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DO NOT READ THIS if you haven’t watched Reality War

DOCTOR WHO SPOILERS

GENUINELY full on screaming and sobbing at seeing 13 again I had truly 0 belief that that would ever ever happen again it was like a loved one coming back from the dead I think it restored my faith in God a little I’m not kidding when I tell you I was /inconsolable./.

just yelling MY BABY at the screen over and over again

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Doctor Who Ep. 6 Interstellar Song Contest Spoilers

Loved everything about this episode (Ok, except one (1) thing!). . .

First, I think if you try to read this episode as a direct allegory you're going to have trouble because the layered thematic ideas allow for about 100 different readings that can't be simplified including:

Showing a planet like Earth while talking about "The Corporation" stripping Hellion of its resources and burning it down is a condemnation and warning against capitalism's responsibility for global warming

Discussing "buying" an entire culture and its people in order to get one silly food resource you don't even need but just want to sell evokes colonization and specifically reminds me of what Dole did to Hawaii or what United Fruit Company, Nestle, etc. have done to South / Central America and various parts of Africa.

Centering the queerness of the doctor, including gay / queer characters and icons, and using a reference to "Rise Like a Phoenix" also acts as an homage and recognition of Eurovision as a beloved segment of queer culture, giving a sympathetic look at how that might complicate our feelings about the event's ability to build community beside its complicity in harm. This, to me, was one of the episode's strengths. Its willingness to show that we can hold contradictory and complicated feelings about things.

Furthermore, the Hellions are a representation of the IDEA of a marginalized community, combining the greatest hits of classic bigotry from across time including the accusations of cannibalism (indigenous communities), secret horns (antisemitism), and self-destructive, naturally evil terrorists (Muslims).

And that brings us to the genocide issue. The idea that "Kid" is literally someone whose mother was shot and killed in front of him and suffered from the loss of his home and subjugation of his people creates a clear argument that the violence of domineering, capitalist, colonial powers ARE terrorists acts. The Corporation is a terrorist group. If their behavior creates "terrorism" as a result, that is hard to blame on the victims. (Also, calling him "Kid" was clearly deliberate, and although this episode literally can't be an allegory for the ongoing genocide it reminds us of, it certainly evokes how the literal majority of Palestinians suffering are and were children). I thought the show was very careful to balance the idea that Kid and Wynn's actions are wrong, but that Kid and Wynn are more sympathetic and fleshed out than the nameless, faceless advertisement that represents the Corporation.

Including Cora also seemed like clumsy if thoughtful choice to remind the audience that judging any group of people on the actions of the one or two individuals who get in the "news" for doing something heinous is its own kind of atrocity.

THAT BEING SAID. There was a huge fumble here with the Doctor. Sure, The Doctor has suffered a genocide, but he has also caused them. His torturing the terrorist is clearly meant to make us uncomfortable and disgusted. However, he does not learn any lesson here. He has a CHANCE to, but we're only shown how the torture affects him (which felt an awful lot like the old "the U.S. will carpet bomb your country then make a movie about how sad it made their soldiers"), and he does not in any way modify his beliefs or stance after. He stands there and says basically "I'm coming after you" to Kid in an extrajudicial killing kind of way. He says "You have put ice in my heart." And since Bel does not call him out more than "Oh, I was scared for a second," what I think we needed was for Kid to say to him, "Good. Now you know how I feel." Instead he says nothing and so. . . we're left assuming the Doctor is in the right, I guess? I suppose I wanted a "You would make a good Dalek" moment here. We needed something that sealed the message of "Wow, the deaths of trillions of people is a heinous and abhorrent act, how could anybody do that? And how could you just stand by and DO NOTHING (the episode actually did make this note!) while it happens. Gosh, if that happened, I'd be so angry I'd want to destroy the people responsible and take them out. . . Oh. . . Ooohh, that's what Kid is feeling. The Doctor was angry about a potential genocide. Kid was angry about the real one that happened. If the loss of innocent life can drive you to do things so tremendously out of character. . . Again, this wouldn't EXCUSE the actions. It would HUMANIZE them. It would remind us that our righteous fury over terrorism can only be earned if we bring that same energy toward the colonial, genocidal powers that create the conditions which cause it. Those powers which operate by that same deadly playbook then cry foul when its turned on them.

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Literary Analysis of the Pitt Episode 2 &3

(Spoilers for the whole season.) I'm going to argue that one line near the end of this episode unpacks every choice made in the writing.

First, the episode theme: One adverse event is manageable, but when those events pile up, a crisis is inevitable.

Something that took me completely off guard this episode was this line:

"It's time. Let's push another amp. This one could do it."

When Whitaker is working to resuscitate Mr. Milton, he says this and I gasped out loud because I had been tracking these three motifs (Time, Electricity, and False Hope) across the episode. Let's go!!:

->First, Robby tells Dana about David who last episode ran away rather than talk about his problems (a classic Robby move). If Robby weren't so inundated with responsibilities, he could probably take time to deal with this (all) better. . .

Foreshadowing Break: Dana asks: "What's wrong with kids these days?" Robby answers: "Besides social media, the worldwide pandemic, and the environmental crisis--? (A pause, before adding.) "gun violence?" How right he is. How right he will be.

->Samira Mohan then drops the inciting theme of this episode as they work to revive the 18 year old who arrived unresponsive from a drug overdose: "If it was just opiates. . ." If it was just ONE thing, they have the tools to manage it. . .

-> In the middle of trying to deal with this 18 year old overdose, a second emergency is announced (scooter v. pavement). If it was just one case it would be so much easier. . .

->Robby notices that Collins isn't feeling so well. If it was just the hospital they had to care about. . . (Note: When Whitaker goes to present a case to Collins, Robby stops him so he can handle it for her.)

NOW, the time motif really kicks into gear:

-> Mel is relieved to be told the pot gummy father won't be going to jail (she hates seeing families torn apart, but also where is Mel's father? Her mother died of cancer but why is she her sister's caretaker . . . ). Mel walks outside to have a moment of quiet reflection (I am a savage. . .). OOPs, there's a drop off patient, no time to pause and process. Mel is okay, though, and excited to learn that they always have an OR stocked and ready but "What if there are multiple traumas needing an OR?" she asks. "Then we get a lot busier." McKay actually said something similar in episode one. They plan for the worst, but they don't have the option to break down if "worse than the worst " happens. There IS no time to pause. Case in point:

-> Langdon asks Mel about the VA. He listens to her talk, but then INTERRUPTION by Santos. . . . She treated a patient without asking and INTERRUPTION AGAIN. . . the face-plant guy comes in. No time to talk, ruminate, react, decide.

