‘The Pitt’ Season 2, Episode 2: Hard at Work

Summary

The Prestige TV Podcast
'The Pitt' Season 2, Episode 2: "Hard at Work"
Hosts: Joanna Robinson & Rob Mahoney
Date: January 16, 2026

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EPISODE OVERVIEW

Joanna Robinson and Rob Mahoney gather in person to break down episode 2 of The Pit Season 2, "Hard at Work." This episode digs into the show's intricate character relationships, memorable medical cases (including an infamous maggot moment!), the nuanced depiction of hospital culture, and engaged listener feedback. The hosts also discuss larger themes — including the tension between gut instinct and new technology in medicine, the unique "July effect," and the role of medical accuracy on TV.

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KEY DISCUSSION POINTS & INSIGHTS

1. First Impressions & Episode Structure

• Setting the Stage: The hosts agree that episode 2 functions more as a "getting us on the tracks" installment — laying essential groundwork, sprinkling hints at future plot twists (power outage foreshadowed in promos), and fleshing out new and returning characters.
  • “This felt even more like a setting the stage, getting us on the tracks episode... The premiere had all these new characters. This was like, oh, this is gonna be important three episodes from now.” — Rob [02:07]

2. The Infamous "Maggot Scene" (Medical Gross-Outs)

• A Podcast Friendship Test: The maggots found under a patient’s cast sparked intense reaction from Joanna, who had to look away (“I just have a childhood trauma with maggots,” [03:24]). Rob riffs on the show’s escalation of gruesome ER sights:
  • "I mean, how could it not bother me?" — Rob [03:22]
  • Robust mailbag reaction: listeners and hosts both share personal squeamishness and horror stories related to maggots and casts.
• See also: "Gnarly watch" later in the episode for breakdown of episode’s other gross-out moments.
• Timestamp: 02:37–04:00, 45:30–48:55 for extended “maggot talk.”

3. Listener Mailbag & Local Flavor

• Pittsburgh Nuances:

  • Listeners debate the authenticity of the ‘Yinzer’ accent and Pittsburgh-specific American Sign Language (ASL).
    • “Pittsburgh is known for having, quote, a unique ASL dialect that sign language users from other parts of the country often struggle to understand.” — Joanna (reading mail) [05:46]
  • Discussion on staff accents, the Hanson pit crew, and hopes for more ‘Yinzer’ in future scenes.
  • A quirky tidbit: Each doctor is given an individual ASL sign; Dr. McKay’s is “Dr. Banks.” [15:21]

• Questions from Listeners:

  • July 4th logistics: Why would critical hospital moments and first days coincide with a major holiday?
  • The “July Effect”: Medical professionals flood inbox with real-life notes about new interns arriving in July leading to more errors and chaos.
    • “This is when all the new interns, AKA short coats, arrive and all the previous newbies take on more responsibilities, leading to an increased risk for errors and poor patient outcomes… it’s a time of increased stress.” — Joanna reading listener Abigail [08:34]

4. Character Deep Dives & Workplace Dynamics

• Dr. Robbie vs. Dr. Al Hashimi: Gut vs. AI & Gendered Reality

  • Detailed exploration of the tension between Dr. Robbie’s intuitive, risk-taking style and Dr. Al Hashimi’s due-diligence, systems-focused approach (notably around medical AI’s fallibility vs. real experience).
    • “Their proxy war is not just about AI, but specifically gut versus AI. I think there’s a really interesting conversation to be had about the role of instinct in medicine.” — Rob [18:14]
    • Potential gender double standard: “The reality is a woman in medicine would never be allowed to act in the way that Dr. Robbie does... Having this female attending be so by the book as sort of a way to make her mark in the medical world versus, yeehaw, that is Robbie. I thought that was really interesting.” — Joanna, reading Deepa [23:15]
  • AI medical errors (antipsychotic vs. sleep aid confusion); skepticism around “generative AI in the ER” from both hosts.

• Mailbag Highlights on Supporting Characters:

  • Whitaker’s evolving role, subtle anxieties (and his new “Tennessee waterfall” haircut).
  • Justice for anesthesiologists — listeners’ gripes about negative portrayal and lack of nuance.
  • New doctor Dylan (the ginger social worker); audience misses Kiara from Season 1.

5. Memorable Medical Cases

• Devastating Dementia Plotline:

  • Whitaker repeatedly breaks the news of a husband’s passing to a patient with severe Alzheimer’s, exploring the moral and emotional weight of ER doctors’ obligations.
    • “Don’t you feel like the kindness is to not tell her? Like, why put her through that?” — Joanna [26:15]
    • "I think that's why it makes sense that the logical endpoint of that journey is getting her in the room with her husband.” — Rob [26:31]

• Recurring Patient “Louis”: Possible Missed Diagnosis:

  • Listeners posit dental decay and infective heart valve could be fatal; hosts discuss risks of familiarity and diagnostic bias.
    • “Dr. Langdon’s familiarity with the patient is blinding him from making the correct diagnosis.” — Joanna quoting listener Travis [26:53]

• Other Medical Setpieces:

  • Double-dose erectile dysfunction (ED) mishap (needle, blood, and Rob’s spell pun “Luxatio erecta” [40:27]).
  • Bacon grease-related burns.
  • The “shoulder pop” and the resonance of procedural “gnarlies.”

6. Relationship Developments & Comic Relief

• Langdon & Mel:

  • Highlighted for emotional payoff: Langdon turning off the ER light for Mel after her concussion (lesson learned from her, Season 1).
    • “When Langdon did that for her, Rob, I cried. I’m sorry, I cried. I thought it was so beautiful.” — Joanna [29:57]

• Mel’s Renaissance Fair Alter Ego:

  • Playful speculation abounds about Mel’s 17th-century French persona and future episodes set at the Ren Faire.
    • “She has an alter ego, which is a 17th century French woman, is what she said... we all deserve (Mel at Ren Faire).” — Joanna [33:55]

• Ogilvy vs. Javadi Student Rivalry:

  • Ogilvy’s attempts at “teacher’s pet” and brown-nosing various staff, particularly Dr. Al Hashimi, are dissected and lampooned.
    • “Ogilvy does sound like a Mission Impossible villain.” — Joanna [36:59]
    • Javadi wins the pod’s approval (“Queen of reaction shots”).

• Santos’ Newfound Maturity & Blind Spots:

  • Her pursuit of an apparent abuse case, resisting trauma drama for thoroughness, but has her own gaps and foibles.
  • “Santos is like, I'm here. Conclusions are here. I had nowhere to jump. Here they are. So there's a couple things going on... that's growth. We love that.” — Joanna [38:29]

7. Mailbag Oddities, Medical Realism & Comic Bits

• Appropriateness of certain hospital procedures or behaviors on July 4th.
• Listeners write in about bacon grease disposal (“Not in my kitchen!” [47:26]).
• Fun asides about ramekins (Rob: “Best use green onion pancakes with bacon grease. Very good. Highly recommend.” [51:28])
• Recollections, medical trivia, and calls for maggot stories from the audience.

