The Pitt S1 E9, E10

Spoilers

“3:00 PM”

“4:00 PM”

Two more episodes from HBO Max’s The Pitt are in the tank now. This show has been exceptional. I do have to turn my head away a few times, including this episode with the burned man and the boy with the blood behind his eye, but the drama is just so intense it is worth a few wiggly feelings in my tum-tum.

When Dana took the punch to the face from a frustrated Doug Driscoll, I was shocked. I had seen a picture of her with a bloody nose when I was searching for pics on Google, but the cruelness of Driscoll was tough. I understand the frustration that he was feeling with the wait that he was having, but that does not excuse the violent response. I sure hope he gets what is coming to him.

Langdon was discovered for stealing medication. He had been leaning on Santos a lot, but she was noticing the discrepancies in some of his patients’ medication. Robby sent him packing at the end of episode 10. It feels as if this is just one more thing that is weighing down on Robby. Stresses are building on him.

We got back to the storyline with the boy and his “hit list.” McKay reported the boy to the police, who came to talk to his grandma. This arc has been slow, but feels like it is starting to build once again.

We are down to six episodes remaining of season one.

The Pitt S1 E8

Spoilers

“2:00 PM”

I’m not crying… you’re crying!

Okay, I am crying.

This episode hit hard. It was a one-two punch and that did not even take into account Dr. Collins and the miscarriage. That was pushed back by the character and the moment.

We get a young girl who was a drowning victim, who the staff desperately tried to warm up so they could get her heart started. The little girl who, as we find out, saved her little sister from drowning in the pool.

Oh my god, this was heartbreaking. Every minute of this story on screen ripped at the heart. If there ever was a story that demanded a happy ending, it was this one, but that would not be coming.

Then, as the grief over the loss of this little girl was sitting with us, they held an honor walk for Nick Bradley, the young man whose story has been going on for most of the show. His parents finally decided to allow the organ donation to proceed and the wheeled him out of the ER past friends and staff.

The show had to counterbalance the anguish of the episode with a man who arrived with a malfunctioning pacemaker, who was named Willie, and he turned out to be a member of the Freedom House Ambulance Service, which was the very first U.S. emergency service staffed by paramedics with medical training that went beyond basic first aid. 

There was also a nice moment with Dr. Javadi, a patient and a corpse of a black widow spider.

But all of the loss floating around the ER was palatable and just emotionally stunning. This may have been the best episode the series so far.

The Pitt S1 E6, E7

Spoilers

“12:00 P.M.”

“1:00 PM”

Okay, there were a couple of moments during these two episodes that we rough on me. There was a heart attack scene that was just about more than I could handle.

I do like how the show has been, for the most part, more about the characters than with the illnesses. Whether it be the staff of the ER or the patients, the characters are the driving force behind story.

The abortion arc is really good. There is a father abuse storyline that did not work for me. One comment was made that the doctors and nurses were mandatory reporters but couldn’t report without evidence. As a mandatory reporter, that is patently incorrect. That pulled me out of the scene.

Then, it took a dramatic twist with Trinity Santos, who was a character that I have not been a fan of so far in the series, and a vicious confrontation with the child abuser in question. It was fairly unrealistic, but very kick ass. It helped that storyline.

The end of episode seven was horrific, as Dr. Collins went into the restroom, with tears, seeing blood in her underwear. There had been subtle hints through the last couple of episodes that Collins, who was pregnant, was going to have something terrible happen to the baby. While it is unconfirmed as of yet, this ending scene did not make things look good.

This pair of episodes started to show Doctor Robby was acting unlike he normally would do. I had a bit of a problem with that too because up until here, he seemed like he was great. I had no idea that he was acting differently than normal. The show had told us about his struggles on the anniversary of his mentor’s death, but I still thought he was doing a great job. When Collins called him out on his behavior, I was surprised. Some of these scenes with Robby felt out of place from the rest of the season. Of course, we did not know Robby before this series, and all of the episodes have been the same day, so it is hard to see the changes.

The show brought up the kid with the “hit list” again, but it is a story arc that feels like it will come back hard later in the season.

I was so happy that Whittaker made it through episode 7 without having to change his scrubs!

The Pitt S1 E5

Spoilers

“11:00 AM”

I have to say that I have really enjoyed the first five episodes of HBO Max’s series, The Pitt. I am in on the characters and the intelligent writing that is going along with them.

Even the medical stuff, which usually bothers me with a medical show, has not been too bad generally speaking.

Noah Wylie has been awesome so far as Doctor Robbie, although I expect there will be some problems coming up with this abortion that he falsified. Especially since the woman who brought the girl was not her mother, but her aunt… and Mommy’s here.

I feel bad for poor Whitaker, who has had to change his scrubs multiple times already. Is this a running joke with him getting blood spat on him this episode after getting peed on last time. He has been splattered with bodily fluids a whole bunch, and I feel for the kid.

Some of the stories that have running through the first four episodes were not seen or just barely mentioned in this episode. The new ones that have jumped into the rotation are engaging too. I do want to know more about the kid with the hit list, as that was one that grabbed my attention.

Good stuff. I sense more problems ahead.

The Pitt S1 E1, E2, E3, E4

Spoilers

So this was a series that I have wanted to watch for awhile now. The time was just never right, but with Christmas break upon me, plus the second season debuting in January on HBO Max, I thought I would give The Pitt a try.

See, I am a hypochondriac… well, sort of. Medical shows have bothered me in the past. I am bothered by things that can go wrong in the human body. While it does not make me feel as if I am having the same symptoms, it does bother me. That being said, the idea of each episode being an hour at a time in an emergency room made me think of 24 and I was intrigued.

I almost stopped at the first episode. A couple of scenes in that first show nearly finished me off. I was in on some of the storylines though so I decided to stick with it. After four episodes, I am fully in and will hopefully not have any further issues.

The storylines were coming hard and fast in the first four episodes. I was working on the EYG Comic Cavalcade as I was watching so the number of episodes just kept rolling as I worked. Perhaps I shouldn’t work as I watched, because I was being distracted by the show.

Noah Wylie led this cast of actors that I mostly did not recognize. Yet, they all did a great job with their roles. The short term stories with the patients were all very engaging and ranged from deadly serious to a good laugh.

One that especially caught my attention was a mother who faked an illness to get some help with her son. She found a list of girls to eliminate in his room, causing some serious tension of the story. That one is still percolating away. There was one that seemed to fly by faster with a brother and sister who desperately tried to keep their father alive, despite his wishes not to be on life-saving equipment. That story felt like it played out over a longer time than what it actually did, since the four episodes were designed to be only four hours total.

There were also a bunch of deaths in that four hour period. It truly showed the anguish the doctors and nurses have to deal with in their daily job.

The characters are introduced really well as there is not a ton of time to spend with them. Their minutes on screen are maximized extremely effectively.

I was not sure I was going to continue to watch this during episode one because of my own issues, but I am glad I pushed on. This is a strong series so far and my goal is to finish season one before the arrival of season two in January.