REVIEW: ‘The Pitt’ Episodes 1–2

The concepts in The Pitt are nothing new: a medical show set in the emergency room following a group of doctors and interns as they treat patients and deal with their personal lives. However, The Pitt Episodes 1-2 gives a strong case for setting itself apart from other like it. 

From the creators of ER, The Pitt follows Dr. Michael “Robby” Rabinavitch (Noah Wyle, also of ER fame), the attending doctor at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital. While the episodes largely follow him around the ER floor, various other doctors, nurses, medical interns, and patients make up the rest of the characters as they continuously attend to patients as they come in and fight with each other over the best way to treat someone. 

The Pitt finds its rhythm in its format. Taking place in “real-time,” the show’s fifteen episodes all tell the story of one single shift in the lives of the doctors and nurses at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital. Each episode covers one hour of that shift. This format might be familiar to fans of 24, the hit drama series from the early 2000s starring Kiefer Sutherland that had his character saving the world from various terrorism plots in a single day. 

The Pitt Episodes 1-2 is a relentless flow of action. 

While that format required some measure of suspension of disbelief with 24, it works well in The Pitt Episodes 1-2. Overcrowded ERs mean there’s a lot of action, and the action keeps moving across these two episodes. Unlike other medical shows, there are no cuts to different plot lines for a breather or neatly wrapped-up patient stories. Once Robby first walks onto the ER floor for his shift in The Pitt Episode 1, it’s a relentless flow of patients, diagnoses, and medical jargon. It’s an apt format for a show about the ER, perfectly recreating the hectic nature of emergency medicine. 

That also means there’s little time to get to know the characters outside their work. On the surface, this might be a deal breaker. However, the sharpness of the writing and the fantastic performances make it easy to glean each unique characteristic from the ensemble, even if some of them are just surface-level so far. Their dynamics with each other are already fascinating, and their quirks are grounded enough for the atmosphere of the ER. 

More emphasis is obviously put on Robby as the character at the center of the chaos. Wyle’s doctor is often sarcastic and quick-witted but can also offer understanding and care when called for, especially in the moments when Robby connects with the patients or their loved ones. 

The Pitt Episodes 1-2 show additional characters help the series grow.

But underneath that exterior, there’s a trauma born from this same job. Minimal flashbacks take us back to 2020 when Robby was working in the ER during the worst stages of the COVID-19 outbreak. These memories keep surfacing throughout The Pitt Episodes 1-2 and will probably persist as the season and the shift goes on. 

The Pitt Episode 1 sets the stage for what the show will be, introducing every character and their personalities. Meanwhile, Episode 2 showcases what the show can do with this format with better pacing. As Robby circles the ER floor, stopping in on each patient, the rest of the doctors — Dr. Collins (Tracy Ifeachor), Dr. Mohan (Supriya Ganesh), Dr. McKay (Fiona Dourif), and Dr. Langdon (Patrick Ball) — guide the medical interns through the early hours of their first shift. 

Episode 2 takes a more focused interest in medical intern Dr. Whitaker (Gerran Howell), who finds himself in charge of one patient who he diagnoses with a gallstone. His nerves over being in charge of the patient lessen significantly as the hour goes on, and he gains more confidence. Still, the emotional lynchpin of the episode comes when his patient codes, Dr. Whitaker’s desperate attempts at CPR carrying us through the end credits. 

There’s much to follow in The Pitt Episodes 1-2. But it’s quite a ride so far and worth taking. Just know that once you’re on, it’s not going to let you off easy — that’s the nature of the ER, after all.  

The Pitt airs new episodes every Thursday on Max, formally HBO Max.

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