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NOTABLE QUOTES & MEMORABLE MOMENTS (with timestamps)

• Squeamish Highlight:
  • “For the first time in the pit... There was something in this episode that I could not handle. And I had to have someone tell me when I could look at the screen again.” — Joanna [02:37]
• Phobia Confirmed:
  • “I feel confident that it is the armful of maggots.” — Rob [03:13]
  • “It is the armful of maggots.” — Joanna [03:20]
• Medical Professional Validation:
  • “This is when all the new interns, AKA short coats, arrive... leading to increased risk for errors and poor patient outcomes.” — Joanna, reading listener Abigail [08:34]
• AI Skepticism (Medical transcription error):
  • “Generative AI is 98% accurate.” — Dr. Al Hashimi (paraphrased) & Rob, sarcastically [16:43]
  • "I've used AI generative transcription tools ... they are riddled with errors. They are horrible. I spend more time scrubbing them, fixing them than if I had just transcribed it myself." — Rob [16:48]
• Langdon’s Growth and Redemption:
  • “When Langdon did that for her, Rob, I cried. I’m sorry I cried. I thought it was so beautiful.” — Joanna [29:57]
• Mel’s Identity Crisis & The Ren Faire:
  • “She only can think about things that her sister likes to do... But I’m so excited for Mel King. Ren Fairnerd. This is really exciting to me.” — Joanna [33:55]
• Ogilvy – the Annoying Med Student:
  • “Honestly, I really don't like Ogilvy. Like, he does know a lot clearly.” — Rob [35:37]
• Ranking the Villains:
  • "Here's my villain ranking for this season: Number one, maggots. Number two, AI. Number three, the guy who knocked Mel King over. Number four, Ogilvy." — Joanna [36:41]
• Mailbag Curiosities:
  • “Tell me your maggot stories. Maybe it’ll, like, inure me to the maggot trauma if we get a ton of maggot emails.” — Joanna [50:38]

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STRUCTURED TIMELINE OF EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

• 01:23–02:01: Introductions, joking about podcasting at 8am to match show's ER shift.
• 02:37–04:00: Maggot scene dissection, Joanna's phobia and personal trauma.
• 04:00–12:00: Audience mailbag, Pittsburgh authenticity, ASL dialect, July 4 hospital realities.
• 14:13–24:40: Character introductions (Dr. Al Hashimi, Dr. Jeffries), mailbag about anesthesiologists, new med student arrivals, gut vs. AI.
• 25:09–26:53: Touching dementia case (Whitaker's patient), ethics and emotional turmoil.
• 26:53–29:02: Possible missed diagnosis with recurring patient “Louis,” listener medical speculation.
• 29:18–32:10: Mel's accident and Langdon's compassion; callback to Mel’s Season 1 lesson about sensory overload.
• 33:20–34:18: Renaissance Faire and Mel’s alter ego; implications for future plotlines.
• 36:41–37:13: Villains of the season ranked; Ogilvy/Mission Impossible joke.
• 38:29–39:20: Santos, Kylie, and possible pain insensitivity case discussed.
• 40:05–40:34: Double ED dose case, prosthetics jokes.
• 44:12–45:27: Dana’s storyline; dealing with trauma and defense mechanisms.
• 45:30–48:55: Joanna’s childhood maggot trauma story.
• 50:28–51:16: Bacon grease and ramekin conversation.

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FINAL THOUGHTS & ENGAGEMENT

• Show’s Strengths:
  • Strong on camaraderie, character growth, and commitment to medical realism (albeit with its own melodramatic quirks and dark comedy).
• Weaknesses/Areas of Criticism:
  • Risk of overemphasizing “cowboy” medicine at expense of female, by-the-book doctors; technology portrayal perhaps too simplistic or critical for now.
• Calls to Action:
  • Listeners are invited to send in their personal maggot stories, hospital anecdotes, and weigh in on the plausibility/frequency of the episode’s grosser cases.
• Quirky Closing:
  • Signature Prestige TV blend of goofiness and insight: ramekin banter, accidental innuendo, shout-outs to the in-studio team, and an emotional farewell.

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Useful for new and returning viewers:
This summary gives context for ongoing storylines, captures the episode’s balance of black comedy and drama, and surfaces the community aspect driving The Pit’s cult appeal.

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Quote for the Ages:

“The Pit has everything. Truly.” – Joanna [52:22]

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Hello. Welcome back to the Prestige TV podcast feed in person. I'm Joanna Robinson.

[C]

I'm Rob Mahoney.

[B]

And here we are in studio together. I know Kai Grady is done. Honestly, the best part, the Bombshell himself is in the villa.

[C]

I'm ecstatic. I just learned about this.

[B]

We're here to talk about The Pit Season 2, Episode 2. It's 8am it is on the shift. It's still 4th of July.

[C]

Should we be recording these in real time? Like, should we be recording this at an 8am hour?

[B]

That's gonna get dicey on the night shift, don't you think?

[C]

Could be interesting.

[B]

Okay. It could be fun. Can be a little punchy. Yeah, sounds great.

[C]

Punchy is my new brand. I mean, really, all of ours.

[B]

I've always said that you and nurse Dana have very similar personalities, very identical energies.

[C]

Really?

[B]

Absolutely. Okay, listen, I'm gonna start you with the same question I started you with last. Did you like this episode?

[C]

I did. I mean, this felt even more like a setting the stage, getting us on the tracks episode, I would say, than the premiere. The premiere had all these new characters that we're kind of introducing ourselves to and learning about. This was like, oh, this is gonna be important three episodes from now. This is gonna be important when? Spoiler alert. But if you've seen the commercials and trailers of the season, the power or the system goes out or whatnot, you know, it's like there are all these little tips and tells that are happening right now. Where it felt like to me a very enjoyable in season episode of the Pit. I'm always down for it.

[B]

A well made piece of furniture, as you say. Okay, listen, before we started recording, I told you that there was a part of this episode that hit a very specific phobia of mine that I had to. For the first time in the pits. I lived through the degloving, gotten through every quivering like bag of worms. Yeah, I've gotten through everything. There was something in this episode that I could not handle. And I had to have someone tell me when I could look at the screen again. Robin, this is a friendship test. What do you think that is?

[C]

That was putting myself in the mind, in the spirit of Joanna Robinson. What would bother me?

[B]

A dark place.

[C]

To me, it's a lovely place. Please don't. I feel. I feel confident that it is the armful of maggots.

[B]

It is the armful of maggots.

[C]

I mean, how could it not bother me?

[B]

I'm staying with maggots. And as I think many people do, I just have a. I have a childhood trauma with maggots that we can get into someday, but maybe not right now.

[C]

I will say I felt a tinge of relief. Right. There's obviously a lot of lead up to that scene of like, this cast is gonna be pretty gross underneath, potentially. Who knows how long it's been on there. I was fully expecting crack. The cast things are crawling out in the same of like our rats there of season one. Like, we're gonna get full on cockroaches in this thing. Whatever. Maggots. I was like, oh, it's just maggots.

[B]

They're just eating the necrotic flesh. It's fine.

[C]

They're creepy crawly, but they're kind of stagnant.

[B]

The person I was watching with is the daughter of an ER nurse. And when they started sawing at the cast, she was like, it's gonna be maggots. And I was like, no. And then it was. And I couldn't look. Okay, we got some, well, actuallys from the mailbag from our listeners. We got, as we did last season, a ton of people from community chiming in, a lot of Pittsburgh locals chiming in. So we've got a lot of great information this week from the listeners. Where can they reach us?

[C]

Rob, just a reminder, [e-mail] for this show, for the pit Dr. Sidebanks. And that's the full word Dr. Sidebanksmail.com.

[B]

Were you upset at all inside of this episode when, like the queen of coinage herself, Dr. Santos, said come to Jesus. And you had to realize that our email is not come to jesusmail.com.

[C]

I know it was. I mean, immaculate infection was also immaculate infections.

[B]

I have to say, come to jesusmail.com is probably taken, but, you know, dare to dream. Okay, here's. Here's some rapid fire mailbag stuff. A lot of people wrote in asking, where's the real Yinzer accent? The real, like, dye in the wool Pittsburgh accent. Nurse Dana is doing something, but it's not what people want. No. Maybe it'll show up in the waiting room this season. Who's to say it does feel fair?

[C]

Look, patient wise, I agree in terms of the doctors and the staff. These are people coming from all over the country and all over the world.

[B]

The email said that the doctors should sound like they're from all over the country. Stuff like that. But the Hanson pit crew inside of this episode, the Hanson family reunion, should they not be dropping the thick, thick Ginzer accent? Perhaps they should.

