‘The Pitt’ Season 2 Finale: Dance Through the Darkness

Summary

The Prestige TV Podcast — ‘The Pitt’ Season 2 Finale: Dance Through the Darkness

Date: April 17, 2026
Hosts: Joanna Robinson & Rob Mahoney

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Episode Overview

The hosts, Joanna Robinson and Rob Mahoney, dive deep into the Season 2 finale of "The Pitt", reflecting on the emotional rollercoaster, narrative choices, and character arcs in this landmark episode. Framed largely by listener mail, the discussion examines unresolved theories, character send-offs, emotional beats, and production insights. The tone is conversational, critical, and occasionally irreverent, keeping the dialogue fresh and lively for committed fans.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Finale Feelings & Show Longevity

• Both hosts express a sense of loss and nostalgia as "The Pitt" wraps its second season, joking about fans worrying they might disappear with the show.
• [01:46] Rob Mahoney: “We're not gonna pass from this mortal coil.”
• A quick outline of upcoming shows they'll cover ("Euphoria", "Beef").

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2. The Mailbag: EMT Appreciation & Theory Debunking

• A playful listener email objectifies male EMTs, leading to an appreciation of their casting and a nod to real EMTs who wish their on-screen counterparts got more respect.
• Joanna notes that recent fan theories—Langdon stealing Whitaker’s badge, Santos’ scalpel, Heat Exhaustion Mom’s complicity—ultimately led nowhere, prompting reflection on whether the show truly "rewards" viewer theorizing.

Notable Quote:

• [05:07] Rob Mahoney: "With patients, I kind of like that the structure of the pit almost emulates the doctor's experience where you see these people for an intense brief period of time… and short of Langdon popping up to a higher floor to check on a patient, you really don't know what happens to them after that."

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3. Whitaker’s Arc: Identity, Class, and Codependence

• In-depth analysis of Whitaker's missing badge as a symbol of identity, aspiration, and insecurity.
  • Listener Andy (a psychodynamic therapist) proposes the badge represents Whitaker’s attempt to escape being “the farm boy Huckleberry."
  • Email from Anna adds: Amy picking Whitaker up in her husband’s truck (with baby in tow) suggests mutual codependency, but their dynamic is framed as sweet instead of dysfunctional.
• Debate over regional authenticity (Rolling Rock vs. Yuengling) and Gilligan’s Island references.

Notable Quotes:

• [07:59] Rob Mahoney: “...there’s something about the comfort with which he is falling into. Like, yes, maybe there is a codependence there. Right. Like, maybe this isn't the healthiest relationship for either of them...”
• [09:51] Joyda Robinson: “When you see it, you're like, this doesn't look dysfunctional. This looks quite sweet.”

Timestamp

• [03:05] - [10:18]

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4. Supporting Cast, Regional Flavor, and Cultural Touchstones

• Quick asides on STYX ("Renegade" as Pittsburgh sports anthem), regional beers, and TV habits in rural communities.
• Segues into whether certain references land authentically for characters’ backgrounds.

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5. The ‘Villain’ Power Rankings

• A listener requests a wrap-up ranking of the season's antagonists:
  • ICE tops the list, followed by security guards and the US healthcare system; MAGA Monica “doesn’t even make the list when you have these points of comparison.”
  • [16:54] Rob Mahoney: “ICE is going to be number one on the list. I’m sorry to say Maga Monica doesn’t even make the list…”

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6. Live Events & Behind-the-Scenes Insights

• Joanna moderates the Paley Fest panel with the cast; Taylor Dearden (Mel) earns a laugh with her psychoanalysis of the characters’ failings being deeply rooted and consistent.
  • [18:17] Joyda Robinson: “So Robbie’s really bad with women. Oh, his mom abandoned him. Okay!”

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7. Character Arcs: Satisfying or Not?

McKay

• Felt sidelined but still at the heart of emotional cases (esp. Roxy).
• Discussion on focusing the season’s emotional weight on certain characters over others.
• [20:41] Rob Mahoney: “As far as cases go, Roxy turned out to be one of the signature cases…”

Dr. Al Hashimi (Samira)

• Divisive fan and host reactions to her being written out (due to actor Supriya Ganesh leaving the show); questions over story vs. real-life circumstances.
• Uncertainty and dissatisfaction with how her storyline was wrapped, with neither hosts nor panelists feeling the arc—about capacity/disability—landed cleanly.
• Strong critique of the implied message: "This woman physically cannot do this job" as an unsatisfying note.
• [24:07] Rob Mahoney: “I think acceptance.”
• [26:52] Joanna Robinson: “This is just—Robbie thinks two women can't do their job. And both women kind of seem like they agree with him. Because, like, Samira... telling Robbie he's a bit of a dick, but that the ED needs him and she hopes he comes back... It’s a very much, 'I was wrong' kind of conversation.”

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8. Emotional Beats & Standout Moments

Mental Health, Mentorship, & Departures

• Multiple characters (esp. Langdon and Mohan) struggle, with hosts criticizing that Mohan’s exit felt abrupt and unearned given how central she’d become.
  • [36:10] Rob Mahoney: “The report in Variety was that this was a story driven decision to write Samira Mohan off the show. Where is the drive here?”
• Disappointment at the lack of closure for key departing characters (echoed from Season 1 with Dr. Collins).

Victoria’s Journey

• Final scenes point her towards emergency psych, an arc both hosts find earned and satisfying.
  • [43:16] Rob Mahoney: “Badass self care.”
  • [44:23] Rob Mahoney: “...you are brought in to consult with people who need help, who are looking for some kind of outlook, and you're trying to help them find it...”

Mel & Santos’s Unlikely Friendship / Karaoke Moment

• A “musical moment” as catharsis; both hosts rave about Mel and Santos’ friendship, how it became “an unlikely animal friendship...a lion and a dog.”
  • [45:46] Rob Mahoney: “Being drunk in character is really hard or half drunk in character. Dancing in character, very difficult. And yet everything [Taylor Dearden] does feels like exactly Mel.”

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9. Humor & Light-Hearted Finale Traditions

• Annual doctor tomfoolery: Dr. Shen and Dr. Ellis’ antics with the “dead in chairs” case.
  • [47:09] Joyda Robinson: “Can we talk about my favorite finale tradition, which is Dr. Shen and Dr. Ellis? Like, tomfoolery...”
  • [48:24] Rob Mahoney: “But this episode needs some of that, right? Where can you find the humor in it?”

Female Solidarity

• Final rooftop scene with all the women of the Pit—emotionally resonant moment, especially Perla’s tears during the fireworks.
  • [49:16] Rob Mahoney: “...Perla with tears in her eyes watching the fireworks at the end of this kind of day really hit me.”

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10. Main Event: Robbie & Langdon’s Parallel Arcs

Robbie’s Breakdown & Mental Health

• Multiple listeners (including mental health professionals) criticize how no one directly asks Robbie about suicidal ideation—hosts agree this is a surprising miss.
  • [58:00] Joyda Robinson: “Several mental health professionals wrote in to say it is very odd that no one asked Robbie directly about suicidal ideation...”
• Joanna admires Noah Wylie’s vulnerable performance: “...I like him as a person much less this season than I liked him in season one. I kind of love him as a character.”
• The finale's resonant image: Robbie swaddling baby Jane Doe (and symbolically, himself) in the hospital nursery where he once broke down—the visual evocatively communicates his isolation and emotional overload.
  • [63:24] Joyda Robinson: “...in the scene where he is swaddling the baby but actually swaddling himself, he's in the nursery, which is his most triggering spot... and there's a sun in the mural on the wall—framed behind him to almost look like a halo.”

Langdon’s Vindication

• Langdon, earlier thought to be unreliable, bluntly confronts Robbie about his self-destructive, addiction-like workaholism:
  • [53:50] Rob Mahoney: “As a person, Dr. Langdon coming to Dr. Robbie... and telling him, ‘You need help’ in the most direct fashion possible. It’s never going to work because of how testy their relationship is... but you still have to try if that person matters to you.”

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11. The Medical Case: Ultimate Viscera

• The main medical case (Judith and her baby) serves as nexus for character intersection and outstanding production design:
  • [66:18] Rob Mahoney: “The viscera’s unreal… the amniotic sack ripple.”
  • [66:23] Joyda Robinson: “I rewatched that like four different times.”
  • Noted that major cases in season finales are selected by medical consultants to maximize drama and cast involvement.

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Final Reflections & Looking Forward

• The season finale delivered powerful acting and moments of authentic human messiness, even if not all arcs or exits felt narratively satisfying.
• Both hosts underscore the joys of deep engagement, even with imperfect storytelling—"I don't think this is the best show on television, but I do understand why it's probably gonna win the Emmy again." [64:38]
• Season 3 is confirmed, set in November—speculation about Thanksgiving-themed medical chaos and frigid hospital scenes.
• [67:50] Rob Mahoney: “Shout out to all our amniotic sacks out there.”

