For many TV fans, the second season of “The Pitt” was a weekly event where they could watch their favorite group of doctors perform life-changing medical acts. Instead of just being a medical drama, it’s changed the way shows of its kind are formatted, brought a huge community of fans together and provided the casual kind of queer representation that’s desperately needed right now. “The Pitt” is a brilliant and enthralling addition to the drama genre that deserves every piece of praise it receives.
“The Pitt” is a genuinely interesting piece of media. Medical shows have always been popular, but never have they dedicated themselves as wholly to medical accuracy and subtle character development as found in this show. “The Pitt” chooses to spend an entire season on one shift, showing the nitty-gritty details missing from more mainstream TV ventures. To aid in accuracy, the cases in the show are written by Joe Sachs, who worked in an ER before switching career paths.
Noah Wyle, creator of the show and the actor playing Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, previously starred on the popular show “ER.” Wyle has stated that part of the strength of “The Pitt” comes from realizing “that we don’t need a big deus ex machina plot device to keep this engaging, that there is something really fascinating about watching everyday people try to get through the course of their day,” which could not be more true. The show has taken a field that’s so overly romanticized and displayed it with every feature in the open — something that has brought fans closer instead of pushing them away.
Medical accuracy is often forgotten in the genre in favor of shock value cases. When a medical show is able to dedicate itself entirely to the practice, it is infinitely more engaging and special. And yet even with this level of accuracy, “The Pitt” works exhaustively to give audiences a cast of unforgettable and fascinating characters.
Actors like Katherine LaNasa and Supriya Ganesh, who play characters Dana Evans and Samira Mohan, respectively, along with other cast members, engage with each other in such a colorful and unique way that fans have built entirely new relationships, or “ships” as they’re referred to in fandom culture, from just a few interactions. The show shines when it balances the wants of the fans along with its focus on medicine.
With the eagerly anticipated finale came its own set of issues. My previously mentioned favorite, Ganesha, will be making an exit. This decision sparked criticism from fans who believed the show was prioritizing Wyle’s protagonist over the strong women of color characters. This wasn’t helped by the show cutting scenes related to the new attending Baran Al-Hashimi.
Despite my disliking her initially, I found that Al-Hashimi’s character arc over the course of the season was one of the strongest. By the final episode, she had taken the number one spot of favorites for me. The decision to cut part of her final scene in the car, a scene meant to highlight the emotional strain of her relationship with her ex-husband and child, and to replace it with a scene of her crying that looked more centered around Dr. Robby significantly took away from the finale’s satisfaction and writing quality.
The finale was, despite its shortcomings and controversial decisions, a good wrap-up of the character arcs. Although I’ll miss Mohan intensely, I’m also eager to see Dr. Ellis rise to a main character position and to see Al-Hashimi’s return, since I refuse to acknowledge the idea of her not showing up again.
When awards season came around, it was no surprise that “The Pitt” dominated every segment it was nominated in. There’s no doubt that this will happen again. I hope this is an affirmation that this show is going to change the way genres approach their material. If a show whose content is complicated manages to reach a huge audience while still being understandable and powerful, it deserves the love it gets and more. TV should be complex, dramatic, hilarious and heartbreaking. “The Pitt” doesn’t miss a beat.
