‘The Pitt’ Season 2, Episode 7: The Night Shift Starts Early

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Prestige TV Podcast

Episode: 'The Pitt’ Season 2, Episode 7: The Night Shift Starts Early
Date: February 20, 2026
Hosts: Joanna Robinson & Rob Mahoney

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Joanna Robinson and Rob Mahoney deliver a lively, in-depth breakdown of Season 2, Episode 7 of The Pit. They discuss the latest whirlwind day in the ER on a sweltering Fourth of July, highlight standout character arcs, analyze new and evolving relationships, and explore the show’s signature blend of chaos, dark humor, and genuine pathos. The hosts also respond to a slew of listener emails, providing both laughs and thoughtful commentary on medical realism, TV storytelling, and hospital culture.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Immediate Reactions & Episode Strength (04:30–06:20)

• Rob dubs this the “best episode of the season so far,” saying it encapsulates everything The Pit can be, from “wave after wave of chaos rippling through the ED” to a “delicate, painful portrayal of what comes next for a sexual assault survivor.”
• Joanna agrees, noting that every character had something compelling to do.

2. Behind the Scenes & On-Set Tidbits (01:40–03:10)

• Joanna shares fun trivia, like actors “cracking up” at famous line reads, and Isa Briones’s anecdote about not being in the background during a comical scene for character integrity.
• She reveals that Noah Wyle enforces a strict no-cellphone policy on set, likened to “doing his best Christopher Nolan impression,” and describes the set’s quirky lending library—including a cast member who smuggled Harry Potter books inside a pregnancy belly prop.

3. Recurring Jokes & Listener Responses

• The broccoli microwave debate continues, with Joanna feigning disbelief that microwaved broccoli could smell so bad (03:27–04:39).
• Discussion of “condiment hoarding” in home fridges, with Rob confessing to amassing sauce packets in a special container: “The OCD in me won’t allow them to run free and also won’t allow me to throw them away” (09:09–10:11).
• A spirited tangent on odd fridge storage habits, with Joanna defending her practice of keeping eggs in a bowl: “It’s kind of an aesthetic thing to me. … Are you maybe French?” (11:21–11:54).

4. Medical Realism & Expert Listener Mail

• Listener Dr. Sarah clarifies the real-world approach to anxious patients: “We try to discourage patients from coming in and getting needless tests because it actually ratchets up their anxiety. … A key role is just to be there for the patient, acknowledge their suffering, validate symptoms without unnecessary evaluations” (12:01–13:57).
• Joanna shares her own anxiety-related urgent care visits in her 20s, recalling the reassurance of a “kindly country doctor” who explained anxiety’s physical symptoms (13:22–13:49).

5. Who Would You Want as Your Doctor? (14:20–15:20)

• Joanna picks Mel King as her ideal ER doc: “Friendly, incredibly analytical, and a calming presence.”
• Rob chooses Sameer Mohan for being attentive and available, though he admits Santos’s bedside manner is “compelling” but not necessarily comforting.

6. Showrunner & Production Pay Structure

• They discuss the unique pay tier system on The Pit, as revealed in a Deadline article (16:43–17:47), and speculate on how it might affect screen time for characters like Mel King.

7. The ER Goes into Chaos: Main Plot Breakdown

a. Abbott's Return & Chemistry with Samira (19:01–26:53)

• Dr. Jack Abbott’s arrival with the SWAT team marks the start of the episode’s chaos—Joanna jokes, “Every ounce of ACAB left my body” (19:02).
• Standout moment: Abbott says “I’ll pay for it” regarding supplies for a discharged patient, which Joanna calls “the hottest thing a doctor on The Pit has done” (22:56).
• Joanna breaks down Top 5 Hottest Moments on The Pit, with Abbott’s muttered offer at number one (23:33–25:01).

b. Fan Faves, Ships & Relationships

• The Samira/Abbott chemistry: “As performers, a pretty easy chemistry. … I need more of Abbott. His approval rating in the ED is through the roof at this point” (26:05–26:43).
• Abbott is contrasted with Robbie—both are “sad boys,” but Abbott is “in therapy enough to take up new hobbies,” while Robbie’s outlook is darker (27:44–28:13).

c. Dr. Al Hashimi’s Mysterious Storyline (28:53–35:05)

• Ongoing hints about Al Hashimi’s possible neurological issue: “She’s often observing, hands behind her back … is she hiding something that impairs her ability to practice medicine?” (29:53–31:04).
• Rob praises the subtle performance by the actor (“the intensity of her conversational style … makes it so clear”) (34:35).

d. Other Major Storylines

• Roxy’s family and the emotional impact of illness on children and caregivers, with Robbie acting as a compassionate mediator (36:43–39:18).
• Langdon’s “amends” arc draws on real 12-step recovery advice (40:00–41:25). A listener, Dan, writes: “Any sponsor I know would be insisting that their sponsee reach out to co-workers well before returning to work.”
  • Memorable moment: Langdon tries to apologize to Robbie, shouting over a helicopter: “I’m really glad you got the help you need, but I don’t know if I want you working in my ER” (42:38–43:06).
• Joy’s storyline continues, with the hosts loving her one-up on Ogilvy.

8. The Cyberattack Cliffhanger (58:29–61:44)

• The Pit faces a cyberattack, hospitals are forced to shut down electronic systems, and the show teases a return to “analog” medicine.
• Princess wins the pool (“She goes, yes, and looks at Ahmad when they say cyberattack,” 58:46), and Whitaker surprises everyone by being the fastest to photograph the patient board.
• Joanna references Pacific Rim: “Gypsy’s analog, nuclear!” (61:04).
• Abbott is delighted by the challenge: “This is gonna be great” (61:25).

9. The Sexual Assault Exam Storyline (62:06–68:41)

• Dana performs a sexual assault exam on Alana, narrating each step for both the character Emma and the audience.
• The scene lingers on the “harrowing, re-traumatizing” process: “As gentle as Dana is being … it is an incredibly invasive, harrowing experience” (62:54).
• Joanna draws a moving parallel to her own post-surgical nurse call: “Something so vital in someone just validating what happened to you is significant” (67:29).
  • Notable quote: “When Dana says, ‘You’ve experienced a horrific trauma,’ there’s just something so vital in someone looking at you and saying, you’ve been through something” – Joanna (67:29).
• Rob highlights the grounded, emotionally true portrayal by guest actor Tina Ivlev: “To hit all parts of that emotional spectrum… without coming across as acting. This just feels grounded in emotion” (68:41).

10. Season Structure & What Comes Next (71:00–72:35)

• The hosts note the heightened momentum heading into the back half of the season, with the cyberattack, character arcs, and unresolved trauma setting up high-stakes scenarios for the ensemble.

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Notable Quotes by Timestamp

• "I thought this was the best episode of the season so far." – Rob Mahoney (04:37)
• "This is the hottest thing a doctor on The Pit has done, and it’s not him taking off his shirt … it’s when Samira is talking about her patient who is gone … and he just mutters while not even looking at her, 'I’ll pay for it.'" – Joanna (22:56)
• "The OCD in me won’t allow them to run free and also won’t allow me to throw them away." – Rob (10:11)
• "Abbott is at least in therapy enough to take up interesting new hobbies with the SWAT team. He’s working on himself in a different way than, 'I’m just gonna motorcycle off into the wilderness.'" – Rob (27:44)
• "Something so vital in someone validating what happened to you is significant… When Dana says, 'You’ve experienced a horrific trauma,' there’s just something so vital in someone looking at you and saying, you’ve been through something." – Joanna (67:29)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamps | |--------------------------------------------|----------------| | Episode reactions & chaos in the ER | 04:30–06:20 | | Behind-the-scenes anecdotes | 01:40–03:10 | | Listener mail: broccoli/condiment debate | 03:27–04:39, 09:09–11:16 | | Medical realism: doctor’s perspective | 12:01–13:57 | | Who would you want as your ER doc? | 14:20–15:20 | | Abbott & Samira chemistry, “I’ll pay for it”| 19:01–26:53 | | Dr. Al Hashimi’s arc & neurological hints | 28:53–35:05 | | Roxy’s family storyline | 36:43–39:18 | | Langdon’s Step 9 amends – 12-step realism | 40:00–41:25 | | Langdon & Robbie helicopter moment | 42:38–43:06 | | The cyberattack cliffhanger, “going analog” | 58:29–61:44 | | Sexual assault exam storyline | 62:06–68:41 | | Looking ahead: season setup | 71:00–72:35 |

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Memorable Moments

• Joanna’s Top 5 Hottest Moments on The Pit (23:33–25:01)
• The delighted response to Dr. Ellis’s “air kiss” and “guns out” in sleeveless scrubs (24:50–25:11)
• Listeners writing in about furries, Anthrocon, and bedbug woes (06:39–07:50)
• Joy getting one over on Ogilvy (44:12)
• “Gypsy’s analog, nuclear!” — Joanna, referencing Pacific Rim (61:04)

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Tone & Style

• The hosts’ tone is playful, candid, and self-aware—frequently laughing at themselves, each other, and TV tropes.
• There’s a mix of irreverence (e.g., messing with each other over fridge habits or Top 5 hot doctor moments) and genuine empathy, especially in discussing serious plotlines like sexual assault or patient care.

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Conclusion

Joanna and Rob hail this as the season’s high point, blending chaotic ER energy with deft, character-driven storytelling. They commend the cast and crew, respond to a swirl of fan mail, and tease out the implications of the cyberattack cliffhanger. The episode balances sharp, observational humor with deep respect for the realities of emergency medicine and the lived experiences of both patients and staff. As The Pit heads into its analog, back-half chaos, the hosts are eager (“Excited is not always the right word for The Pit,” admits Joanna) to see what heartbreak and heroics come next.

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For further highlights and listener mail, follow @prestigetvpod on Instagram and TikTok, or write to [e-mail] and [e-mail].

Transcript

[Joanna Robinson]

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[Joanna Robinson]

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

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm Rob Mahoney.

[Joanna Robinson]

It is 1pm in the ER.

[Rob Mahoney]

Is that when the night shift starts?

[Joanna Robinson]

Well, apparently I do know that we're still waiting on peds for Baby Jane Doe. Yes, I do know that that's what's going on.

[Rob Mahoney]

Sorry, sorry. Who was that for?

[Joanna Robinson]

Baby Jane Doe.

