'The Pitt’ Episodes 12 and 13: Dr. Robby’s Personal PittFest Crisis

Summary

The Prestige TV Podcast: 'The Pitt’ Episodes 12 and 13 - Dr. Robby’s Personal PittFest Crisis

Release Date: March 28, 2025

Hosts: Joanna Robinson & Rob Mahoney

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Introduction

In this engaging two-part episode of The Prestige TV Podcast, hosts Joanna Robinson and Rob Mahoney delve deep into episodes 12 and 13 of the acclaimed medical drama, The Pit. The discussion navigates through intense plot developments, character arcs, and the broader implications of the show’s storytelling approach. They also touch upon their experiences with other shows like White Lotus and Severance, setting the stage for an in-depth analysis of The Pit.

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Viewer Engagement and Multi-Generational Appeal

The hosts begin by addressing listener feedback, emphasizing the show's ability to resonate across different age groups. Joanna shares an email from Alexis highlighting how a poignant moment in the series drew her 16-year-old daughter to watch The Pit. This underscores the show's "four quadrant" appeal—engaging diverse audiences through relatable storytelling and multifaceted characters.

Notable Quote:

"Watching the 17-year-old girl try to get her abortion drew my 16-year-old daughter to the show." – Alexis (Email, 04:02)

Rob concurs, suggesting that the show's intentional design aims to recreate the broad appeal seen in traditional network TV successes.

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Character Relationships and Power Dynamics

A significant focus is placed on the evolving romantic relationship between Dr. Collins and Dr. Robbie. Joanna and Rob dissect the complexities introduced by their professional hierarchy and age difference, noting the potential for ethical conflicts.

Joanna points out:

"There's the power differential, but there's also the age differential." – Joanna Robinson (05:13)

Rob adds:

"This happens quite often on TV in every medical, not just medical, any workplace situation at all." – Rob Mahoney (06:36)

The hosts express mixed feelings about the portrayal, acknowledging it as realistic yet challenging, especially considering the actors' ages (Dr. Collins at 40 and Dr. Robbie at 53).

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Impact of 'The Pit' on Television Storytelling

Joanna and Rob explore how The Pit is influencing the TV landscape, particularly through its release strategy. Unlike the prevalent binge-model, HBO’s The Pit opts for a traditional weekly drop schedule with episodes airing at prime time (9 PM Eastern), reminiscent of classic television formats. This approach fosters sustained viewer engagement and builds word-of-mouth momentum.

Key Insights:

• Business Model Success: The Pit's 15-episode season allows for extended storytelling without overwhelming viewers, contrasting sharply with shorter or longer seasons of other shows.
• Strategic Release Timing: Dropping episodes weekly at accessible times helps maintain audience interest and discussion, as opposed to the serial binges that dominate streaming platforms.

Rob highlights:

"Putting as something as heavy hitting as episode 12... it's something that I feel like we're missing, like, so often." – Rob Mahoney (15:52)

Joanna adds that the show's format facilitates a deeper emotional investment, paralleling the commitment seen in older TV series.

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Production Insights and Logistical Challenges

The podcast delves into the show's production aspects, noting that The Pit is relatively cost-effective, averaging around $5 million per episode. The single-location setting—a high-pressure emergency room—necessitates a continuous, dynamic environment that is both logistically demanding and artistically rewarding.

Production Highlights:

• Efficient Use of Resources: Limited locations reduce costs and simplify the filming process while allowing for intense, real-time storytelling.
• Technical Execution: The use of practical effects, such as fake blood, enhances realism without relying heavily on CGI, maintaining budget constraints.

Rob humorously comments on the technical demands:

"It's probably also the reason why the cast is the way it is... more affordable for a show like the Pit." – Rob Mahoney (19:03)

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Intense Plot Developments in Episodes 12 & 13

Episodes 12 and 13 center around a mass casualty event at PitFest, escalating the drama and testing the characters' resilience. Key plot points include:

• Mass Casualty Event: The hospital is overwhelmed with patients, forcing the team to innovate under pressure.
• Blood Supply Crisis: Robbie's extensive use of blood bags on Leah highlights resource scarcity, adding tension to medical procedures.
• Character Breakdowns: Robby faces an emotional and professional crisis, grappling with the aftermath of the traumatic event.

Notable Scene: Robbie’s breakdown is a focal point, where he struggles to communicate the day’s tragic events to Jake, reflecting his deep emotional strain:

"Robbie, who we've seen be so caring with patients all season, can't even bring himself to tell Jake that she's dead." – Joanna Robinson (57:12)

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Character Analysis and Development

Dr. Jack Abbott: Introduced as a seasoned combat medic, Dr. Jack Abbott brings a pragmatic, survivalist approach to the ER. His military experience equips him to handle chaotic situations with efficiency and creativity.

"He can attack it laterally... doing the MacGyvering that's happening throughout 12 and 13." – Rob Mahoney (27:42)

Dr. Santos: Santos remains a complex character, balancing medical expertise with abrasive interpersonal skills. Her interactions often highlight her struggle to maintain professionalism under extreme stress.

"She's extremely tested inside of a situation like this... her bedside manner is spotty at best." – Rob Mahoney (33:04)

Dr. John Shen: A new addition, Dr. Shen injects fresh dynamics into the team. His laid-back demeanor contrasts with the high-stress environment, adding depth to the narrative.

"Dr. John Shen, absolute scene stealer, rock star." – Rob Mahoney (37:30)

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Speculations on Future Plotlines

Joanna and Rob speculate on potential story arcs, particularly focusing on Robbie's mental state post-crisis. They ponder whether Robbie will receive support from colleagues like Dr. Collins, Dana, or Dr. Abbott, and how this might influence his healing process.

Possible Directions:

• Reinstatement of Dr. Collins: Bringing Dr. Collins back could resolve current tensions and provide closure to her relationships.
• Robbie's Recovery: Exploring Robbie’s path to overcoming his breakdown, possibly through character interactions or personal introspection.

Rob's Insight:

"It's something that's hard to fake and hard to find your way into if you haven't made TV before." – Rob Mahoney (60:23)

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Production and Storytelling Techniques

The hosts commend the show’s ability to blend technical medical accuracy with high-stakes drama. They highlight how the continuous, action-packed setting forces characters to evolve and adapt, maintaining tension and engagement throughout.

Joanna’s Observation:

"They have to constantly in the background be working on their own emergency... to give us this lived-in 360 experience of this emergency event." – Joanna Robinson (17:14)

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Comparisons to Classic Medical Dramas

Rob and Joanna draw parallels between The Pit and iconic shows like ER, noting how certain visuals and scenarios pay homage to the classics while carving out a unique identity. They discuss the absence of traditional musical scores, opting instead for impactful original compositions that echo the show's intense atmosphere.

Notable Comparison:

"When you hear music over the closing credits... it's like a thing that's been building on this show." – Joanna Robinson (60:51)

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Final Thoughts and Future Expectations

Concluding the discussion, the hosts express enthusiasm for upcoming seasons, anticipating how the intricate character dynamics and realistic medical scenarios will continue to captivate audiences. They encourage listeners to engage with the show’s evolving narrative and contribute their theories and insights.

Rob's Closing Remark:

"This is a super watchable show, basically, no matter what the cases of the week are... you care about the people who are there." – Rob Mahoney (21:17)

Joanna invites listeners to share their thoughts and predictions, fostering a community of passionate viewers eager to explore the depths of The Pit.

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Conclusion

The Prestige TV Podcast provides a comprehensive and thoughtful analysis of The Pit episodes 12 and 13, blending detailed plot breakdowns with nuanced character studies. Joanna Robinson and Rob Mahoney offer valuable insights into the show's narrative strategies, production choices, and its impact on modern television storytelling. Their balanced approach ensures both dedicated fans and new viewers can appreciate the intricacies of The Pit and anticipate its future developments with keen interest.

Transcript

[Joanna Robinson]

This episode is brought to you by Coffee Mate. I love a good crossover, especially when it's with a show you love. This time the crossover isn't with another character, but with Coffee Mate. Coffee Mate has collaborated with HBO's the White Lotus to bring us two tropically inspired, limited time only flavors, Pina colada and Thai iced coffee flavored creamers. And as a coffee fanatic, I can't wait to try them. All right. Thai iced coffee in my coffee. Pina colada in coffee. I am adventurous when it comes to new flavors, but this sounds truly different. I'm picturing something tropical and refreshing, like a beachside cocktail, but with a coffee twist. Definitely curious to see how it all comes together. Let's try it. Mmm. The Thai iced coffee is amazing. It tastes like. Like an authentic Thai iced coffee with that, you know, the condensed milk sweetness to it. I. I was very skeptical about the pina colada, but it's surprisingly delicious. The coconut and pineapple notes make it feel like a vacation in a cup. Perfect for sipping while watching the latest episode of HBO's original series, the White Lotus Coffee Mates. The White Lotus flavors are only available for a limited time, so try them now and stream HBO's original series on Max. This episode of the Prestige TV Podcast is brought to you by Coffee Mate. Coffee Mate has been searching the globe for flavors that pair perfectly with coffee. So when they heard that the new season of HBO's the White Lotus was set in Thailand, they were inspired to brew up two new flavors, Thai iced coffee and Pina colada flavored creamers. They're available for a short time only, so for the love of coffee, go try them now. Foreign. I'm Joanna Robinson.