[C]

So I feel like spiritually they did, even though they weren't saying it, but they were emoting it.

[B]

Okay, on that note, one of our listeners, Casey, wrote in. You know, we talked last week about the patient who's in the waiting room who is deaf. And Casey wrote in, talking about how, you know, whether or not they get an interpreter for this person. Pittsburgh is known for having, quote, a unique ASL dialect that sign language users from other parts of the country often struggle to understand. A virtual interpreter because they had a virtual interpreter last season. A virtual interpreter who isn't from Pittsburgh may not be up to the task that was delightful for me to learn.

[C]

Incredible.

[B]

Pittsburgh ASL is unintelligible to other people, and that's fascinating.

[C]

This needs to be a plot point.

[B]

I hope so.

[C]

Also, we should note that woman we don't see in this episode. So she has been sitting in that waiting room for at least an hour, as her name is called, and they just cannot find a way to reach her or communicate with her because they don't know her situation, I would assume.

[B]

Right? Yeah. How long do you think she's gonna wait?

[C]

I mean, an hour seems light in most waiting rooms for ERs these days. So it might be a couple episodes before we see her again. I don't know.

[B]

We also got several emails from listeners very concerned with the guy flirting with Mel in episode one. And I gotta say, don't worry, it's Not a problem. That guy's going straight to hell. He knocked Mel King over.

[C]

Yeah. We're gonna have to fight him.

[B]

I mean, it's curtains for him, honestly.

[D]

Yeah, we're very tall.

[C]

He's fun.

[B]

But I think, you know, they were very concerned because hooking up with a patient is deeply against the rules.

[C]

Sure.

[B]

Izzy Stevens of Grey's Anatomy. We would like a word with you. But, you know, if the pit is striving for medical accuracy, if any of the doctors wind up hooking up with a patient, it's. It's. It's bad news. Very bad.

[C]

I mean, we were asking the wrong question in wondering, will they have a connection? Will Mel care about this guy at all? Yeah, as you said, not really relevant. It turns out to his entire circumstance, which is, I guess he's on the lam now.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, what if Langdon catches him?

[C]

Oh, who knows what could happen at that point? String him up.

[B]

Okay. On the 4th of July front, we got a lot of listeners curious about a couple things. Number one, do they do depositions on the 4th of July? A reasonable question to ask. I think we'll see what. What the status of that is. I'm still hoping for your scenario, though, that we get Dr. Ellis and Dr. Shen from the. From the night shift.

[C]

And most importantly, measle mom.

[B]

Yeah, measle mom herself.

[C]

All the above.

[B]

We've been missing her.

[C]

We need their official statements.

[B]

Our listener, who went by afi, I believe, had a sort of like a laundry list of things that they were surprised was happening on July 4th. Like, why would Dr. Langdon's first day back be on a holiday? Why would Emma be starting on a holiday, like all these things? But was really fascinating is we got a bunch of people on the side of the medical community wrote in about the quote, unquote, July effect.

[C]

This was very interesting.

[B]

Fascinating. This is from Abigail, quote, former ER nurse here, sharing what all the hospital. Hospital staff know under different names, but what in America is referred to as the, quote, July effect. This is when all the new interns, AKA short coats, arrive and all the previous newbies take on more responsibilities, leading to an increased risk for errors and poor patient outcomes. It's a time of increased stress in the department, juggling new levels of knowledge, dare I say, new egos as well. A nurse protecting your patients from the short coats and their lack of experience. When the season launched on July 4th. This is my immediate outcry to my husband, who isn't in the medical field and thought it warranted sharing in an email to Our favorite podcasters. So the July effect. I mean, we're already thinking, like, Whitaker is taking on this instructional role. We've got a couple new faces in here, but if, you know, if the trailers have told us anything about what's happening this season, there will be a, you know, a trying circumstance is gonna happen this season.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

And. And we're already sort of on the back foot as people are moving up the ranks in the orc chart. So I thought that was really interesting.

[C]

And Whitaker seems especially positioned to screw up, like, the amount that Robbie is poking his head and being like, great job, sport.

[B]

Great job, bud.

[C]

You're doing perfectly at this moment, which means you certainly will not screw up in a huge way by episode eight. I'm very concerned, very concerned about our huckleberry.

[B]

Oh, my gosh. On that note, by the way, one of my favorite emails we got was someone naming Whitaker's new haircut, which is the Tennessee waterfall, which I didn't know, but apparently that's the official name of that haircut. So thank you so much for that information. All right, what else do we have in the mailbag? We're almost done here. Oh, Dr. Travis McVeigh wrote in, and I have to read this because it's on behalf of the anesthesiologist. And my dad's an anesthesiologist. My uncle's an anesthesiologist. Like, shout out the.

[C]

You come from a long line of anesthesiologists.

[B]

Shout out the drug doctors. Dr. Travis McVeigh is like, medical professionals. Love the pit because, you know, of its accuracy. He's like, except the anesthesiologist, because the anesthesiologist character last season was like a bumblefuck. And, like, unlike other doctors who are allowed to, like, succeed and fail, there was no rounding of this particular individual. So justice for the anesthesiologists on the pit. I guess the season is young.

[C]

You know, a different anesthesiologist might swoop in and be splendid.

[B]

We got a new doctor in this episode, Dr. Caleb Jeffries. Did you. Were you able to figure out sort of what his role was?

[C]

He seemed like he was coming in because he was consulting on the Alzheimer's case. So I assume something in psychiatrics.

[B]

That's my thought.

[C]

And also, Robbie seemed.

[B]

Did not like him.

[C]

Not thrilled, like, you know, collegial, but also a little standoffish in a way that, like, maybe Robby talks to him. Maybe Robbie does work with him.

[B]

Oh, like, hey, bud, saw you. Saw you ride in without A helmet on.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Well, should we have some talk about what's going on up here in the old brain?

[C]

Well, there is mention earlier in the episode with Santos about, like, have you talked to the trauma counselor? Like, have you done your requisite appointment? I assume in conjunction with the mass casualty event that all these people live through and work through. Maybe that's happening in House. I don't know what the ethics are around that.

[B]

I thought it was so interesting to track his different reactions to people, because, of course, we get Nurse Hastings, who he is having some extra. Hello, Nurse. What? I. What is so funny about Nurse Hastings? Noelle Hastings is how much Dana hates her. And I'm like, oh, okay, well, then I can't like her. Are you sure it's hate you think it's not?

[C]

I don't know what it was.

[B]

They don't seem to like each other at all.

[C]

I don't think they have the warmest relationship. I detected a little bit of like, girl. Are you sure, Robbie? Yeah, like this. We both. We're talking about the same guy, right? Yeah, clearly. Can be warm and fuzzy, but also all that baggage, you know?

[B]

Rob, did you see him hold a baby in this episode? He did. It was very cute.

[C]

It was very sweet.

[B]

It was very good. So there's Dr. Noel. That's its own Nurse Noel. There's that. There's Dylan, the new social worker. So he loves Dylan. He's like, dylan, what's up? And then he's like, thanks so much, Caleb. And I was like, okay, Ravi, I'm tracking this.

[C]

I do miss Kiara, though.

[B]

I really miss her, you know? I mean, I love a ginger, so. Welcome to the show, Dylan. But.

[C]

And kind of a ginger man bun, too.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, in all possible worlds, honestly. Do patients wander into the ER from the ambulance bay? I asked last week. The answer is yes. Sometimes. Yes, Sometimes they do. Depends on the hospital. Where's Mateo? We got a special email from friend of the pod, Matt Mitovich, who asked the showrunners or Scott Gemmel about this. Mateo. The season is, quote, working the night shift, so we will see him maybe as the night shift comes on. Or are they gonna pull the night shift in later in the season? I don't know, but it's possible. We only then get Mateo in the finale. Something like that.