[Rob Mahoney]

And we did get a repeat Dana line read in this episode.

[Joanna Robinson]

Exactly.

[Rob Mahoney]

Do you think they were conscious of it in real time? Like, clearly it's become a phenomenon.

[Joanna Robinson]

I think I forget which actor it was, but one of the younger actors on the show says the first time they heard her say it, they were in the background of the shot and they were having like trouble not cracking up.

[Rob Mahoney]

How could you not?

[Joanna Robinson]

One of my favorite. Actually one of my favorite little interview clips I saw in this last week was, well, a couple things Isa Briones said, who plays Santos, said that she was in the background of the shot where Mel King got knocked over by the Boba Bandit. And she's like, you can't put me in that shot. Because if Santos had seen seen that, she would have chased him down and beat the shit out of him. You have to take me out of the background of that shot. And I was like, I love that. And also did you see the news that that was like circulating the last couple weeks maybe that cell phones are not allowed on set and so they have a lending library on set. This is fantastic.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's a great idea.

[Joanna Robinson]

This is really good. This is Noah Wiley doing his best Christopher Nolan impression and he's like, no cell phone. I wonder if chairs are allowed. I don't know, but no cell phones allowed on set. And my favorite was that they said that one woman, I think in season one. Oh yeah, it must have been Amy of the farming benefits, had a pregnancy belly and was like, kept the complete Harry Potter or whatever, like in her.

[Rob Mahoney]

In the belly. The second lending library was her pregnancy belly.

[Joanna Robinson]

Like she was just going through all the Harry Potter books.

[Rob Mahoney]

That's so funny. Anyway, also, Noah Wylie announced, I saw in one of those clips that he had been reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which he's like, it's

[Joanna Robinson]

the core text for Robbie this season.

[Rob Mahoney]

I believe it.

[Joanna Robinson]

Really, really good. We have an Instagram account.

[Rob Mahoney]

We do.

[Joanna Robinson]

And a TikTok account.

[Rob Mahoney]

We do.

[Joanna Robinson]

Would you like to tell the folks what that is and where they can find it?

[Rob Mahoney]

They can find it at prestigetv Pod on both platforms and they can email us. Joe@doctor Sidebangsmail.com and [e-mail] we're going to get.

[Joanna Robinson]

We have so many emails to get to the. The broccoli defenders are out in force. We got a lot of lacroix. Sorry, actually I meant the broccoli haters. We got a lot of emails about how bad broccoli smells in the microwave. I refuse to believe it.

[Rob Mahoney]

Well, I did see people were cooking broccoli in the microwave which.

[Joanna Robinson]

Okay, Rob, unnecessary. Some of us grew up in the 80s, I will say this, but you

[Rob Mahoney]

live in the 2000s.

[Joanna Robinson]

Oh, I don't now cook vegetables in the microwave, but my mother used to put vegetables and a little bit of water in a plastic bag and put it in the microwave. So if you want to know about microplastics in my body, I am like 95% microplastic at this point.

[Rob Mahoney]

I remember there was like a brief fad when I was young where people found out that you could put a like snack sized bag of chips in the microwave and it would like reverse Shrinky dink. I guess that's real Shrinky dink down to like miniature size. Of course you're putting plastic and aluminum foil in the microwave. So it's like not ideal, but all of which is to say whatever microplastics you've ingested, I've inhaled. You know, we all got here together and someday we will die with lots of plastic in our system.

[Joanna Robinson]

The generations are thriving. What can we say before we get to the emails? Ramoni, did you like this episode of Television?

[Rob Mahoney]

I thought this was the best episode of the season so far.

[Joanna Robinson]

I loved it.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's just like everything that the pit can be for me, which is in particular juggling wave after wave of chaos rippling through the ED as we have a holiday with a heat wave stacked on top of it, with all these diversions stacked on top of it and now like an incoming blackout that I'm sure will cause even more chaos and then counterpoint this, like incredibly, still incredibly delicate, incredibly painful portrayal of what comes next for a sexual assault survivor.

[Joanna Robinson]

I think we were, we were curious, I'm still curious about some of the characters and what their plotlines are going to be. We got maybe an indication that Mel kings that Mel's sister, you know, if she's not feeling well, odds are she's probably going to wind up in the hospital at some point this season. Hopefully something very mild. But like, but I mean, I don't think they have that phone call. If she's not going to show up at some point at the hospital this

[Rob Mahoney]

season, what if it's just to end the season with both of watching fireworks and eating ice cream? Couldn't it be that.

[Joanna Robinson]

With their headphones on. I love that for them. But we were, we were wondering about Dana and sort of like, what sort of, you know, other than instructing Emma, which is like very important, and being a boss bitch, which is very important, like what, what is going to be one of her bigger storylines this season? And I thought this episode. We'll talk about that storyline probably at the end of our discussion today because we don't want it sort of like in proximity to talking about microwaving vegetables or whatever the case may be. But I, I thought that was really, really good. Really, really handled really, really well. And I think everyone had something interesting to do this episode. Yes, the furry force. We mentioned furries in last week's episode. It. It went out on social media. Broke a little bit of containment, I would say, on social media as well. Anthrocon being the, the event of the season in Pittsburgh. We got a lot of emails from folks in Pittsburgh about this thing and they're like, oh, you have no idea how big of a deal this is. Melissa said that the con brings in $20 million to the city every year. Wow, that's incredible.

[Rob Mahoney]

If we know one thing about furries, like those suits are not cheap. These are, these are people who are willing to spend for their hobby and we support it.

[Joanna Robinson]

They know how to spend. Melissa said the businesses surrounding the Weston Pittsburgh hotel often have posted furry specials. And it's not unusual to see giant animals out and about in restaurants, at Pirates games and Just hanging out at the karaoke bar. Really fun. Should we go to Pittsburgh in July next year?

[Rob Mahoney]

I think we're obligated to research. Maybe season finale this season of the Pit.

[Joanna Robinson]

Okay. Will it still be happening in July?

[Rob Mahoney]

Great point.

[Joanna Robinson]

It'll feel that way a little bit. Spotify, send us to Furry Con. Also, our listener Matt sent us a really harrowing story about the bedbug epidemic during anthrocon. Just because, like, bedbugs are an issue, but, like, especially so when you're walking around with a fur suit. And he said, quote, you have to kill bed bugs with high heat, like the highest setting on your dryer for at least half an hour. So something very difficult to do with fur suits and especially the heads. So.

[Rob Mahoney]

So what do you do?

[Joanna Robinson]

Uh, I. He didn't have any solutions, just pro. He just presented problems. Oh, boy. So you know something? Well, Matt did volunteer to send us tips and tricks on how to avoid bed bugs when we stay at hotels. So maybe he'll find.

[Rob Mahoney]

I'll take that.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah. On the sort of cross contamination front, our listener in Marina wrote in to say her partner is a paramedic. And his biggest glove pet peeve on the pit is when the providers cross their arms and hold their bicep area with the gloves on. This is the Dr. Robbie special.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yes.

[Joanna Robinson]

She said doctors side bangs, McKay, Robbie. And being the most common offenders, I can like, see Robbie doing it. It's. They're constantly on the fleece. Constantly. That is true cross contamination. How do you feel about that? I mean, I don't think it's as bad as. As the poop glove on the curtain, which was the inciting incident for this.

[Rob Mahoney]

That one's a problem.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, I think.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think most of the time. Look, it's in the preliminary stages of the examination. It's not a contamination issue so much as like, they're putting on gloves to protect themselves from whatever they're about to touch. Like, from that perspective, hands on biceps doesn't seem as bad. But yeah, if you're taking a sample that needs to be tested in any way, we've got huge problems. Especially Robbie is doing it mostly, I think, just as part of his, like, rumpled Persona.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, his like, paternal vibe sort of thing.

[Rob Mahoney]

Dr. Bangs, I mean, a little. A little more sass, to be honest with you.

[Joanna Robinson]

Look out for it.

[Rob Mahoney]

I like. I think it's a critical part of her energy. It's just hard to put a finger on exactly which part of it it is.

[Joanna Robinson]

A fun fact. We did get clarification on what condiment hoarding is. Do you, do you feel like you understand it based on the emails?

[Rob Mahoney]

Well, we got many different potential explanations, but I think common one, the most convincing one and one I'm certainly guilty of.

[Joanna Robinson]

Oh really?

[Rob Mahoney]

Is when you receive condiments through takeout or something else. Putting it in your fridge, putting it in a bin, putting it in like some collection or container, and then you just amass all these packets you probably will never use. But how could I throw away a packet of like chick fil. A buffalo sauce, you know, do you

[Joanna Robinson]

have, is it a drawer situation? Do you have a drawer of like soy sauce, hot sauce, etc.

[Rob Mahoney]

I don't, but there is a section of my fridge that has been kind of sub designated for it now.

[Joanna Robinson]

Okay.

[Rob Mahoney]

Because the OCD in me won't allow them to run free and also won't allow me to throw them away. But also I lack the follow through to actually use them.

[Joanna Robinson]

Follow up question is this, is it. Is it like a Tupperware container? Is it like a. Where are we?

[Rob Mahoney]

So glad you asked.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

I just bought a bigger bin. Yeah, refrigerator bin from the Container Store. One of my favorite places on earth.

[Joanna Robinson]

I. I nailed this about you. I know this about you and just

[Rob Mahoney]

used it to contain butter, yogurt, other things. And at the front there's just like a little portion section for. Here's where the sauces go.

[Joanna Robinson]

Okay. So it's like a, a general dairy sort of situation.

[Rob Mahoney]

Plus sauce packets that I will never use.

[Joanna Robinson]

Okay, great.

[Rob Mahoney]

Are you not guilty of this? Do you not hoard sauces?

[Joanna Robinson]

I don't.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, it must be nice to be perfect.

[Joanna Robinson]

I just think that like they just like sauces, napkins, utensils or whatever, the accoutrement that come in and take out, they just sort of accumulate in the drawer and then like.

[Rob Mahoney]

You're right.

[Joanna Robinson]

I'll hold on to the napkins. The napkins. Because they can always have a use.

[Rob Mahoney]

Sure.

[Joanna Robinson]

But other things, they have to go use them or lose them. That's how I feel about it.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's very wise of you. I wish I had that level of, I guess, restraint in not keeping them in the first place, but I am who I am.