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm Rob Mahoney.

[Joanna Robinson]

We're here today to talk to you about the pit.

[Rob Mahoney]

We sure are, Joe.

[Joanna Robinson]

Episodes 12 and 13 is what we're covering today. So episode 12 was a. Was a big one. Episode 13, also a big one. So if you have not listened, if you not watch those episodes of television, I really recommend. Oh, yeah, you. You do that before you listen to us talk about it. That would be my recommendation personally. And we have two more episodes to go after, after this episode 13. And we will, if all goes according to plan, Rob and I will recording a podcast per pit.

[Rob Mahoney]

Look at that. Two pits, two pods. Just. Just an embarrassment of medical riches.

[Joanna Robinson]

We're also, of course, wrapping up White Lotus. We've done all we can possibly ever do on severance.

[Rob Mahoney]

Seriously, that's all I've got. My head is a deflated Balloon.

[Joanna Robinson]

At this point, we squeeze the lumen lemon dry. It's all, it's all over over there. And then what do we have on the horizon? Time will tell and we'll let you know. But right now let's, let's, let's dig into the pit. I want to start with a couple emails you got from folks.

[Rob Mahoney]

Okay.

[Joanna Robinson]

Presage [e-mail] is where you can reach us because we don't have like a fun, pithy, welcome to Pit fest sort of mail.com email for you guys.

[Rob Mahoney]

I feel good about that in retrospect.

[Joanna Robinson]

You know what? Same, same that we didn't do anything too cute.

[Rob Mahoney]

I felt good about it.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah. Okay, so Alexis wrote in to let us know that in addition to her delight over, you know, the Filipina nurses and a lot of other things on the show, really, like this line from her email. She said watching the 17 year old girl try to get her abortion drew my 16 year old daughter to the show. We're gonna talk a bit about sort of the impact that the Pit is having on the TV industry, Rob. But this like multi generational, like let's all watch the Pit together. There's something for everyone kind of aspect of 4 quadrant aspect of the show. Oh yeah, how like when you think about the show as a whole, how intentional does all that feel? Or does it just feel like a natural byproduct of a kind of show that is giving us a broad slice of life kind of story?

[Rob Mahoney]

I think it is intentional. Right. Like this is the product they're trying to create is a, as you say, very traditional four quadrant appealing piece of television history in a lot of ways, like recreating so much of what has been so successful across network TV history.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

That includes a setting that is accessible to anybody. Real life situations that people can lock into and understand and explain and empathize with pretty easily. And also a cast that's kind of a little bit across the age spectrum in particular, where it's not just the, you know, the teenagers who are coming in with abortion storylines or overdose storylines or, you know, problems at school that may or may not have led to mass shooting storylines. Uh, but I think you also just have the med students themselves. Right. You have, you have younger people who are students who are actively learning that I would think as a teen would be very easy to identify with, even if you've never been to med school.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yourself, seeing of the ages. We did get an email from listener Caitlin, who wanted to touch on the relationship between Dr. Collins and Dr. Robbie, Dr. Collins, turn off her phone, is at home, has not come back to the ER yet. We don't know if she will before the end of the season as instructed.

[Rob Mahoney]

We should say she's, she's. She was told.

[Joanna Robinson]

She's doing what she was told. But, but it, it was made canon in episode 11 that Dr. Collins, Dr. Robbie had a romantic relationship.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yes.

[Joanna Robinson]

And Caleb is pointing out the fact that like Collins as a resident and Robbie as her attending. She was like, I'm not sure I feel great about. She was like, what if it were Santos and Robbie or something like that. And for me, there's, there's the power differential, but there's also the age differential. And I will just say that the actress who plays Dr. Collins is 40 years old and Noah Wiley is 53 years old. And so like in theory, a Dr. Collins and a Dr. Robbie got together 3750. Like, the age gaps tend to, like, weird me out less the older we all get. Do you know what I mean?

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

And I think a 37 year old person, I feel less concerned about her life choices than I would anything that Dr. Santos decides to do at the time of her life. Currently.

[Rob Mahoney]

That is true. I mean, there's the age gap element of that and then there's also sort of the power dynamic element of that. And I would say on that front, this is television. And this happens quite often on TV in every medical. I mean, not just medical, any workplace situation at all. Comedy, drama, whatever. Bosses and supervisors and employees are constantly finding themselves in relationships just as the.

[Joanna Robinson]

A lot of fraternization.

[Rob Mahoney]

A lot of fraternization as the carousel of characters turns. And it's just like, oh, I guess this is the season where these two people end up together. And this just happens to be where we're starting with the pit in a lot of ways.

[Joanna Robinson]

HR nightmares all around us. Okay. Yeah. And something Caitlin said in her email, she's like, I wish we had gotten a backstory for Collins where medicine is her second career in their relationship, had existed outside the res, you know, whatever. But like, it seems to me this has to have been a secondary career. She's only like three years. I don't know, it's possible with someone like Collins.

[Rob Mahoney]

But also, I don't want like a justification for their relationship to be neat and tidy necessarily.

[C]

I think.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah, I think, like, it's totally fine for characters to be doing things that we don't approve of or being involved in professional or romantic circumstances that are like, making you look at them A little bit sideways. Even if they are otherwise interesting or redeemable characters. That's. That's good storytelling as far as I'm concerned.

[Joanna Robinson]

Drama, baby. Okay, and then last but not least, on the messy drama front, we've got two, I believe two doctors have weighed in on the Langdon situation.

[Rob Mahoney]

Okay, good.

[Joanna Robinson]

And Peter, who did not drop his credentials. But don't worry, the next doctor did. Just said briefly in an email, for what it's worth, there are many avenues for rehabilitating addicted docs that doesn't involve loss of license. License. So that's something that I was saying is like, you know, Langdon's definitely gonna lose his license, like, blah, blah. That is not the case. I didn't know that personally. I thought if you stole medication from the hospital, you don't work in hospitals anymore.

[Rob Mahoney]

Seems like a reasonable conclusion to draw, Joe. I will say, as far as we're trying to figure out, like, the game planning of what would Langdon's path to recovery or back onto the show look like one of them is just like Dr. Robbie kind of forgetting about it. Maybe after this, it seems like maybe.

[Joanna Robinson]

Maybe. I feel like.

[Rob Mahoney]

I feel like we are rounding the corner towards Langdon gets some kind of, like, moment in the sun by helping people during these traumatic circumstances. We already have seen Robbie kind of wrestle with the idea of how much he should push forward through official channels so quickly.

[Joanna Robinson]

He's.

[Rob Mahoney]

He has held the bag of pills in his hand. And I don't know what your read on that was, Joe, but my read was like he was thinking about flushing them.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

And did decided not to. Maybe to report them. Maybe to not at least to table the decision for later. That bag of pills is still in his pocket, and he's had a lot going on. But I'm kind of wondering if by the end of this, he ends up just kind of like giving Langdon a second chance in a way that honestly may just bite him directly in the ass later.

[Joanna Robinson]

So this is the other piece of information Dr. John Crankshaw, M.D. wrote into us. That is how his email was signed. Says In Pa, Pennsylvania, where Pittsburgh is, Dr. Robbie is mandated to report to the state medical board about Dr. Langdon, or Dr. Robbie could face fines. The exception to this would be if Dr. Langdon enters an approved treatment center, the treating provider or center is not mandated to report. So. So is that a path forward? If. If langdon. If. Does Dr. Robbie not to report him? If Langdon agrees to go into some sort of rehab?

[Rob Mahoney]

Yes.

[Joanna Robinson]

This is obviously not going to be resolved in the 24 hours or rather 15 hours that is this television show. And that takes us sort of into this. This big picture impact of the pit or roll out of the pit that I want to talk about before we get into everything that happens in these two episodes, which is a lot. It's a lot, Joe.

[Rob Mahoney]

There's a lot of blood.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

We are in the splash zone. It's. I. I honestly would love to talk to whoever worked in, like, the costuming for this, the wardrobe, who had to splatter or smear blood all over these various pieces of clothing. It's. It's really artfully done.

[Joanna Robinson]

I saw the, you know, Martin McDonagh, who does, you know, the very bloody Irish plays, among other things. I saw one of his plays. I think it was the Lieutenant of Inishmore at. At Berkeley Rep years ago. And they had a gutter in the front of the stage for the blood. And the stage was like slightly canted.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

So all the blood could like just roll down the stage into the gutter that's in the front of it. And then all of the actors had like, I think five different sets of their costumes, so they could just like rotate in the laundry, out the, like, blood soaked versions, et cetera, et cetera. I thought that was amazing. Okay. But here in the pit. Okay, so. So let's say. Let's say, for example, Dr. Langdon's storyline doesn't get wrapped up with a neat and tidy bow at the end of the 15th hour of this shift.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah. Which it can't.

