11am Saturday meets 9pm Thursday
I'm covering The Pitt Season 2!
As you might have noticed, I’m pretty fascinated by the idea of finding the ideal conditions to watch something. To me, a feature film belongs in a cinema, experienced in the dark on a huge screen and with no distractions. I know my insistence on this and, like, this publication’s whole vibe screams anti-streaming— but that’s not the case at all! One of the greatest joys in life is a TV show you can stream weekly, where the stakes are raised every week, and word of mouth travels so far by the season finale that you’re having 20 friends over to watch the episode together (never forget Succession Sundays). I think the streaming model makes the most sense with stories that warrant spreading out over months and years, and I’d like a little corner on here to occasionally discuss those stories— starting with a show that, in my opinion, is the right story at the right time with the right cast in the right format: The Pitt.
Thanks to HBO Max for allowing me to cover Season 2 of The Pitt, coming out this Thursday the 8th, each episode followed by a companion podcast co-hosted by Substack’s very own Hunter Harris. Something you may not know about me is that most of my family works in healthcare, and I am a lifelong medical science nerd. I’ve eavesdropped on enough medical discussions my whole life that I can tell you what every abbreviation in a full blood panel means, and I’m pretty confident at this point I could intubate someone if I absolutely had to. This combined with my love for a great story made it inevitable I’d be hooked on The Pitt since pretty early on in its first season.
If you’ve never seen The Pitt, the best way I can describe it is as being a fly on the wall of an emergency room on a terrible day. The new season takes place on the 4th of July, 15 weekly episodes each corresponding to an hour on the shift, as the PTMC ER staff face The Horrors. Emmy winner DP Johanna Coelho’s camera once again spares no graphic detail, and traps us in such close proximity to these people that by the end of hour three their struggles become ours. It’s a perfect show, and I’m so relieved that season 2 is— at least so far— exactly what I hoped it’d be.
Without spoiling anything (something journalists on Twitter can’t say today!), here are a few specific things I’m most looking forward to seeing in Season 2, every Thursday from now through April:
Every woke as hell storyline with the perfect soundbite that will inevitably be clipped for an Instagram reel you can send to your distant, conservative relatives
I love Supriya Ganesh’s Dr. Mohan (see: me last Halloween) and think she’s the ultimate heiress to Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle), who can’t help but criticize her every move before he goes and does the exact same thing ten minutes later. I can’t wait to see how that relationship develops as she gains more confidence in her residency this season.
Tiktok failed to load.
Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browserI love this tweet and the dynamic between these two. In Season 1, Santos (played by Isa Briones) blew the whistle on Langdon (Patrick Ball)’s addiction he had managed to keep under the radar for a very long time. And on her first day! In Season 2, he’s back after ten months in rehab and I can’t wait to see how their first conversation pans out. My money’s on them becoming ride-or-die best friends by Season 5.
It’s been reported by now that newcomer Dr. Al-Hashimi (played by Sepideh Moafi) is a proponent of using AI to streamline the staff’s workload. Knowing that the show doesn’t shy away from a nuanced take, I’m excited to see how this is covered, especially as the day gets more and more chaotic.
Them:
Tiktok failed to load.
Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browserDuring the official Season 2 press conference last month, Noah Wyle said that they were in the process of filming episode 13 out of 15 that week, and how they were “in the championship rounds of this season where the emotional volatility of the character is extremely raw.” Music to my ears. What I love about Robby as a lead character is how obviously flawed he is; the embodiment of how you can be fighting a million interior battles and still show up to be of service to others. Naturally, I can’t wait to see what tips his very flimsy equilibrium out of balance, probably a few episodes in.
Please let me know in the comments if you’re gonna be watching! Meet back here to debrief after episode 2 next week.
i was thinking of writing about The Pitt just to have someone to freak out with – i’ve watched season one three times and i’m actually insane over the new season coming out! i’m so happy i stumbled upon this post and can’t wait
you’re doing the important work