[Joanna Robinson]

Would you say your multi use container store situation in your fridge is the oddest piece of storage you have in your fridge? Or would you care to explain anything? Like do you have one of those things that like where you put your various Lacroix cans, like a dispenser sort of situation?

[Rob Mahoney]

Most of those I Find pretty useless. Even like, you know, you can buy, like, plastic bins for your eggs. It's like, why are we taking the eggs out of the carton and putting them into a bin?

[Joanna Robinson]

I'll tell you what I do, please. I take them out of the carton and I put them in a bowl.

[Rob Mahoney]

Why?

[Joanna Robinson]

Because then you can just reach into the fridge and grab the eggs you need rather than having to open the thing every time.

[Rob Mahoney]

But they could also break more easily, potentially.

[Joanna Robinson]

They never have yet.

[Rob Mahoney]

All right, so you refuse to lift one flap to get an egg.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

All right.

[Joanna Robinson]

There's no need to do it every time.

[Rob Mahoney]

I gotta say, this is even more incomprehensible than putting them in an egg bin of some kind. Just a loose bowl, like they're a bunch of lemons.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, it's like kind of an aesthetic thing to me.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, that it is.

[Joanna Robinson]

It's like fetching, you know, Are you maybe French?

[Rob Mahoney]

Are you like a farmhouse style person?

[Joanna Robinson]

Well, I don't know. Farmhouse is a bad rep these days. It's very live, laugh, love. And I don't think I'm like, that.

[Rob Mahoney]

Kind of not trying to put you in that egg bucket, but, you know.

[Joanna Robinson]

Exactly. All right. Dr. Sarah was talking about. We were talking about Dr. Mohan and her patient last week who was again, sort of like looking for her this week. The elderly patient, right. Who she runs the D Dimer test for, you know, every few months or something like that, or once a month, whatever it was. And I was. We were talking about how this idea to, like, manage anxiety. But our listener, Sarah, who is a doctor, said, actually we try to discourage patients from coming in and getting, like, needless tests because it actually ratchets up their anxiety. And we try to manage it in a different way. She said, this case seems kind of isolated and consistent and the guy goes on his merry way and he's fine. So she's not critiquing Samira in this case. But, um, this is what she said as part of a larger email, I think a really important role in medicine. And Dr. Sarah says not to toot my own horn, but for primary care in particular, is just to be there for the patient, acknowledge that they are suffering, validate their symptoms without necessarily pulling the trigger on an evaluation we know is going to be useless. And I just wanted to say to Dr. Sarah and all of the primary care physicians out there or whoever, in my early 20s, I went through. I don't know if I ever told you this, that I, like, I thought I had some Sort of heart condition. And I didn't. But I went to urgent care a couple times and asked them to because I was like, something was going on. I was not able to sleep. It was this whole thing. And I think the third or fourth time I went in, this kindly country doctor sat me down and he was like, has anyone ever talked to you about the way anxiety manifests in the body? He was so nice about it, but he was just like, you're in your early 20s. You don't have a heart problem. Let's talk about this. And then I never had that problem again. I just needed someone to, like, listen to me.

[Rob Mahoney]

That's incredible.

[Joanna Robinson]

Validate my, like, physical experience. Then just be like, but this is a mental condition. And I was like, ah. Also, well, so, you know, this is

[Rob Mahoney]

the reason you and I are not doctors. Because when we were talking about this, it seemed reasonable to us to, like, oh, alleviate this man's anxiety with this test. Dr. Sarah rightly points out, what if you didn't treat the symptoms and instead treated the root cause?

[Joanna Robinson]

Exactly.

[Rob Mahoney]

Or at least, like, tried to prevent the exacerbation of. But I'm with you. That ultimately, if you could just have a kindly country doctor in your life who can sit you down and talk to you about anxiety, that seems like the best case solution for everybody.

[Joanna Robinson]

My guy was my favorite. He was the best. He's like, you remind me of my daughters. And I was like, great. Okay, tell me more. Speaking of sort of how you would want to be treated, our listener Blair asked in an email where Blair was a bit defending Ogilvy. Not my favorite thing that anyone's ever done. That's fine. But Blair was asking who we would most want to treat us were we admitted at.

[Rob Mahoney]

Great question. Do you have an answer? Do you have a go to?

[Joanna Robinson]

I think I would want Mel King. I think that's a kind of energy I would really respond to in that situation because Mel is, like, friendly, but also just, like, incredibly analytical and just. And a very calming presence, I think. So that would be my pick, I think.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think I might pick Sameer Mohan for the same reason.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think once you get up into. For one, if you get into the attendings, they're just constantly being pulled away from you at all times. So you want someone who's a little lower down, who can actually spend time listening to what you. And a lot of the characters I love on this show, like, I love Santos. Her bedside manner isn't always the best. That's why I find her to Be

[Joanna Robinson]

a compelling character sings to you, Rob.

[Rob Mahoney]

Well, I've mixed feelings about a show tune, but I can be serenaded. I'm willing.

[Joanna Robinson]

This is why we'll never be best friends. But that's okay. Jeff, who works on the show, allegedly, I did look his name up. I went through a whole thing. I believe that Jeff is on the up and up, that he works on the show.

[Rob Mahoney]

His credentials are legit.

[Joanna Robinson]

I couldn't quite find him on IMDb, but there was a Jeff Windsor on IMDb who also worked on Everything Everywhere all at Once. And this is also hot dog related, so I choose to believe it's the same guy. He said, thanks. This is to you. Thanks for the hot dog vomit shout out. If only you knew how many tests and how many hot dogs and buns I had to break up. Yes, we use real hot dogs. It was tedious. And then Jeff defends Lacroix berry flavor, and that's tough look for Jeff. But anyway, great work, Jeff, on the hot dog comment and thanks for writing in.

[Rob Mahoney]

It really was beautiful in its way, like a very specific hue of pink tan that can only be replicated by hot dogs. So the authenticity matters. I think in this cinema verite is

[Joanna Robinson]

what we're doing here at the Pit. And we love it. Last but not least, Nicholas had a response about our question about Mel King's screen time. And I confess I'm not entirely convinced by his answer here. But he did send this Deadline link that was about sort of the pay scale structure on the Pit. Did you see this?

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah, I did.

[Joanna Robinson]

Okay, so basically this is. It's a bit unusual how they did this, but basically when they put out the casting call for the show, they basically put out the roles at various tiers per episode, which is an unusual way to get paid. And so it's like Noah Wylie makes whatever Noah Wylie makes a bajillion, who knows. And then it's like 50k per episode for some and 35k an episode for someone else and something like that. And given the high number of episodes, that's a low rate. Not for you and me, but for actors in Hollywood, it's kind of a low rate. But given how many episodes of the Pit there are every season, it adds up. But you can decide, I don't know what that means in terms of, like, do you get paid a flat 50k if you're, let's say, Mel King and you're predominantly featured in the episode, or you're Mel King and you're just like background in an episode? Are those rates different? I don't know if it's per episode. It seems like, like, SAG rules shouldn't be different.

[Rob Mahoney]

They shouldn't.

[Joanna Robinson]

Then. That doesn't really explain to me why Mel is, like, so background this season.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah, there must be just. I mean, I would think there's such a clearly articulated line between, like, regular and extra or on screen presence and extra or like, background player. But I think this episode is a great example for Mel's case where she has kind of like two moments, I think, overall, like this call with her sister and an exchange with Robbie. Did she pop up anywhere in the episode in, like, a really present way?

[Joanna Robinson]

I would say in the scene. So after Langdon.

[Rob Mahoney]

Oh, this is true. She is in with Langton.

[Joanna Robinson]

She's in with Langdon when he's, like, really floundering in front of Robbie and she's kind of trying to save his ass.

[Rob Mahoney]

Hand holding him out of that thing. You're right. So she. She is a little more present this episode than I gave her credit for. But the deposition is coming, and I would. I would think that might be a clear out for Mel, kind of, like third of the episode kind of plot line when it does come.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, I mean, it'll depend again if we're going, like, wherever the deposition is being held, because presumably it's not in, like, trauma room five. So, like, what if it is? Okay?

[Rob Mahoney]

What if it's just over a comatose patient or, like, over mid surgery, you know?

[Joanna Robinson]

All right, so let's get into the episodes. Episode 7 To set the scene. It's boiling hot. In Chairs, people are fanning themselves with patient passports. There's a cooling room set up. That's Langdon's idea. Robbie has to begrudgingly give him credit for that. Great. He hates to do it. It's boiling hot. Rob, honey, do you know why it's boiling hot?

[Rob Mahoney]

Why is that?

[Joanna Robinson]

Because Dr. Jack Abbott has arrived. Yeah. Fan yourself with that patient passport, buddy. Every ounce of ACAB left my body.

[Rob Mahoney]

When

[Joanna Robinson]

this sequence starts, Abbott comes in with his pals. I. I. It took me like the third time watching through the captions to understand that his, like, the guy that they're working on, his name is Hiro. Not that he's calling him Hiro. Hero with an I. Yeah, hero with an I and a capital H. And I was like. Because when he was calling him here with a little. Okay, Sash. I was like, okay. But when I found out that was

[Rob Mahoney]

a guy's name, I mean, for this show. That's a lie.

[Joanna Robinson]

I know. You should see me as a flight attendant. Yep. Great line. They do this transected trachea neonatal thing. All of that happens.

[Rob Mahoney]

Burbling trachea.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

Is really a visual. Really something I didn't know that I needed to see, but I guess I did.

[Joanna Robinson]

I usually prefer it when it's like a brook that's burbling and not someone's trachea. But we do what we must at the pit.

[Rob Mahoney]

So do you think it's soothing all the same? Like if you just played the sound of the trachea as like your white noise. Sleep noise. Sleep sound.

[Joanna Robinson]

That's a great question. But I think burbling on a tracheal matter also involves wheezing. Like, you can't just have one without the other. There's got to be a gasp. Yeah. And the wheezing is not soothing at all.

[Rob Mahoney]

Agreed.

[Joanna Robinson]

Here's the most important thing, though. We get this scene with Samira.

[Rob Mahoney]

We certainly do.

[Joanna Robinson]

Robbie has a like built for gif only.

[Rob Mahoney]

I was about to say. Let's just. Let's just trim it right now.