[Joanna Robinson]

So those of us watching at home in the new TV model are like, when are we gonna figure this out? When is season two coming? Season two? The plan is for season two to debut. They've already picked it up for it to debut January of next year. So just like TV shows of old.

[Rob Mahoney]

Can we just say God bless.

[Joanna Robinson]

Thank you.

[Rob Mahoney]

Thank you, Max. Thank you, pit gods. Thank you, Noah. Wy. We need more regular TV in our lives and.

[Joanna Robinson]

Exactly.

[Rob Mahoney]

So this is. I'm. I've never been more glad to be back to an old school model.

[Joanna Robinson]

So this is. So that's eight. Eight months, which is not nothing, between the end of the season and the new season. But if we're like, hey, every January, we had to go back to the Pit, that's kind of excited. So Joe Dalian, who's a. Who's a writer I love, who writes about sort of ratings in the business of television really well, wrote this piece on Vulture that went up this morning called Max's Big bet on the Pit. Paid off. Where he interviews Casey Bloys, who's the head of programming at hbo, about the. What they hope to accomplish with the pit. Basically, why 15 episodes? And Casey's like, I wanted something that felt like old school linear storytelling. Linear storytelling being at 10 o'clock every Thursday night. ER is on NBC. That's linear storytelling. Linear television versus it's on demand. You watch it whenever, right? So the episodes drop Thursdays at 9 Eastern. They don't drop at midnight. Like a lot of streaming shows do you know, this is a Mac show? Every other Mac show has dropped at midnight. That's been the classic model. Only Disney plus has really been, like, deviating from that, making it an appointment television. Like, yeah, what did you want to say? And Apple, I guess.

[Rob Mahoney]

Do we know why, other than, like, the changeover of the calendar date, it just seems so misguided to drop your episodes at midnight.

[Joanna Robinson]

Casey gave an answer to Joe Dalian about that, where he's like, I asked them why, and they said something about yada, yada, yada, maximize the night, yada, yada, yada. And he's like. And it all did not make sense to me. He's like, so that's why we're doing it this way.

[Rob Mahoney]

This is some Y2K bullshit. Like, the numbers roll over and therefore we must publish them. I. I just don't buy it.

[Joanna Robinson]

But yeah, so he's like, I wanted 15 episodes. It felt like too big of a swing, swing to do 22 episodes for our first attempt at this. But we wanted to make it definitely longer than even your 12, you know, HBO 12. Then they shrunk it to 10. Now they do eight or six or whatever. He's like, let's bring it. Beef it up to 15, drop it week to week, drop it at, like, in prime time. And the results have been smash. All the success in terms of reviews, in terms of, you know, Emmy consideration, in terms of, you know, us hearing from our, our listeners about it.

[Rob Mahoney]

Oh, yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

In terms of, I would say the word of mouth. Build, build, build, which is what you want in a show. And then I'm going to talk about the storytelling impact in a second. But from like, a business view, when we talk about the binge model being flawed, this is what we're talking about in terms of, like, word of mouth, word of mouth building. Especially around episode 12, which we're here to talk about today, the. The mass casualty event comes to the pit. And so everyone's like, oh, episode 12. You seen episode 12? You got to. You got to watch it. And then we have 12, 13, 14, 15, several more episodes. If someone's like, okay, I gotta binge and watch up to 12, I feel like what happened recently with paradise, the show I didn't watch, but reportedly episode seven of paradise was like wild and crazy and you had to watch it. Right? But I don't think there was like enough time after that for people to then all like, catch up with paradise and then be watching it together week to week.

[Rob Mahoney]

That's.

[Joanna Robinson]

That's what I think has happened with the Pit is that like people have been catching on slowly. It's been building and building. And then the reputation of episode 12, last week's episode episode has pushed it even further in front of people's faces. And now even more people are going to be watching week to week for the last few episodes of the season. Rob Mahoney, what do you want to say about this?

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm just impressed with the confidence in the model and in the product that they knew not only what show they had and that this was something that was going to appeal to people in a very traditional sense. But as you're saying, putting as something as heavy hitting as episode 12, in episode 12 and not in episode 4 or 5 or like a two part premiere or something like that, like, they are trusting the process of building up these characters, helping us identify with them, and then they get this great rug pull moment of, oh, this isn't an ER anymore. This is a complete mass unit situation. We are tossing blood bags like water balloons. Everyone who was now an underling or a student is now having to function on their own by instinct, by feeling. It turns episode 12 into just like an amazing episode of television, first of all. But I think structurally, as you're alluding to putting it at that point in the season is so smart and so calculated and it's something that I feel like we're missing, like, so often. We're talking about the pacing within seasons for respective shows and why things are happening at different times versus not. It feels really good to feel the sure hand of a product that we're familiar with, admittedly. And thus there's always gonna be like a nostalgia baked into a medical drama like this. But I also feel like they know what they're doing in terms of the arc of the season, that this is happening at a certain cadence for a reason, and it's delivering on everything that it's trying to deliver on.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah. And it becomes, to your point, like just kind of a different show entirely, as we are sort of in this Even more of an emergency. Emergency situation for the rest of the season, theoretically. And I think that a couple more things I want to mention is on sort of like the business of television front not to step too much on the watches corner because they're. They're the best at this. But, like, this is a fairly cheap show to make. It's like five. $5 million an episode. That's not nothing. But we're in one location. Logistically, that makes it hard. I was thinking a lot about actually about. About our adolescence coverage when thinking about these episodes, because we're not even in individual, like, rooms in the yard, we're in the hallway. And. And for much of the episode, it's like 360. You can kind of see all. You know, so you can see what Langdon is doing across the room while Robbie is doing this over here. You can see what Dr. Abbott is doing over here, you know, so like, they have to constantly in the background be working on their own emergency. So it's like, it's. It's the heavy technical lift of that sort of one or situation where you just have to like. It's theater. You just have to like be going and going and going constantly in order to give us this lived in 360 experience of this emergency event.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's probably also the reason why the cast is the way it is, which is a lot of greener actors or actors who have never had roles quite this big before. Like, it's harder to get Patrick Dempsey in the background of every scene in the back of an er, but it's like when you have a cast who's this game and is looking for their breakout and is looking for their moment, not only is that just on a technical level, more affordable for a show like the Pitch, you have all those people on set all the time in the backgrounds of these shots. But I think it just makes the whole thing a little more logistically feasible.

[Joanna Robinson]

And so it's like, it's. It's huge life or death stakes. Obviously. That's literally what we're talking about here. And this is what Casey was talking about in his interview with Joe on Vulture. But like, but you don't have to pay to render CGI dragons or. Well, not yet, you know, not fingers crossed for season two.

[Rob Mahoney]

We don't know who the killer is at Pitfest. It could have been a dragon.

[Joanna Robinson]

It could have been Meleys or something like that. But I think that, like, yeah, you're just. You have your one set essentially, more or less. You've got These scrubs, like that's, that's your costume for, for the most part. And, and you go from there. And so you just got to pay for like gallons of fake blood. Yeah, and. And we go from there. So all of that's to say all of that logistically, because that makes it a lower, an easier investment for HBO for Max to be like this. This show cost us so much less than, you know, Dune Prophecy or the Penguin or all these other big IP shows that we're trying to do. And it's giving us that long term investment of viewers. And that long term investment is what is paying off so beautifully in story. We've been talking about this all season, but like, this is what long form storytelling does best. This is what a 20 when you watch again. I know I sound like so elderly when I'm like, this is how we used to watch television. But when from September to May, there thereabouts, you spent almost every week with your favorite cast of characters week in, week out. And then you only take a couple months off and then you're back with them all year. Yeah, you have a different level of investment than you do in characters that you spend eight weeks with or one binge drop weekend with. And then you gotta wait three years for the Stranger Things kids to become 30 year old. You know, like, it's just a different level of emotional investment. And so if we come back to the Pit in January of next year having not forgotten, for the most part, I'm sure we're need some previously on. But you're not gonna need like 90 lore videos. You're not gonna need a House of R to have done all the reading for you and stuff like that. You don't have a heavy lift. Not for the Pit, for everything else.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yes, Mal and Joe Go to Medical School is a series I would follow up on. I just want you to know that. I mean, I think we reached a tipping point a while ago in the streaming era where it was. The marketplace was so flooded, there was a like, discretion is the better part of valor element where it was like, we can't dominate a monocultural cultural discussion anymore, so let's pick a date. Try to steer clear of the Game of Thrones or whatever. Like the big things on the calendar are find our pocket and binge drop it and hope that it finds its audience. Yeah, I think, I think it tipped into that maybe a little too quickly in some respects. And there were too few products and too few networks and streamers willing to fight for a corner and fight for a month and say, you know what? Like, we think this can be a hit and we're going to roll it out week by week and prove it. And it takes, honestly, probably something a little closer to HBO or MAX to pull that off. Like, not every network can stake its claim in quite that way. But when you have a track record both in terms of the production side and the network side, and also in terms of the talent both in front of and behind the camera, all of a sudden the pieces start coming together for you to say like it or not. In terms of, like, how, like in Vogue a medical drama pitch would be in 2024 and 2025. We think this can work. And I mean, fuck if it doesn't work, Joe. Like, this is a super watchable show, basically, no matter what the cases of the week are or who's kind of featured in that episode because you care.