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Memorable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• “We're not gonna pass from this mortal coil.” (Rob Mahoney, 01:46)
• “With patients, I kind of like that the structure of the pit almost emulates the doctor's experience...” (Rob Mahoney, 05:07)
• “ICE is going to be number one on the list. I’m sorry to say Maga Monica doesn’t even make the list…” (Rob Mahoney, 16:54)
• “So Robbie’s really bad with women. Oh, his mom abandoned him. Okay!” (Taylor Dearden via Joanna, 18:17)
• “Being drunk in character is really hard or half drunk in character. Dancing in character, very difficult. And yet everything she does feels like exactly Mel.” (Rob Mahoney, 45:46)
• “...in the scene where he is swaddling the baby but actually swaddling himself, he's in the nursery, which is his most triggering spot... and there's a sun ... framed behind him to almost look like a halo.” (Joyda Robinson, 63:24)
• “Shout out to all our amniotic sacks out there.” (Rob Mahoney, 67:50)

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Important Segments & Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | |-----------------------------|---------------| | Show Farewells & Teaser | 01:28–02:31 | | Mailbag & Fan Theories | 03:05–07:59 | | Whitaker’s Arc & Symbolism | 07:05–10:18 | | Supporting Cast/Regional Talk| 11:12–14:13 | | Villain Power Rankings | 16:11–17:23 | | Finale Panel & Taylor Dearden | 18:00–19:04 | | Major Character Arc Rundown | 19:16–32:27 | | Dr. Al Hashimi Discussion | 22:03–32:27 | | Mohan’s Exit & Frustrations | 35:12–41:11 | | Victoria, Mel & Santos Moments | 43:16–46:46 | | Shen & Ellis Tomfoolery | 47:09–48:24 | | Women Assembled Rooftop | 49:13–49:27 | | Robbie & Langdon’s Confrontation | 51:07–58:00 | | Robbie’s Mental Health & Conclusion | 58:00–63:37 | | Main Medical Case Discussion | 66:18–67:47 | | Closing Reflections | 64:19–65:19 |

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Conclusion

This finale episode of "The Pitt" Season 2 is dissected with humor, empathy, and acute critical insight. While contentious narrative choices leave some character arcs wanting, the hosts celebrate the show's rawness, production prowess, and the communal ritual of appointment TV. The podcast’s mailbag format, inclusion of listener voices, and unfiltered reactions make this a must-listen recap for die-hard fans and viewers seeking extra context.

Transcript

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[Joyda Robinson]

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

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm Rob Mahoney.

[Joyda Robinson]

It's the pit finale. Devastating, Rob. Honestly, very sad.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's tough.

[Joyda Robinson]

We've been hearing from a lot of people that they're gonna, quote, miss us when the pit is over. Yeah, guess what? We'll still be here.

[Rob Mahoney]

We're not gonna pass from this mortal coil.

[Joyda Robinson]

We're not expiring. We're. We're not going to the roof to watch the fireworks. We will still be here covering other shows. Euphoria is happening. A show that a lot of people are watching.

[Rob Mahoney]

Including us.

[Joyda Robinson]

Including us.

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm having a good time so far.

[Joyda Robinson]

I actually really like it, but a lot of people are watching it for other reasons, and that's fine, too.

[Rob Mahoney]

Seems like a great reason to listen to a podcast of two people bantering about it delightfully.

[Joyda Robinson]

Oh, is that what we do?

[Rob Mahoney]

I think so.

[Joyda Robinson]

Okay. Also, Beef, the Netflix series season two of Beef is dropping a binge drop this week. We will be covering it in three different episodes. So if you want to hear us talk about Beef, we will be doing that as well. So Euphoria, Beef, and many other shows to come. So stick around. We're still here.

[Rob Mahoney]

This place needs us, and we need it, right?

[Joyda Robinson]

Oh, sure, sure. Yeah, Absolutely. We're very important. Anything you want to say before we get into our sort of robust mailbag that we have here for the finale?

[Rob Mahoney]

Just that I enjoy this journey as always with you, Joe. And this is our first, like, episode by episode for the Pit specifically. But every time we wind down one of these shows, it feels like the end of something.

[Joyda Robinson]

Yeah, but it's. It's. I guess it would be the longest continuous run we've done on anything.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's true. And because of that, it does feel like we have been doing this since the day I was born. Like this has. It has felt like a long season. Not in a bad way, but this is a run.

[Joyda Robinson]

We've been doing this all year.

[Rob Mahoney]

Truly.

[Joyda Robinson]

Mailbag time. So, Caroline, I'm going to start with some thirst from our listener, Caroline. Okay, who said. I know we've talked about the various hotness factors, but for the love. What are they cast? What are the casting calls for the male EMTs. The EMT that brought in Roxy, the EMT that brought in singing drunk head gunshot guy. Quote, looking for tall, muscled men who fill out their shirt sleeves, look great in blue, and can flex their bicep as they hold Items at a 90° for extended periods of time. Acting experience is a bonus. End quote. Caroline. Just wanted to appreciate the EMTs. We actually got a couple emails from, like, in a more serious way, of people who work as EMTs who are like, hey, man, we wish our characters got a bit more respect on the Pit. And here's Caroline respecting them in a certain way.

[Rob Mahoney]

Absolutely.

[Joyda Robinson]

I would say, you know, we.

[Rob Mahoney]

We salute them and their biceps and

[Joyda Robinson]

their physiques and their expertise.

[Rob Mahoney]

Absolutely. Their expertise. But they have. They did, especially last week, become a bit of a punching bag in an unfortunate way.

[Joyda Robinson]

I. I want to. So, more broadly, a lot of the emails that we got last week were about women. Whitaker's badge and a possible Langdon relapse was a very popular theory that was going around. Did not wind up being true. No, we got a couple great emails that don't have anything to do with that. But I kind of want to talk to you more broadly about theories here at the end of the season. Right. Okay. So the popular theory that Langdon stole Whitaker's badge and relapsed and that's why he came out of the bathroom looking sweaty and something, something, something. What is Santos gonna do with her stolen scalpel? That was like a question a lot of people were asking. Heat exhaustion, mom, are we gonna learn something new and complicated about how complicit she was in what happened? And the answer to all of that is nothing. Right, Right. So does it change the way you think about theories and this show? Is this a show that sort of teases you with potential mysteries and then like nothing much comes of it. Are there other ways in which theories pan out? What do you think?

[Rob Mahoney]

I think about it differently for patients versus doctors.

[Joyda Robinson]

Okay.

[Rob Mahoney]

With patients, I kind of like that the structure of the pit almost emulates the doctor's experience where you see these people for an intense brief period of time. And then short of Langdon popping up to a higher floor to check on a patient, you really don't know what happens to them after that. And once they're in another doctor's hands and other department's hands, it's kind of out of your control. So the patients I kind of fully expect to not get any follow up. The Langdon Whitaker badge stuff, I just. That would be such a bad plan. Even if you are a desperate addict who's trying to get pills, like it's so easily traceable back to you that it never really tracked as something that would be possible. The Santos thing I think makes sense. As someone who is not necessarily even actively engaging in the practice of self harm, but like is in a tough moment and sort of considering it and ideating it. And so it also feels truthful to where she's been this season that she's like, for lack of a better phrasing, like keeping her options open as far as like what self medicating looks like

[Joyda Robinson]

for her and opting to drink and go to karaoke instead.

[Rob Mahoney]

Much healthier. Alanis. Much healthier.

[Joyda Robinson]

It's great. Honestly, one of my favorite things that has ever happened on the Pit. Like without question on the badge front from Andy, who's a psychodynamic therapist. Really interesting analysis of Whitaker and the badge as sort of a character beat, which I really loved. So this is what Andy said. Whitaker. I imagine for him the badge signified his no longer being the farm boy Huckleberry. In addition to it symbolizing his capacity to accomplish things or either honor slash disavow his family. We really don't know much about Whitaker, in my opinion, beyond how others engage with and define him or what we are shown happening to him. Who is Whitaker beyond acts of service to others? I think this question that I have about Whitaker is one that Robbie is grappling with. Except Whitaker, being new, hasn't yet reached the point of losing his sense of self and purpose to the role of an ED physician. So I love that idea from Andy of it's not. It's not a. Did Langdon steal the badge? Or like, you know, because at the end of the day it's kind of just a punchline where the badge ends up.

[Rob Mahoney]

But it's also not that kind of show.

[Joyda Robinson]

But what? Well, that was my question. Is it that kind of show? I, I, I don't know. Is it sometimes that kind of show and sometimes not? Yeah, I never liked it. Again, I say this all the time. I never like to tell people they're watching TV incorrectly, but I do think it's interesting at the end of a season to sort of sit and say, okay, is this the kind of show that is leading, is leaving those kinds of breadcrumbs for theories or not, but like, this idea that Whitaker, who in last week's episode, in a scene that we didn't love but who said, like, hey, man, don't define me. You know, I'm not the Ashok's little buddy, Gilligan, et cetera, that for him, the badge would mean something more than it does for some other folks in the ed and so for him to lose it feels like, oh, I am just a fumbling farm boy. Perhaps. I am just the guy who gets. Who has to change his scrubs, you know, nine different times in a shift or something like that. So I thought that was interesting.