[Joanna Robinson]

Buttonhook on the our little secret moment when she is attending to him shirtless. Here's. I don't know. You let me know about the Huckle Robbie thing and I should let you know that I got served my first organic bit of Huckle Robbie content. And it was, it was. It was like an animation and it was elaborate and it was shocking to me. So that's great. And I support it. I support the Internet and I'm wondering

[Rob Mahoney]

what was animated, but I don't want to know. I don't think.

[Joanna Robinson]

But Samira Mohan and Abbott has been like one of the key fandom ships since season one. I went back and watched some like, there are many helpful edits of all of their five minutes of interaction in season one.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think I need one because we got some emails to this effect earlier in the season wondering if Abbott was going to come back and specifically to interact with Samira. Yeah, I think I just kind of like missed this or got lost in the sauce of like all of the Pitfest trauma and like didn't quite clock their relationship. At least the fan edited version of it.

[Joanna Robinson]

Here's why I will. I will give you the download. Here's a key piece of information. Sean Hadassey, I think between seasons dropped the lore on Dr. Jack Abbott that he is a widower. So this is information that we have now that we didn't have before. Yeah. And guys, this is the most important part of the Bit. So we're going to take some time on it. Towards the end of season one, when he comes in. And remember when they. When the pitfest stuff kicks off, Abbott has all of his sort of, like, battlefield sort of, like, tricks and tips and equipment. And Samira says, what else you got in your go bag? And he says, oh, just wait and see. That's. That is, like, a definitely flirty exchange they have. And then they do this whole thing. They do this whole procedure, an experimental procedure that the surgical resident, who is even in a worse mood than Garcia, if you recall her, at the end of season one, is very. So she's just, like, yelling at them that they're being irresponsible.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yes.

[Joanna Robinson]

Dr. Abbott is coaching Samira through, and he's being very supportive and very, like, you got this solid work, all this sort of stuff, like. And then at the very end, he's like, plus, it was too risky of a procedure for me to do, so I'm glad that you did it. So it's, like, supportive, but also covering his ass. Anyway, those crumbs were enough for the fandom. I mean, they always are, you know, brought up on Grey's Anatomy, and they're like, if we're not in a hospital, fucking, what are we doing?

[Rob Mahoney]

Oh, did these doctors talk to each other?

[Joanna Robinson]

Well, um, but I'm sorry, Rob.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, this is more than that.

[Joanna Robinson]

This is the hottest thing a doctor on the Pit has done, and it's not. It's not him taking off a shirt. Thanks, Sean Hadassey, a Gen X icon, for taking off a shirt. Great. Love that. For you. It is when Samira is talking about her patient who is gone. Yeah. And he's like, get it, get it. Uber the supplies over. And then he just mutters while not even looking at her, I'll pay for it. I'll pay for it. I was watching the people. We literally screamed and rewound it. And I would like to now give you, Rob Mahoney, the power ranking of the top five hottest moments that have happened thus far on the Pit.

[Rob Mahoney]

I need them.

[Joanna Robinson]

Okay. Number five. Season one, episode 15, Human Utah himself. Mateo, our guy. Mateo, who we are missing and we're waiting for, hands Victoria Giovanni a beer. And he says, we won't tell your mom, and gives her, like, a real sneaky smile. That's number five. Mateo being number five that you feel like that's low for Mateo. And I agree, but I need him to come back to, like, sort of give me a refresher on what's Going on.

[Rob Mahoney]

I just feel like between number five and Abbott, I'm just learning a lot about you, Joe. I'm learning a lot about, like, this is about me. The quiet moment of offhand reassurance, you know, it's doing a lot for you.

[Joanna Robinson]

Um, but also a bit of violence. In number four, season one, episode nine, Dana breaks up a fight in Chairs. Yes, that's a hot boss bitch move for sure. It's very, very good. Number three, season two, episode six. Just last week, Dr. Robbie snapping off the gloves, grabbing the cell phone, threatening that woman's boss on the phone before slashing her leg open. Well, I was like, two weeks ago. Anyway, Dr. Robbie snapping off the gloves, grabbing the phone. That's number three. Number two, also in this episode, Dr. Ellis guns out, blows an air kiss to Dana. Number two, hottest thing that has happened on the pit. Really good stuff.

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm so thrilled that Ellis is back.

[Joanna Robinson]

Oh, my God. Delightful.

[Rob Mahoney]

And she mentions that, like, she's back on shift at 1:30. We don't really see her for the rest of the episode. We're just going to need her constantly through the rest of the season.

[Joanna Robinson]

We're just hopeful and like, you know, is she. Does she want to wear sleeveless scrubs? I don't know if that's hygienic, but I think I would support it. You know, I'm just saying I think

[Rob Mahoney]

the patients would respond to it. This has been an unusually horny season from a patient perspective. Everyone is, like, winking, hitting on, like we see in this episode 4th of July. I mean, maybe it's that it's 4th of July.

[Joanna Robinson]

Everyone's drinking before they get there.

[Rob Mahoney]

But even this high school kid is like, taking a pass at Joy just. Just for the hell of it, I guess.

[Joanna Robinson]

And she's like, was. Was your. Not my. Not my type of. Do you feel like Joy is queer? Is that what she's saying?

[Rob Mahoney]

I don't know. But also, he's a teenager, so maybe also that.

[Joanna Robinson]

Fun fact number one with bullet, Dr. Jack Abbott, shirtless. But that's not the point. Muttering, I'll pay for it.

[Rob Mahoney]

He will pay for it.

[Joanna Robinson]

I mean, incredibly good shit.

[Rob Mahoney]

Well, that's very good.

[Joanna Robinson]

Honorable mention. And this is the most revealing thing about me. I will say, anyone speaking any other language. So Princess always. Yes. And Perla in this episode, Samira speaking Tamil on the phone. Dr. Alashimi saying doctors Without Borders in French.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

And Santos singing Tagalog like, it's all. It's all really good shit to me.

[Rob Mahoney]

So it is very good. And here's the thing about specifically Samira and Jack Abbott. Like, they do just have, as performers, a pretty easy chemistry. So I see why they would lean into it, at least to the point of having Robbie walk by and gawk and, you know, really show out for us.

[Joanna Robinson]

I'm pretty sure this is like. Because remember, there was like an earlier scene this season where Noah Wylie's like, oh, I wasn't supposed to be in that scene, but I was like, what if Robbie just walks by? I'm pre. Where he's like, this is a great one. Ravi just walks by.

[Rob Mahoney]

To be fair, could have closed the door.

[Joanna Robinson]

Well, he was behind a curtain. She pulls the curtain down.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's true.

[Joanna Robinson]

So Samira could have closed the door. But then that almost makes it seem like more.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah, you're right.

[Joanna Robinson]

If you, like, pull the curtain and close the door.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's a great point. I do need more of them together, but I also just need more of Abbott. With basically everybody, his approval rating in the ED is through the roof at this point.

[Joanna Robinson]

Abbott showing up like, what. What he does with Samir here is. Is for the fans and for me, apparently so. For the world, for us, for all of us. But him showing up and, like, taking a shine to Dr. Al Hashimi right away, I think is really like, we've been sort of trying. And I want to talk about Dr. Al Hashimi next. We've been kind of trying to track, like, how are you supposed to feel about this character? And one of our best barometers is the person she interacts with the most, which is Robbie. And so we were, like, trying. We're trying to parse how we're supposed to feel about her through the lens of how Robbie feels about her. And we're like, is that an accurate lens to you, this person or not? So I think it matters that Abbott comes in and he's like, I mean, she's pretty dope, actually.

[Rob Mahoney]

It is possible, in fact, to have a normal, non adversarial relationship with your fellow attending.

[Joanna Robinson]

It seems like it.

[Rob Mahoney]

It does seem like it. But I think Abbott has this easy way about him, and this is what makes him such a great counterpoint to Robbie, because they are both sad boys. They do both end up on the roof at the end of the day. But Abbott is at least in therapy enough to take up interesting new hobbies with the SWAT team. He's, like, trying to work on himself in a slightly different way than, I'm just gonna motorcycle off into the wilderness.

[Joanna Robinson]

Here's what I'll say, yeah. Dr. Abbott knows that you can get doordash up to the roof. So, you know, when he goes up to the roof, he's, like, enjoying his time up there as well.

[Rob Mahoney]

I don't mean to make this into, like, the mental health Olympics, because if that is the case, no one in the pit is meddling. Everyone here is in a bad way.

[Joanna Robinson]

It's true. It's true.

[Rob Mahoney]

But he is in a similar position to Robby in so many ways. They clearly, like of a feather. They have a lot that they bond over, but their relationships, especially with Dr. Alashimi, are just so wildly different. And I think we've seen Robbie, in his way, kind of begrudgingly come to accept and understand Dr. Al a little bit more over the course of the season. I'm interested to see how that's tested by her kind of getting called up to consult about this, like, shutdown situation, which even in her reaction shot, seems like she didn't necessarily sign up for and is kind of getting flagged with.

[Joanna Robinson]

Seemed very pissed that she was, like, put in the middle of this. And I think her. Her pissed off face was almost like, just when I was kind of making some ground with him.

[Rob Mahoney]

Right.

[Joanna Robinson]

Because she's like, your debrief was lovely at the beginning of this episode about how he sent Louis off at the end of last week. She's being a bit more supportive to Santos, you know, inside of this episode. Definitely hear her say, good work a couple times. But I did want to check in with you on this neurodevelopment. Right. She calls her doctor, Dr. Fairgraves at the Pittsburgh Neuroscience Group, and this seems to be. It seems to be that she's having episodes. I guess I would say something. I think that explains that weird cliffhanger we had at the beginning of the season when she was with baby Jane Doe, and she, like, sort of stared off into space, and we didn't really understand why. Yeah. I was talking to our beloved Christopher Ryan, and I just want to say that they're like, I know I mentioned CR a bunch on our industry pod this week. Basically, after Talk the Thrones, Chris and I have, like, a mini the Watch Prestige pod, like, crossover episode.

[Rob Mahoney]

Film it, release it.