[Joanna Robinson]

About the people who are there. And so, last but not least, I will say that I had lunch with a friend of mine who's a TV writer, and he's talking about how much the pit has impacted the way in which people are pitching shows or looking for shows right now. And hbo, Max specifically, are looking for. And Casey talks about, people have talked about this, they're looking for, and we joked about this earlier, but they are looking for their legal drama and their family drama. And, you know, they're just like, they're like, we're gonna bring linear storytelling, high prestige, high level linear storytelling to max. Not to HBO necessarily. Like, HBO Sunday night is its own thing, but like, Max, Thursday nights might become a thing. Because what Casey said is he's like, we're gonna stop. We're going to start dropping hacks at 9pm Eastern on Thursday instead of midnight. We're going to start, you know, like the various Max shows that they have. The Sex and the City reboot, which I will never. You could not pay me to watch, will also be doing. You know what I mean? It's like, that's something that they're embracing and it's something that I'm quite excited about.

[Rob Mahoney]

I. I can't believe I'm saying this. This is the most. This is the closest I've ever come to someone clearly articulating to me what the difference between HBO and MAX are. Yeah, that is, that is a coherent vision for how Max could not quite be HBO but be its own distinct enterprise.

[Joanna Robinson]

Casey said literally that he's like, honestly, up until now, I could not tell you what a Max show is. And he's like, now I feel like I can point to the pit and say, this is a max show, you know? So. Okay.

[Rob Mahoney]

So, well, so when Dana quits as charge nurse, does she become a paralegal? Does she go work in the public school system?

[Joanna Robinson]

Let's go home with Dana. I want Dana's whole, like, the whole clan.

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm sure it's a domestic drama of the Evanses.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, sign me up.

[Joanna Robinson]

Exactly. Parenthood. But make it the Evanses.

[Rob Mahoney]

Okay, That's a pitch.

[C]

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[Joanna Robinson]

Let'S talk about the new cast members that we got as. As the night shift comes in to help with the mass casualty here. Just when I learned everyone's name. We have new people to meet. Let's start with. We get the return of Sean Hadesy as Dr. Jack Abbott.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yes.

[Joanna Robinson]

Couple things to note. When he walks in, he walks in, and Robbie has this huge sense of relief of I don't have to be the only one in charge anymore. Right. Like, he turns around, gives him a hug. He's like, I'm so glad you're here, brother. Like, thank you so much. Like that you're here. Two things we got to know about Dr. Jack Abbott right from the jump here. He's got an army combat backpack on his back, and he said, I heard about the Pitfest shooting on the police scanner. So Dr. Jack Abbott is a guy who goes home from a shift at the ER that sent him to the edge.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yes.

[Joanna Robinson]

Of the roof of the hospital. To a quiet, peaceful time Listening to the police scanner.

[Rob Mahoney]

We all need white noise to sleep, Joe. You know, you need something to just drown out the anxieties of our existence. And what better way coming off of a night shift in the ER than.

[Joanna Robinson]

Listening to the police scanner throughout? You know, you already cited his great line where he's like, this is now a MASH unit. MASH for the infants out there was another very great movie and a very popular medical TV show about army, army doctors. But like, the moments that we get with Dr. Abbott of him saying, like, this is. This is combat field medicine. Let me show you how to do this procedure. This is what we did in the field. I could do this at night. I could do this with bombs raining down overhead. This is something I can do. Is an interesting element to add into our already sort of, you know, emergency ready doctors.

[Rob Mahoney]

I would say it's also like, I mean, Robbie is put in these positions too, but Abbott in particular so clearly knows his medicine inside and out that he can attack it laterally. And he's. He's starting to really do like, the creative problem solving of a group that's so short on supplies, so short on time, just like, does not have the ability to go through the traditional checks and balances that go through any kind of medicine, any kind of treatment. And so it's like, yeah, we have to use this tube as this other tube. We have to just like cut a hole in the side of this guy's neck. And all of a sudden that's what we're operating out of. Yeah, he's such a great avatar for that sort of idea, the like, MacGyvering that's happening all throughout 12 and 13.

[Joanna Robinson]

Let's take a. Before we go to your favorite character in mine, Dr. John Shen, let's go to this sort of like mass unit rundown. Do you have a favorite, like mass unit problem solving MacGyvering, as you put it. And was it the use of the IO drill to relieve cranial pressure?

[Rob Mahoney]

Well, I'm going to shoehorn in another recurring bit that we have here on these pit pods, Joe, which is I'm on constant, gnarly watch every one of these episodes. What is the gnarliest shit that's happening? There is a whole subcategory of drill, IO drill based gnarliness. I would say starting off with like drilling directly into a bone to do a marrow transfusion, which did not look or feel or sound great to me. Also, Whitaker straight up drilling into a clown's arm while he was awake. Not quite getting the brief that this is something you should only do to unconscious people. But, yeah, drilling straight into a skull to relieve pressure while good thinking, quick on your feet. Probably saved that person's life. Did not. Did not. Love it.

[Joanna Robinson]

In case anyone is, like, wondering at home wondering. Because you get. You get the gist of what the I.O. drill is. We see it used. It's. The I.O. drill is the star of episodes 12 and 13. We're dismantling ankle monitors. What can't the iodrill do? Right.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think I need one.

[Joanna Robinson]

But. But. And I was just curious what an I. Like what? So IO refers to intraosseous access, a method of establishing vascular access by injecting fluids and medications directly into bone marrow, bypassing the veins when intravenous access is difficult or impossible. So in this case, it's not necessarily difficult or impossible, it's just faster.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yes.

[Joanna Robinson]

To jam the nutrients straight into the bone marrow rather than try to start an iv. Incredible shit from the IO drill.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's real. Wait, before we move past the drilling, let me. Let me get your take on the gnarliest thing that we saw in these episodes. We have all those candidates. Also cutting the side of a dude's peck open with scissors to insert a tube blood catheter inserted directly into a guy's dick. Honestly, this one got me more than I thought I would, which is Dana just wiping down equipment because there's not enough of it for reinsertion and reuse with whatever sanitary wipes are available. And also two words that you simply never want to hear together. Eviscerated bowel. What would you say is the gnarliest of any of these moments in 2013?

[Joanna Robinson]

Honestly, it should not be the answer, but it was. Dana wiping down the equipment.

[Rob Mahoney]

There's something about it.

[Joanna Robinson]

There was just something.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah. Gnar. Watch. The other thing I want to say under the sort of, like, mashing umbrella is like, shout out Victoria's time to shine in front of her mom and in front of Matteo. Matteo is, like, really enjoying how good, how creative Victoria was with her MacGyvering here. No, this is genius is what he says about Victoria. And you love to see it. And this is, like, such a great little, like, whatever happens with Mateo and Victoria. Like, I love that Mateo, Victoria, and her mom. That those storylines are all, like, the. The need to shine in front of two important people at once and not just, like, to shine in front of Mateo. You have a little crush on.

[Rob Mahoney]

A big crush on. A big crush on Asking out on day one. Crush on. She's down so bad.

[Joanna Robinson]

So to shine in front of Mateo and then to have Mateo, like, reflect your shine back at you in front of your mom. Yeah, everything's coming up Victoria. I love that for her.

[Rob Mahoney]

I got to say to her mom, not up for snuff here.

[Joanna Robinson]

You know, she's not, er ready at all.

[Rob Mahoney]

Everyone else is rolling with the punches. She's out here trying to do, like, hands on teaching moments in the middle of a mass drama event, and then so fussed. So fussed by all the unconventional methods that are happening in front of her.

[Joanna Robinson]

On the MASH unit front. So Victoria's shining because of her creativity, her innovations. Santos because of her brashness. Right. She does this move in episode 13 that Abbott is like, don't ever do. She's never done that on your own. But that was pretty bad. But also, that was a good job. Yeah, I love that. And I love that, like, his whisper delivery of that was, like, really, really good. But I love. So Santos and her sort of even. Even in the midst of all this Santos saying that sounds boring. I want to do it. Like, I'm gonna look for a different case. And then also her bedside manner, which is spotty at best, being extremely tested inside of a situation like this. Any. Any Santos highlights that you want to point out here?

[Rob Mahoney]

I think just that she does. She is. She's so clearly good at her job and she has good intuition. It's just a matter of, like, getting a little bit too much over her skis at certain points. And as you say, her bedside manner is just not on the level of, like, Mel, for example. Like her. Her treatment in particular of this woman who's clearly in shock.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yes.