[C]

I mean, we just have no choice but to continue our plea for a corresponding spinoff. Night Shift series. Like, I just don't know why we don't have these.

[B]

Is that the fall series? Like, we get this in January and.

[C]

That in like September1, right into the next.

[B]

I.

[C]

Maybe I'm asking too much. Look, the pit is already very prompt, right? They are turning around these.

[B]

Stretch yourself thinner, please. We want more. More pit. Pit nights.

[C]

We can't get enough. Oh, pit nights is very good.

[B]

On Dr. Robbie not wearing a helmet when he's. When he's coming into the hospital. Noah Wiley has talked about that in interviews and he's like, oh, yeah, something's going on with Ravi that he's not wearing a helmet on the motorcycle. So, you know, it's not for nothing that we noticed that. Um, in terms of Dr. Al Hashimi, who. I have a lot of questions for you about Dr. Al Hashimi in this episode. A lot of our listeners wrote in, they love her from L Word Generation Q. They love that actress.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And apparently she's like, incredibly chaotic and mischievous and fun on. On that show. I didn't watch it, so I have no association with the actress, but a lot of people are really excited to see her. So that makes me. This is a tough episode and it's a. It's kind of like the first big thing I want to talk to you about, but so I'm excited to see where that actress goes. But as they're setting it up right now, it's.

[C]

They're not giving her a lot of mischief and fun to do.

[B]

No, she's a very by the books person. But we got a good email about that too. Last two emails. Really quickly. Jeff Kober, who I told you is coming later this season from Buffy Van Cobra Watch, was also on the show China beach, which is a. Before our time. But it was another John Wells show. And apparently John Wells, who's, you know, co. Creator of the Pit and of er, used a lot of China beach actors on er, so this is him being like, come on over, Cobra. Come on over. Really excited. And last but not least, and this one's for you, our listener Casey, let us know, okay. That on the asl captions for this show, they have basically given the each doctor their own sign. And the sign for Dr. McKay is essentially Dr. Banks.

[C]

Oh, my God.

[B]

So that's for you, Rob. That's for you, Rob.

[C]

That's a huge moment for me.

[B]

I know. How do you feel? You feel influential?

[C]

I feel seen in a way. I didn't think I could be seen right. Like anticipated. They knew exactly where I would be coming from. Anticipated my every need, and they really did.

[B]

They met you. I would like to. I'd be curious to hear what the Names for the other. Like, is it crash for Dr. Javati? Probably not, but you know, we'll see. Okay, so it's episode two. It's 8am Written by Joe Sachs and R. Scott Gemmell and directed by Damian Marcano, who directed four episodes of season one. He's like a pit go to director. So this is just like, as you said, a really classic. We're in the middle of it. Episode of the Pit.

[C]

Nuts and bolts, needles, lots of liquids.

[B]

Maggots.

[C]

Maggots certainly invite maggots. Welcome.

[B]

Lots of liquids coming out of lots of places. But let's talk about Dr. Al Hashimi, right? Weird fake out cliffhanger in regards to the baby. Unless there's like a later payoff. What do you think about that?

[C]

Yeah, we don't know. She seems very concerned about the urine screening in particular. Right. Wanting to get that right. Wanting to make sure it's not contaminated. Maybe that's just due diligence. Maybe it's something she's seen before. But it was a classic pit. Like, oh, no, it's fine. Let's just go back to work.

[B]

Don't worry about it. It's very odd. We get the AI demonstration and the Mistrans transcription of a drug name which seems. She seems not that bothered. I was quite bothered by this.

[C]

Generative AI is 98% accurate.

[B]

Not in our field.

[C]

I've used AI generative transcription tools as an attempt. Like, would this be a helpful thing? Is this useful? They are riddled with errors. They are horrible. I spend more time scrubbing them, fixing them than if I had just transcribed it myself. The idea of transcribing a patient, meeting with not just nuance, not just meaning, but like so hyper specific and tailored.

[B]

Did you get the medication wrong?

[C]

Completely. Like, they missed. They mixed up an antipsychotic with a sleep aid.

[B]

This is not a good look for AI The AI boosters inside of this episode. And this is just not a good look for our question about Dr. Hellishimi versus Robbie. Because Robbie is right, quote unquote, right about three things in this episode, right? The urine sample from the baby. She's like, we gotta do a catheter. He's like, nah, I got a trick. Flip the baby, rub its tummy with some cold, damp thing, and voila.

[C]

Before we catheter babies, like, can you have a meeting? Can you have a conversation?

[B]

Reducing the shoulder dislocation.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

Right. And he's like, don't worry. Mel's just gonna shove four fingers in the armpit. We got it. We don't need to take it up to the OR for that.

[C]

Oddly satisfying, seeing the shoulder pop into place.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Very disconcerting that your fingers could then get pinched and the closing of that wound did not like that part.

[B]

And then intubating the guy choking up broccoli. Right. So she's wrong. Or if you want to call it that, Robbie gets to be right and smug about it three times this episode, as she will, which is a lot. How do you feel about that?

[C]

I mean, as we talked about before, there's room on the show for everyone to be right and wrong at various times. And, like, really, their proxy war is not just about AI, but specifically gut versus AI.

[B]

Right, Right.

[C]

I think there's a really interesting conversation to be had about the role of instinct in medicine.

[B]

Right.

[C]

Like, it's such a human thing about what are the associations you grasp for what are the fringe cases that you have seen in your experience that, like, there is something about this that is off or familiar and your brain is connecting those dots, can be incredibly informative, can also be wildly biased based on your personal experience. And so AI and gut as counterbalances for each other. I love the concept of. Are the AI presentations in this show being shown as that compellingly?

[B]

Not so far.

[C]

Not yet.

[B]

Right.

[C]

And maybe they will be. And that's kind of what I'm hoping for from Dr. Alashimi is a more convincing case of how this helps.

[B]

Well, I think what's really interesting is that, you know, I'm trying to think about the Pit teaching us how to watch the Pit. Right. As you talked about. And so, like, when someone comes in, when a little girl comes in presenting and seemingly a victim of abuse, I think we're all just sort of saying, like, hey, is there something else going on here? When a nun has gonorrhea of the eye? Yeah. Is there something dicey? No. She was just changing bedsheets or whatever the case may be when Dr. Santos showed up in season one. And she was just like, a real tough case for the first few episodes. And then when she starts getting suspicious of Langdon, and then she's ultimately right. I think that was the show being like, see? Gotcha. She was a pain, but she's right. So are they doing something similar with Dr. Alashimi, or is it just gonna be Robbie is right? Which I think is like, the less interesting version of that. You know what I mean?

[C]

They need her to have some legs to stand on. I think they need to do a couple of key things with this character. One they need to give her some room to have fun or just be a person who is not strictly an advocate for systems. It's clear that these are passions for her in terms of expediting the process of getting patients in and out of the hospital, getting the numbers up. Like, she wants to make this a better experience for the patients and the doctors and caregivers both.

[B]

Right.

[C]

That's all very important. She needs to be a human being.

[B]

Right.

[C]

And right now they have written her to just be kind of like a device to explain this stuff and fight for AI, And I'm just not pulled in by that yet. I'm really hoping we get some different sides of that character.

[B]

We did get a really interesting email about that that I want to read in a second. But I will say, like, adding to that, you know, what I said in episode one is like, okay, Mel and Dr. Mohan worked with her before and seemed to like her, so that was like a point in her favor. Right. But then when Mel is, like, anxious about her malpractice suit and zero bedside manner from Dr. Alishimi, who's like, I've never been sued, so I don't know.

[C]

Like, no moments of kindness, no moments of outreach as of yet. And there's going to be plenty of opportunity for that stuff. But so far, again, she's been written as somebody who is trying to make her case. Kind of a soft sell.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

About these AI functions. And I thought it was very notable. Then when she wants to demonstrate it, she basically calls over all of the youngest people in the room. Right. It's all the student doctors.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

It's like, let me. Let me try to get you and Langdon. And Langdon by association. Bye. Yeah, he's out quickly, but, yeah, like, trying to drum up some support from within for something that she thinks will help. But I think the rest of us need to be sold on a little bit.