Now, about the Hope / False Hope Motif:

-> "You got him back" says the mother of the boy who OD'd. (There is a resurrection theme being set up for the next episode.) But he didn't. Dr. Robby is not a miracle worker. None of them are. (And yet all of them are.)

->Dr. Robby answers "We hope so" to the parents of the OD'd son Nick AND the elder patients' kids when they ask if their family member will get better. (They won't.) But Robby keeps stalling instead of telling Nick's parents the truth. Why? He's being really frank (by contrast) about Mr. Spencer the elderly man. Is the stalling really for the parents? Or himself? "Spend time with Nick," he tells them. (Probably unintentional, but "nick of time" pun.)

Sidebar: can't ignore how prevalent the motif of sons / fathers is across the season. Here's the rapid fire breakdown for episode 2:

Theresa is searching for her son David (who lost his father).

Father Mr. Spencer talks with his son (but not his daughter).

The mom of the four year old shouts that they won't take her son away because of the father's mistake.

Robby responds to Mr. Spencer's kids "This is your father." Note that the ventilator decision they have to make is the same one that Robby had to make for his mentor Dr. Adamson. "But he's not your father," the daughter say. Of course, neither was Dr. Adamson, but learning later in the season that Robby was raised by his grandmother, Adamson WAS his father figure. (Also, his name is literally ADAM-son, a religious motif especially when paired with Robby as "Robinavitch" Rabbi's son).

Robby points out to Dana that the OD kid is not much older than Jake, Robby's de factor step son. Don't go there, she answers. "Hard not to sometimes." Both of them are going to be frantically reaching out to Jake during the shooting. Both of them will be devastated by Langdon:

-> Foreshadowing break: Robby asks if David would hurt anyone. Mom answers: "No, but I'm sure a lot of parents felt that way before their child did unspeakable things." Oh Robby does NOT know what is in store for his work son. Speaking of Langdon: The custodial staff member Beto "still thinks he works in the ED," and Langdon is confused why this guy who clearly doesn't work for the ED anymore is "winding up back here." Langdon, we will be asking the same thing about you!!!

SIDENOTE: This is also the moment it's revealed that Langdon's son is 4 years old JUST like the boy who ate the father's pot gummy. In this scene, Dana also hands Langdon his energy drink without being asked. Weirdly, in a quick throw away line, Javadi and McKay walk away from a man this episode who was admitted for "mixing adderall and energy drinks." I give for your consideration: Langdon's line about ADHD later in the season. Coincidence? Sure! But this happens in the same episode, babbyy. (Also, Langdon really is Dana and Robby's son my GOD. Dana in ep. 3 says, lovingly, of Langdon: "For Christ's sake, you're like having a kid I never wanted." )

ELECTRIC MOTIF (boogie woogie!) I don't like the case with the dog shock collar. But the fact that it's back to back with the live wire electrocution is interesting. Especially because. . .

Samira describes the sickle cell crisis as an "Electrical stabbing pain."

That sickle cell crisis is a nice metaphor for this hospital and staff. No one understands that they are suffering actual pain. They aren't faking, they are inundated and overwhelmed and hurting and human:

"Little empathy goes a long way for those suffering in real pain." Mohan says to Whitaker. In this episode, they all show that empathy to one another, asking if each other are "okay." And all of them (Mel, Whitaker, Langdon, Robby, Collins, etc.) answer "yes" because they have to. They don't have a choice. There's no time to do otherwise.

As the episode ends, all three motifs crescendo with Mr. Milton:

Mr. Milton was down for an "unknown time" and Robby tells Whitaker to slow the tempo of his chest compressions. (Note that Samira notices the code twice. She's traumatized by the loss of a patient. More on that later.)

And then the episode cuts between the different stories. The son and daughter of Mr. Spencer are "not ready to let go yet," just as Whitaker frantically refuses to let go of Mr. Milton, just as the mother and father refuse to give up on their son, and just like Robby himself refuses to take away the hope those parents have. One more test. One more round of epi. One more intervention.

This is a whole hospital of people who are just buying a little extra time. Stalling. Collins says to Robby that they could override the siblings' orders to carry out Mr. Spencer's wishes and Robby says: "But we don't have that kind of time. We are stuck." Collins is confused by this. "What are you talking about?"

He sees the parents: "Those people need some hope." "It's false hope," Collins tells him. "Hope is hope." "What, are we doing miracles today?" "They need some time to process before they can accept what's happening." Collins reads his mind. She tells him he should take his own advice. Physician, heal thyself. He doesn't want to face their reaction to their son's death, but he does want those adult kids to take their father of the ventilator so that he feels better about doing it for his mentor: reassurance that it's the right thing and he was right to do it himself.

And the false hope continues. "People wake up from comas," the mother says, "You can--you can shock him back." (Note: Whitaker also asks to shock Milton but we all know they are way past that.) All the other patients hear the mother sobbing over Nick. Theresa picks up the phone and tries for her son again. If it was just one of these cases. . .

They try to tell Whitaker to call it, but he wants to try one more epi:

"It's time," he says, "Let's push another amp. This one could do it." (Time.) (Electricity) (False Hope).

By now, none of us are under the illusion that he can.

(I concede, the amp reference is not actual electricity, but Whitaker did ask to shock Mr. Milton when it would be pointless, not the "miracle" everyone (like Nick's mother and the audience) have been taught to think it is. People are not Frankenstein's monster. Doctors do not have god-like power. People can not be resurrected. . .

Except they can! Episode 3 add on's because it's all connected:

"Call me if there's a resurrection." Langdon asks. <- This miracle / religious resurrection theme carries over from last episode.

"Maybe he's hoping for something that isn't there." (Langdon says as he talks, confused, to Dana about Robby stringing Nick's parents along when their son is brain dead."

"One more minute, please." Whitaker begs. We cut back and forth between Whitaker and the overdosing girl from the car. Whitaker does not get his resurrection, but the girl in the car does. Narcan IS a miracle. She gasps back to life.