[Rob Mahoney]

And Santos, just like, I don't know what to do with you. I'm gonna move on to the next person who's I can stick a tube into. Look, I'm not saying it's not effective under these circumstances. There's lots of people who need tubing, but you would hope that that's kind of like, part of her journey ultimately. Right. Like, Whitaker has really been working on his over the course of this season, like, communication with patients, trying to reassure them, trying to kind of get level with them in an emotional way. These circumstances are not quite built for that. They're built for efficiency of communication, of ease, of, like, trying to get the right people to the right place so they don't die. And I think Santos is okay at that up until the point where she has to do, like, emotional triage.

[Joanna Robinson]

What she is well suited for is chasing down a quote unquote reporter. We'll talk about that more in a second.

[Rob Mahoney]

Come on. This is just.

[Joanna Robinson]

That's not a reporter.

[Rob Mahoney]

That's not a no.

[Joanna Robinson]

Okay.

[Rob Mahoney]

That's like a Jake Gyllenhaal and Nightcrawler reporter.

[Joanna Robinson]

I literally wrote Nightcrawler in my notes. 100% I wrote Nightcrawler. Okay, last but not least on the MASH unit front. And then we'll go back to our favorite Dr. John Chen. How Mohan is handling Slow Mohan. Samira. How Samira is handling this new normal. It feels like she's just, like, enervated and. And. And ready for it. She's going definitely. She's not, like, held up. And, you know, something we've been observing in her all season is not just this, like, is her. I mean, her bedside manner, top notch. But to your point, we don't have time for the long convos. Certainly right now, her instincts pretty. Pretty solid as well. Her thinking outside the box, pretty solid. But being able to execute that under this amount of pressure and. And how little time they have to diagnose, to triage, to move on. I thought this was, like, a really interesting. It was really like on my third watch through these episodes, I was, like, really trying to track her and her journey through this moment. I thought it was really interesting.

[Rob Mahoney]

She gets a big call up, like she's on the red team with Robbie and Abbott for the most critical patience. So it's like a great sign of affirmation in terms of Robbie's belief in her. I would say if you're. If you're looking at who's kind of getting the nod in the moment of emergency. Mohan being on the red team is a huge one. I thought Javati being basically, like, on the shorthanded team with Dr. Bangs was kind of a sign of, like, confidence in her abilities and knowledge. And then, of course, Mel without Langdon, without Collins being on the floor at that point in time, having to lead a team all by herself, really, really getting her moment in the pros when.

[Joanna Robinson]

Whitaker drills the clown and she's like, okay, team meeting.

[Rob Mahoney]

Okay, I want to rewind. When you asked me the best Santos moments, her saying you're allowed to do that to a mime because they can't scream. A plus. A plus for Santos. Look, we got to keep ourselves sane out on the floor, even in these trying times.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah. All right, let's go back to the long promised Dr. John Chen. Because of all the scenes that I will long remember from these two episodes. Robbie, trying to give Dr. Don Chen, the night shift attending doctor, the debrief on how to handle triage in the ambulance bay while John continues to sip on an iced coffee, will stay with me for a long time. The fact that Robbie didn't slap the iced coffee out of his hand. There's like one great shot where the camera's just, like, moving away from them and you just see, like, Robbie just, like, looking at the coffee, having a moment. Fuck you. But in the way that John's like, oh, yeah, I wasn't in that faculty meeting. I was a resident three months ago. You know, just sort of like, whatever. And then asking for Christmas off and stuff like that.

[Rob Mahoney]

That's good. That's good negotiation, by the way.

[Joanna Robinson]

Dr. John Shen, absolute, like, scene stealer, rock star, and perfectly paired with senior resident Parker Ellis, who comes in to demand the. The ambulance. I loved this team. I loved coming back to them and I love how well they explained to us the rundown of the slap bracelets and the way. I mean, like, this is how it works. But also it was an easy way for us to understand and track what was going on.

[Rob Mahoney]

John Shen, I just. Just a wonderful addition to the show. I love that we're getting kind of the fresh blood and some new characters this late that recontextualize a lot of different things. But Dr. Shen in particular, as you say, iced coffee enthusiast. Duncan, by my eye, clearly a Duncan man.

[Joanna Robinson]

Duncan moment. Yes.

[Rob Mahoney]

Maybe a dissociative lunatic at the end of the day.

[Joanna Robinson]

Just.

[Rob Mahoney]

Or healthy work life balance. One of the two. You be the judge.

[Joanna Robinson]

Well, I think more than anything, he's like, he's. He's a character on an arc. He's like, never experienced this before. So we're going to see him. You know, we've. We' heard him say a couple times, like. Like, it has. Surely there has to be an end to this. Or like, you know, Robbie being like, yeah, this is. We're about halfway done. He's like, what are you talking about? So, you know, like, he's someone who's gonna be a different kind of guy, I think, on the other side of this. Great stuff. And then Dr. Emory Walsh, who is their sort of like surgical floor liaison, who comes in and she's the one who, like, calls it on Leah, essentially, and stuff like that. So, like, that's. That's a new. A new member of the team. Different colored scrubs, always helpful. Bright orange vests. Always helpful to understand who's in charge where. One of my favorite moments actually was, you know, and obviously we'll get to Jake and Leah. But one of my favorite moments is when Dana takes. Gives her vest to Princess so that she can, like, be with Robbie while he's helping Leah. She's like, well, I can't. I can't do this job and be here for Robbie at the same time. So, you know, Princess, take the wheel. She's like, I don't want to.

[Rob Mahoney]

I've often thought that throughout this season, just give Princess control of literally everything on this floor, and we might be doing all right.

[Joanna Robinson]

What? You've already, like, mentioned a few things, but I want to talk for a moment about Langdon's return. Sure. What. What did you observe about that? What. What did you most want to say about that?

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, his to. To borrow from his probably worst line of the entire season. The man has skills, and I say he's undeniable in terms of his impact out there. And I think his ability to work on the fly in the same context that Abbott and Robbie are right to improvise, to do things that clearly the med students and some of the other residents just, like, are not quite ready to do. Maybe because he's willing to take risks that others aren't. But I think he has a sense of the moment that Robbie zeroes in on, which is, like, you reach a certain point where there's the risk of, like, these people will not survive by the time we can get them to the or, unless we start doing dramatic things, whether that's donating blood as we operate on them, whether that's, you know, try some more, like, experimental methods of treatment in these cases. And I think his presence is very welcome in that way, just in terms of treating the people who are coming in. But also you can see, like, the relief in Mel when she sees him, which I admit, like, I. I am charmed by that, even if Santos herself isn't so glad to see him. And so I. I really do feel like we are building towards some kind of reinstatement. I don't know if it's post treatment or not. I really hope it is for the sake of everyone who's in this er, but it feels like Langdon is not about to leave this show.

[Joanna Robinson]

It was an interesting combination because you've got, like, when Robbie first spots him, and I like, gasp. I was like, oh, my God, Langdon's back. Oh, no.

[Rob Mahoney]

Langdon jump scare.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, exactly. Langdon jump scare. When Santos has to first register that he's there and.

[Rob Mahoney]

And their first interaction too, where he comes in, like, maybe I would say neutral to slash, intense and noticeably. Sort of like, backs off and compliments her and gets the hell out. Yeah, understandably.

[Joanna Robinson]

But, yeah, to your point, like, Mel being so. You're back, right? Like, so excited to see him, and then when he helps them and he's like, could catch you, too. Yeah. He's like a good teacher, supportive. And that's why he's such an interesting character. He's like all these things. He's something. He's one thing to Mel, he's another thing to Santos. He's both, you know, and to your. Like, to. What you said earlier about you don't need the Collins and Robbie romance to be clean. You don't need. We don't need these characters to be one thing or the other. Isn't it so much more interesting when they're all different kinds of things, different people? Because that's what humans are, you know.

[Rob Mahoney]

And in particular, to set it up in this way where, as we've alluded to many times, if something makes Mel happy, it generally makes us happy. And we like seeing that character, you know, succeed and reward and put him in good positions. And the fact that she likes this person who we all know as viewers of the show, what he's done and the risk that he's put, like, he's put people's lives at risk for who knows how long by manner of, like, operating in this way and living his life in that way. And then Santos, as we discussed in the last pod, who we have, like, personal issues with and can be a grating personality, not just because of her bedside manner, but, like, she's even calling Javati Crash in this episode.

[Joanna Robinson]

She's even kind of supportively. She's, like, hanging there. Hanging there, Crash.

[Rob Mahoney]

I don't know if Hang in there, Crash. Crash sounds counts as supportively, but I.

[Joanna Robinson]

Think she also gets a huckleberry off, too. Like, she. She. She's rolling out the nicknames.

[Rob Mahoney]

You know, she is who she is. And that's. That's a flawed person, too, who. Who wants something, who is striving, who's clearly very smart, who also can come off as being a little bit much sometimes.

[Joanna Robinson]

I love your point of, like, if. If Mel cares about something, we care about something. Some. A pal pointed out to me that he thinks Mel sounds a lot like Willow on Buffy.

[Rob Mahoney]

As I say, this is the willow rule, right?