[B]

You kids love your devices.

[C]

They really do.

[B]

Here we go. Okay, we gotta.

[C]

Joy certainly does. What is going on with Joy and her phone?

[B]

Joy Chaotic. Good.

[C]

Maybe. I don't know.

[B]

Here's the deal. I am so out on Ogilvy that any. The way that Joy gives him shit brings me Joy. So I'm in on Joy.

[C]

I want to talk about the Ogilvy Javadi relationship specifically, because I think that's a great wrinkle for the show. I want to get to that before we do Ogilvy. I mean, Brown nosing in multiple languages. Now, was there a little something extra on his relationship with Dr. Alashimi? Like, when he's talking about specifically the line delivery on it being enough to break the ice. It was very breathy. It was very forward. Maybe that's me reading into it too much, but it felt like he won a different kind of teacher's petting out of that relationship. There was just something happening.

[B]

He felt like he was on Grey's Anatomy and you were like, that's not the show.

[C]

I don't want that show.

[B]

That's not the show. Okay, interesting. Before we go off of Dr. Alishimi into more Ogilvy stuff, which I do want to talk about, we got this email from Deepa, which I thought was really interesting about sort of how they're setting up the gut sort of cowboy doctoring that Robby does versus the process and procedure of Dr. Alhashimi. And this is what she says. I really, really hope we're not going to a place where what we were trying to say is that Robbie is the better doctor, but I worry that that is partly where we're going. One of the things that shows like this perpetuate is the idea that, quote, cowboy behavior in medicine is, in general good and that you should be suspicious of folks who are to buy the book. I think the Pitt has awareness of this, but it also loves Noah Wylie. The reality is a woman in medicine would never be allowed to act in the way that Dr. Robbie does in terms of doing certain procedures in the ER versus icu, things he's never been trained in, et cetera. The show wrote a lot of this off in the first season by using the lack of inpatient beds and the mass casualty to get around those things. But she's, like, curious to see how it plays out here. And so, like, having this female attending be so by the book and be so interested in process and procedure as sort of like a way to make her mark in the medical world versus, yeehaw. That is Robbie. I thought that was really interesting.

[C]

I think it's a great call. And also, again, I don't want to kind of forecast too much with a show like this, but as I'm anticipating, whenever the systems do go down, something like the Patient Passport program would be immensely helpful.

[B]

Right.

[C]

Like, so there are elements to her approach that are not just like, technology, technology, technology. Like, she is not a robot, Right? There's things that she's preaching that would be legitimately huge for the pit if they actually incorporated them. And there's things that Robbie does that not just because of his cowboy nature and how cavalier it is, but how, like, hard it would be to replicate or how hard it would be to teach, or how hard it is to instill those instincts in other people. I think those could be at odds in a way where she does have again, like, more of a more sound ground under her as she's making that case.

[B]

To go back to the sort of malpractice thing when Robbie's like, I've been sued four times. Don't worry about it. And she's like, I haven't been sued. It was not the thing to say to soothe Mel in that moment. But also Robbie's just like, whatever.

[D]

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[B]

Or sue me, I don't care. Let's talk about Whitaker. Whitaker's two main cases. So we've got Louis and then we've got the dementia patient. Let's talk about the dementia patient first. This was devastating. This was something that, like, even if you could see it coming, which, like, for those of us who have had dementia in our family, like, but like, to have to go through that again and again for both Whitaker and this woman was just, like, really hard to watch. What did you think of it?

[C]

And I think especially the way that Whitaker understandably, is like, flummoxed by what to do, how to do this. This is not a by the book situation.

[B]

Right.

[C]

Like, I don't even know what the right approach would be if you knew it.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And so watching him trying to figure it out in real time and have to reiterate, and I wouldn't say it's played for laughs, but it is played for absurdity to a degree. You know, like in the moment, there's like a little bit of like a. It's so daunting. Like, what are you supposed to do the second time around? You have to tell this woman that her husband has died and saying the exact same thing she said the first time. But, like, oh, he's never, he's not sick.

[B]

Don't you feel like the kindness is to, like, not tell her? Like, why put her through that if she's not going to be able to remember it?

[C]

I feel like you have to, though. I think one. Like, legally, you probably have to.

[B]

Right.

[C]

Or at least you have an obligation. Maybe it's not legal.

[B]

Like, how many times do you have the legal obligation?

[C]

I don't know. But I think that's why it makes sense that the logical endpoint of that journey is getting her in the room with her husband. Right. You can't call her every day and remind her of this as she goes through the rest of her life, but she can have a closure of a kind right in that room at that time. And then after that, like, you do what you can, but it's not. It's kind of out of Whitaker's hands.

[B]

Yeah. And then we have Louis, and we got a really distressing email about Louis from our listener Travis, who said bluntly, no bedside manner. In this email, Louis is a goner. Tough quote. While he does have. While he does need his abdomen tapped, the fact that they highlighted his dental decay makes me think that he has an infective heart valve, which is causing his shortness of breath. Strep bovis is a mouth bacteria that, when introduced into the bloodstream, the mouth sore can land in a heart valve and cause havoc. Dr. Langdon's familiarity with the patient is blinding him from making the correct diagnosis. So Dr. Langdon being sort of wrapped up in his emotion and Whitaker perhaps, in his inexperience, missing something. I think whether or not Travis is right, I do think it would be for Louis, someone we spent several episodes with in season one, and, you know, is. Is prominently featured in these first two episodes, to lose a patient like that.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

But is that. Is that interesting for Whitaker, who went through something like that in season one with a heart patient that he had that sort of like, it's true, suddenly passed away because he missed something. Is that. Does that feel repetitive? Is that interesting? What do you think about that?

[C]

It definitely could be repetitive. I mean, that's a risk with any medical drama. Right? There are certain things, there's certain pat that are going to repeat, and one of them is missing symptoms. It's one of the most glaring parts of any medical process. Like, it's. It's damning for anybody. I do wonder in this case if it's one where we could get the AI part of the conversation looped into it. Like, we got an email from Jackson, who's a statistician, who's done a lot of medical research, and one of the things that Jackson talked about was, like, conceptualizing AI in medicine as like, ChatGPT is thinking about it all the wrong way. Right. And it's taking hyper specific vetted sources of research and data and using those to make associations that you might not otherwise make. And so in this case, yeah, your blindness based on your familiarity with the patient or the fact that Louis has been in so many times, it's like we're just doing this again. Like, here we go.

[B]

He knows what to do.

[C]

Exactly. It's another day at the spa. And so you get into the pattern of not even looking at the tooth in the way that you need to look at the tooth, but you plug those symptoms into a system that has more tailored data.

[B]

Interesting.

[C]

And maybe all of a sudden there's some different kind of alarms going on.

[B]

So what you're telling me is we are now approach pro AI podcast.

[C]

I'm not saying that.

[B]

Wow. Stunning turn of events. Did you have a favorite moment this episode? I have one, but I want to hear if you have one first favorite moment.

[C]

Let me hear yours first while I stew.

[B]

Okay. So Mel falls on the ground, hits her head. Who does Dana get to help her? Dr. Langton, of course. This is already great. The cops from season one are back, right? Officer Underhill, who is missing. Dr. Collins A lot is back. They've distress Mel. Langdon ushers them out, goes to close the door, turns off the light, which is something that Mel taught him in season one when they were dealing with a neurodivergent patient. And she turned off the light and was like, it's really noisy in the er. When Langdon did that for her, Rob, I cried.

[C]

I don't blame you.