(The Whitaker parallels continue as he and the Mr. Spencer's daughter refuse to leave and "Go get a cup of coffee" )

We get "a brief moment of silent reflection." <- Robby's words to Whitaker which he will reuse in ep. 14. Hardly enough time to process one's own mortality and the devastating inevitability of death. Hardly time to resurrect yourself.

"This was not your fault. This was nobody's fault." Whitaker looks confused by Robby's attempt to offer support. Literally looks at his hand on his shoulder. "I really thought we'd get him back." "Sometimes you do everything right and you don't get what you hoped for." **EDIT: But it IS the fault of the system. One problem is manageable, but you pack too many people into the ED and Milton ends up in the hallway without a cardiac monitor. You pack too many problems into this ED and Robby ends up having a crisis in the room his mentor died in. You rely on the ED to handle the inundation of Covid cases and doctors get sick and die.

NOW, here's where ep. 3 gets fun. Robby yells at Mohan: "You waste time and money running tests patients don't need. Being here means that no matter how good you are or how hard you try you will make a mistake and someone else might die." (Mohan made a mistake once and lost a patient. It changed her practice. )

HOWEVER, Robby is a hypocrite. He's been aware for over an hour that Nick was gone. Mohan is the one who told him! Yet he's been ordering tests over and over to stall.

Later, Mohan helps Whitaker jump back in: they're going to take the toughest case and handle it like a race car pit crew. Slo-mo who? Something, something: it's easier to teach lessons to others than take the advice ourselves. *Stares hard at Robby*

Now, I haven't forgotten my girl Santos. She gets this devastating resurrection / life & death conversation with Mel who lost her mother to cancer. Mel wants to resurrect a family for herself in this ED. "You see a family, I see every man for himself." Santos says. "Unfortunately, my mother is going to live forever."

Then Santos overhears: "No, she was like, dead dead." This is the roommate of the overdose girl talking on the phone.

"Think she was dead?" Santos says with heavy sarcasm. You know: Santos. "I use sarcasm as a shield" Santos whose best friend died of suicide. Santos whose best friend is actually dead, dead. Santos who is honestly pretty frank (lol, Langdon joke) but pretends that she's always lying when she's telling the truth. (Also, Santos who has an empty room in her apartment for Whitaker. . . I feel like it was implied her friend died a while ago but. . . what if?)

SIDENOTE: Overdose girl is also on the phone. She's saying: "No, my dad's going to freak out" when he hears about what happened, and in comes Nick's dad who freaks out on her.

Foreshadowing Break: Losing my mind over Langdon's reaction to Robby's "Let's get addiction services on this." for the nicotine guy.

Last but not least: Robby literally being Abbot's voice and Abbot literally being Robby's voice by reading Abbot's letter to the sister. Wow, wow, wow, okay!

Wrap up: "None of this is fair."

"I wish I could have done more to save your son."

"If there was anything I could do to heal your father. . ."

None of them are miracle workers, though. Sometimes they pull of miracles, but at the end of the day they can't resurrect the dead even if they want to. (Angels, not gods.) They do not have control over who lives and dies. Except they do. That's a horrible paradox to live under. Powerful and powerless. Innocent and full of guilt. My god.

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The Pitt Episode 1: Literary Details

I'm calling this series: "Literary elements in the writing for the Pitt that may be incidental but make me absolutely feral anyway."

Literary Element #1: Foreshadowing Thematic Idea: Giving life and caring for others can cause you pain.

Starting Point: Suicide motif.

->Start with Abbott and Robby on the rooftop. "What are you doing here?" This is the obvious one as they discuss suicidal tendencies. The question is why do they keep doing this job? Robby answers: "It's the job that keeps on giving," but what it gives is pain, ulcers, nightmares, etc. The thing is, this isn't just a question of why they do this job, it's "Why are you here?" What is your purpose? Why haven't they both stepped off that roof yet? What keeps them going? It's the human question.

->At this moment, we hear a church bell ring over the sound of a siren. Life and death. Pain and prayer.

->As they descend in the elevator, Abbott discusses that he has a teen coming back to end a pregnancy (life and death) and Abbott gives Robby his letter for the "dead vet's family." (Why do they do this? Because they care. It's so clear in that moment).

->And what precedes this scene? Collins in the bathroom puking from morning sickness. Dana mentions how she had morning sickness with her 2nd daughter "I'd like to say it goes away but. . ." We also hear Dana's report about Robby: four years in and he's still sick over losing his mentor. The way that we care for others hurts us. Bringing life is painful. Losing life is painful. Life is pain from start to finish. (Why do we do this?? It's a new day, maybe this time. . . )

->And what follows this scene? The mother with the burned hand from the sterno from trying to make her kids s'mores. When we care for others but don't have the resources to provide what they need we will not give up: we will hurt ourselves for them. We'd burn ourselves up entirely to give an extra bit of warmth to those we love. This is the conversation Robby has with Gloria about the hospital. There aren't enough resources at this hospital. It's hurting the patients and the staff. (Incidentally, Gloria's name is religious, there is a religion motif.)

->The first big case arrives. The man who fell onto the subway tracks: "Suicide?" Robby asks immediately. "No, he's a good Samaritan." He fell trying to help. He fell trying to get back up AFTER helping someone.

Foreshadowing Break: "Talk to me at the end of the night," Abbott says to newbie Mel. He means this metaphorically--jokingly--but even though he is not scheduled to work that night, lo and behold, a self-fulfilling prophesy: he shows up. The need arises and he shows up. Why do they keep doing this? (Because someone has to be there at the end of the night / end of the day to talk the other one the roof. No man gets left behind. They wouldn't leave one another to fight this battle alone).

->The woman who fell on the tracks: "Any chance she jumped?" Robby once again goes right to the suicide mindset. We see in others what we understand in ourselves. He is reading this as an internal issue again, but it's a societal issue: she may have been pushed.

->Triathlon guy: he keeps running, and running, and even when he's not feeling well, he keeps running because that's what well trained people do. But when we run and run and don't stop. . . his heart stops. Sometimes you have to take a break, McKay tries to remind him.

->"No good deed goes unpunished" <--Donnie says

Foreshadowing Break: "It's not always about you, Robby" Collins says in response to their cute, snippy "You okay?" exchange. And she's right. This time her morning sickness isn't about him, because this baby was from IVF, not like the last one. Anyway: caring is sometimes having sore feelings and asking "are you okay?" anyway.