[Rob Mahoney]

I do like it, and I fully buy it for that character, that those sorts of status symbols would mean something for him. In addition to the kind of endpoint we get for him in this season where Amy pulls up with the truck with baby Theo, and it's like, there's something about that whole moment that I think is very sweet and very, like, it casts, I think, his whole relationship and dynamic and the way it was portrayed this season in a bit of a different light. And some of it is just sort of the comfort with which he is falling into. Like, yes, maybe there is a codependence there. Right. Like, maybe this isn't the healthiest relationship for either of them, but there's something about the, like, oh, she's, like, gonna give up the driver's seat and he's gonna step into it, and he's, like, assuming a different kind of status in that, in that way with his, like, surrogate family.

[Joyda Robinson]

He's slipping into someone else's spot.

[Rob Mahoney]

Truck, certainly.

[Joyda Robinson]

Yeah. I. We got a great email about this where from Anna, who said Amy is clearly showing up in her husband's. Anna had gotten to see the the episode early. This is the only email we have that's about this finale because they screen the episode both at Paley Fest and then also for healthcare workers.

[Rob Mahoney]

I've heard of Paley Fest.

[Joyda Robinson]

Cool. At the Alamo Drafthouse, they did a screening. They did a screening for healthcare workers. And so Anna attended one of those screenings. But she wrote Amy is clearly showing up in her husband's old truck. And the role Whitaker plays in her life is so vis like to show how they immediately switch places so that Whitaker can drive. Clearly there's a cultural component of Amy's traditional farmhouse lifestyle requiring the man in her life take the front seat. But the fact that her presumably less than one year old baby is in the backseat past 10pm indicates that she doesn't have a support system. The fact that Amy picks Whitaker up draws attention to the fact that he likely doesn't have a car. With his financial insecurity, I think there's some codependency there. But. But given both of their upbringings, I can see this resulting in marriage down the line. It's giving ring before spring energy. And I really, I really agree. But I'm also like, you know, Robbie's so concerned about it.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joyda Robinson]

But when you see it, you're like, this doesn't look dysfunctional. This looks quite sweet. And when Robbie's watching it happen, I don't quite know, like how he's interpreting that moment, but it seems like he's like, oh, that looks like a full life in a way that I don't have. I was judging him for doing that, but like he's putting the music on. He's got a relationship with this baby already. Like, you know, Amy's quite fond of him. Like, I don't know, it looks kind of nice.

[Rob Mahoney]

It seems like something. And of all the people to take real life advice from at work. Robbie's not the guy. Right?

[Joyda Robinson]

Robbie's not the guy. Last thing on the Whitaker badge front is our, our listener Larry, identified before seeing this episode, identified the exact moment Whitaker lost his badge, which is when he collides with a new intern in the last week's episode when she was freaked out by seeing the dummy.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yes.

[Joyda Robinson]

And she's like, what's that? So if he lost his badge like in the vicinity of the dummy and that is like where Digby found it because we see him with the dummy later on, et cetera. So how are you feeling about the way that Digby's story wrapped up and the way that Whitaker's story.

[Rob Mahoney]

Story wrapped up here, I thought the Digby. I mean, it's kind of silly.

[Joyda Robinson]

It's just funny.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's fine. I, I kind of would prefer that he just wheel off with the dummy and the badge. I don't Know why we need this, like, speech about fireworks? Other than everyone in the greater Pittsburgh area is an expert on the history of fireworks.

[Joyda Robinson]

Listen, Pittsburgh pride. It matters, apparently. So on that front, we got a couple. I would say many emails about a couple things. Do you want to. Do you want to talk about Sticks and what we missed about the band? Sticks?

[Rob Mahoney]

Please.

[Joyda Robinson]

Okay.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, like, I really don't know a lot about Sticks other than the hits, so I would love to be educated.

[Joyda Robinson]

Oh. At every. I think every Steelers game, they play Renegade in the fourth quarter, as they should, like a traditional. So Sticks has a strong association with Pittsburgh.

[Rob Mahoney]

I would love the origin of that because it feels more Raiders coded to me.

[Joyda Robinson]

Renegade.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joyda Robinson]

Okay.

[Rob Mahoney]

I don't know, maybe that's me projecting a little bit too much on, like, the true Raider psychos out there that are, like, Mad Max style, decked out in cosplay.

[Joyda Robinson]

Oh, my father, you mean, who is an Oakland Raiders fan. Whoa.

[Rob Mahoney]

Did not know this. We're going to have to unpack. On the greater Pennsylvania knowledge front, Joe, we did get many, many emails and comments about our raising of youngling versus Rolling Rock. What would be the accurate beer in this particular occasion? Happy to defer and say we were wrong.

[Joyda Robinson]

You know what?

[Rob Mahoney]

Rolling Rock. More regionally appropriate, it turns out.

[Joyda Robinson]

Absolutely. Again, still on the Whitaker front. We got a lot of Whitaker emails.

[Rob Mahoney]

The people love Dennis. Feels weird calling him Dennis, but feels very familiar.

[Joyda Robinson]

The Gilligan's island question. Right. We were asking whether or not someone his age would be that familiar with Gilligan's Island. We got a lot of email from people saying, hey, man, he grew up in rural Nebraska.

[Rob Mahoney]

Sure.

[Joyda Robinson]

Perhaps in rural Nebraska, they watch a lot of Gilligan's Island. Here's what I was gonna say.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah, please.

[Joyda Robinson]

So every summer I used to go to Spokane, Washington, which is where my grandpa lives. And right outside Spokane is Sprague, Washington, where we had, like, family who owned a farm. So, like, super rural Washington, you know, they. They let me drive the combine. I learned how to ride a horse on this farm, et cetera, et cetera. They did have, like, they. They could not get normal television out there. So they had, like, satellites.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yes.

[Joyda Robinson]

And. And then a lot of people wrote in saying, like, I could see them having a DVD collection of Gilgames Island. We grew up watching Gilligan's island on dvd. So, like, is there an aspect of being from rural Nebraska? A wholesome, family friendly show like Gilligan's island could perhaps be in Dennis's repertoire a bit more than it might be in Your average Gen Z doctor's repertoire.

[Rob Mahoney]

I reject the assumption. Baked in because of the exact thing you mentioned, which is honestly, the first people I ever knew who had satellite TV were in extremely rural areas and had the hundreds, if not thousands of channels. So it's like, there are so many ways to get content and TV and shows and movies now, but maybe, like,

[Joyda Robinson]

some people don't even have satellite and they just have, like, their DVD collection.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, we support physical media on this podcast.

[Joyda Robinson]

We do.

[Rob Mahoney]

Look, it's possible. I just wouldn't assume that just because someone grew up in a rural area, they're watching shows from the 60s.

[Joyda Robinson]

Hashtag, not all farmers, Rob said.

[Rob Mahoney]

But someone has to stand up for them.

[Joyda Robinson]

Shout out to Pat and Willard, who taught me how to play cribbage. Oh. On. On what the spice of life is, which is a question we asked last week.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yep.

[Joyda Robinson]

A game. I don't think you played very well.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think I answered it quite literally.

[Joyda Robinson]

Um, but is literal a fun way to play a game?

[Rob Mahoney]

It's not. Look, the. The non literal way is.

[Joyda Robinson]

That was like a real no, but not a yes. And from you. No, but it's literally salt.

[Rob Mahoney]

Joanna, there's literally one answer to this question. Unfortunately, I think the actual answer for me is paprika. That would be my spice of life if I were to pick one that is not salt or black pepper.

[Joyda Robinson]

Thank you for playing this game. Greg wrote into.

[Rob Mahoney]

Actually, hold on. I need to commandeer the podcast once again. I did see some commentary calling me basic for picking salt and pepper. Let me tell you, you're wrong.

[Joyda Robinson]

Like, ultimately, I mean, S and P is important.

[Rob Mahoney]

S and P is not only important, but the. The baseline of a lot of modern, at least Western, cooking. And most importantly, if you can't make good food with just salt and pepper, you're not a very good cook, I'm sorry to say.

[Joyda Robinson]

Tough. It's still cardamom pork humid. But Greg Ryan didn't talk about a thing that landed his wife in the ed, which was having too much nutmeg. Oh, that. She. She was. I think she's making yogurt.

[Rob Mahoney]

Okay.

[Joyda Robinson]

Was meant to sprinkle some nutmeg on, instead, dumped nutmeg and was like, oh, well, I guess I'll just go with it.

[Rob Mahoney]

I love pumpkin pie. Why not?

[Joyda Robinson]

Let's do it. Struggled through it and then it. It made her high. Essentially, the nutmeg gave her.

[Rob Mahoney]

Like, she duned it.

[Joyda Robinson]

Yeah, she did. She spiced it. So she had to go to the ed and they said Their only solution was ride it out, baby. Ride the nutmeg high all the way. I didn't know the nutmeg could do that.

[Rob Mahoney]

I didn't know it could do that. I mean, it is a spice that you obviously use in pretty sparing amounts. But I will say, Joe, I don't know what your experience is with grading your own nutmeg. Yeah, a real game changer really elevates the whole thing.