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah. When willow cries, we cry. Like, that's. Yeah, that's the Willow rule. And I would apply it to melt, to milking. I did like that Langdon got at least two rebukes. Other than, like, Robbie being, like, the fuck out of here. These are healing hands. Too bad they're so tiny.

[Rob Mahoney]

This is good.

[Joanna Robinson]

Great. And also, you know, Victoria's mom being like, don't. Like, why are you spreading gossip? Essentially, right when he's like that, it could be the shooter. She's like, what the fuck? Like, what are you. The shooter could be coming this way. She's like, why are you spreading gossip and panic when we don't need that right now?

[Rob Mahoney]

All of that, too. All of the. Like, the shooter might be coming this way. Gossip that's kind of channeling through the ER makes me feel even more confident that we have not seen the shooter yet and we have not met the shooter yet, and that everything that's kind of culminating in David coming back at the end of 13 is not it.

[Joanna Robinson]

So let's talk about the press and the cops and David. That's the next thing I want to talk about. Perfectly. The press and, quote, scare quotes. We do have one actual reporter at the ambulance bay. And they're like, you can't go elsewhere. Yeah, but this dude who comes in, and they're like, it's probably the press. This dude who put on this bloody sweatshirt and is pretending and is filming things on his cell phone. I just want to say I'm. I'm indignant as someone who is. I wouldn't say currently a reputable journalist, but was. Once. You're a journalist.

[Rob Mahoney]

You are a reporter still. You've reported things in this podcast based on source conversations you had.

[Joanna Robinson]

Rob is a. Is a reputable NBA journalist. We don't do this shit. This is not what the media does. Do you want to say, like, I don't know, paparazzi to a certain degree, but, like, yeah, night. This Nightcrawler shit, so. But I'm glad he slipped in that. That puddle of blood. That was great. And he's gonna be here for a while. Soft restraint. Six hours of observation. He's making it to the finale strapped to that bed. Good job. Okay, then we've got the cop, Officer Stefano, who gets shot.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

And the SWAT team comes in, essentially because they want to, like, watch to make sure he's okay.

[Rob Mahoney]

Right.

[Joanna Robinson]

I would suggest they have more important things to do, but okay.

[Rob Mahoney]

As would I. Also, you're actively crowding an area of high traffic and a lot of people flying around trying to get supplies and treatment to everyone in the room. Maybe. Maybe go step outside.

[Joanna Robinson]

That cop gets saved with Abbott's field kit and Then we've got David, who shows up to pick his mom and is tackled and put in a room. And you're. You're standing strong on. It wasn't David Corner.

[Rob Mahoney]

It feels like a head fake to me. It feels like we're being told the shooter will return. We see David. Dr. Bangs is flagging real early. Do we know where David is as soon as the shooting goes down? Told you, like, she's just ready for her victory lap. I think what's. I think what might happen if I had to guess. We've seen Whitaker start to ask patients if they saw who shot them, and he does it a couple of different times with a couple of different patients. I wonder if he's going to start hearing from them a very different description from David or something that might be able to, like, clarify that it was not him.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm thinking that's how things might kind of unfold from here. But ultimately, us being shown exactly one suspect all season as to who could do this and people questioning it all season whether he's capable of violence makes me think that it will not be him.

[Joanna Robinson]

I think it's interesting to think about because I was talking to. I was talking to a friend of mine who. Who a different person who, like, writes for television.

[Rob Mahoney]

He was like, oh, another reporting source.

[Joanna Robinson]

I knew. I knew as soon as, like, Robbie let him go, essentially, that David was gonna wind up doing something terrible.

[Rob Mahoney]

Really?

[Joanna Robinson]

I don't know the answer, but I'm just sort of like, am I more interested if Dr. Robbie's wrong, or am I more interested in if Dr. McKay is wrong?

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

AKA Dr. Bangs or some combination of the two. I mean, just because David didn't do this doesn't mean he's not capable of doing something. So Dr. McKay doesn't have to be.

[Rob Mahoney]

Like, that's the thing.

[Joanna Robinson]

Totally wrong.

[Rob Mahoney]

I don't think she's wrong. Regardless, this was a flaggable, concernable course of events that needed to be addressed.

[Joanna Robinson]

We've seen adolescents.

[Rob Mahoney]

We have indeed seen adolescence.

[Joanna Robinson]

We have seen adolescents.

[Rob Mahoney]

I would say, on the Robbie front, just from a character standpoint, do we think that that character can handle after everything we see in 13, also being implicitly responsible for a mass shooting event that led to his adopted kind of stepson kind of girlfriend's death, among many, many other deaths and wounds? I. I just don't think they're going to put Robbie through that much, but.

[Joanna Robinson]

I don't think I can handle the pitch that the ringing in his ears would have to get to in order to convey that kind of drama. No. All right, let's talk about. Well, before we get into sort of, like, the last couple of segments, I want to talk about. I did want to shout out Kiara and Lupe, who are running in the cafeteria, running. The identification aspect, dealing with the grieving loved ones. I thought that was, like, again, everything we've heard from people who work in the medical field say that the pit has gotten everything right. So I. I don't think that they are, you know, making up the idea that you can, like, scan a QR code and submit photos of your loved one in a mass casualty event. I'm sure this is actually how it runs, but what it gives us in terms of, like, Chiara, who we. We've been. Kiara and Lupe, who we've been watching all season, and Lupe especially, who's had to be, like, such a hardliner. Her empathy face.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

As they walk into the cafeteria in the first place to make. And then, like, as they are taking photos of a body for identification, you know, to show the woman whose husband and brother were at Pitfest and stuff like that. Like, that angle is. I just think it's so well done, and it doesn't overwhelm the story. The adrenaline of. It's a different. It's a different tempo.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

And it doesn't. But it's, like, perfectly imbalanced in harmony with the sort of relentless, frenetic energy of the er.

[Rob Mahoney]

You know, I think especially in sort of the way that part of the story is parceled out, which I would say is more heavy. It's heavier in 13 than it is in 12th. 12 is very much adrenaline rush to the point where even the doctors and nurses are joking around sometimes. Like, they're kind of eager and into it and are kind of jolted by the experience of being involved in something important and urgent and are just, like, flying around the er. Thirteen is where everyone starts breaking down, and it's where the hospital is basically overrun with patients, more than they could ever conceivably treat. It's where Kiara has to start identifying these. These victims and telling their families. And overall, I think it's kind of a nice parallel to the sort of medicine and practicing we see on the ER floor, which is so much so technical. Right. It's like, how do you stop this bleeding? How do you get this person conscious? How do you get this person stable? It's all kind of like, by the book medicine applied in new and inventive ways. So much of Chiara's work, even on a normal day is emotional labor. Right. Like, that is her job, and she's having to ratchet that up to where she is. In the same way that the doctors are dealing with the most intense and traumatic situations and patients constantly, for hours on end, she's having to do her version of that same thing. And I think using that as sort of a counterpoint and also showing us the way this is wearing down, not just the doctors, but the people who are sitting there waiting for hours to find out, like, did my husband, did my brother, did my child make it through this alive? It's an excruciating thing to have to.

[Joanna Robinson]

Do on the, like, sort of family connection front. We've been talking all season about sort of how do you bring the personal life of these doctors into the story. When were in the workplace and in one shift, a shift plus some overtime, and, you know, we've been getting it here and there. And so, like, chief among the people. I mean, counting. Not counting Langdon's old deal, but the two people who have their personal lives sort of interacting most with their work here are Dr. Bangs herself, McKay, and Robbie, of course. So the Harrison and Chad piece, the fact that Harrison's in the. In the doctor's lounge.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

And Chad just, like, crutches his way onto the floor.

[Rob Mahoney]

Just the worst he's on screen, this guy.

[Joanna Robinson]

One thing I loved. I mean, we already knew that. That he still carried a torch for her because of his whole, like, mumbled Mateo moment or whatever. But when he, like, stops to watch her.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

And his, like, competency kink, like, comes through, and he's just like, man, she's really good at her job. That's so hot. I thought was. I thought was really good. And then, yeah, like, Chad's the worst, but. But, you know, I think, like, him being in there with Harrison, he's like, let's watch a movie together. Like, you know, I'll stay here with you. You don't want to. I mean, he's not forcing him to go home with him. He's like, no, you really want to go home with your mom? Okay, like, then I'm gonna stay here with you. I'm not gonna take you out to the bathroom in the middle of all that, though, and let us all listen together as mom's ankle monitor distracts the entire er. Why not?

[Rob Mahoney]

I think that's very. That's very gracious of you, Joe. Very. A very generous read of Chad.

[Joanna Robinson]

I'm always looking out for the Chads of the world, Rob. You know that about Me, I do.

[Rob Mahoney]

Know this about you. I would describe his presence in this episode as Dr. Bangs, second child, who she has to chide to get off the hospital floor to send into the room with Harrison, because that's basically where his emotional age is. Is. Please go. Please go wait in the staff room and watch the movie. Harrison, on the other hand, just a young budding cinephile right in front of us. All he wants to do is watch movies. And you know, I would say under these circumstances, fuck it, let him watch whatever he wants. It's not. Whatever he's gonna watch is not scarier than whatever is happening out here.