->"arrival of the living dead" Life and death. Life and death.

->Something they do at this ED: they pause when a life is lost: "To remember that this was somebody's child. . ." That's why they do this. We are all somebody's child. . .

->Here comes Victoria's mom. Checking on her daughter. We are all somebody's child.

Foreshadowing break! Here come the concerned parents of a child who won't wake up. A child who, it turns out, ingested a drug that was left out by his dad whose wife is irate about it. Langdon is in the room; Langdon with the young child and the wife who seems pissed at him and the secret third thing we don't know about yet with the drugs. (I'm not insinuating anything except parallels and: we hurt the people we love by accident through the choices we make.)

->Whoops! A whole tiny scene about relieving the pressure to make something hurt less. This is about Whitaker's finger. It's not foreshadowing of the thematic ideas of the show.

->Finally: in comes David with his mother Theresa. (Mother Theresa with a son David. This show's religious names!!) She has literally made herself sick to try and get her son the help he needs. We would make ourselves sick for the ones we love. Literally, spiritually, emotionally, physically. (Why do we do this? What are you doing here?) The one thing we won't do, can't do, so rarely try to do: Talk. The fact that one of Collin's big feats in this episode is helping a woman to communicate. . . coincidence, surely. The fact that Robby denies talking to her and Dana and Kiara. Coincidence, surely. Oh and: Heart problems. Heart problems. Heart problems. (Patient after patient with heart problems. Chest pain. . . isn't that bad?) Everybody's hurting and . . . Whitaker. Princess asks "Do you want an EKG?" This nice man is in pain, but he seems fine, but Whitaker says okay.

Foreshadowing break: Whitaker's patient with a sneaky, hidden heart problem. More on that later.

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I don't know if cross pollination is allowed between Tiktok and Tumblr, but I stumbled upon this and now I need more than the 189 people who have liked this video to experience it because O0-UHCH??? OUCH!!! OW!! :(

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🫵 he doesn't want to be the bee that protects the hive

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Okay, I'll bite: I think that Langdon is a devastatingly sad character.

Watching someone who is very capable and "put together" spiral out due to addiction sucks. He doesn't look like we think an addict should look, he has a wife and kid(s), a stable job as a healthcare worker, he saves lives--

We see who he COULD be and IS at his core through our initial ignorance of his addiction, which makes the realization that he's been stealing from patients and high at work that much worse. The image we wanted to believe was a mirage, and we don't want to believe it because he was "so nice to us" (aka Mel, the avatar of goodness) and how could someone that capable of good also be an addict? In fact, it sucks so much to see that we're angry at him for disappointing us, just like Robby.

And that's why addiction is so devastating. It grabs hold of people regardless of their health or status or connections. It seems like Langdon's got everything going for him, and he still has an addiction. An addiction to something he was probably initially prescribed (if we take him at his word). And it sucks.

Langdon is devastating because we are still watching him spiral out, and it makes him look petty and cruel and immature when he is really scared and desperate. He is not ready for help. His addiction only became "public" knowledge a few hours ago. We are watching someone we knew to be confident and unfazed become erratic. He is not able to see sense or logic because his addiction is doing that to him. He is not in control right now.

The thing is, the show allows us a bit of our newly developed bias toward Langdon. He is pathetic in that final moment. Robby is sick of him in that moment. His comments to Robby seem so cruel because Robby can't help it. . .

But the parallels he makes between himself and Robby ARE there. The difference is that Robby isn't an addict, so we sympathize with him. And, yes, there are degrees here. Robby didn't steal from patients, but he did yell at his co-workers like Langdon did, and Robby is also refusing to get help despite it affecting his job performance and personal well being.

Addiction is a complicated disease, and it is deserving of sympathy and understanding even when we recognize that we can't excuse the negative or harmful behaviors someone does while battling that addiction.

But one thing this show highlighted--intentionally or not--is that we're happy to sympathize with one crisis, but not another. Robby lashing out isn't his fault. His panic attack is not his fault. He's stressed. He's overwhelmed. We accept that he's "earned" his behavior.

Langdon is an addict, though. How could we ever see that as anything but his fault?

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Me, combing through the meaning of each character's name after someone pointed out the Robinavitch means "son of the rabbi" which almost certainly makes his name a parallel to Abbot (the leader of a monastery) and then realizing that Trinity Santos literally refers to the trinity and "Saints" plus, (as someone else pointed out) McKay's Cassandra, the woman from Greek mythology who warns people of danger but is never believed and, obviously, Mel King is the people's princess, and Whitaker means "white cultivated soil" because he is, indeed, the whitest lil farm boy, then Langdon's first name is Frank because he's not even a little bit honest except when he's being a bitch (affectionate).

And to bring it all home, Wikipedia says that one possible meaning of Samira is "night companion" which is apt because she wants to fuck that old man on the night shift <3.

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We just got a perfect season of television folks. The Pitt Episode 15 Spoilers

First, in a brilliant season of television, the moment to finally make me cry was Santos with the patient from the parking lot. The show earned that emotional payoff. Santos’s simple, provable declaration that life fucking sucks, but it’s still worth living is a thesis statement for the entire show. Her desire not to let someone slip through the cracks and her determination to make sure that her patient gets help by connecting and transforming her personal story of pain into healing for others makes her the spiritual embodiment of every lesson we learned in that emergency department this season. It ALMOST makes you wish that she had won the rock paper scissors match with Whitaker earlier and found Robby. Because it doesn’t escape notice that both Langdon and Robby ended this season with concrete offers of help from a male friend / colleague (rehab for Langdon from Robby and therapy for Robby from Abbot) and neither of them have taken the offer (Yet. The constant drum of this episode: “tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. . .”)

Whitaker!! Now I can’t believe how much goodwill this show has built up with me by paying off storylines. The earlier hints about Whitaker‘s dire financial straits and his burgeoning sibling dynamic with Santos: his telling her in the first(?) episode that he definitely didn’t have $50 and then pocketing the sandwich; her own willingness to help and support other people being shown through his injured finger. This was a FULLY earned pay off. (Silly add on: Gerran Howell’s frightened reaction to Santos’s arrival was (1) valid and (2) the only moment in the show that I truly had my brain shouting British! That is a BRITISH man. It was something about the specific flavor of British physical comedy he channeled into his face and body lol.)