[Joyda Robinson]

I agree, but I. For some reason, there's something about the experience of grating nutmeg versus, let's say garlic, you know, microplanning nutmeg versus garlic or ginger, something like that. Where I'm more inclined to, like, fuck up my own fingers or nails. Because the. The round.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's hard. It's hard to get a handle, you know, it's tough. It's just the cost of doing business. If you want the most aromatic possible Thanksgiving desserts.

[Joyda Robinson]

Okay, guess what? I'm almost done.

[Rob Mahoney]

What is this podcast about again?

[Joyda Robinson]

Nutmeg. Rolling Rock Furries. Shane. Okay, Shane wrote in, I didn't prep you for this, so it's okay if you don't have an answer. But Shane wrote in saying, can we get a final ranking of our biggest enemies this season? Did Ogilvy successfully cry his way off the list? Shane offers up this list. Buba guy.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yep.

[Joyda Robinson]

Golf douche, Ice, Maga Monica.

[Rob Mahoney]

He says as a monolith.

[Joyda Robinson]

Maga Monica.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joyda Robinson]

Power trip security guard, generative AI, the hospital CEO, the hackers, the entire US healthcare system, and the EMTs that were afraid of boobs. Who's number one? You think it might be ICE?

[Rob Mahoney]

Here's the thing. ICE is going to be number one on the list. I'm sorry to say Maga Monica doesn't even make the list when you have these points of comparison.

[Joyda Robinson]

I kind of agree. I kind of agree.

[Rob Mahoney]

What? She called someone a snowflake.

[Joyda Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

There's so much work. Someone literally held hospitals for ransom. You know, I just think there's. There are worse villains.

[Joyda Robinson]

Okay, so Ogilvy and Maga Monica. Innocent. Your favorite characters of the season, I think is what you're saying.

[Rob Mahoney]

I did not say that.

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

Sorry.

[Rob Mahoney]

Did we get on the list the security guard who tased Jackson? Okay.

[Joyda Robinson]

Power trip security guard. Yes.

[Rob Mahoney]

Power trip security guard. Gotta be pretty high on the list as well.

[Joyda Robinson]

I agree. Email us prestigious Spotify.com or for the last time this season. Yeah, Dr. Cybanks. Gmail.com if you have other enemies, I would just like to know if we missed anyone.

[Rob Mahoney]

I also want to say, if you're catching this podcast late, we will still receive the emails from drcidebangsmail.com will we have a means to respond to them on a podcast? Who knows?

[Joyda Robinson]

They're. They're several weeks behind in the UK I think they're only on, like, episode three. So we did get a couple, like, maggot emails this week from people who are just, like, sort of catching up with the season. So I look forward to those continuing to roll in. Let's. Last but not least, we'll crawl in. There you go. Wriggle in.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joyda Robinson]

Yeah. Last but not least, several members of the cast were at Pily Fest at an event this weekend with the finale. I did get to moderate the panel. That was very cool. Thank you so much for smirking at me, Rob. It's a.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's a huge deal. I don't know why we're not celebrating this. I just.

[Joyda Robinson]

I.

[Rob Mahoney]

Very cool.

[Joyda Robinson]

I just wanted to shout out that my favorite thing that happened on the panel was Taylor Deard. And this has been clipped, but Taylor Durden was talking about how, you know, I was asking them the question of, like, what is something your character's been very wrong about this season? Because it's something we like about the pit, definitely, when these characters are behaving badly. And it's very human. Right. It's very well rounded. And so Taylor Darden was talking about how, you know, she had her answer. It was about Becca, of course, et cetera. But she said, what I like is all of these missteps from these people feel very much in character. There's always a reason for it. It's always in line with something. She's like, so Robbie's really bad with women. Oh, his mom abandoned him. Okay. You know, so, like, that. That was a great Taylor Dearden moment, I thought, from the panel, and I would suggest people check it out. Her delivery was better than mine, but,

[Rob Mahoney]

yeah, you know what my highlight of the panel was seeing the very warm reception to our own Joanna Robinson and the work you did on said panel. I mean, this is. This is just a highlight for me personally.

[Joyda Robinson]

Okay.

[Rob Mahoney]

I had a great time.

[Joyda Robinson]

I don't really want to go beat by beat in this episode. I kind of want to just check in on our favorite characters. I think we've already covered Whitaker, you know, end to end. But, like, check in with our favorite characters and see how they're doing at the end of this day, how we feel about their arc this season and how it all panned out. I want to start with Dr. McKay, Dr. Sidebangs herself. We got some emails from folks saying, like, they really felt like she got sidelined for a lot of the season. And I think other than, you know, being heavily flirted with, good for her. Yes, repeatedly. And then this. The Roxy case was like, sort of her big story this season. And then the last couple episodes, really just kind of hanging around. She gets in, she gets drawn into the sort of the wild pregnancy, you know, emergency case here at the end. She's on the. She's with the. The. The baby, the infant, et cetera. But in general, how do you feel like McKay's story sort of wrapped up this season? It's hard to top, you know, the ankle monitor, ex husband, child, dad, all the other stuff that she had going on. Last season.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think there was a bit of a handoff. And look, this is just gonna be one of the realities of a show with this kind of. Not every season is going to be a heavy McKay season. And so I feel like we got a bit of a handoff from some McKay heavy stuff in season one to more Samir Mohan heavy stuff in season two. Your mileage may vary on how all of that landed in the finale, but that, to me, is some of the trade off in terms of screen time. I do think, as far as cases go, Roxy turned out to be one of the signature cases of the season.

[Joyda Robinson]

I agree.

[Rob Mahoney]

In terms of patience rolling through the door, and also lasted 5, 6 episodes like it was. It was quite an ordeal emotionally, in terms of screen time, in terms of the effect and all the people in the room. So she was at the center of a kind of action. It's just not drilling an ankle monitor.

[Joyda Robinson]

I agree on. On the one hand, I agree with you that there will be trade offs. On the other hand, I do think season one did a slightly better job of evenly distributing the stories. I think this season, Langdon's admittedly, like, quite dramatic sort of return to the Ed and then Robbie's whole thing took up a lot of space for sure this season. Um, and so, yeah, we'll talk about Samira, of course, but I think, you know, characters like Mel and characters like McKay, you know, suffered as a result. Santos a little bit too. You know, like, we're just kind of backgrounded a bit this season.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think that speaks to the season overall and the finale in particular, which was. This was a good enough season. I thought it was a pretty solid finale. But I do think the pit in season two struggled with that misallocation of resources. The most Crucial of which is being screen time for some of these people and some of these stories where, if you're paying so much attention to Langton, what does that come at a cost of? If you're paying so much attention to Dr. Alashimi, which I just think that story completely flopped here in the finale.

[Joyda Robinson]

I really agree.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah. What are you trading off to do that, Dr. Alashimi?

[Joyda Robinson]

Let's talk about her. I want to. Again, we're recording this a little early, so we don't get to see sort of all the postmortem interviews that the various cast members have given. I did get to moderate this panel. I did ask them about Dr. Al Hashimi. They gave a fairly, I thought, generic answer. And that's fine. That's their right to do on a panel. But I don't think they really illuminated. I was just sort of like, what was the point of this arc? And they were just sort of described literally what happened, rather than sort of talk about what larger point they were trying to make. That's fine. But I pal. A friend of the pod, Katie Richard, told me that she did interview Sepi Mwafi, So I would really like people to go listen to that interview on the Ankler Prestige Junkie podcast. So I do not want to, like, scoop her coverage or whatever, but I was really. We were both a bit baffled by Sabi, who plays Dr. Al Hashimi, her interpretation, which was not. So what's your interpretation of how the Dr. Al Hashimi storyline wraps up in this episode?

[Rob Mahoney]

My interpretation is that this woman is very smart, Dr. Lashimi. Very smart, very qualified, and absolutely fucking unfit to do this job. And the fact that she has talked herself into thinking that she could even attempt it is almost, like, unfathomable to me. And I think the most charitable read on that is, you know, when we want something so badly, we're willing to explain away a lot about ourselves and our circumstances, and especially if, like, your circumstances are changing under your feet in real time. I get how a really ambitious and driven person would try to convince themselves and others that they still deserve to do the thing they want to do. But watching it play out and specifically watching the absolute lack of momentum or movement on this story basically every step of the way. Like, Robbie was skeptical of her from episode one. It turns out, as you raise this being, like, a potential issue, that he was just kind of validated in that skepticism. And she. In this episode, it's just like, I have no idea how to connect with her perspective on the argument. She's Trying to make.

[Joyda Robinson]

What's your interpretation of her sort of outburst in the car at the very end of the episode?

[Rob Mahoney]

I think acceptance.

[Joyda Robinson]

See that? So, again, I'm not trying to scoop my pal Katie Rich. I really would like people to check out that interview. That is not the actress's interpretation. Wow. That it is her frustration at. She believes her character is right and Robbie is wrong and that it's about sort of like making accommodations for people's. I don't know if this is the right word, but, like, disabilities. Like. Like, what are the accommodations you can make inside of a workplace for people who have things that are obstacles for their. You know, like.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah, I don't.

