high of the day and wanting to stay even longer — partly because she didn’t have much to go home to. But as Dr. McKay predicted, Samira eventually crashed from that adrenaline rush, sobbing in a bathroom mirror before calling it a night.

It was Mel, of course, who somehow still had energy reserves left in the tank — she doesn’t sleep much, and her metabolism runs hot. After helping treat the measles patient — and scoring another win by helping to convince the father to allow a spinal tap over the mother’s wishes — Mel still managed to meet her sister, agree to dinner, and plan to watch a movie. The mere thought of sitting through Elf after a day like that left me feeling as wiped out as anything in the finale.

Santos also had enough left to connect with a young patient who had attempted suicide, demonstrating how much her bedside manner had evolved over the course of the day. We also learned a little more about her backstory — she and a friend were victims of abuse, and that friend later took her own life — which added depth to Santos’s furious reaction toward a patient who had molested his own daughter earlier in the day. And by the end of the shift, Santos even offered Whitaker — the med student she’d bullied earlier — a spare room in her apartment. Poor Whitaker, who’d spent the episode searching for a missing patient, had apparently been living in an unused wing of the hospital. Huckleberry deserved better.

We never saw Dr. Collins again after she went home and turned off her phone earlier in the shift.

Thanks to Dr. Robby, Dr. McKay wasn’t hauled away in handcuffs after disabling her ankle monitor. She dragged herself through the rest of the shift, even managing to break through to David enough to convince him to finally see a therapist for his violent thoughts — even if, for now, they remained just thoughts.

Victoria, meanwhile, might have been the most exhausted of all — it was her first shift, after all — and you could almost see her second-guessing her career choice in real time. But a beer with a few doctors and nurses (and Mateo, especially!) seemed to give her the sense of belonging she needed to come back for the next one.

And then there was Shawn Hatosy’s Dr. Abbott, the cowboy attending who spent the evening using his battlefield medical training to save lives (and who we learned lost a leg while serving). Abbott ended his shift right where he started it — on the terrace — where he found Dr. Robby mid-existential crisis. Abbott’s pep talk was terrible (“You rocked that shit”), but it somehow worked, pulling Dr. Robby out of his funk after he had delivered a remarkable speech to the team at the end of the worst shift ever.

It was a hell of a day for Dr. Robby, who is still dealing with his sort-of stepson, Jake, even as he had to muster the strength to inform the parents of Jake’s girlfriend that she’d died. I’m grateful we didn’t have to see that scene — I don’t think my heart could’ve handled it. Robby was still reeling from the aftershocks of that earlier breakdown, questioning whether he was even fit to do the job. He definitely is.

Dr. Langdon certainly didn’t help. When confronted about his drug use, Langdon tried to deflect and suggest that Robby was the one who needed professional help. Langdon really can be such a dick. Their extended exchange left just enough ambiguity about whether Langdon would be back — but my guess is that, once cooler heads prevail, he’ll follow Robby’s orders and enter a treatment program.

That basically leaves Nurse Dana, who seemed to end her shift with her mind made up to walk away, taking her photos and heading out for good. Who could blame her? It’s one of the raw truths of the nursing profession: The emotional toll and burnout can be unbearable in a job where you give so much and get so little back — not even basic appreciation from patients who often take their frustrations out on you.

Season two, which is already in production, will jump ahead ten months to the 4th of July. Who will still be around? That’s unclear. Langdon and Nurse Evans are question marks, as are the med students, whose typical rotations in emergency medicine last only four weeks. Whitaker, Javadi, and even Mel could be gone — unless they’ve wrapped up med school and return as interns. There are also a few doctors from the night shift — Dr. Ellis, Dr. Shen — who I’d love to see back next season. And obviously, Nurse Van Horn, the largely background nurse who has quietly become the internet’s boyfriend over the last several weeks.

We’ll find out in 2026. Until then, television will not be as good as it has been these last three months.