[Joanna Robinson]

The people need it at the barista bar. Anyway, so we were talking about. We were talking about this neuro development, and Chris brought up that, like, someone, like, one of their listeners was asking if we had seen Dr. Alhashimi use her hands this season in any sort of. She's often observing. She often walks in actually with her hands behind her back. And I sort of took it as like, her. This is her authoritary, like, stance. But is there something going on with her hands? We do see her examine Alana, the sexual assault survivor, sort of like, you know, very sort of roughly. But we haven't seen her do any, like, I think any sort of fine work, surgical work with her hands. I'd be curious if that's incorrect. Drcibingsmail.com or pressishvpotify.com if we miss something. But if that's the case, like, I don't know if this sort of, like, neurological development is meant to soften us to her or deepen our understanding of her, but if she is hiding something. Yeah, that impairs her ability to practice medicine. I will have a hard time understanding that as a. As an approach.

[Rob Mahoney]

I would have a hard time understanding it too. But it does like that idea, that impulse is so obviously human. And it would do. It would do some interesting things in terms of the character dynamics. Right. Like her relationship with Langdon, for example. Like, she as somebody who is hiding something and concealing something that, as you say, would impair her ability to be a good doctor. Like, maybe she would be increasingly empathetic to what Langton has been through.

[Joanna Robinson]

Or her interest in dictation software.

[Rob Mahoney]

Absolutely.

[Joanna Robinson]

There's something going. I mean, like, again, I haven't. We haven't seen, like, tremors or anything like that that I can see. And there's a ton of different ways that neurological problems can manifest. So I'm. I'm not a neurologist. I'm not trying to diagnose anything, but, like, if there is something that she can't do finer work, can she still practice medicine if AI dictation actually works? And that could keep her doing the thing that she loves to do and helping people. I don't know. It's an interesting question that we obviously don't have the answers to. And this is a thing that Pitt loves to do, which is sort of give us a twist and a turn on a character. We've been kind of waiting for what the twist and turn on her is. We don't have enough information right now, but I was sort of interested to hear how you thought about it.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah, I mean, I think the show overall has done a good job of giving a lot of COVID to that idea. And some of it is not, just, as you say, her wandering into a room and having her hands behind her back, but even just the nature of her and Robbie's Relationship. He's kind of constantly sending her out. Right. Like, she comes in offering to help, and I don't even think this was pointed at her so much. But when he's kind of putting Langdon under the gun.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, that was about Langdon.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think that was so much more about, like, I don't want you to have any, like, any help whatsoever inside this room. I'm gonna grill you on what we should do here. But he's been doing some version of that all season when Dr. Lashemi wanders in and wants to help and wants to get involved. And so we haven't seen it, and we think it's because of that emotional reaction that Robbie is having and him just kind of being a large man baby on the ED floor on a regular basis. But if it's also helping to conceal this other plotline, that feels very TV to me. That does feel like exactly the kind of thing the Pit would do.

[Joanna Robinson]

And we do get this, like, sort of not parallel plot, but in terms of Jackson Davis, his sister Jada and his parents show up inside of this episode. This idea of, like, hiding medical information from people like this, which is associated. You know, we've talked about this before. This idea of, like, shame and mental health on the Pit and the way in which they're trying to examine that via Robbie or via whoever else. This idea that the Davis family has hidden a part of their medical history from their kids, vital information that their kids should have out of shame or. Or failing to understand what happened with Uncle Ken, who. Who died by drinking himself to death, but also had seemingly an undiagnosed psychological issue, perhaps the. The schizophrenia that Jackson seems to be presenting with. And so that's like an interesting sort of secondary note underneath what. What is happening with Al Hashimi, Harry. Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

And you have to have those secondary notes in these cases, I think just with the volume of them that come through the Pit, the educational bent of this show overall, and wanting to tackle these, like, very serious, very specific kinds of medical issues and just, like, topics that come up. The fact that it's not just about. Here are these later developing symptoms of a psychiatric disorder in a college student or a law student. It's also about how we talk about mental illness. It's also about family history. And if that is where Dr. Alashemi's plot line goes, again, we don't have any idea what's actually going on with her medically, just that she's not doctors. But she is urgently trying to call her doctor. And I do want to point out. Like, I just love how Sebi Da Mwafi is playing this.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

And like she's been someone who, even though she hasn't been very hands on as we've been talking about with patients, the intensity of her conversational style I think makes it so clear. These moments where she sort of like blips out and she kind of dissociates or she like her attention shifts ever so slightly. Like this moment where Javati is talking to Jackson's parents and she kind of urges Javati to usher them to the family room. Like, yeah, you have the musical cue, but in terms of performance, it really is just the smallest, subtlest little thing. And I think she's really nailed that element of this character so far.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, I'll be really curious.

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[Joanna Robinson]

that develops going forward. In addition to the Davis family, we have Roxy's kids. Show up and Paul spends much of the episode sort of saying, do I need to. Do we really need to do what she says when she's on a bunch of drugs and can't I just take her home? And this is where Robbie does a. It was like a very classic season one. Robbie, like, let me come in and talk to the family members about the like frank realities of the situation here. Let me talk to Roxy about like how disruptive it will be for you to stay here with us, especially on this day of days that we are experiencing. But also to Paul, when Paul's like, you know, Robbie almost from like across the hallway is like, this is when we most need to listen to your wife, actually. And I really like how I, I mean, I don't like it because it is very upsetting, but I really, I, I love the way that this Paul character is being shaped. The kids coming in. The older kid who's 15 and is just sort of like, can we not talk about ghosts? And is also sort of already kind of parenting his younger brother. His younger brother's talking about like having a gun and his older brother's like, come on, guy. So, you know, already having. Because his dad is full time caretaking his mom, or not full time, but like part time caretaking his mom. How this 15 year old kid has had to step up and be another parent inside of this whole entire dynamic I thought was like, really? Again, we've accused the pit of being unsettled. I think this is a bit more subtly done and I think it's just like really unusual as far as my exposure to medical shows kind of storyline to follow.

[Rob Mahoney]

You know, I think especially just that kind of comprehensive view of what it means to listen to somebody in pain. And in this case it's Robbie. Because I think it's so important that as you talked about Joe, Robbie's default setting is this is a bad idea for you to stay here. Like, this is not good for your treatment, for your health, for your rest. Like, it will be disruptive, to borrow your word, if you stay in the hospital. And yet as soon as she says, like, I still want to do it, it's like, well, that's what we're going to do. And I think that's one of those areas where if only reality were quite so simple in all cases in terms of medical care. But the fact that Robby flips from I feel very strongly this is a bad idea to this is what my patient wants and now I am advocating for them to her husband who's already having A really hard time. Like, that's why we love Dr. Robbie. Right? That's why this character is so easy to latch onto. Even though he can be self destructive, even though he's jumping down people' throats. It's like this side of him is in a lot of ways the most appealing and endearing side of him.

[Joanna Robinson]

I really agree. Like, and this is a good, a really good Robbie episode, I thought.

[Rob Mahoney]

How do you feel about your guy? Langdon speedrunning the 12 steps continued. We should say he has now taken Lou's time in the ED as an opportunity to get his own stuff off his chest. Unburdened himself to Dana mid shift, despite the fact that he knows what she's got going on and everyone's got going on. And taking his moment with Robbie to talk over a helicopter landing. Bringing in a trauma patient who I believe that's the guy who's just been like, cut to shreds by the boat. Right, right.

[Joanna Robinson]

The Jaws scenario.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's like this is my moment to have a deep emotional conversation that I've been waiting to have and no one else wants to have right now.

[Joanna Robinson]

I think everything you're saying is really reasonable critique of Langton, but we did get a really good email about this.

[Rob Mahoney]

Okay, I'm eager to hear it.

[Joanna Robinson]

This is from Dan, who has gone through the 12 steps and says although every recovery journey is different, most programs and sponsors encourage program participants to work as quickly as possible through the first nine steps to maintain the momentum and prevent backslide. Steps 10 through 12 are ongoing maintenance steps. A common framework many sponsors start with is 90 days to make it through the steps. In addition, step nine, making direct amends where possible, is essential for addicts to let go of long held resentments and other toxic emotions that help perpetuate the cycle of addiction. As my former sponsor said, quote, take your time in a hurry. Circling back to Dr. Langdon. Langdon. He has been in recovery for 10 months, which is a very long time to have major uncompleted amends hanging over him. Any sponsor I know would be insisting that their sponsor reach out to those co workers well before they were cleared to return to work. Furthermore, one of the biggest amends. This is written obviously before this person saw the episode. But furthermore, one of the biggest amends Langdon needs to make is with Dr. Robbie. Yes, and given his planned sabbatical, Langdon should be doing everything short of tackling Dr. Robbie and holding him down to make it happen. Ideally, though, he wouldn't step foot back in that hospital until he's had this step 9 conversation with every former coworker on his list. So I think. I think you're right that this should not be happening this way. But Dan's point is it should have happened before Lincoln got called in at all.

[Rob Mahoney]

And the reason it is happening now is because drama, because of television. Because television.

[Joanna Robinson]

Because television. Because the pit. It takes place in one day.

[Rob Mahoney]

It certainly does.

[Joanna Robinson]

So that's why. But I. No Langdon shouting it over. This is like, this is not your moment, buddy. But to. To be fair, this was a head

[Rob Mahoney]

in my hands moment on my. I'm like, you cannot be doing this right now.

[Joanna Robinson]

To be fair. Am I in the bag for LinkedIn? Sure. But to be fair, he has tried to get Robbie on, like, calmer and calmer moments. And he's like, this might be my only opportunity.

[Rob Mahoney]

Could have picked that elevator ride. Could have picked the elevator. Any other moment. Or do you.

[Joanna Robinson]

I feel like the only reason they wound up in the elevator is because Princess is on. On, like, scheduling duty and she just didn't occur to her.

[Rob Mahoney]

No.

[Joanna Robinson]

The way that Dana is like doing four dimensional chess to like, not put Robbie and Langdon in an elevator together, that. That's a real princess.

[Rob Mahoney]

Mistakes are being made, unfortunately, which is a bad bitch.

[Joanna Robinson]

And I love her, but, you know. Yeah. When they.

[Rob Mahoney]

She doesn't want this job.

[Joanna Robinson]

When they walk into the elevator, I was like, this is gonna be good. He asked about Jake. I do. I do want to say I. When we were talking about Robbie and like various long term relationships or no, we did neglect to give him credit for Jake, who is like a person he has kept in his life.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's true.