[Joyda Robinson]

I don't. First of all, I find it hard to. To uncover that interpretation inside of the episode that was presented to us, whether it's in the edit or something like that. To me, that looked like defeat. Her stopping her car specifically, because when Robbie's like, you shouldn't even be driving. So her pumping the brakes and he is right. And her pumping the brakes on the car, I. My interpretation was this is her acceptance that she cannot even drive, let alone do this job the way that she wants to do it. The question I have to ask myself, though, is, like, this actress is meant to be here next season. So what. You know, what is. She's talked about. She's going back to work on season three. So, like, what role is Dr. Al Hashimi playing in season three? I. I'm, like, quite confused by it again, you know, And Noah Wy articulated this very well on the paleofest panel, talking about how he likes. He's like, we've caught Robbie on a very particularly bad day for sure. I like that he. That we allow him to be petty, you know, to be shitty inside of this episode. Samira calls him a dick. You know, like Dr. Langdon's like, you need help.

[Rob Mahoney]

You know, so 100% fucked up.

[Joyda Robinson]

There are many ways in which the show is not saying Dr. Robbie. He's great and fine, right? But when he's, like, kind of right about Dr. Al Hashimi from the start, when he's seemingly kind of right about Samira, I really hated how that conversation went. Like, I was actually having quite a bad time with this finale until the Alanis Morissette karaoke happened. Because between the Mohan scene and the Al Hashimi scene, I was just like, this is just. Robbie thinks two women can't do their job. And both women kind of seem like they agree with him. Because, like, Samira. Samira telling Robbie he's a bit of a dick, but that the ED needs him and she hopes he comes back. And her mother was treating her like a child, and she let her, and she's just sort of like. It's a very much I was wrong kind of conversation. And Robbie not really saying I was wrong and I shouldn't have treated you that way, and I was projecting my mommy issues onto you or my own, like, experience. Like, he has no concession on his side. So I was just sort of like, what? What are we doing here? I was really confused by it.

[Rob Mahoney]

The Mohan stuff is very frustrating, but I kind of want to put a pin in it because to me, it's like a whole separate conversation about the future of this show. And that character with Alashimi, I think part of the problem I'm having with this endpoint, whether you see it as frustration, whether you see it as defeat, the way she has concealed this secret about herself makes me reconsider almost everything she has raised over the course of the season. As far as, like, should there be two attendings on the floor? That no longer feels like I'm trying to do what's best for the ed. It feels like I'm trying to do what allows me to do this job.

[Joyda Robinson]

I think it can be both.

[Rob Mahoney]

It can be both. But it's like, even something like, you know the argument she gets into with Robbie earlier about being named in a lawsuit, it's like, does she not want to be named in a lawsuit because she doesn't want the scrutiny that comes with something like that? That she doesn't want to be deposed? Like Mel's being deposed?

[Joyda Robinson]

Possibly. But I think it's more. I mean, from what she's explained to him, this is not something that has been an ongoing issue inside of her career as a medical professional. This is an exceptional day that this has happened to her. And I'm not saying. I'm not saying, you know, you and I both raised this. We raised it in the sort of, like, the medical diagnosis spoiler section. So it's possible that people didn't hear us talk about it earlier. But, like, we were both appalled by the idea that she was hiding this thing. That is a very risky thing for her to grapple with inside of a job where she needs to be able to act quickly, think quickly, move quickly, you know, and she's. She's pushing back on Robbie. I'm not really on her side, like you. I'm not really on her side, but overall, it's just a very dissatisfying Storyline.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joyda Robinson]

For Robbie to just be. Just think, no one else can do this job better than I can. And look, this woman physically cannot do this job is a really weird outcome. I think at the end of the

[Rob Mahoney]

day, I just think it's so much messier than trying to make space and accommodation for people with disability or different needs.

[Joyda Robinson]

Right. I agree with you. Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

And some of that is like, look, even within this episode, two attendings on the floor, you transpose Dr. Rabi, who is a good but flawed physician, with Dr. Alashimi, with Judith and her baby. We've seen already this season, Alashemi, freeze, have one of her seizures at this moment, which is confronted with this past trauma from working with Doctors Without Borders.

[Joyda Robinson]

And.

[Rob Mahoney]

And like, the very specific pain that that caused. Like, is she fit to be in that room in that, like, split second emergency where if they do not get this baby out in seconds.

[Joyda Robinson]

Right.

[Rob Mahoney]

There's huge risk to both the baby and the mother. It's just like the fact that you're raising that within this episode as she's trying to defend herself. And I think almost most damningly, the fact that she's going to the chief neurologist to basically get a permission slip tells you that she knows there's something wrong with this. Like, if it was fine, you don't need anyone's approval to do this.

[Joyda Robinson]

Where I would disagree with you is that is there a role that she can play on the floor that is extremely helpful. Yes. That does not. And that's her argument. That doesn't require her being in those particular moments.

[Rob Mahoney]

I think that part. I think that's absolutely true. In the case. It's not being an attending, though, or an attending that.

[Joyda Robinson]

That plays a different role.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joyda Robinson]

You know, I don't know the exact parameters of. Of the job definition, you know, because, like, this is a teaching hospital. We are instructing people. You know, there's a lot of things that attendings do, and especially, you know, we talked about the night shift. There are two attendings on the night shift. Right. So, like, do we need both Abbott and Shen doing the exact same job if they're both there? It doesn't seem. It's like Abbott is the slightly senior Attending over. Shen is what it appears to be. He's the one giving the, like, hoorah sort of motivational speeches to the troops. So I don't know. I don't have the answer. I am very curious to see how the rest of the cast and the people who worked on this episode talk about it after everyone's seen it. I'm very curious to see how audiences react to it. But on the one hand, I am with you in that I am frustrated with his character for concealing this information. On the other hand, I don't think it means there's no future for her inside of this department. I don't think that's what you're saying either.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah, I don't think it's that there's no future. I think it's not the future that she wants. Right. Like, she wants to take over this department in Robbie's absence and bring in a second attending and kind of like reshape what the pit looks like. And she could definitely be involved in that particular effort. But the day to day, minute to minute, second to second reality of being an attending just doesn't feel reasonable with her circumstances.

[Joyda Robinson]

But is the second to second reality of being attending Robbie's definition of what that is? And is that in a completely unsustainable, untenable, like, you know, definition of what it means to be an attending?

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah, I think she's hands on to probably an unhealthy degree. But in a best case scenario, I would think an attending in this context is like the ultimate safety net.

[Joyda Robinson]

Right.

[Rob Mahoney]

It's like it's a teaching hospital. You're trying to delegate and assign and help people learn first, but when things get really bad, you have to be able to jump in. And those are the exact moments where. And honestly, even she froze teaching earlier this season when she was trying to explain like the asthmatic medications, even that was a moment of a seizure for her. And so it's. There's something about this environment that doesn't seem very conducive to the way that she, like, whatever state she's in currently with all this.

[Joyda Robinson]

Yeah, it's interesting. And then, like, I find myself largely dissatisfied with the storyline this season. And I'll be curious to see how it plays out.

[Rob Mahoney]

And I want to be very clear, not with Sepe Di Mi's performance, which I have really liked. And I think part of the reason I'm frustrated by the character beats here at the end is I came to really like Dr. Elashimi at points in the season and ultimately bringing us along and getting us on her side. I think that part was successful. And so I just feel like the rug has been pulled out from under me. Not in a narratively satisfying way, but in a way where it's just like, what was all this for?

[Joyda Robinson]

And this, I mean, to go back to sort of my question about theories this season. This is this is one of the instances where I was like, this is a mystery that the show was asking viewers to ask questions about and try to follow breadcrumbs and say what's going on from the very beginning of the season. What is going on with Dr. Alhash?

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[Joyda Robinson]

Jimmy, do you want to talk about Samira here?

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah, let's do it.

[Joyda Robinson]

I really hated this. I'm sorry. I did especially. So we got a couple emails from people saying, hey, will you talk about Supriya Ganesh leaving the show? Yes, we did talk about it in sort of like a spoiler section because you, Rob, did not. And I support that. Did not want people to like, know ahead of time before they wanted to. Yeah. That Samira Mohan is not coming back next season, but Samira Mohan is not coming back next season. So this is her. This and then seeing her up on the roof with the other women of the pit in a very like, this is it Avengers assemble sort of here are all the women moment with her hair down, though.

[Rob Mahoney]

Women get the job done banging harder than she's been banging all season.

[Joyda Robinson]

But, like, that's. That's it for Samira. This is our last impression of her. And like, it didn't feel like it was written like a final scene for a character.

[Rob Mahoney]

The report in Variety was that this was a story driven decision to write Samira Mohan off the show. Where is the drive here?

[Joyda Robinson]

Right?