Also, I love how the general reaction to Mel and Becca has been a recognition that they are both relieved to be back with their sister (community, family, belonging) and how much Becca is a bright, centering force in Mel’s life but also that Mel can’t talk to Becca about what she’s been through that day. Mel doesn’t ever really get to be “off” as a caretaker. She has to keep a mask on at home—maybe a different kind of mask, but it really hit me that she has to still be somebody else to protect her sister. The bittersweet loneliness of that togetherness hits hard. It really beautifully captures the tableau of how families can never fully understand what their hospital worker family members do. And how that is both painful and healing: something to go home to that is just good and distant.

One thing that did stand out to me this episode (through no fault of the show) is how the change in the US political climate since the show filmed affected that scene where Abbott and Robby take over the patient and Ellis and Shen jokingly say “two old white guys are poaching our patient.” When later we find out that Ellis made the wrong decision in a way that put the patient’s life in danger, and Abbott has to step in and fix things. . . I imagine originally that scene was simply proof of how hard it is for Abbott and Robby to let go of the work that they do and go home because their years of experience makes them invaluable to the ED. But in this political climate, it didn’t pass my notice that two white men had to step in to fix the mistake of the only black female doctor we know on the night shift. The fact that this show has earned such good will from us that we know this is entire unintended is a testament to the character of all of those involved.

Oh, and somebody over on Reddit actually called the Abbot amputee reveal from 1! blurry behind the scenes photo, so I wasn’t as surprised as I should’ve been by that moment but I loved the casual acknowledgment of both the pain that working on your feet as an amputee all day would cause and the way that Princess hands over the wet wipe to him to wipe off his shoe, which makes the world feel so lived in. This is just life. People are disabled. Sometimes they are also doctors. This world is so rich, man. This show just GETS people. And LOVES people.

On that note! Samira Mohan speaks to my soul in this episode. I do feel like they shoehorned in the idea that she doesn’t have anything to go home to, and I’m also not convinced that telling a young female character that her career can’t be her whole life is necessarily needed in this moment, (but perhaps they cut whatever conversation the trailer suggested she would have with Abbott afterward, which may have contextualized this more. GIVE IT TO US!!). That being said, there is something so visceral about the ecstatic joy that a career of helping others brings you and the inevitable crying in the bathroom that follows. I just absolutely love Samira Mohan so much. She’s become my favorite character.

As for Javadi, I hope we get to see her again next season. I know that both she and Whitaker are harder to bring back if they set the next episode later than their rotation end, (which seems very likely based on the press releases so far). However, by having Javadi‘s parents work at the hospital and showing a potential friendship? Relationship? with Mateo it’s possible that we will see her again in some capacity. Similarly, by having Whitaker move in with Santos, there’s a possibility we get to see him again as well, even if he isn’t still part of the emergency department.

Oh! And one more thing about Javadi. I love how in the course of an hour she goes from juice box to beer! A very subtle, but wonderfully literary note to indicate that this baptism by fire has passed her from childhood into adulthood in the eyes of the Pitt crew. I love that her existence creates some perspective for Robby enough that he can laugh. Tomorrow and tomorrow. . .

OK, and I did say that Mohan was the most relatable character, but I actually have to give a shout out to Dana. Her quietly taking her things and walking out from the job she’s dedicated her life too (emotional and unannounced) is something I have done before and she captured that perfectly. I’m in awe of this cast.

(Speaking of the cast: Shout out to David’s actor for channeling those haunting camera stares that will stick with me for a long time. A Caravaggio. A portrait of humanity in all its complexities.)

Now back to Dana! On the one hand, you want Dana to have her retirement. You also want her to have her freedom from being the caretaker to the other doctors. I have spoken a lot about the way that this show captures how the patriarchy harms men. One thing I only mentioned in the side, though, is that the patriarchy expects women to pick up the slack. Dana is actually the one who holds that ED on her shoulders. And the expectations of an emergency department that needs her from the newest patient in the waiting room to the highest ranking doctor on the floor is so evident in Langdon‘s begging her to stay because he (and Robby) need her despite his unwillingness to take care of himself. (It’s what Whitaker said to Robby to get him off the floor. We need you: a truth that we know is not equal to healing).

I also saw that for many people, Langdon‘s comments to Robby was their final straw for liking him, while this episode also succeeded in creating genuine love for Santos. I once said I had no idea how they were going to successfully redeem Santos in the eyes of the audience after showing her in such a negative light but I shouldn’t have doubted. This show is made by people who are intelligent and caring and who love people. I don’t know any show outside of ATLA that’s pulled off a redemption arc that good. Never mind in the equivalent of one day. Especially without changing the character much at all: just our perception of her. People are full of infinite complexities when you are given the time to know them.

On that note, this episode did NOT make me hate Langdon. Despite not being his biggest fan, I think this show makes clear how much one day (which is really so so many days piled up over and over across time) can change everything. These characters lives are different now. Those families, those patients, ever hospital employees: they changed and they can’t go back to yesterday. (But tomorrow. . .).

So my favorite moment actually is Robby‘s confident, loud, and certain fuck you that he shouts back at Langdon as he walks into the hospital. That, to me, felt like the sign that we’ll see Langdon again. It’s the tone you use for someone you know and care about despite everything. The familiar, casual anger of loving something enough to walk away before it all gets worse. That fuck you, to me, was the same thing as the “See you Monday” to Dana: a recognition that I know you don’t want to try again, because life is fucking hard but hey, it’s worth it when you’re ready: see you tomorrow, assholes.

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Love how the Pitt keeps dropping little hints about the interns / student doctors' sad, messed up relationships with their families.

Whitaker being asked "Do you have a best friend?" by the pregnant farm wife and answering like: um. . . I have three older brothers. . . Does that count? (like he doesn't know!!) and then he goes " Actually they kind of tortured me growing up, so :( " Like, I know he means in an older sibling way, but ooh, lonely, isolated and different from the rest of the family, first to go to college in a third generation farm family Whittaker my beloved!