[Joanna Robinson]

Rob, what are you watching in the lounge with Harrison while everything happens outside in the er?

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm trying to think of what Harrison. My concern is that what Harrison wants to watch is like Five Nights at Freddy's, which I don't particularly want to watch. Not cause it's scary, but I would rather not. A child's idea of a scary movie I hope is better than that. I'm hoping Harrison is evolved, you know, I'm hoping he's tapped into something truly dark and is ready to embrace something more horrible than that on screen at least.

[Joanna Robinson]

Sounds like Nosferatu in the lounge to me.

[Rob Mahoney]

That sounds wonderful.

[Joanna Robinson]

Great time, great time. I hope Chad.

[Rob Mahoney]

Although on a small screen, maybe not. Eggers would never, you know, cast it on the wall.

[Joanna Robinson]

Okay, then we get Jake and Leah, of course. And this is, of course, I mean, we've been like we knew was headed towards this the moment that Jake goes to pit fest, you know, blah, blah. I. I guess I always assumed that it would be Jake who was injured and not Leah, that it would be Jake that he would have to try to save. This is somehow worse.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's his ticket.

[Joanna Robinson]

One thing that I on, on rewatch that I thought was really brilliant was, you know, as you watch Robbie take too long, go above and beyond again, we've got everyone glancing over and looking at him and knowing that he's taking too long. We've got Abbott coming over and saying like, hey, buddy, like, come on. And again, it's. It matters that Abbott, who is of equal stat, like Robbie's the king of the ER right in. In these last hours. And it's important that Abbott, who's on equal standing with him and who knows him, is there. It's important that Dana's there. But one thing I wanted to note, this is just like a little thing, but like on Rewatch, the fact that we have the whole plot line where Mel needs to get some blood. And she's like, I'll donate. And then we see Abbott donating.

[Rob Mahoney]

I will say, when Mel donates, I know we've been calling some of these pods pit stops. I would describe Mel's blood donation as a straight up pit stop. Like, she rolls in there. Dana's like the mechanic crew. Needle her up, get the blood out, change the tires. All right, get back there.

[Joanna Robinson]

Oh, she's. When Mel's like, I donate all the time. I'm like, of course you do. You perfect angel. Of course you do. But we. So, you know, in. In 12, we watch, we see the blood donation happen because blood is so scarce, they do get another shipment in. But the fact that Robbie blows through four bags on Leah. Like, we know the stakes of the blood bags because of that previous this storyline, and we're just like, oh, my God, does the fourth bag of one egg that he's pumping in her? Like, we don't. We don't have those resources, which is like, you know, Abbott says that explicitly, but it's still like, it's sort of, you know, we're all med students watching the show, learning. Learning what an IO does and, like, learning that bags of odeg are not a limitless resource inside of this situation and stuff like that. I thought that was really interesting.

[Rob Mahoney]

I thought so too. I mean, I'm of two minds about. I would say overall, the Robbie, Jake, Leah stuff, because on the one hand, it's very TV drama to bring his personal baggage into the hospital for Jake and Leah to be at Pitfest to begin with. Very TV drama thing to do. Counterpoint. This is a TV drama. This is what we're doing. This is the enterprise we have laid out for ourselves. And frankly, I would say Robbie as a character is such a smart, compassionate doctor that just putting him through the paces of a mass casualty event is probably not gonna be enough to really strip him down in the way that they want to strip him down, that they want him to have this Dr. Adamson recall breakdown moment. And in order to reach that, which in itself was a personal and professional collision, you're gonna have to kind of recreate that fundamental tension in some way. And so whether it's gonna be Jake or it's gonna be Leah, I agree. Like, I could have seen them go either way with that. And this does feel terrible. And ultimately, him having to tell Jake is one of the most excruciating scenes of the show. Like Robbie, who we've seen be so caring with patience all season.

[Joanna Robinson]

Exactly.

[Rob Mahoney]

Can't even Bring himself to tell Jake that she's dead. Like, all he can do is, like, I'm gonna list out the things that I tried to do almost as clinically as if you were a med student yourself. Because this is the only way I can reconcile and wrap my head around what just happened.

[Joanna Robinson]

The way that Noah Wiley's voice, like, all season, especially for people who, like, knew him on ER all season, the raspiness of Robbie's voice was just. Just like a little bit of, like, grizzling age on Noah Wylie from the Fresh Faced, you know, ingenue that he was on er. But there's this, like, he can, like, barely squeeze out. He's like, his throat is, like, closing in, and he could barely squeeze out the words to talk to Jake about what happened with Leah. I completely agree with you in that, like, we have seen him have a version of this conversation so many times, and he's so good at it. So obviously this would be harder, but, like, to have that comparison is so informative to us. For Robbie to recap the day. Yeah, for Robbie to recap the day and say, talk about the people he didn't save. The teen with the fentanyl overdose, Mr. Spencer who died in front of his kids, guy with a heart condition, little girl who drowned trying to save her sister. And he's like, barely talk at that point. What that does to us. Not only is it, like, an interesting thing for Robbie to do, to just sort of like, run through the day, but then it reminds us that, like. Which we already knew because of the premise of the show. But this has been a day.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's been a day.

[Joanna Robinson]

It's been one day in this guy's life.

[Rob Mahoney]

He's supposed to be home by now. He's supposed to be off shift.

[Joanna Robinson]

Right. And he's got so many of those days in his career. Yeah. And then we get the, The. The. The ringing in the ears.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yep.

[Joanna Robinson]

He's in peds, which is where, you know, Dr. Adamson was sure is. And then we get. And this is something we ha. We've, like, neglected to talk about in all of our pit coverage, unless we did. And I don't remember it, but that's possible. But the. The lack of music on the show.

[Rob Mahoney]

We've talked about it briefly, I think, specifically with things like the Honor Walk and stuff like that.

[Joanna Robinson]

You're right. I remember now. Okay. But for it to come in here at the end of this episode, there's, like, a little bit of score underneath this breakdown, and then it feeds into this song, which is. I don't know if you Shazammed it.

[Rob Mahoney]

I did not.

[Joanna Robinson]

It is an original song composed by the show's. The show's composer, Gavin Brevik, and an artist called Taji, and it's called Fail Forward. And they've been playing instrumental bits of instrumental versions of it over the credits in previous episodes. Yeah, but this is, like, the first time they dropped it as, like, a song. And he says they were going to release the full song at the end of the season. But that's interesting to me because I. I have found that music over the closing credits. It hasn't happened every episode, but I have found it so evocative of, like, old school TV themes.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

And so now to hear lyrics over it and for it to be like a song that I can now forever identify with. A season of television or, you know, I mean, that's what theme songs are. But, like. But the way it's been, it's not an opening credits jingle. It's like a thing that's been building on this show. And in this moment of absolute crisis for Robbie and Thirteen, this is when we get, like, the full version of it over the closing credits. I thought that was pretty effective.

[Rob Mahoney]

They just know how to pick their spots on this show.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

And that's. That's something that's hard to fake and hard to kind of find your way into if you haven't made TV before. I think that's. That's one area in which the experience of everyone involved is paying off. I'm trying to understand, like, okay, so where do we go from here with Robbie? Robbie's having his breakdown. He's on the floor. He's got to get up off the mat in some way. I think there's a couple of ways that it could go. Joe, I'm curious if you have any takes or feelings on this. I think Collins coming back and talking to him is Avenue 1. Dana having a conversation with him is probably Avenue 2. And Abbott having a conversation with him is probably Avenue 3. Everyone else, it's like if you're too junior. I like, on the one hand, maybe the emotional payoff of one of the students offering him a return consolation, I think could be a powerful thing. I just think if you are a grizzled, experienced doctor in the middle of a nervous breakdown, like, hearing from one of the kids is maybe not the thing you would be most receptive to. But I leave myself open to being surprised on that point.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah. I guess the question is. My question is how Long. Is he down?

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

Like, is he back up in the first few?

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm gonna say under two episodes, but.

[Joanna Robinson]

Like, is he just. Like, is he missing for an episode?

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah, it could be.

[Joanna Robinson]

Where's. Where is Robbie? Like, we don't know. Is it a whole episode? Is it just a couple minutes? I mean, which will feel. It's funny. On rewatch of thirteen, my memory was. My memory, which we just established is shoddy, but, like, my memory was that Leah and Jake come in at the top of the episode, but they don't come in until, like, 16 minutes into the episode.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

So that is, you know, but it just feels like it goes on forever. And that's, you know, effective storytelling. But, yeah. I'll be curious to know how long Robbie stays down. Is it going to be an Abbott or a Dana coming in and talking to him? Or does he get up on his own and not tell anyone and only we know?

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

And I guess the cop guarding the door knows, and Jake certainly knows what happened there.

[Rob Mahoney]

Actually, I want to throw a dark horse into the ring, please. Where's Myrna? What's she up to?

[Joanna Robinson]

Where is Myrna?