[Rob Mahoney]

Where, like, where is that motive? Like, like that motivation. I just feel like this is a wildly unsatisfying and unsatisfactory. Like, it's not about. I don't need Mohan to have wins. I don't need her to triumph. I don't even need her to have perfect clarity. But we need a turn in her story where she is angling towards something. It doesn't have to be a complete moment of realization of like, oh, I need to be in geriatrics or whatever. But where we leave her is just like languishing in the ambulance bay, beaten down by the day and by Robbie, and I guess she's just gonna leave.

[Joyda Robinson]

I mean, do we need her angling towards something or is it realistic for some people to just wash out?

[Rob Mahoney]

Oh, no, I don't. I don't even mean that. I just mean from a character standpoint.

[Joyda Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

Like turning A corner towards some kind of understanding of what it is she's meant to do or not be here.

[Joyda Robinson]

But, like, isn't that where we find her, just sort of, like, beaten down and washed out?

[Rob Mahoney]

I think part of what.

[Joyda Robinson]

Which I hate, but, like, is where we find her.

[Rob Mahoney]

You know, I think that idea that there are some people who. And we were just talking about this with Elashimi too, who are just like, great doctors, but maybe not best suited for this kind of medicine. Yeah, that's an interesting idea. I don't think we ever got to the point where, like, those ideas were raised but never processed. And maybe that's unreasonable to expect within the context of one day. But this, I think that's the main

[Joyda Robinson]

issue is, like, this is the limitation of a TV show like the Pit in order to do this over the course of. You know, because the story arc for Samira Mohan in season one was Robbie's on her ass for being too slow. And yet sometimes when she takes the slow and steady approach, she finds things that other people miss. And then at the very end, in the absolute moment of crisis, she comes through and absolute rock star. That's her arc in season one. That's one day. Then we get another day, and it's just a complete wash up for this person. And so, like, that's a question I had. I don't think I got a chance to ask during the panel, but that was a question I have, is like, can one bad day just derail a person? And is that something that the Pit writers feel like they can demonstrate? Did we need to meet Samir at the beginning of this? A bit more on the ropes than we met her for this to be sort of like the final straw of her time in the ed. We meet her, her mom's calling her, she has this plan to go to New Jersey, like, her plan. But, like, it's all a lot to happen over the course of the day. And I kind of feel like if this were a season of watching her, like, again wash out, which is not something I want for a character that I really like and I think is really good at her job in many, many ways. But would it make more sense if it happened over the course of a year or a couple months in this person's life?

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah, I think the one bad day as the final straw, and we almost get that with Robbie in this episode where I think there are so many moments when he and all the other doctors are treating Judith and her baby and trying to get them back to stable, where you can tell. Like, he needs a complete win. Right. It's like if anything happens to either Judith or the baby, that's maybe it for Dr. Rabinovich. Right. With the day he's had, with the momentum, with all of this suicidal ideation and like vocalizing it all day, he's in such a delicate place that he needs this one thing to go.

[Joyda Robinson]

Right.

[Rob Mahoney]

I don't have any sense of that with Samira over the course of the season that it was like the Orlando Diaz case for as tough as that is, like a loss for a doctor to take, and she tried so hard at so many points to make that work that it would be the kind of thing that would dramatically change the entire course of her career.

[Joyda Robinson]

Yeah. And especially, like, with the knowledge that we had that, you know, maybe we would rather not have looming over the last few episodes that the actress wasn't coming back. Yeah, it just, I think it. It recontextualized the whole storyline for sure. It's really tough. I don't under. I don't know the full story of what's happening with Cipriya Ganesh. But, like, this does not feel like a clean, clear. We're writing this person's mouth.

[Rob Mahoney]

No.

[Joyda Robinson]

Ditto with Dr. Collins last season. Same, you know, so.

[Rob Mahoney]

And. And, yeah, both just left hanging in a way that, yeah, I get you're wanting to capture the reality of a day and you don't want to have every character who leaves, which structurally, there will be characters who leave the show based on the realities of these sorts of departments. They're not all going to get, like their big dramatic send off where everyone cuts a piece of cake and salutes them on a roll.

[Joyda Robinson]

Wishes there's a piece of cake for every send off.

[Rob Mahoney]

Sometimes so do I. Yeah. So, like, I'm open to lots of different versions of this. I think what this felt like was they didn't quite know if they were going to have Dr. Mohan back on the show or not and wrote it in this, like, ambiguous, up in the air sort of way that does not work for our character that's this important to the Pit. And it also left me, like, hanging on every word, even when she is trying to give Robbie a note of encouragement on the way out as far as his own mental health struggle. What she says is, have a good trip. Please be safe. We need you here, not they need you here, not the pit needs you, not this place needs you. It's like, that's not a character who in that moment has already decided she's gone. And maybe that's fine for the kind of story you're trying to tell, but it certainly doesn't seem like your writer's room was, like, going into this moment in the scene fully understanding that this was gonna be her exit.

[Joyda Robinson]

It's really fascinating. So at the Paley Fest event, watching the episode backstage, the people who were there on the panel were watching the episode. So, like, watching Kathleen Lanasa, like, laugh at the funnier parts of this episode, really delightful and stuff like that. But the most like. But you could hear the audience watching the episode, and they're laughing and they're gasping and they're doing all this stuff because it's a huge crowd. At the Paley Fest event, there was the most. The. The moment that, like, really surprised everyone. Scott Gemmell, who wrote this episode included, was when Robbie was nice and encouraging to Victoria, and the whole theater burst into applause. They were like, Robbie managed to be nice, and everyone got really excited about it. So I. I thought that was really interesting. But, like, that he could find that grace for Giovanni. Like, I still don't feel like I have nailed down, like, when Robbie can find it within himself to be a supportive mentor. Telling Victoria, you can do anything. Right.

[Rob Mahoney]

Right.

[Joyda Robinson]

Not just, like, I think you could do this. You could do just, like, the kind of blanket approval from daddy that, like, you want. Right.

[Rob Mahoney]

It was a little too blanket for my tastes.

[Joyda Robinson]

Fine. Fair. But, like, nothing. Not a crumb for Samira. Yeah, not a crumb of, like, I get it. Moms are tough. Or, like, life doesn't turn out the

[Rob Mahoney]

way you want, or we need you

[Joyda Robinson]

here too, or, you know, medicine needs you or something like that. Just, like, nothing for her. Really tough.

[Rob Mahoney]

Well, even the way he has talked all season about whether what. What her future should hold, it was never. Your talents would be really suited towards this. It's like, the pace of this place doesn't work for you. You need to wash out to be in something else.

[Joyda Robinson]

Well, and, I mean, he. He almost gets there a couple times. Like, he's like, there's a lot of heart, you know? Anyway. Okay, let's talk about Victoria. So. So the new. So you're talking about something that feels satisfactory for a character at the end of the season that is pointing in a specific direction. And so you get that very explicitly. Victoria pointing into the direction of mental health inside of this. This is Whitaker's idea.

[Rob Mahoney]

Badass self care.

[Joyda Robinson]

Perhaps Robbie approves. Yeah. How. How do you. How do you feel about this storyline?

[Rob Mahoney]

I actually really like this one because it Feels like a culmination of everything she's been going through all day. And specifically the kinds of cases we've seen animate her. Right. Like when she was working with Jackson and his family, you could tell, like, that's a difficult situation. She's learning on the fly. It's not something that she's inherently suited for. Has the knowledge, understanding of how to do it yet, but she has the compassion for it and the attention to detail for it. And you can see her learning in real time how to be better at this part of her job. And also, she gets to. If she does end up going into emergency psych, specifically, the parts of working at ED that appeal to her are still there. Right. The urgency, the adrenaline, like helping people in very specific need right now, that's still there, but there's not necessarily the Roxy level mortality events. Right. It's like you are brought in to consult with people who need help, who are looking for some kind of outlook, and you're trying to help them find it, but you're not having to deal with just like the loss after loss after loss that, as she lays out, is basically eating everybody in this department alive.

[Joyda Robinson]

She reads everyone to filth very accurately except Whitaker.

[Rob Mahoney]

She mercifully stops short.

[Joyda Robinson]

She diagnoses all of them. So, yeah, perhaps this is a great future.

[Rob Mahoney]

But how did you feel about this? Did this work for you?

[Joyda Robinson]

Yeah, I mean, like, I love the idea of Victoria finding something that is her own. It's not dermatology. It's not what her mom wants. It's not even just like doing what she's currently doing. It's something specific, something she's interested in. I really love that. I would, you know, and I would love that for. For all of them to sort of, you know, it's the anti Samira. Cause Samira is just like, casting around for just sort of like ultrasound fellowship. Like, what fellowship? Can I follow that? You know, she just does not have a bead on what animates her, what she's passionate about. And since we spent all this time with these people, we care about them. We want them to be animated and full of passion, you know, which is something that, like, for better or for worse, like, Abbott has found the. The joy inside of all of this. And Robbie is just being pulverized by this. And so, like, where is. Where is the joy? Where is the. Yeah, where is the passion? And so, like, for her to find that. I'm excited for. For that potentiality. Yeah, I think that's great. Mel King and And Santos, this is incredible stuff. I love them as a. As a unit together. I love this idea of it's an

[Rob Mahoney]

unlikely animal friendship, you know, like a lion and a dog, a baby lion and a puppy that have just found each other in the wild.