Santos who it goes without saying had a shitty unstable or traumatizing upbringing that she references through her rage at the potential abuser, struggle to make genuine connections, and self awareness that she deflects and snarks as a form of self defense. Santos who hates herself and lashes out so badly when she screws up only to immediately walk her words back because she was too mean to Whittaker and didn't like that. Santos who needs reassurance more than anyone. Santos who bullies the other interns but also tries to defend Mohan and take care of Whittaker's finger like a good sibling in an abusive household.

Mel aka "I hate to see families torn apart" who has visceral reactions to shouting and when parents fight and genuinely worries and asks questions about whether fighting adults are going to break up like she thinks she's witnessing a divorce before her eyes. Mel who seems to be the sole caretaker of her sister as a result of. . .?!

Mohan who for most of the show is a mysterious, wonderful angel who keeps getting reprimanded by the ED father Robbie for being the doctor she wishes hospital bureaucracy would allow her be, and then it turns out her father died when she was young!!?? And she's an only child??? And she was clearly her father's favorite, (but not in this ED!) and while she's handled that loss by now, she goes around being the big sibling to all the less experienced staff despite not being a sibling herself, like now she's got so many!!

And Javadi whose parents BOTH work for that hospital who is so young and feels so deprived of appreciation and love and support who is a "pressure cooker" child who has found the kind of understanding and support and chill vibes she's wanted from "actual cool yet responsible" mom McKay and that little connection she has with Dana who's so attentive to her with her Utah metaphor and wishes her many Utah's like "I hope you experience many things in life" to a kid who has been set on such a narrow and difficult path she hasn't been able to look up to see the sky!!!

aaaahhhhhuuuggghhh!

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the fact that it was Whitaker who found Robby. the fact that they made a point of showing that it could have been Santos who found Robby. Santos who has shown she is willing to go above someone's head if she thinks it's necessary. Santos who would have told someone - Dana, Abbot, someone - if she was the one to find Robby having a panic attack on the floor. she wouldn't have been crazy about it because she did go about reporting Langdon with tact and nuance (getting other ppls takes on Langdon and proof of drugs vanishing before she went to Robby!!) but she would have said something she would have mentioned something.

but instead it's Whitaker. who is empathetic, yes, and perhaps what he said was what Robby needed in the moment, what the ER needed in the moment, because they couldn't afford to have an attending tap out in the middle of a mass casualty event. but Whitaker is a young white man. a demographic the show has specifically pointed out is drowning in toxic masculinity. he is a young white man from Nebraska with multiple brothers, and it has been shown that he has the spirit but lacks the execution skills in terms of empathy and knowing what would be best for the patient holistically. so he says what he thinks Robby needs to hear, the long and short of which is put your emotions aside and get your head in the game, which the audience knows is not what Robby genuinely, actually needs in order to get better in the long term. and we see the direct results of that when after Robby stands he physically pushes Whitaker away. because that is what emotional unavailability does to men. it makes them reject each other in moments of weakness. like. the metaphor is so obvious and devastating. it's right there! he pushes him away! he pushes him away!! you think or maybe hope they're about to have a glorious heart to heart -- but Robby pushes him away, and so Whitaker leaves (with a nickname for Robby that, correct me if I'm wrong, is the first time we hear it; and he calls him captain. a military rank. which is. an insane decision from the writers. the military, which perpetuates toxic masculinity more than perhaps any other entity in the world). and Whitaker doesn't have the lack of respect for authority that Santos has, so when Robby comes to him later and says you won't tell anyone about this will you, he says no, I won't. where we have textual in-show evidence that Santos might have said no I won't and then gone to Dana or Abbot afterwards. and then Whitaker parrots Robby's horrendous, fumbling how do we deal with losing patients? push it down and never process it speech back at him. it's heartwarming! Robby smiles! and then you think about it a bit more and you just feel sick.

this is not an attack on Whitaker. I love him so much. it's just like. this is how the cycle of toxic masculinity is perpetuated. Whitaker isn't an asshole! he has buckets of empathy we have seen that! he is a bleeding heart! but it's still not enough. as a man he has been told his entire life to shut his emotions down and that vulnerability is to be avoided at all costs and he and Robby catch each other in a negative loop. the cycle is continued, unwittingly. GOD this show is so good

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If any of you run into Noah Wyle or Gerran Howell in the wild I MUST know whether they changed Whitaker’s line here in editing/ post.

The one where he’s like “You have to, because if you don’t we’re fucked.”

The fact that we don’t see him say it is a common editing trick used when they dub in a line after filming wraps. I mean, they did the same “no shot of the speaker” thing with Jake so maybe it’s an editing choice to focus on Robby but I need to know because of the implications!

Did they not show Whitaker speaking the line (the way they didn’t show half of Jake’s lines about not saving Leah) so that the words felt more like messages from God or Robby’s own internal monologue? Are these lines representations of the general comments that ED workers hear from patients v. coworkers all the time?

Was there originally only silence, but they worried that we’d miss how NOT healing this moment is? Did they want to emphasize that this isn’t a healed Robby, this is a Robby operating out of a sense of duty because that whole ED is counting on him? Did Noah Wyle choose to push Whitaker because he wanted to show how he’s still, even now, distancing himself from support?? Is the show self aware enough to recognize—as several of us have been saying—that the expectation for white men socialized under the patriarchy is to get up and fight on in actively harmful ways that hurt society as a whole in the long run???

If none of the above I NEED to know what the original line was!

Whitaker calming Dr. Robby

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i really enjoy your thoughts on the pitt and i’m sooooo happy to see someone that also ships mohan and abbott, my wild theory is they’re actually together but keep it a secret.

i’d like to hear more of your thoughts on them if you’d like to share.

thank you!

Oh thank you!! And abso-LUTE-ly!!

I don't even know if I have analysis for them, yet, I just can't stop staring at them, haha. For me it's how the entire perceived dynamic exists in the decisions between the actors and with the editors.

I think it would be hard not to ship them after witnessing that little smile-into-a-double take that Abbot does when Samira engages with him after he saves her patient. She is impressed and smiles so brightly and compliments him and then does that amazingly flirtatious line read of "What else you got in your go bag?" and almost automatically and distractedly he does, "Oh, just wait and see" and then, subconsciously, like he can feel her smiling behind him, his mouth pulls into a smile, and he can't help but do a double take after her. Oooohh my goddd??