[Joanna Robinson]

After his relationship with Jake's mom ended, so that. But we don't exactly know what's going on with Jake. And Robbie did not leave the last season on good terms. He seems informed about Jake, but how is his relationship with Jake? We don't know. But yeah. Langdon doing his. I'm sorry is underneath the helicopter is just so funny. And then Robbie having to shout, I'm really glad you got the help that you need, but I don't know if I want you working in my er. And then Langdon just floundering for the rest of the episode.

[Rob Mahoney]

He is in a flop sweat.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

[Rob Mahoney]

The entire next segment of the episode. And who knows? Even beyond this point. But this has been the subtext of the season.

[Joanna Robinson]

Right.

[Rob Mahoney]

Is like, does Langdon actually have a place in the pit anymore on Robbie's watch? And so to put it front and center, I think is just like Good for storytelling purposes and very clearly sets up, like, over the back part. Langdon has a lot to prove to Robbie as far as whether he should be staying here or whether he should earn Robbie's trust back or whatever that looks like. But also, yeah, the pressure cooker now puts Langdon in. I think it's just very interesting for that character.

[Joanna Robinson]

The Pin has said, you know, they brought back every character except for one from season one. Dr. Collins is not here. But it's so interesting to think about, as we've been alluding to the idea of turnover inside of an ED and how it's impossible to have all of these characters back next season. But I couldn't tell you right now, like, who I wouldn't want to see back in the ER or the ED next season.

[Rob Mahoney]

You know, I know there have already been some who have suggested they might not be. Like, Joy, for example, doesn't see herself as being long for this space. So we'll have to see kind of where the next season would even be set.

[Joanna Robinson]

Joy getting one over on Ogilvy this episode. Delicious.

[Rob Mahoney]

That's just, like, a straight lob from Samira to just dunk all over him. And it was phenomenal.

[Joanna Robinson]

Can maybe Next. Maybe season three should be July 5, and everyone's still here.

[Rob Mahoney]

Everyone's still here. Robbie did not go to Savannah. He canceled his trip.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

Definitely could be.

[Joanna Robinson]

Dr. Al is occasionally here, but mostly upstairs in, like, neurology getting that handled. And for some reason, Dr. Jack Abbott is still here. I'm. I am. They have set themselves up. Unfortunately, like, given the structure of the hospital, we can't have Dr. Jack Abbott here on, like, hour one of the day because, like. Like, he and Robbie, you know, are at the same level. But the show really feels better when Sean Hadassey is here.

[Rob Mahoney]

So as a buddy act, it really works.

[Joanna Robinson]

And I think Robbie needs that Abbott energy in his face. Like, he needs it.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's a pressure release for that character and for the show in a lot

[Joanna Robinson]

of ways to have Abbott there and Dr. Ellis is here. And again, we didn't see much beyond one scene, but it was all I needed to see, honestly. And I can't. The air kiss. The eye mask. I'm in a real eye mask era myself.

[Rob Mahoney]

Oh, same. Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

Are you an eye mask or something?

[Rob Mahoney]

Oh, absolutely.

[Joanna Robinson]

Oh, my God. I love knowing that joke.

[Rob Mahoney]

Come on.

[Joanna Robinson]

But here's the problem. Once you start, you can't stop.

[Rob Mahoney]

There's no going back.

[Joanna Robinson]

So, like, don't start unless you're ready for it to Be a lifelong sort of situation.

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm just getting into, like a sensory deprivation tank. Era of sleep.

[Joanna Robinson]

I know.

[Rob Mahoney]

You know?

[Joanna Robinson]

Totally.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's just I do need some kind of sound supplement or we talked about previously, like, having the TV on. I need eye mask.

[Joanna Robinson]

Wait, but how does this work? When you fall asleep to the tv, is the eye mask, like, ready to go on, like the.

[Rob Mahoney]

I wish I were that diligent. No, it's more. It's a multi stage process.

[Joanna Robinson]

Process. All right. But anyway, Dr. Ellis, I. Mask or not, please come back to us.

[Rob Mahoney]

Fucking legend.

[Joanna Robinson]

Love her. When Dr. John Shen wants to come back anytime.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah, Duncan's on me, baby.

[Joanna Robinson]

I'm ready. Harlow. We did get some feedback from listeners on the, like, legality slash feasibility of the pen and paper approach that we were sort of clamoring for. That being said, Santos wrote her a note inside of this episode.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yes, she did.

[Joanna Robinson]

Could she not have waited to get a response? Okay, again, a lot of our listeners were like, not everyone who uses asl, like, writes or reads in English.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's not a given.

[Joanna Robinson]

English. Yeah, it's not a given. Right.

[Rob Mahoney]

And so see, that would be a storyline I would like to see explored.

[Joanna Robinson]

But that does not seem to be the case here.

[Rob Mahoney]

That's not the case.

[Joanna Robinson]

So I don't. I don't know what we're doing.

[Rob Mahoney]

This is just Santos looking bad, to be honest with you.

[Joanna Robinson]

Well, no, but because she's checked in with a bunch of people. So like, anyone else in the ER could have been like. Like, hey, have you tried using pen and paper? So I actually think it's more the pit doing what I call earlier, living out and just being like, hey, man, resources are fucked up.

[Rob Mahoney]

Doesn't this suck?

[Joanna Robinson]

Have these other needs?

[Rob Mahoney]

You know, I agree with the general state of things. I think my problem with Santos is less, did she not consult the right person or get the right solution? It's. Once she does go to pen and paper, she can't. Like, you can see. Harlow is so clearly confused and upset and Santos is like, like getting out of the room as fast as humanly possible. And I get it. The. The zoom in translator is buffering and frustrating. And have you tried turning it off and back on again? Because, you know, Richard Iwate on the phone. Like, I. I don't know what. What the move is here for her other than pen and paper and she does go to it, but then she can't even commit to it.

[Joanna Robinson]

Have you ever fallen asleep to the IT crowd? Is that.

[Rob Mahoney]

Of course. I think it's a good one.

[Joanna Robinson]

That's a really good.

[Rob Mahoney]

The right zone.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Familiar rhythms of comedy. As bad as she looks in this Harlow situation, we do get this Santos singing to baby Jane Doe moment.

[Rob Mahoney]

The baby whisperer.

[Joanna Robinson]

This is again, this is television. This is a TV show. Knowing that Isa Briones is a Broadway singer.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yep.

[Joanna Robinson]

Was in Hamilton touring Hamilton was on Broadway in Hadestown. Like is comes from musical theater royalty. John. John Brionis is her father. She's a Broadway Nepo baby. Like, we love to hear it.

[Rob Mahoney]

My favorite bit of social media engagement of the pit from this season is a clip from one of her Broadway performance with the caption anything but doing her charts.

[Joanna Robinson]

It's really good. But here she is singing a Tagalog lullaby to baby Jane Doe.

[Rob Mahoney]

Lovely.

[Joanna Robinson]

I thought it was absolutely beautiful. The little baby hand grabbing her finger, her tough exterior, Donnie being like, I don't even hear babies crying anymore. All of that stuff was really good. And it made me think about some of the great plot lines in season one. When we get information about, about Trinity and how she grew up. We see these scars on her, on her thigh when she's getting up from going to the bathroom.

[Rob Mahoney]

And is your read on that? It looks consistent with a self harm kind of scar to me. Is that your read?

[Joanna Robinson]

Those look like cutting scars, but not fresh cutting.

[Rob Mahoney]

No, no.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah, yeah. But that is like part of her

[Rob Mahoney]

history and we know like her history of abuse growing up as you talked

[Joanna Robinson]

about and like talking about being not just like abused and going through the system and like, and being a child and all that sort of stuff. So like her tenderness, thinking about like how was she with other children that she went through the system with and like, is this something she's used to? Like has she sung this lullaby before to other kids that she was sort of like going through these various systems that let her down and like a much needed dimensionality to this character who's been having a tough season when it comes to like empowerment.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's true. But I still just find Santos overall, if you take her two season story to this point, to be one of the most interesting and well rounded characters on the show. For exactly this reason, I don't always agree with the choices she's making. But there's always something about her that's that fine tension between the sort of brashness and overconfidence and tenderness that she has. Clearly underneath there is an empathy to her buried somewhere. But because of who she is and how she grew up and everything, she's experienced. It's a little tougher to access for her than some of the other characters. And so when it does come out, it feels very rewarding. And I thought within this episode, you see so many sides of her. Right. You see her with baby Jane Doe. We see her with Robbie, and, like, I mean, they have amazing chemistry and just don't get enough time together.

[Joanna Robinson]

It's almost like a screwball comedy, like, patter kind of.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, the Little Orphan Annie widow, Amy, let's take the show on the road. Frankly, as far as the two of them, I agree. They're great together. She also gets Santos, like, her moment kind of with the A team, with this, you know, this cop who's been brought in or this. This SWAT officer who's been brought in. Right. Cause in that moment, it's Robbie, it's Abbott. Alashimi comes in, Garcia's in there, and Santos is, like, the one who's been brought in basically from, you know, the next generation of the Pit and acclimates herself well and gets her, like, congratulations for her performance in that moment. And so we see all of these different elements, including her, in some ways, kind of blowing it in terms of Harlow's immediate treatment. And it's like that exact mixture I find to be really compelling.

[Joanna Robinson]

And we love. Like, we've talked constantly about how much we love on the Pit when they show the successes and failures. So for Samira, not just because it gave me the hottest moment that has ever happened on the Pit, but for Samira's patient, like, diabetes patient, to walk out. Orlando Diaz. And, like, we spent multiple episodes with him, and she's worked so hard, I know, to try to get the system to work for him, and then he walks out anyway. It reminded me of a season one plotline when Dana and McKay were trying to talk to the young woman who they think is being trafficked.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yes.

[Joanna Robinson]

And they're doing everything they can to try to get through to her, and then she walks out anyway, and they're like, well, she took a pen, so maybe, you know, maybe there's a hope there. Right. And so maybe Dr. Jack Abbott will pay for an Uber to take the supplies to Orlando. But that's still not the level of care that he needs or deserves. And for Samira to have worked so hard and then failed. Failed, yes. Anyway, if you're not watching this podcast, there were air quotes around failed. I'm not being judgmental of her, but, like, we need these wins and these losses, definitely, for all of these characters to keep them Interesting.

[Rob Mahoney]

And that one, I think, was so critical in terms of Samir and Abbott for two reasons.