[Joyda Robinson]

But Mel being, like, slightly immune to. To Trinity. Santos is like, sharper cuts, you know what I mean? She just lets it kind of roll a bit. It's true. And Santos really needing, like, another Whitaker, like, another pal, because, you know, he's off on the farm, and that seems like where he's gonna stay. So this was great, Mel. Something that Taylor Dearden said at the panel is she was like. She's like, I don't think Mel King drinks. And so I was trying to figure out, like, how to do this right sober. And then she said. Isa Briones, who plays Santos, said, like, oh, yeah, but Santos is the kind of person who just spike Mel's drink, and she's like, okay, so that's what they played. But, like, her little dance moves, not just, like, the taking down the hair and the glasses, but just like, these little, like, little hoppy dance moves she does that is, like, incredibly precious. Very good.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah. I mean, like, being drunk in character is really hard or half drunk in character. Dancing in character, very difficult. And yet everything she does feels like. Exactly Mel. I love these two people who desperately just need, like, a friend finding each other at the end of their shift. Like, it really is one of the best moments of the finale. I would love a little karaoke encore at the end of every season if we want to keep going back to it.

[Joyda Robinson]

I was just on cloud nine. Honestly, it was so good, as you know. I love a musical moment. I thought this was so good before we hit, like, Dana and Robbie and Langdon, who are, like, sort of the big three, I would say, in this finale. Can we talk about my favorite finale tradition, which is Dr. Shen and Dr. Ellis? Like, tomfoolery. And the tomfoolery we get in this particular episode because, like, last. Last season, if you'll recall, it was like the fork up the nose moment.

[Rob Mahoney]

Oh, yeah.

[Joyda Robinson]

And, like, wanting to take a photo of it. And so this, like, we get the code for a dead body, which is a db, right? DB in chairs. This sort of argument back and forth about, like, whose responsibility is it? Is it the night shift's responsibility? Is the day shift's responsibility?

[Rob Mahoney]

I do love that element with Robbie and Abbott both. It's always like, how can they shirk the responsibility of this patient to another. Another shift?

[Joyda Robinson]

And then for Alice and Shen to just, like, come out into chairs and just be like, so. So it was so funny.

[Rob Mahoney]

It was hypernarcolepsy.

[Joyda Robinson]

Yeah. It's a serious condition.

[Rob Mahoney]

Are you.

[Joyda Robinson]

Are you a doctor?

[Rob Mahoney]

I'm not.

[Joyda Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

But this guy's been here since 5am

[Joyda Robinson]

does he smell okay?

[Rob Mahoney]

He's got to be a little gamey.

[Joyda Robinson]

Yeah. Like, it's been hot in the. In the.

[Rob Mahoney]

That's what I'm saying. It's.

[Joyda Robinson]

He hasn't been in the fridge, you know, really tough. But, yeah, they just hoist him out of there, and it's pretty phenomenal work.

[Rob Mahoney]

But this episode needs some of that, right? It's like, where can you find the humor in it? And I think there are very intense emotional scenes like, Abbott does a good job of. It's like, emotional truth and hard reality and also undercutting ourselves without, like, necessarily making light of what Robbie is going through. And this is where, in anywhere, you can find it. Like a little joke, a little Barb, a little something just to keep us feeling, like, engaged and alive and not like we're all about to be driven, like buffalo off of the cliff.

[Joyda Robinson]

Great call.

[Rob Mahoney]

Thanks, Jo.

[Joyda Robinson]

Well, I think a similar moment of just sort of, I don't know, emotional connection was when we get the women Avengers assembling on the roof to watch the fireworks. No men allowed. There's, like, a one man blurly in the background, but not any of our main characters. And we get the hug between Perla and Dana.

[Rob Mahoney]

That's very sweet.

[Joyda Robinson]

That just, like, really hit for me. What did you think of that?

[Rob Mahoney]

Something about we've seen lots of characters cry on the pit and almost cry on the pit. Something about Perla with tears in her eyes watching the fireworks at the end of this kind of day really hit me.

[Joyda Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

And I think overall, yeah, there's a lot of stuff in this episode that doesn't work. There are a lot of individual character arcs I'm not super pleased with. Some of the big emotional stuff did. And I think some of that is, like, Robbie oriented. Some of it's baby Jane Doe oriented. Some of it's just little things like this where it's like a character. We have this kind of time spent with who I care about and just seeing her, like, have a moment of emotional outburst, if that.

[Joyda Robinson]

Anything else you want to say about Dana this season? Dana, you know, she gets a. To dress down the cops and talk about the rape kits once again, but doesn't have anything else sort of, like, major in this episode. It's kind of just a wrap up episode for Dana. Anything else you want to mention here?

[Rob Mahoney]

I thought this was pretty Dana Light, actually. Like, she is in the mix consistently and she's going around figuring out if there's like a way for somebody to foster baby Jane Doe. Unsurprisingly, not a lot of takers on that one for this staff of people. Hard passing. Yeah. I mean, they've got a lot going

[Joyda Robinson]

on and I approve of all of them. Hard passing completely. Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

Did you feel any whiplash at all by the Dana Robbie dynamic in this episode? Because we've just seen for episodes on end, hours on end in their shift, they've just been, like, going at each other. They've been trading those sorts of barbs. They've just been like, at each other's throats. This episode starts and it's just like they're just cutting up like old times. And maybe it's just like all that tension has sort of fizzled out as they've gotten exhausted. But it did feel like a pretty sharp turn from where we were last week.

[Joyda Robinson]

I kind of felt like it was her handing off the responsibility to Abbott to a certain degree. Like she has enlisted Abbott and she's like, I've done everything I can do.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joyda Robinson]

I'm done fighting this battle. I'll just be supportive to my. My friend and colleague here and hope that this other person can get through to him.

[Rob Mahoney]

Not her monkey, not her circus.

[Joyda Robinson]

Exactly. This is a Langdon episode, and a Robbie episode is what it feels like. And I, you know, I've been invested in the Langdon story all season. I thought. We got a really interesting email from our listener Pat about last week's episode. Robbie complimenting Langdon.

[Rob Mahoney]

Right.

[Joyda Robinson]

He gets this little morsel of approval from daddy. Right. And he says, Pat wrote the Langdon scene after Robbie complimented him, was tough, was a tough watch. The relief on his face seemed to me to be the dynamics of a codependent relationship. My father was an alcoholic with a temper. When he was mad at you, he wouldn't talk for days. When he finally did, the relief was overwhelmingly emotional. There's a cruelty to purposely withhold holding love as a form of control. At least I projected my experience onto Langdon's reaction. It's not the only example this season or even this episode, but I think it displays the emotional trauma Robbie is yielding in the ed. I really love that analysis, especially when we get in this episode, Langdon confronting Robbie and saying, you remind me of a lot of people that I met in rehab. Your behavior is that of a substance abuser. And if it is not, you know, an addiction to drugs or alcohol, it is an addiction to the adrenaline of the. It is your sort of like emotional addiction, like whatever. Whatever the case may be, but you need psychiatric help, which people have been telling him all day.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yes.

[Joyda Robinson]

Robbie's like, no, thank you for your analysis here. You know what? Like, just pushing back, right? Just being very snide as Noah Wiley put on the panel. Like, very petty, all of this sort of stuff. But I thought this was a great LinkedIn moment. You know, LinkedIn has his drug test, which presumably he passed despite a lot of email theories that he wouldn't.

[Rob Mahoney]

Also a little cute about the process. It's like, yeah, you have to be observed taking your urine test.

[Joyda Robinson]

That's because you've been watching a lot of you for air Rav.

[Rob Mahoney]

Those are mom distributed urine tests. Don't even get me started about the official capacity.

[Joyda Robinson]

As you mentioned, we go up to a different floor. Very unusual moment for the pit. We follow Langdon following the. The neck fasch case to sort of. And like, he gets a compliment from the nurse who's like, you know, you did a good job. And. But he's gonna be hard on himself because the amputation's above the knee, which is a much harder, you know, reality to navigate going forward. And so, you know, he's being told, you did a good job. Good catch. And all he sees is the ways in which he failed and let someone down.

[Rob Mahoney]

Which is kind of an echo of the conversation he has with Mel too, where she kind of tells him a version of the same thing.

[Joyda Robinson]

Exactly. And so, like, he has yet, of course, a conversation with Mel in this finale. Like, when is he not gonna find a moment to talk to Mel? And then he has his conversation with Robbie. And I really, I really liked it. I really, really liked this scene. What did you think?