[B]

I'm sorry I cried. I thought it was so beautiful. And they've put me in such a good position re Langdon this season. Like, I am just really rooting for him in like, I love a comeback narrative. I love all of his interact. Like Dr. Alushimi being like, I've heard all about you.

[C]

Sure.

[B]

You know, and Giovanni and Whitaker being like, that was weird and awkward. And then the conversation he had with Mel where he's like going around and making amends to people, working up to talking inevitably to Santos and to Robbie.

[C]

Not about working up. They're actively avoiding each other and it's mutual.

[B]

But he's got to get there before, one would hope, before Midnight chimes on July 4, you know. And so his relationship with Mel was very special in season one. So to like have this moment, I just really loved it.

[C]

So I think you're right too. And it's one of those moments again, Mel, a character who we're all invested in and care about and seeing her get decked by this asshole.

[B]

Fuck that guy.

[C]

We're furious, right? Like, I'm on the trail, I'm on the hunt, right? I'm trying to get this guy behind bars and to have someone, like, knocked.

[B]

Over like a convenience store.

[C]

But more importantly, we don't know that story.

[B]

He knocked over Bill King.

[C]

This is what matters to us.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And Langdon doing something for Mel, as you said, that not only reflects their past history, but it's like, is some. The kind of thing you do for somebody, the kind of kindness you show them when you really see them and understand them?

[B]

Right. And it was just like such a beautiful moment inside of season one when Langdon was doing a bunch of shit that was really aggravating when Mel handled that neurodivergent patient in season one and he's like, that was amazing. Like, how'd you do that? That was incredible. You taught me, you know, I'm not just teaching you. You're teaching me cheesy. But, you know, to watch him sort of put those principles into practice for her, I just thought that was really good.

[C]

This is another reason I have high hopes for a Dr. Alashimi rehabilitation image wise over the course of the season. There's really not any other characters in this show who are an asshole to everyone or incompatible with everyone.

[B]

Right.

[C]

There's a corner for everybody to find kind of their people among the staff. And like, this is a perfect example of that, where you put Langdon and Santos in a room and it's like, yeah, fuck this guy sometimes. But you put these two together and he never let her down. Even though he definitely let her down.

[B]

He definitely let her down, which he acknowledged also.

[C]

It never affected my work, my guy. It affected your work. I don't know what to tell you.

[B]

Someone on Twitter put up a screengrab of our first shot of Langdon in Chairs at the beginning of episode one in his penguin's hat. And the caption was just like, bad feeling when your back hurts a little. I was just like, yeah. How's your back going doing Guy?

[C]

Joe, how did you feel about Mel? Another kind of. Another. One of my favorite moments of this episode is before Boba Guy runs out on her and we find out his true colors. He's kind of prodding about what she likes to do for fun. And there's two parts. One, I want to get your take on the ren faire elements of this. I'm very curious.

[B]

Of course, I have takes on this.

[C]

She doesn't seem like a mead Girl, per se. But I think she would have a great time there.

[B]

Wow. What a shout out. Shout out to the mead.

[C]

But moreover, Mel being the kind of person who has to take a second to think about what she actually likes is really sad, but also makes sense given her life.

[B]

Right. The scene that we had at the end of season one where she's like picking up her sister and, you know, she's like, what movie should we watch?

[C]

It was an Elf Again.

[B]

It was an Elf Again. And she's like. She's like. Or we could watch literally any other movie. And then her sister's like, no, elf. And she's like, all right, then another.

[C]

Day in the life.

[B]

We'll get pizza and pasta and watch Elf. Sounds great. So, yeah, like, the fact that she only can think about things that her sister likes to do. Yeah. But I'm so excited for Mel King. Ren Fairnerd. This is really exciting to me. She has an alter ego, which is a 17th century French woman, is what she said. And I mean, we deserve. Yes, we deserve in season three for Mel to be called in from the Ren.

[C]

Have the same thought.

[B]

She's in the bodice. Hip, hipaza.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

And we get to like, she's gonna do the accent for us. Like, we gotta get the whole alter ego going. Like, I demand it. I demand it. We all deserve.

[C]

We absolutely do deserve it. And you know what? Yeah. We can. We can stage whatever time of year is necessary to make it appropriately festive. But we do, we do need.

[B]

It depends on where you are in the country. But, like, fall is a good time for a red.

[C]

I would think so.

[B]

So, yeah, and we, you know, sounds good to me. Okay. Dr. On the Dr. Landon front, he's got the girl with the glued eye who said she wanted to talk to Dr. J who worked in the ER and he's like, I don't think so. The only Dr. J, and she's not a doctor, is Dr. Javati. Is Javati right?

[C]

Sure. Oh, and Julia serving.

[B]

Yeah. Right.

[C]

Just trying to be very clear.

[B]

Prof's like, I have a reputation to make day.

[C]

This is Pennsylvania.

[B]

I feel like.

[C]

Do you feel like it could be Dr. J?

[B]

Do you feel like she was talking about.

[C]

I don't think so. I think she does say she. No.

[B]

Yeah. So who is this Dr. J who knows everything? And Langdon's like, I don't think so. Yeah.

[C]

Is there a mystery imposter doctor?

[B]

Oh, I would love an imposter doctor.

[C]

You know, there's a lot. There's a lot of Weird storylines we could unspool. But, yeah, I have no idea who Dr. J could be other than Giovanni.

[B]

Yeah. So that was just like a curious little moment. Seed dropped somehow.

[C]

I mean, yeah, I don't think it would be Giovanni under these stuff because.

[B]

Victoria wouldn't be like, I know what to do. She's not cowboying around the er, but.

[C]

She has strutting her stuff.

[B]

She's posturing.

[C]

Oh, absolutely. Posturing.

[B]

So where are you? Ogilvy versus Javadi.

[C]

There's really no question.

[B]

It's Victoria.

[C]

Could you be on Ogilvy's side?

[B]

Sucks. That guy sold out Whitaker. Fuck him.

[C]

Honestly, I really don't like Ogilvy. Like, he. He does know a lot, clearly.

[B]

Sure, he's got great hair, but he's got.

[C]

He's got hair. He's got hair tough.

[B]

From doctor Side Bangs over there. Wow.

[C]

Well, maybe that's his problem. Needs more side bang. Needs more sidebar swoop.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

We're all. We're often saying, but honestly, even apart from whose side we're picking. Samira Mohan, reaction shot. Queen of our time.

[B]

Absolutely.

[C]

As she plugs stuff in on the computer. Just like, why the fuck am I in this room right now?

[B]

Tremendous. This is a classic diabetic. We'll just do the procedure. Yeah, real like sort of Fuji from Shogun. Sort of, like, level. And it's fun to see Mohan in this role because as we talked about people moving up the org chart. Doesn't she just seem more senior in these first two episodes?

[C]

For sure seems more senior, and she's kind of rounded the corner in a way that certainly the student doctors have not and the younger doctors have not.

[B]

All right, Ogilvy, so here's my villain ranking for this season.

[C]

One, maggots with a bullet.

[B]

Number one, maggots. Number two, AI, number three, the guy who knocked Mel King over. And number four, Ogilvy. Those are my villains of the season. Do you have anything on your villain ranking?

[C]

If I didn't know about the Pit and you just wrote those things down on paper, I'd be like, are these Mission Impossible villain rankings?

[B]

Ogilvy does sound like a Mission Impossible villain. Absolutely.

[C]

Yeah. But no notes. That checks out to me. You have nothing to add in terms of other villains?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I mean, who else do we even have in the M? I guess if there is an abusive father to this little girl, that would be a villain.

[B]

What a segue. Should we talk about Santos?

[C]

Oh, and I do want to add bottom. I want to be very clear. Bottom of the villain. List the woman who poured bacon grease down her cousin's sink.

[B]

Yeah. Well, simply will not stay. No, can't do Rob's kitchen.

[C]

Not in my kitchen. Not in anyone's kitchen, that is. You're asking for serious plumbing problems.