They just. . . notice each other. My beautiful, subtle ship. The editors are helping to create this relationship through sheer force of will with how they linger on Samira's concern after she notices that Abbott is donating blood. How she is both impressed and seems worried and does her own double take to see if he's alright or if she should say something. I love your theory that they're secretly together, especially with the "I can feel you smiling" moment, like they're on the same wave length the same way they are when performing the risky operation in ep. 14.

I can also see an interpretation where this is the first time they're really "seeing" each other due to the novel, stressful circumstances they're under. That they're falling a bit because of what they each bring to the table: what the other lacks. Mohan's double take when she sees he's donating while actively saving lives felt so new--like she's unsure if she has a right to say anything if he doesn't register that what he's doing is painfully selfless and self sacrificial. It's par for the course to him, but she clocks that his behavior is also a lack of concern for his own well being. I love the idea of Mohan who carries love and care and patience for everyone being the person who our "ongoing existential crisis with suicidal tendencies" finds a reason to smile for. I love the idea of "nervous slo-Mo" Mohan being given the confidence to trust herself and be bold and charge forward by his faith and confidence in her.

It's also how he returns the favor of setting her up to feel good about herself the way she helped him. He guides her through an impossibly difficult procedure, hyping her up and being steady and certain and a shield against the voice of doubt (personified in Walsh in that moment). Oh man, it's how brightly Mohan smiles when she says, "Thanks" to him after he tells her to take the win. How he teases her ("It was too risky for me") in a way that simultaneously communicates: (1) I can be lighthearted / humorous, too, (2) I was also scared, tbh, even if I look confident, (3) I have more faith in you than myself. BIG heart eyes.

Finally, I'm still reeling over the knowing, sweet smile that Abbott gives toward Walsh after Mohan's "Am I the only one who missed that day in medical school?" comment. Like, I want to believe that Abbott was already smiling, then Walsh looked over and saw his reaction and went. . . Oooohhhh :) You think that was cute. I agree, it was, and he's all yeah, yeah. :)))) Biggest smile we've ever seen on him.

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Oh this new episode was FLuush!!!

*SPOILERS*

*SPOILERS*

*SPOILERS*

-> Santos wanting to Rock Paper Scissors for who has to go to the morgue and Whitaker sighing but immediately joining in because he's the youngest sibling and he knows that those are THE rules of fair play, as binding as "I double dog dare you." LOVED that.

-> Also, not to read past the text explanation that Mel is a sensitive person who reacts emotionally to people from an empathy standpoint, but her specifically saying "Just. . . my patient hasn't seen her daughter" when she's crying, even though that woman IS seeing her daughter right then and there. *Gripping Mel by the shoulders* WHAT HAVE YOU LOST MY BEAUTIFUL GIRL.

->Speaking of Santos, I need Langdon to stop menacing anywhere near her immediately. I'm not a Langdon anti, but my girl does not feel safe around him, and he is not helping. This is a pattern across this episode, by the way: white men who are shown to be otherwise likeable projecting their shame and anger onto the women around them. See: Langdon to Santos, Robby to McKay, David to the girls on the list / McKay / his mom.

SIDE QUEST: The message seems to be a genuinely complex recognition of how patriarchal societies set up a false notion that (white) men deserve special power and privileges because, in turn, they will be there to save everyone else. However, even when taken at face value (rather than the all too common abuse of this power) that system fails to provide men with access to the tools of self care. If they buy into the idea of being the hero, they must always save others, not themselves. This is why the patriarchy hurts all good people: when you don't put in the work to (physician, heal thyself) seek help and support, you end up harming not only yourself (through self medication ala Langdon, panic attacks ala Robby, acting out ala David), and you also harm others by wielding your authority as anger, shifting blame, etc.

This often lands hardest on the women in your life who are given less societal power by the patriarchy (and are expected to take care of men but that's another issue). Men lashing out under this system is done in order to reestablish feelings of control that were lost to the perceived shame of failing to live up to the societal ideal of protecting and leading others and being man enough to handle it. Definitively good men, like Robby, crumble under this system. His shouting at Gloria, the mother, and especially McKay was meant to be jarring and uncomfortable. He's blaming McKay the way David blames the girls at his school, the way Langdon blames Santos. None of these women have done anything wrong, but society has said: you can't be failing as a man, so who must be to blame? Good stuff.

Final notes: I think I ship Mohan and Abbott too much to make a commentary on her father's passing and Abbott's mentorship in contrast to Robby. It would be wrong of me lol.

Also, Javadi didn't get much this episode, but she got ANOTHER lovely parenting moment from the night shift charge nurse and some hilarious but devastating irony in the form of a juice box from Mateo which she briefly takes as a reminder that she is "the kid."

Love how the Pitt keeps dropping little hints about the interns / student doctors' sad, messed up relationships with their families.

Whitaker being asked "Do you have a best friend?" by the pregnant farm wife and answering like: um. . . I have three older brothers. . . Does that count? (like he doesn't know!!) and then he goes " Actually they kind of tortured me growing up, so :( " Like, I know he means in an older sibling way, but ooh, lonely, isolated and different from the rest of the family, first to go to college in a third generation farm family Whittaker my beloved!

Santos who it goes without saying had a shitty unstable or traumatizing upbringing that she references through her rage at the potential abuser, struggle to make genuine connections, and self awareness that she deflects and snarks as a form of self defense. Santos who hates herself and lashes out so badly when she screws up only to immediately walk her words back because she was too mean to Whittaker and didn't like that. Santos who needs reassurance more than anyone. Santos who bullies the other interns but also tries to defend Mohan and take care of Whittaker's finger like a good sibling in an abusive household.

Mel aka "I hate to see families torn apart" who has visceral reactions to shouting and when parents fight and genuinely worries and asks questions about whether fighting adults are going to break up like she thinks she's witnessing a divorce before her eyes. Mel who seems to be the sole caretaker of her sister as a result of. . .?!

Mohan who for most of the show is a mysterious, wonderful angel who keeps getting reprimanded by the ED father Robbie for being the doctor she wishes hospital bureaucracy would allow her be, and then it turns out her father died when she was young!!?? And she's an only child??? And she was clearly her father's favorite, (but not in this ED!) and while she's handled that loss by now, she goes around being the big sibling to all the less experienced staff despite not being a sibling herself, like now she's got so many!!