[Rob Mahoney]

She broke out of the handcuffs somehow. Who knows what's going on with her at this moment? Maybe what he needs at this exact moment in time is for a random woman who's sometimes around the hospital to inappropriately hit on him.

[Joanna Robinson]

Maybe that's what he needs.

[Rob Mahoney]

That's what he needs.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah. All right. The last couple things I have are our ER flashbacks that I just want to save till the very end so that anyone who hasn't seen the ER doesn't get spoiled by anything, but. Anything else you want to mention, Rob, before we go?

[Rob Mahoney]

Just that I am one such person, but I'm walking straight into the spoiler. I. I think.

[Joanna Robinson]

I think you have opened yourself up to this. You've already explored Dr. John Carter's addiction plot line, but I. I did not catch.

[Rob Mahoney]

I. I have no idea what you're about to say. I did not detect or catch any, like, serious, ER, specific plotline vibe. And so I. I am curious to hear from people who are watching this and to our ER fans, if what we're about to talk about is something that was so obvious to them or if it was something that maybe flew under the radar a little bit.

[Joanna Robinson]

There's two. One. One is minor. One is. One is minor. You can say for that one. The other one's kind of major. You can leave for that one if you want to. The first one, the minor one is it was an iconic image in ER to have a nurse doing CPR on top of a person on top of a gurney riding into the room.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

And I'm not saying we haven't necessarily seen it this season, but we have not seen it the way we saw nurse Jesse doing CPR on top of the gurney, going through the er. That was like just such a classic ER visual to me. And they don't do it like, they don't do it on grays. Like, it's not a. A. It's an ER specific sort of image to me, though. That could be anything, though. I'm not saying that that necessarily is the more pertinent one.

[Rob Mahoney]

Okay.

[Joanna Robinson]

And again, you can leave if you don't want. Really, really dusty old er. Spoilers is the helicopter. The duo that go up to get the helicopter and Robbie's like, stay back from the blades. And they go up there and she's like, I think we're supposed to stay back from the line. There's a very famous this moment in ER where Dr. Romano going to get some, like, organs or whatever out of, like, gets his arm taken off by a helicopter.

[Rob Mahoney]

What?

[Joanna Robinson]

Joe, what? They have to, like, fix him. So, yeah, I, like, I will never forget where I was when I saw Dr. Marano get his arm taken off by the helicopter.

[Rob Mahoney]

So maybe this is just expressing my naivety. I've seen many movies where people have been cut in half de armed every variation of injury as a result of a helicopter blade. As a doctor, in this moment where your job is like, walking up and grabbing a cooler, where is the upward motion that's leading you to get an arm chopped off by the blades?

[Joanna Robinson]

There's, like, things happening.

[Rob Mahoney]

Okay.

[Joanna Robinson]

Okay. It's not just like a standard walk out and reach a little too high for the cooler and oops, you lost an arm.

[Rob Mahoney]

Well, you know what? I say this, but as a man of a certain height, the number of times in which I have stuck my arms in a ceiling fan is, frankly, embarrassing. Like, it. It happens with a truly disturbing frequency. So who am I, who am I to judge?

[Joanna Robinson]

After I saw that, I have forever. Now, when I watch any scene in a movie where someone gets into a helicopter and they usually do this, like, on succession, they would do this. You. You duck.

[Rob Mahoney]

You got a duck. That's. That's rule number one is you gotta duck down. So, yeah, I will also say in Javadi and Whitaker's defense, I believe they're the two who are sent up to get the blood cooler.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

And they were given Instructions about like, okay, you got to stay between 10 and 2. Is that. And they're confused by those instructions. I'm similarly confused. Is that an arm orientation instruction? Yeah, probably, now that I think about it. I had no idea when I was watching this episode, but now it's starting to make some sense.

[Joanna Robinson]

Dr. Romano, you're an. But you do not deserve to lose your arm like that. And you know, shout out to the ER fans for living that traumatic moment with me. We'll be back for more pit.

[Rob Mahoney]

I have one final question for you, Joe, before we, before we fly off, please do one of my favorite patients as we're, as we're coursing before we.

[Joanna Robinson]

Fly off, like Dr. Romano's arm did in season nine of ER.

[Rob Mahoney]

God, I hope not. Of the hundreds of patients who are going through the ER in these episodes. Yeah, we get this old hippie who has been grazed by a bullet. And I think this is one of kind of, I think the test for Mel's yellow team as much as anything are these cases that come in, they're seemingly quite simple. A broken leg, a grazing wound, and all of a sudden these people are unconscious or dying or gushing blood. And they have to figure out what all these other complications are.

[Joanna Robinson]

Mm.

[Rob Mahoney]

What is the musical act that is bringing both Jake and Leah, the wide assortment of people and our friend, the old hippie who at his core is mostly just hurt by the darkness, who is seen in humanity today? Like, who is playing at Pitfest?

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, we've got the, the guy with the bleach one hair who OD'd. Who is, who is just like taking some Percocet so for his knees so he could dance to dance a piffus.

[Rob Mahoney]

So there's, there's clear and like, look, it's not unusual for a music festival at a certain hour. The EDM acts come on over on these stages. Maybe more rap oriented or rock oriented or whatever. Like this guy is seeing like Phish or Dead and Company.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

And those are not, as far as I know, like music like that kind of like noodling guitar is not very squeezable into a tight 45 minute music.

[Joanna Robinson]

Festival time slot at a jam festival. God, not a. It can't be a jam band. Not at Pitfest. Jake and Leah aren't going to go see a jam band. They're not going to see.

[Rob Mahoney]

No way. Do you think, do you think anyone under 20 is going to see a jam band? They don't have time. They've got TikTok brains. Joe. Come on.

[Joanna Robinson]

Someone did. One of our listeners did ask, like, why, you know, this. This young man who is deaf and his mom are at Pitfest. Why bring your deaf son to Pitfest? But, like, my understanding is that, like, for a variety of people, music is. You know, it doesn't matter. Like, the. The music sort of transcends the experience of being the. The rhythms that you can feel. Like all sorts of stuff is that there's something for everyone at Pit Fest. But the question is, what is that something?

[Rob Mahoney]

Oh, maybe we'll find out by episode.

[Joanna Robinson]

I'm going to limb. Here's. I'm gonna go on a limb.

[Rob Mahoney]

What do you have?

[Joanna Robinson]

I'm gonna say it's Gogo Bardello. He's. I think the hippie likes Gogo Bardello.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, Gogo Bordello does. RIP.

[Joanna Robinson]

I was first and, like, a great live show, you know, I would.

[Rob Mahoney]

I would 100% see Gogo Bordello live.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, but they seem much more like.

[Rob Mahoney]

A rowdy, a rowdy bar show than a music festival show.

[Joanna Robinson]

That's true. I've only ever seen them in rowdy bars. No, but. No, but I saw them at the bluegrass festival in San Francisco.

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm very. I'm very tempted to bust out the accent right now, but that just seems disrespectful, and I'm not gonna do it.

[Joanna Robinson]

So that has been our coverage of the Pit. You can start wearing purple if you want to, and we'll be back for. Please email us prestigevotify.com if you think you know who play Pitfest. We would like to know, in fact.

[Rob Mahoney]

If you can draw us a Venn diagram of Jake and Leah. Side circle, hippie circle. And what is the act that is bringing them together. That's the kind of alchemy that we need the prestige TV listeners to help us with.

[Joanna Robinson]

But I feel like Jake. Jake is going to, like, Jake is going to go to pitfest with Robbie. So, like, it.

[Rob Mahoney]

Robbie's there to see Pearl Jam. Like, we know his demo.

[Joanna Robinson]

But I'm saying it doesn't have to. It could be a pro. Like, it could be like, oh, Jake was gonna go with Robbie. And then. You know what I mean? So it doesn't have to be like a TikTok brain sort of band.

[Rob Mahoney]

Oh, definitely not. I'm just wondering what. What could possibly be the midpoint that would bring these people together? And I'm saying that in the hope that they could be, you know, that it's not all about Jake and Leah at stage one. And old hippie is at stage three all day. I'm cherming. We are here to create four quadrant entertainment. Joe and where's the clown?

[Joanna Robinson]

You know what this is reminding me of is, oh, what was it called? Parks and recreation Harvest festival vibes to me, I don't know, like that's a clown doing balloon animals there. Like, you know, we're, we're, we're having delicious coconut based desserts sold at a food table.

[Rob Mahoney]

Like sounds wonderful to me.

[Joanna Robinson]

It sounds like a whole carnival. A cornucopia of delights at Pitfest. Once Again, [e-mail] if you have any Pitfest insights, we would love to hear them. Thanks as always to our four quadrant team. It's. It's John Richter, it's Justin Sales, and it's Donnie Beachum. Thank you guys so much for help on this episode. We'll be back with White Lotus and more Pit and see you soon. Bye. This episode is brought to you by Universal Pictures. From Universal Pictures and Blumhouse come a storm of terror. From the director of the Shallows. The woman in the Yard. Don't let her in. Where does she come from? What does she want? When will she leave? Today's the day. The Woman in the Yard only in theaters March 28th.