[Joanna Robinson]

One, like, it was so hot.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, one or. Sorry, three reasons. One, it was so hot. Two, she, like, her reaction to feeling that she has failed Orlando Diaz or that he has walked out and she wasn't able to get it. She's been putting everything aside, working tirelessly to get these supplies together so he can go home with them, so he can just have a chance to get through the day without crashing again. And he's already out the door. And you can see in her in that moment, it's like. That's like a breaking point when she walks into the room and realizes he's not there. And Abbott's gesture, in addition to being hot, is just like. It's like wind in her sails again. Right. It just kind of picks her up and keeps her going where, you know, another time, another doctor, another room, maybe things don't go so well for her. And this is something I'm wondering with that character overall with Samira is we've seen her, over the course of these two seasons, really evolve in her capacity as a doctor and really grow. And she's learning things from Robbie and she's learning things from Abbott. Like, I assume this is something that she'll take away from their exchanges. Like a non. We'll see in the episodes to come, but like, a non traditional solution to this, like, really gutting problem of healthcare. Right. Like, she has tried to, in her best, like, official capacity to help Orlando Diaz, and he left, and it's like, would Gloria suggest that they Uber him these supplies? No, but it's like, this is a thing you can do.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah. Which goes back to Dr. Alhashimi's point last season where it's just like, just because the system is broken doesn't mean you need to sort of roll over and take it. And I think I am so sorry. I don't have this email in front of me, so I apologize to the listener who wrote it in, but we got a really interesting email from someone talking about, okay, so Dr. Collins has been written out of the show. That means they, you know, barring whenever Dr. Ellis, like, gets back into the mix in earnest. We don't have a black female doctor, like, on the staff the way that we did last season. And, you know, we do. But Dr. Collins was shown as someone who went above and beyond something that Louis says. Right. She always helped me out. Right. Dr. Collins. And so this. This listener was sort of examining the idea that Like, Like, Louie gets these. This care throughout this. This. These episodes from all these white male doctors. But, like, we. Like, what would have happened if Dr. Collins had been there? Or Samira. You know, they called Samira out as someone, another person who goes above and beyond when it comes to, like, looking really closely and figuring out ways around systems for. For patients. I. I thought the email was really interesting because it was, like, why call out? Sort of how important it is to have doctors of color, like, on staff and their various ways in which to connect with patients and then have a complete absence of it in certain storylines.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's true.

[Joanna Robinson]

I don't know that I have an easy answer for that, but I thought that was, like, an interesting. An interesting thought to interrogate. We have a couple moments that really remind us that it's Fourth of July. We've got this head of dermatology who's got to go barbecue for 30. I wonder what she's throwing on the grill. I don't know. What do you think she, like, a.

[Rob Mahoney]

For 30? I mean, you got to be economical, not even just by price, but, like, timing.

[Joanna Robinson]

Right? Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

You can't do anything too delicate.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

Feels like a shish kebab situation, but

[Joanna Robinson]

I feel like swordfish, shish kebabs, something like that. Right.

[Rob Mahoney]

I've never had a swordfish. A swordfish shish kebab before, but I

[Joanna Robinson]

feel like that's a real head of dermatology thing to do. She's got the swordfish shish kebabs already marinating in the fridge, and she's just gonna throw them on the massive grill she has. Right. So, like, and then we get Trent Norris, the big boss.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

Gloria maybe is not even in this season. I don't know. We haven't seen her. We keep hearing about her. We haven't seen her. Trent Norris and his salmon shorts.

[Rob Mahoney]

Like, I think salmon is generous. Very pink.

[Joanna Robinson]

Okay. What. What shade would you. Would you call them?

[Rob Mahoney]

I don't know. I mean, we're approaching the. I think we're closer to neon than salmon.

[Joanna Robinson]

Wow. Okay. I feel like. I feel like if you're as rich as the big boss at the head of the pit probably is, and they're on your. On your, like, lower extremities. They're always salmon. Like, that's. That's always like. Like, salmon bonobos. Like, that's. That's a. That's a classic.

[Rob Mahoney]

Spiritually true. I did learn salmon or pink.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

I don't ever want in my life to be delivering bad news wearing Salmon or pink shorts?

[Joanna Robinson]

Well, you got to be careful what you're wearing on the 4th of July.

[Rob Mahoney]

Very, very careful. He will not be grilling for his friends, I assure you that. He bought a big grill.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

And then hired someone to grill for him.

[Joanna Robinson]

That's a fact. That is a fun fact. Okay, before we get to Trent, anything you want to say about Javati? Her dad, the head of dermatology. Yeah, any of that.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, it's nice to meet her dad, and immediately upon meeting him, I know this couple.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

You know, the, like, very overbearing mom swoop in and smooth things over dad. Or vice versa, if you prefer. It depends on the relationship. Makes total sense to me. Also makes total sense in terms of what he's pitching, which is Javati's mom has been, like, trying to usher her into surgery. Very competitive, but also very intense. Dermatology, as I understand it, and I'm sure many of our friends in healthcare will correct me if I'm wrong about this, but, like, cushy. Well, cushy, but also, like, very competitive in terms of getting it right. Like, the threshold, I think, is very

[Joanna Robinson]

high, but I think a cushier, like, a. Like a more relaxed lifestyle. The fact that she's like, I'm gonna go help, you know, someone in the mayor's office.

[Rob Mahoney]

Right.

[Joanna Robinson]

And then grill for 30. Like, this is her day. Like, Victoria's mom has never had that day in her life, right? And so it's just sort of like, do you want. What do you want? Do you want to be at the most hyper competitive? Like, you work hard now, you're never gonna stop working hard, or. And again, with love, I love my dermatologist. I'm not knocking dermatologists. They do incredible work. And it certainly depends on who. Which, you know, dermatologist you're talking about. But I think the avenue, like, specifically that he's paving for her here is you could be this woman, right? And I see that this woman has a very nice life and is brilliant. She makes a ton of money. Is brilliant, and seems to have a much more relax, relaxed life than your mother has, you know?

[Rob Mahoney]

And I think that's an interesting concept for someone like Javati, who is like, yes, you are a high achiever, a prodigy, it seems, in every respect. But, like, you have choices here, and your choices don't have to only be the most intense lifestyle. Right. The most demanding possible specialty you could pick. Like, even though it is glamorous and rewarding and would make use of your expertise in all these Interesting ways and probably fulfilling ways. You could just do this other thing, and that would probably be okay too, at least according to him.

[Joanna Robinson]

Have your career in swordfish. Shish kebab, too. Why not?

[Rob Mahoney]

We can only dream.

[Joanna Robinson]

All right, so Trent Norris, who, as we mentioned, is not doing his own grilling this fourth of July. Someone else is grilling the steaks, and it's definitely steaks at Trent Norris's house, I believe for 4th of July. Cyber attack Princess seemingly won the pool.

[Rob Mahoney]

I didn't even notice that.

[Joanna Robinson]

Oh, she goes, yes. And looks at Ahmad when they say cyber attack. So. So she at least won something. It seems like I'm excited for her. That's actually. That's the person I most wanted to win the pool if I had to pick. Other hospitals have been attacked, so they're shutting down the pit preventively. This is so aggravating as it's meant to be, but it's just sort of like. I don't blame Dr. Alashimi. It seems like she was put in a tough position, and Robbie, like, taunted her on the way out the door. So, Robbie, you don't have a lot of ground to stand on here, but

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm sure he's gonna be pissed all the same to open the next episode.

[Joanna Robinson]

But if Trent Norris had given us. We're shutting down in 15 minutes. Get all the information you need. Not any second now. Whitaker, grab a photo of. We heard the shutter go. So Whitaker got a photo. How good that photo is, we'll find out. But take a photo of the big board before it all blacks out. Like, give us 15, 20 minutes to prepare at least. If not an hour, give us an episode. But no, that's not good TV drama. That's not what we got.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's not unfortunate. I like the quick turn. For TV purposes, it's obviously ridiculous for professional ones. I also think maybe the upset of the season is Whitaker being the fastest draw on his phone. Yeah, Joy's been on her phone all season.

[Joanna Robinson]

Oh, I know.

[Rob Mahoney]

Javati is a TikTok influencer. You're telling me. Whitaker, of all people, the farm boy. But see, maybe it's that maybe he's been taking so many pictures of his proxy farm kid.

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

That now he's all of a sudden a pro. Maybe it is as simple as that.

[Joanna Robinson]

Do you think the huckle Robbie Shippers really enjoyed the but he's our Huckleberry moment?

[Rob Mahoney]

Maybe. But that whole exchange, to me, did. Did read as, like, very interested dad or uncle hearing about the younger person's New girlfriend.

[Joanna Robinson]

But what I love is he's like, how are you doing? And by you, I mean, how is Whitaker doing?

[Rob Mahoney]

Couldn't even hide it.

[Joanna Robinson]

All right. Anything else? You want to talk about the cliffhanger before we. Oh, I will say that this. We're about to go analog is what he says we are. Do you ever have, like, movie quote, like Tourette's? Almost just like someone says something you

[Rob Mahoney]

already know that we all do.

[Joanna Robinson]

I know. We're all sick. This isn't even from a movie I like. But there's a line in Pacific Rim.

[Rob Mahoney]

You don't like Pacific Rim.

[Joanna Robinson]

I don't. I don't like. It's fine. We'll talk about it.

[Rob Mahoney]

This is the most hurtful thing you've ever said to me.

[Joanna Robinson]

Sorry.

[Rob Mahoney]

Well, my poor Kaiju heart, perhaps then

[Joanna Robinson]

you know the line gypsy's analog nuclear.

[Rob Mahoney]

I actually don't know this line.

[Joanna Robinson]

I have a couple friends who say it all the time because they love Pacific Rim, and they just always go, gypsy's analog nuclear. So that's, like, what my brain did when he said, we're about to go analog. And then, of course, Dr. Jack Abbott, who is the most fun at every party, is like, this is gonna be great.

[Rob Mahoney]

See, I really needed a Dr. Jack Abbott. Cigarette almost falling out of his mouth. Hold onto your butts. Jurassic park switch flip moment. But we didn't get it.

[Joanna Robinson]

No. He's like, we're canceling the apocalypse. Here we go. That's true.

[Rob Mahoney]

Honestly, Abbot happy about it. And, I mean, this is the adrenaline junkie part of him.

[Joanna Robinson]

I'm happy about it because he means Abbott's not leaving the. The ED at any time.

[Rob Mahoney]

They need all the help they can get.