And Javadi whose parents BOTH work for that hospital who is so young and feels so deprived of appreciation and love and support who is a "pressure cooker" child who has found the kind of understanding and support and chill vibes she's wanted from "actual cool yet responsible" mom McKay and that little connection she has with Dana who's so attentive to her with her Utah metaphor and wishes her many Utah's like "I hope you experience many things in life" to a kid who has been set on such a narrow and difficult path she hasn't been able to look up to see the sky!!!

aaaahhhhhuuuggghhh!

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Love how the Pitt keeps dropping little hints about the interns / student doctors' sad, messed up relationships with their families.

Whitaker being asked "Do you have a best friend?" by the pregnant farm wife and answering like: um. . . I have three older brothers. . . Does that count? (like he doesn't know!!) and then he goes " Actually they kind of tortured me growing up, so :( " Like, I know he means in an older sibling way, but ooh, lonely, isolated and different from the rest of the family, first to go to college in a third generation farm family Whittaker my beloved!

Santos who it goes without saying had a shitty unstable or traumatizing upbringing that she references through her rage at the potential abuser, struggle to make genuine connections, and self awareness that she deflects and snarks as a form of self defense. Santos who hates herself and lashes out so badly when she screws up only to immediately walk her words back because she was too mean to Whittaker and didn't like that. Santos who needs reassurance more than anyone. Santos who bullies the other interns but also tries to defend Mohan and take care of Whittaker's finger like a good sibling in an abusive household.

Mel aka "I hate to see families torn apart" who has visceral reactions to shouting and when parents fight and genuinely worries and asks questions about whether fighting adults are going to break up like she thinks she's witnessing a divorce before her eyes. Mel who seems to be the sole caretaker of her sister as a result of. . .?!

Mohan who for most of the show is a mysterious, wonderful angel who keeps getting reprimanded by the ED father Robbie for being the doctor she wishes hospital bureaucracy would allow her be, and then it turns out her father died when she was young!!?? And she's an only child??? And she was clearly her father's favorite, (but not in this ED!) and while she's handled that loss by now, she goes around being the big sibling to all the less experienced staff despite not being a sibling herself, like now she's got so many!!

And Javadi whose parents BOTH work for that hospital who is so young and feels so deprived of appreciation and love and support who is a "pressure cooker" child who has found the kind of understanding and support and chill vibes she's wanted from "actual cool yet responsible" mom McKay and that little connection she has with Dana who's so attentive to her with her Utah metaphor and wishes her many Utah's like "I hope you experience many things in life" to a kid who has been set on such a narrow and difficult path she hasn't been able to look up to see the sky!!!

aaaahhhhhuuuggghhh!

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Episode 13 Spoilers: My favorite thing about The Pitt is how subtly literary it is.

Some shows are overtly symbolic (like The Bear), and you are given time by the filming and the editing to pause at times and see the cleverness and the grand design.

The Pitt's realism and pacing does not allow you to linger, though, just as the characters don't have time to linger. Which means--as in real life--we don't get to see the hand of God designing the story to deliver meaning. We have to sense and make patterns of meaning ourselves. (That's actually one of the biggest issues these characters are all facing mentally. Despite their best effort there's literally been no time to pause and make meaning.) That being said, just because it's hard to see doesn't mean there aren't very deliberate choices made every moment of this show.

So, anyway, on today's rewatch, I caught:

The patient that Langdon and Mohan revived with Narcan answered Langdon's question "What did you take?" with "I took one Percocet so I could dance. I have a bad knee." in a direct mirror of Langdon's earlier excuse for his own addiction: "I have a bad back."

McKay hears that the shooter might be heading their way and says, "What?! My kid's in the break room!" This is immediately followed by Javadi’s mother asking "The shooter is heading this way?" Because her daughter is also in the hospital.

Jack Abbott, former combat medic, hops in to save the uniformed officer, and we get an actual, genuine smile of relief because he ended his last shift losing a vet, a loss he took so hard he ended up on the roof. Framed behind him in this moment (significantly) are SWAT in militarized camo and heavy combat gear.

Langdon being unable to "hear himself think" when McKay's ankle monitor goes off is probably a reminder of his drug usage, but also perhaps a reference to his earlier comment that "all of us have ADHD."

Also, I noticed this while watching the first time, but loved the "the mentor does, mentee imitates" line of succession from Robby to Langdon to Mohan to Santos.

A small one, but Santos says "stay strong, Crash" to Javadi as she leaves from the team effort on the older hippie, and this time it sounds like genuine camaraderie. They're transforming our interpretation of her without losing her characterization.

Finally, everyone's pointed out already that Robby's mentor died in Peds? Pedes? and how significant it is that this same room is where he's having his breakdown. But I have big thoughts about the motif of fathers & sons in this season, and the even bigger thread of parents / kids. At minimum, I'm talking: David's father died and he spiraled, Robby's mentor died and he spiraled, but this also includes Robby learning that Collins had an abortion when they were together, something Robby clearly had an emotional response to as he now has to imagine a reality in which he might have had a child with Collins, and he handles it very maturely and centers her, as he should, but he didn't get to process that or make meaning.

So it feels very deliberate that the show chose to put the morgue in the part of the ED normally used for children. And now he's in that same children's department his mentor died in after losing three (four?) kids that day. A morgue where he's standing behind the closest thing he has to a son who he feels he failed and wow are they just making that room a powder keg of trauma representation.

And to top things off, they literally gave us a clown this episode (or as Whitaker points out "a children's entertainer") who is worried about whether he'll be able to make balloon animals ever again. And that's silly and it's also human but--thematically, and more importantly--it's a man wondering if the pain inflicted on him will prevent him from doing his job in the future. I don't know. Something about Robby being everyone's dad and being the head clown at the circus that is the Pitt and trying to keep all these kids afloat. Like--I'm sorry--the music festival had a clown? Nah, this is symbolism now (because I say so, haha).

Finally, these didn't fit into the meaning category, but I really appreciated that Whitaker had that very human moment reassuring Carmen after she wakes up after the REBOA (you know, the balloon thing).

Also, so many people were irate about Jake's comments to Robby, but if you listen closely, the captions miss that he says, "Are--are you okay?" when Robby starts to drag him out of the room. Robby has just said an accidentally cruel thing to him and Jake is genuinely, honestly concerned. They're both grieving but that is a good kid.