[B]

No, like, I really agree with that. But I also. Why would you ever pour bacon grease down to sink when anyone was even near it doing dishes?

[C]

This is why she's on the villain list.

[B]

You're right. She's number five, I think. All right, let's talk about Santos, this little girl and the new social worker. So we got a bunch of emails from people with like, various other diagnoses for this little girl. Like, that is not necessarily pointing to abuse. So a lot of the medical professionals who watch the show are like, it could be this, it could be that. Like, don't. As Robbie said, don't jump to conclusions. As Dylan said, don't jump to conclusions. Right. Santos is like, I'm here. Conclusions are here. I had nowhere to jump. Here they are. So there's a couple things going on. On the one hand, when Robbie's like, hey, you want to join this trauma? You know, think about season one, Santos. What's next? What's new? What's like, what's the coolest case that I get on? She's like, no, I want to stay here. I want to get this right.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So that's growth. We love that. Hot headed assumptions from her where she has blind spots. I don't know, how are you feeling about this?

[C]

I mean, like, glaring personal blind spots, right? Like, this is a heat seeking missile of a case for someone like her. Understand? Like, why wouldn't she think that this would be a possible endpoint?

[B]

Right.

[C]

I think the thing I'm flagging is this little girl, Kylie is warned about the blood draw they're about to do about like, oh, you can look away or let us know if you want a distraction.

[B]

Basically, a great perla moment.

[C]

Great perla moment. She's not really bothered or fussed in any way whatsoever. In a way that makes me wonder with all of the bruising that's happening, all of the injuries that she's sustained through, she says, like soccer and skateboarding and all those things. What if those are true and she just doesn't really experience pain in the way that other people do?

[B]

It's that Jack Quaid movie.

[C]

Yeah, she is. She is a super. She is Nova Kane. Okay.

[B]

I hope it's that and not something much darker. And I, you know, I hope she's gonna be okay. All right. Do you want to talk about the. The patient who took a double dose of ed?

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

What do you want to say?

[C]

I guess if we have to. I mean. Mr. Randall, this has been a huge week for prosthetics on the prestige feed. Overall. Yeah, you know, just a lot happening.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

This was one, I gotta admit, did not see coming.

[B]

Oh, crazy.

[C]

That look. I walked into it. That was. That was purely accidental. Of all the things I thought we were gonna see on the pit, I probably should have anticipated this. I bet if we reach out, we.

[B]

Saw in season, oh, this case.

[C]

I mean, this very specific thing happening. This has to happen with alarming frequency, I would think.

[B]

There was so much. They drained so much out of that penis.

[C]

Again, there's a lot of fluid coming out of Louis. Like gallons of fluid or liters of fluid. And then. Yeah, this is a lot of blood.

[B]

So much blood.

[C]

This is why you don't cast Luxatio erecta. Is that the spell? Don't cast it. This is what happens.

[B]

That's great. That's good stuff from you. Anything you want to say about Dr. McKay? We haven't talked about her much in this episode.

[C]

Yeah, I mean, she's. So what is her. What is her caseload right now? What? I'm trying to think.

[B]

She's got the guy with the erratic sort of personality. That isn't. He's going for a CT scan and he seemed quite pleasant in this episode.

[C]

Quite.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

He's all over the place.

[B]

Right.

[C]

I assume we're going to learn something from that scan, but we have not seen the results yet.

[B]

Oh, actually, my favorite Dr. McKay moment is when she, like, clocks what's going on with Robbie and Hastings, and she's like, yeah, okay, you don't have to.

[C]

Be a master empath to clock the way these two are just like eye fucking each other in the middle of the er.

[B]

Okay. And Robbie's like, she's quite perceptive. Robbie just like quoting Shakespeare as he is one to do so funny. All right. And then on the Hanson pit crew, the old bacon grease thing.

[C]

Sure.

[B]

Given that we saw two members of the family come in with those matching shirts, doesn't it feel like we're going to see many more members of the Hansen family throughout this Fourth of July?

[C]

One was in the waiting room. Their father or somebody's father.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. But, like, I just feel like if you. If you have, like the family reunion shirts, like, we could just be getting Hanson's all day long, you know, I would really.

[C]

I mean, I Don't hope so for their case, but it would be a nice bit, kind of just stringing them along.

[B]

If anyone's gonna blow their fingers off due to fireworks, don't you think? It's the Hanson pit crew.

[C]

They are the prohibitive favorites in the room so far of all the people we've seen.

[B]

Absolutely.

[C]

I would absolutely buy it, Joe. I do want to talk about Givati and Santos. Not a rivalry in the way that she has with Ogilvy, but I thought, like, her. Well, yeah, newly formed, but Giovanni's comments to Whitaker about, like, the shitty nickname thing about, like, kind of insinuating. Is she really your friend? You know, for all of the chumminess we see among the staff to start this season, they've been working together for quite a while now. But it's interesting, this, like, very clear dividing line between Giovanni and Santos.

[B]

Yeah, I think that's interesting because I. You know, it felt like in season one, Whitaker and Giovanni are like, like bonding over Santos being such a pain in the ass. But now Whitaker's her, like, roommate and bestie. Like, it's. It's. It's a different dynamic. So maybe Javadi is. Is missing and he's been promoted up, you know, because he's a year ahead of her. So now he's no longer, like, a med student with her.

[C]

Right.

[B]

So she doesn't really have, like, an equal on the floor because there's, like, Joe, Joy, and Ogilvy, but they're, like, a little younger and then. But she's.

[C]

They're not. She's not that far ahead of them.

[B]

No, she and Ogilvy, I think, are the same year. They're fourth years.

[C]

I believe so.

[B]

But I just mean he's, like, new on the floor. She doesn't have, like, a comrade in arms who's still at her level because Whitaker is now getting a doctor's paycheck. So, you know, lonely times for Javati.

[C]

It seems, like, alienated by her mom or at least consistently angered by her mom.

[B]

Right. Lost her ally who's like, Santos sucks. Right. You know, so.

[C]

And Mateo's on the night shift. What's a girl to do?

[B]

What is a girl to do? Mateo needs to come back earlier.

[C]

He really does.

[B]

Earlier than later. Yeah. Anything else?

[C]

I mean, this was also as far as the ongoing gnarly watch of this season.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I mean, a lot of candidates. I mean, there's a needle into a giant prosthetic boner. Like, I don't love seeing it. I'm going to be honest.

[B]

When they were talking about massaging it. How did you feel about Robbie's moment when he was like, better her than me. And then he's like, I didn't mean that. I'll be outside in the ambulance bay. Don't at me.

[C]

I like that he's kind of constantly stepping in it.

[B]

Don't call hr, please.

[C]

I mean, this is the thing. If you're going to have him be the cowboy, be the cowboy a little bit. Like, we know he can be incredibly empathetic and considerate, but he's also a little fast and loose on stuff.

[B]

You know, who we haven't talked about, really, who's that? Is Dana, because she touches a lot of. You know, she's constantly bopping in and out with, like, charts on people or checking in on people. But in terms of her own storyline, there's a conversation she has with Robbie about, like, how punchy she is.

[C]

Right.

[B]

And which you quoted. But, like, you know, Dana's mindset after the Doug Driscoll incident last season. And what is sort of weighing is or isn't weighing on her? Is she as cavalier as she seems? You know, she gets to be, you know, guiding poor little lost lamb. Emma around? I believe she handed her, like, a vomit bag when the maggots came out. Right.

[C]

But she knew she was right there with it.

[B]

She was ready with it. But what's going on with Dana? You know what I mean? I'm curious.

[C]

You're telling me that kind of abrasiveness could be a defense mechanism? That's crazy. Couldn't be me.

[B]

Couldn't be me.