[Joanna Robinson]

Suit up, Dr. John Shen. We'll have the iced coffee waiting for you. Okay, last but not least. Again, we wanted to save this for last because I thought it was handled, like, really beautifully, but Alana Miller comes in. Dana, this is. This is one of those, like, audience education pieces that the. The pit does, right?

[Rob Mahoney]

For sure.

[Joanna Robinson]

Where, as Dana is explained to this character of Emma about all the steps and explaining to Alana in turn, sort of to make her feel in control in the room. Here's what I'm gonna do next. Here's what I'm gonna do next. We at home are now understanding what it means to be a sexual assault nurse examiner. The fact that she can't leave the room when she started all of the steps. And for her to. She's constantly saying. And Dana's not, like, lying, but she's constantly like, we're almost done, but it's the whole episode and we're not even done with this exam. So this is just like the pit is making us sit with how invasive and harrowing as. As, like, gentle as Dana is, being as. As caring as everyone who's involved with this is being. This is a re. Traumatizing experience.

[Rob Mahoney]

Completely.

[Joanna Robinson]

Like, you know, you and I know this and a lot of people at home know this, but, like, you know, some people have never watched something like this. And so I think I. I really loved this. There was something about when they asked Alana to undress and had to have her clothing on these various pads on the ground. There was something about the fact that she was wearing a red, white and blue bathing suit that absolutely shattered my heart. This is just a young woman who went out to enjoy the 4th of July and then the breakdown that she had about, he's my friend. He's friends with all my friends. He was drunk. He didn't mean all of that was just incredibly well done. Not to mention Catherine Lanasa's, like, silent performance when Emma and I think this is the storyline we were kind of looking for for Emma of, like, something for Emma to do that's not just like, helpless baby eyes. The fact that she's like, we'll go get the good snacks. Like, I'm curious to see Emma's ongoing role in this, but when they left and then we were just left with Dana, just who has been sort of moving the process along, having to, like, have the wave of the emotion of the experience crash over her as we watch. I just thought, this is incredibly good television. An incredibly good and important story to tell at the same time.

[Rob Mahoney]

Very much so. And I think, you know, Dr. Al Hajimi is not wrong when she tells Alana, like, you're in good hands, right. Like, there's almost no one you would want more than Dana doing something like this. I think both for the care she clearly has, but also just a level of discretion and information and clarity about, like, this is exactly what is coming next. This is what you can anticipate. This is the. These are the ways you're going to be touched, frankly. And I think you're absolutely right about just the invasiveness and the re. Traumatization of that process, which, yeah, is one thing to know it and another thing to see it, even in the context that they're gonna show on the pit. And when she's undressing, that was one of those moments that struck it with me too. Like, Obviously, there's the very physical, clear ways that this is going to be an invasive exam, but also, like, Dana is just like, inches from her, like, the physical proximity that they have to have basically at all times, even as she's undressing, even as she's, you know, nude behind a gown and has to turn and be blue lit in order to, you know, show whatever, like, fluids or secretions might be on her. It just all of that felt so up close and so, like, so difficult for any character to process in that moment. And this is where, like, I just feel comfortable with the Pit, exploring these kinds of storylines because I know and trust the care. I think it's because the Pit is not. Look, they're not just telling a story. There are a lot of shows out there that there's a sexual assault plotline, there's a sexual assault survivor, whatever it may be. And it's like, this is a character driven decision that's part of the plot or mechanics in some way that's happening with the Pit. But this is also a character we don't know we're meeting for the first time. And as you talked about, Jill, this is a show that is invested in the educational part of this experience, in the procedural unpacking of, like, what does it mean to be in the room you never want to be in? Whether that's the room where you find out you have cancer or the room where you say goodbye to a loved one, or the room where you relive, just hours after the fact, the sexual assault that even in that moment, you're, like, trying to understand and comprehend and explain away. It's incredibly heavy material for any show, but I do feel like the Pit handles it pretty deftly.

[Joanna Robinson]

That was really beautifully put, Rob. And I think there's a moment I am never going to compare anything I've gone through to what this woman is going through here. But to me, this is exactly what we were asking for the Pit to do last week, which is show us what the nurses can do. Don't tell us what the nurses can do. Right. And so when I had surgery last year, a few weeks after our. I presume we have the same medical plan. There was, like, just a part of our medical plan where a nurse called, called me several weeks after my procedure, just to. Who was not involved in the procedure at all, just to, like, talk to me about how I was doing.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

And just like, it was just a like. And to tell me about all the resources that were available to me. And she just had this like, the most comforting demeanor. I didn't know that this call was going to happen. She just called me to talk to me about it. And then she was like. She says something that is very similar to what Dana says here, where she was just like, you've gone through something very traumatic. And that just, like, flipped something in me where I was like, I had been trying so hard to just be like, this is fine. I'm fine. I can do this. I'm fine. I'm tough. I'm fine. And when she. There's something about someone just validating. When Dana says, you've experienced a horrific trauma.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joanna Robinson]

There's just something so vital in someone, just, like, looking at you and saying, you've been through something and you can be, you know, like, Alana is trying to hold something together in all of this. But that validation of just sort of like. Like, however you're feeling or however you've. You're trying not to feel is okay, because what. What has happened to you is hugely significant.

[Rob Mahoney]

Completely.

[Joanna Robinson]

And I, like, again, I'm not comparing my experience to this. This young woman's experience at all, but it's just sort of like that thing that anyone in the medical profession, but, like, quite often, I think the nurses, like, can provide for someone that validation that I see you and. And trying to offer a safe place for all of those emotions and all of the fear and all of the anger and however you might be feeling. It's just like there are so many layers to what people inside of any given hospital. But, like, you know, we've seen. We see a million patients cycle through the pit and all these various things, but it's this psychological element that the Pitt is. Can be really good at nails at the same time, for sure.

[Rob Mahoney]

And I think Tina Ivlev, who plays Ilana, I mean, just a really wonderful performance with a very, very tricky part, because I think if you're going to be the pit and you're going to embrace these storylines not just as storylines, but as, like, informational episodes for the people who are watching at home, the more, you know, that demands, like, a really naturalistic performance. And for her here, like, you're asking her to be a stand in almost for this very fraught subject matter in a way that's going to feel recognizable and familiar, but not, like, overly showy or overly performative. It's such a line to walk. And I think she just absolutely nails that disorientation, the kind of borderline denial at times. There's moments where she's just kind of almost drifting in and out of the room. And there's moments where she's overly reactive for the most understandable reasons. And it's hitting kind of all parts of that emotional spectrum, I think is just so hard to do as an actor without coming across as active. And this just feels like, you know, obviously, it's not true to life. It's still performance. It's all of that, but it feels grounded in the emotion of what they're trying to tell in such a real way, and it's such an inarguable way on the screen.

[Joanna Robinson]

I just. I thought this was a tremendous episode of television, just, like, had everything we could possibly want from the Pit. I don't think I mentioned at the top, but this episode is written by Chris and Pierre Geffman and R. Scott Gemmel and directed by UTA Brezewitz, who we've talked about about before as, like, this really incredible TV director. And so it's just like a really, you know, everyone on the Pit is very talented. This is a really great team that came together for this particular episode. And I'm. I'm really. I don't know. Excited is not always the word I want to use for the Pit because, like, there's so much heartbreak that's involved with it. But, like, I'm really interested to see where the Pit goes for the rest of the season. They've really, you know, this is like, the biggest trauma, I guess, here, which is like, the system is down. The expanded cast of characters has already filtered into the hospital, and it's like, here we go. So it's episode seven, got 15 episodes. So we're about at the halfway point of the season, and this is like, I guess it's go time for the rest of the season. And I don't think. I don't think if we continue this kind of momentum going forward, I don't think any of the bumps that we felt in the first half of the season were. Will be something we'll remember too much about Season two of the Pit.

[Rob Mahoney]

It feels a lot like setup in retrospect, right? Like things that you can see facilitating other plot line that would lead to this bit of character development or that we've been setting the stage for a couple episodes now. I think what's interesting now is now that the shit is really hitting the fan, everything is going analog. Hold onto your butts, et cetera, et cetera. Going nuclear.

[Joanna Robinson]

Nuclear.

[Rob Mahoney]

What does that mean for, like. I mean, as you talked about, Joe, like, this sexual assault examination is not Finished yet.

[Joanna Robinson]

And yet Dana can't leave that room.

[Rob Mahoney]

She can't leave that room.

[Joanna Robinson]

And shit's about to hit the fan. And Princess is incredibly capable, but Princess is gonna be in charge.

[Rob Mahoney]

Not her usual job, right? And there's all these little cases on the side that are like. This is a quieter thing that's happening over here. Baby Jane Doe's trying to sleep over here. And all of a sudden, people are gonna be wheeled into the ER screaming at each other because there's no charts, there's no computer access, there's no emails, there's no way of communicating other than being loud.

[Joanna Robinson]

And it will be like, you know, it'll be a really fun way for. Because when you compare. When you go back and watch ER and you compare the way they did things on ER before they had, like, tablets or, you know, all these things, it's like we're gonna have to do it ER style, and you're gonna see a lot more paper charts flying around. You're gonna see a lot of other things. So we're gonna like. It'll be a fun way for them to be like, hey, kids, we used to microwave vegetables and plastic bags, and we used to have paper charts for everything.

[Rob Mahoney]

Come stop by our lending library.

[Joanna Robinson]

Exactly. All right. Anything else you want to mention?

[Rob Mahoney]

I think we covered it, Joe. You said it, though. This is just a really great episode of TV of the Pit. I think we're. We're really setting up for an exciting back half of the season.

[Joanna Robinson]

All right, so tune in for us for the rest of the season. Rob has decided we're going to Pittsburgh for the finale. Spotify. Are you listening? And.

[Rob Mahoney]

And Anthrocon. Is that the one that's in Pittsburgh?

[Joanna Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

Let's do it. Why not?

[Joanna Robinson]

Will Kai Grady get in a furry suit? If we go to Anthrocon, he will

[Rob Mahoney]

donate an irresponsible amount of money to that. Go me however much it takes to make Kai a furry. I am willing to. I'm willing to chip in.

[Joanna Robinson]

Thank you to Kai Grady. I'm sorry if that was an HR violation. Thank you to Justin Sales. And we'll be back with more industry and more the Pit. Bye.