[C]

Absolutely not. But, yeah, I mean, look, she's uniquely positioned because she is bouncing between literally every case on the floor. Really? How could you not 1. Steel yourself from some of the things that are happening around you? Just with the incredible level of tragedy and pain flowing through the ER at all times. But in particular, what she saw over the course of season one and what was inflicted on her. Personally, I think anyone would recoil a little bit, would pull back a little bit, and she can't take herself out of it. Clearly, she is a sicko for this kind of work in the way that Robbie is and everybody else is. They want the adrenaline rush. They want the panic. It's like. And yet they're also weighed down by it and burdened by it. It's the full package.

[B]

It's everything.

[C]

Anything else we should talk about along the gnarly lines?

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course.

[C]

I mean, I do want to nail down, like, what was, I assume, the Maggots are the most unpleasant part of this episode. For you?

[B]

For me personally, yes.

[C]

But is that worse than a shoulder getting popped back into place, exposed? Is that worse than, you know, needles into sensitive areas?

[B]

Should I tell you my maggot story?

[C]

If you're comfortable. Will I be comfortable?

[B]

When I was a K, my cousins, like, my cousins would come over on Easter and we would do Easter egg hunts, right? And we would. We would hide. That my parents would hide not only like the plastic Easter eggs, but also like a hard boiled egg that we had died. Right, sure.

[C]

Wait, question. The egg is still in there. It's not just the shell.

[B]

Do you not. Yes, Joe.

[C]

All right, I have notes, but please continue.

[B]

You would de egg your Easter eggs? Yeah.

[C]

You drain the shell, then you dye the shell.

[B]

How do you. How do you drain an egg? Like, you make a little hole, a little incision.

[C]

I'm a surgeon.

[B]

Are you an egg surgeon? You did this? Yes. I mean, I know that like, like Russian craftspeople do it when they say cheek an egg or whatever, but, like, it's very achievable. Okay, we did not do that at my house. And it's a very sad ending.

[C]

What can I tell you? That's how you get maggots.

[B]

That's why I always leave a note. Okay, so listen. But one Easter egg hunt was not enough for us that year. So we, the cousins, the four of us, hid Easter eggs for each other. We're like, you know, someone's gonna be sure. We went down the age list. Then the youngest hid some eggs around the house and we collected them, and we were missing one. And she said, I don't know where I hid it. And we were like, oh, okay, well, what could go wrong? Turns out she hid it in the. Like, I had like a trundle bed, like a drawer beneath my bed, and she like, hid it in there, which had just like a bunch of like childhood stuff in it. So one day I opened that drawer to take out something, and there kind just made a sound. There were just maggots everywhere.

[C]

How many are we talking here?

[B]

I didn't take a head count. Wrong. I screamed and ran from the room. And I slept in a different room that night.

[C]

So is there an egg covered in maggots or is it like the whole bundle? Be not the corner.

[B]

Not the only one. A corner of the trundle bed was a mass of maggots.

[C]

Look, that's already too many maggots. I'm not saying it's not maggots.

[B]

One is Too many maggots.

[C]

Agreed.

[B]

Okay, so that's my thing with maggots.

[C]

Look, I get why that would be traumatic. I get why you would see this and be like, hell, no. Frankly, I would be, too. The idea of removing a cast, of all things, and finding maggots feasting on your flesh underneath.

[B]

Have you broken a limb before?

[C]

Oh, I have. Just this past year.

[B]

Oh, that's right.

[C]

Yeah. Broke a bone in my hand, but that wasn't.

[B]

You didn't have, like, a cast on for a very long time.

[C]

I had a hard cast pretty briefly, so it was not the kind of thing where maggots would be festering underneath.

[B]

I broke my arm, like, several times as a child. This one arm biking, rollerblade, like any wheeled sport, basically, with love and respect to my own hygiene. Casts don't smell good. No matter what.

[C]

There's nothing you can do.

[B]

No matter what. And then maggots. Guys, I'm sorry I've spun out so much about maggots, but this is a.

[C]

Really deeply personal thing that's a part of the episode. I also thought that, you know, for a show that can sometimes not indulge but showcase these incredibly grisly parts of medical work. Yeah, just kind of yada, yada, past that. We're gonna cut off this bacon grease. Burned man's skin, snipping away. We're just gonna snip it all away.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I'm not saying I wanted the close up, but I've been conditioned to expect it. And we didn't get it.

[B]

Well, there's still time. There's still time for the handsome pit crew to surprise and delight you. All right, well, that has been The Pit Season 2, Episode 2.

[C]

Oh, before we go out, Joe.

[B]

Oh, please.

[C]

I want to flag one thing. Please look, a lot of cases being juggled. A lot of cases from the premiere we didn't even get back to. In this one, I had my mind on one person in particular, and it's the guy who came in with three full bags of prescription medicine and, like, you know, homeopathic medicines.

[B]

Of all supplements. Yeah.

[C]

Of all the things he was taking. It was, like, too big a beat to not come back.

[B]

Right. On the one hand, maybe. On the other hand, that's just such shorthand for, like, we got emails about it from doctors being like, we've seen this in the er this woman with a small dog in a bag and, like, many, many four gallons of black bags of, like, supplements and opinions. It was like, it's like Robbie's rant about Dr. Google last season. Right. You know, it's just sort of like they come in thinking they know more than we do because they've googled. And as someone who takes many supplements myself, I see myself in this photo. I don't like it, but I would never take a small dog into the er so there's that. I've got that going for me.

[C]

Unacceptable.

[B]

All right, well. Drcibangsmail.com prestigify.com we're doing industry this season. We are with Jodie Walker, the great Jodie Walker, a legend. Season 4 of Industry Rolling along. We got a ton of emails for that show, but we have not nailed down a specific one yet for that show. But. PressTVPotify.com Is there anything you want, Joe.

[C]

From our emailers for the pitch? Oh, is there anything that you're curious about? Any perspectives you're.

[B]

Have you ever seen a maggot just in life?

[C]

All your maggot stories.

[B]

Tell me your maggot stories. Maybe it'll, like, inure me to the maggot trauma if we get a ton of maggot emails.

[C]

Right? Yes.

[B]

Send us your maggot stories.

[C]

The frequency of maggots under castes in hospitals. I guess I would be curious about also the frequency of double ED dosages.

[B]

Yes. Have you ever drained a penis over the course of an hour?

[C]

I guess.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[C]

Hours.

[B]

Have you ever massaged the clots out? It's a great question.

[C]

Sometimes you gotta go analog, you know, you really gotta do it.

[B]

How do you dispose of bacon grease in your household? What's your method, Rob?

[C]

I'm gonna like to put it in the jar.

[B]

Yeah, you save it. Cause you use it for.

[C]

You just use a ramekin. Honestly, heat safe, great for everybody involved.

[B]

How many ramekins do you own?

[C]

Oh, so many different sizes. You never can have too many.

[B]

You're a real ramekin guy. Honestly, that is your vibe.

[C]

Best use green onion pancakes with bacon grease. Very good. Highly recommend.

[B]

Listen, do you think if you were to get a vanity license plate, it would just say ramekin on it? Captures your vibe.

[C]

It really does.

[B]

You know, it's really you.

[C]

Look, I love. I love a small dish.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I love a Crate and Barrel, you know. All right, I think we're tapping into something, guys.

[B]

If you have any ramekin deals for Rob, I'm sad that the pigeon suggestions have dried up. That was like one of my favorite eras in the email. Gotta admit. Thank you to Kai Grady, who's right over there in the room. What a legend. What a thrill. Justin Sayles.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

Always for his work. To you. Thank you, Jill. Thanks to my cousin Corinne for traumatizing me about maggots for the rest of my life. And we'll see.

[C]

Thanks to Dr. Langdon for turning off that light, for doing a nice thing for Mel in this episode.

[B]

It made me cry. I was, like, screaming about maggots. And then I cried. The Pit has everything. Truly. We'll see you soon. Goodbye.