[Rob Mahoney]

I like most of it. I think the Langdon stuff, especially him going to check in on his patient, even just the larger. Where is your confidence level on a day like this? Thread that has been strown throughout his season I think has been really effective. And it makes total sense for where that character would be coming from after all this time off. The Robby stuff, I'm a little mixed on. And I think this is just like a personal thing where I'm finding a little bit of clash between a character as a person and a character as a vehicle for drama. Right. And so it's like as a person, Dr. Langdon coming to Dr. Robbie, a guy who's important in his life and telling him, like, you need help in the most direct fashion possible. It's never going to work because of how testy their relationship is. And so it's like, you still have to try if that person matters to you. And this. And he has been acting all day the way that Robbie has been acting. So I get it from a. As a real life person in this scenario, I get it for dramatic purposes. I'm not sure that he says a lot that Abbott didn't just say. And so it does feel like it's a little bit of a hat on a hat. And I get some of that is baked into the process of so many people having these sorts of conversations with Robbie at this stage in the season. But I was left wondering, wouldn't it have been truer to the arc these two guys have been on for Robbie not to be able to find Langton when he finally did want to talk to him? For Langton to have already been gone?

[Joyda Robinson]

I think that would be interesting. I don't disagree with you. I do think it's. Even if it were the identical words, I think the source is so different. Rabbit versus Langton. We got some emails from people talking about, like, why is it that Robbie can hear certain things from, like, Duke and Abbott and not various other people? And the. The point that a couple of our listeners made was like, these are the only people who are not subordinate to Robbie. Abbott and Duke are the only two people who are. I mean, I'm sure there are other

[Rob Mahoney]

salmon shorts, you know, like, there are

[Joyda Robinson]

a couple other people but like, that that are talking to him in this manner. Right. And so from LinkedIn, this is coming from a subordinate who has disappointed Robbie or make. Made, you know, as Noah Wy has been talking about all season, made Robbie disappointed in himself. Like, I let him down as a leader or something like that. So all of that is true. But I think also Langdon pushing back and like, Robbie, like, abused him all day. Like, shit on him all day. Other than the one little crumb of approval he gave in last week's episode. And for someone to not just take it and to push back on him, I think is an important interaction for him to have. I did ask Noah Wylie at the Paley Fest panel, is Robbie going on his trip and is he coming back? And he said yes to both. Yes, he's going on his trip. Yes, he's. I mean, like, we knew he was coming back, but I was curious if he was going to go at all. Like, if. Doctor, if. If this Dr. Al Hashimi revelation was gonna stop him or something like that. Yes, he's going, yes, he's coming back. And then I asked him, like, was there a moment inside of this episode, Was it swaddling the baby? Was it talking to Abbott? Was it, you know, that that sort of changed his mind? And he said, no, it's accumulation of all of it.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yes.

[Joyda Robinson]

Which is understandable, which is something you just said. But, like, so I think that Langdon element is in importance to not just have Abbott say it to him, but to have Langdon push back on him and just say, like, you can't treat me like shit all day and get away with it. Samira kind of lets him get, you know, we need you here. Sort of like Samira lets him get away with it, but, like, Langdon doesn't. And that's, I think, important.

[Rob Mahoney]

So maybe that is what I wanted from Samira.

[Joyda Robinson]

Yeah.

[Rob Mahoney]

For her to not let.

[Joyda Robinson]

All she says is, you're kind of a dick sometimes. It's very mild compared to, like, what he deserves for the way that he

[Rob Mahoney]

treats, especially to come off of, like, I was just letting my mom treat me like a child. And now you're letting Robbie kind of treat you like a child. Very tough. I. I hear what you're saying about the accumulation. I think that makes total sense. I also think just sort of reframing this as we're talking about it as much more of a Langdon moment than a Robbie moment. Like, those elements, I do think are important for his character and the sticking up for himself and kind of asserting a different place within this Ed. Like, he is not the golden boy anymore. He's not Robbie's chosen one to succeed him or follow in his footsteps, but he's going to have to charge something new for himself, and that that kind of thing is going to have to be a little bit more adversarial at times.

[Joyda Robinson]

I love that. Last but not least, Robbie himself. Several mental health professionals wrote into the podcast to note that if all of these people, including, you know, a literal psychiatrist in last week's episode, are asking Robbie about, hey, man, you're saying some things that are a little troubling. Several mental health professionals wrote in to say it is very odd that no one asked Robbie directly about suicidal ideation, that it is standard procedure. If you suspect, you ask direct. You don't beat around the bush. You don't hem and haw. You ask directly. And no one is doing that with.

[Rob Mahoney]

These are people who would know exactly

[Joyda Robinson]

that that's the procedure. So they all thought that, that, that's a great call. But yeah, we get the Abbott conversation, we get the baby Jane Doe moment, we get the Mohan confrontation, we get the Javati encouragement, we get the Langdon confrontation. I want to read one last email from our listener Andy, who gave that interesting analysis of the badge and Whitaker. And this is most of Andy's email was about Robbie, though the loss of Robbie's mentor, Adamson, and seeing loss constantly also plays a role in his sense of importance and hyper responsibility. In my perception. We know he feels responsible for Adamson's death and cannot truly forgive himself in this as well is perhaps more selfish thought from a juvenile place of being furious that his mentor abandoned him. I think that's a great call. What a conflict to hold in mind if that's a factor. In my experience with patients, that sort of conflict is pretty common. It's like the emotional equivalent of Digby's arm, untended with decaying bits being eaten by maggots because shame and a sense of unsightliness or excitement has prevented help seeking. There's just a lot of festering under the surface for Robbie and it's being intensely projected outward or mismanaged in inappropriate ways, such as in his relationship with Whitaker, with whom he is over identified and whose boundaries he violates after extolling the virtues of setting limits. So yeah, I mean, like, here's the thing about Robbie, Dr. Rabinovich. I like him as a person much less this season than I liked him in season one.

[Rob Mahoney]

Sure.

[Joyda Robinson]

I kind of love him as a character.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joyda Robinson]

You know, I mean.

[Rob Mahoney]

Cause it's by design.

[Joyda Robinson]

Right. I think Noah Wylie is doing a tremendous job in this performance. And this is just like, you know, I think we came into the show especially watching Robbie like give speeches about sort of like, especially in season one, speeches about emotional management or what it means to be in the ed. And we're like, this is our leader of this is our coach Taylor. Like this is our guy and not this season. You know, and that's just like a human reality. He is a human character, he is messy, he is frustrating and he has all these things and it is being performed very well. And it's like thinking back on er, a show that this is definitely not a spinoff of.

[Rob Mahoney]

Absolutely not spinoff of ER, not a

[Joyda Robinson]

spin off of ER. You know, there's characters like Anthony Edwards character, Dr. Green having like a season where you're just sort of like, what is going on with Dr. Green, who is like a leader that we're used to looking up to or people who are in higher levels in the hospital, who were assholes from the start, who are always assholes, you know. And so like that kind of archetype is one that. That medical shows, and specifically the medical show that Noah Wylie cut his teeth on, like, spend a lot of time with. It's just, I think it's that day in a life aspect again of just like watching a day in Robbie's life where he was struggling in season one, but still showing up as like an encouraging mentor in many cases. Not always, but in many ways. And this day he's just not up to the task, man. And we're just experiencing that over several months of viewership. We're experiencing one guy's really bad, maybe his worst day, you know.

[Rob Mahoney]

But that investment in terms of story and track laid I think does pay off here in the finale. Right. And. And really leading into it, the episode too, I think the conversation with Duke, the conversation with Abbott, some of those other send offs with other characters interspersed in there and then where he ends up swaddling baby Jane Doberely swaddling himself. That stuff I think all really hits and like hits in a really deep emotional place that the Pit is very good at accessing through often. Noah Wylie, who, I agree with you, the performance is breathtaking. I think just kind of the defeated way he is carrying himself throughout this episode. In particular when he has to glove up to go like, help save this baby. And just like the. He just is so clearly carrying so much at that point, he's physically transformed.

[Joyda Robinson]

There's also many. You know, this episode is directed by. It was written by Scott Gemmill and directed by John Wells, like powerhouse people. And the many times inside of this episode where Robbie is like on the other side of glass, where audio is muffled, where he's just sort of like, you know, sort of Al Hashimi, like sort of spacing out inside of this episode, I thought was like a really great depiction of his isolation. His. But like, more so than I think we've gotten in previous episodes. It just felt like a really directorial flourish of just sort of positioning. But then there's also this moment, and this was brought up to me at the panel by someone at hbo and they had mentioned, and I don't know who, but another journalist had pointed this out to them, that in the scene where he is swaddling the baby but actually swaddling himself, he's in the nursery, which is his like most triggering spot. The place that he lost Adamson place

[Rob Mahoney]

where he had his own Breakdown last

[Joyda Robinson]

season, where he had his own breakdown last season. And there's a son in the mural on the wall, and at one point, it's sort of framed behind him to almost look like a halo.

[Rob Mahoney]

Yeah.

[Joyda Robinson]

Interesting stuff.

[Rob Mahoney]

Very interesting stuff. I'm tremendously moved by where Robbie ends up this season. I'm with you that as a character, I find him fascinating as a person, like, endlessly frustrating as the show wants you to be. I think there is, though, a fundamental tension between how much and we talked about this earlier in the season. This is a Dr. Robbie Noah Wylie show. And how much it is an ensemble show. And I think there is always gonna be a portion of people who love and watch the Pit, who love Mel King or love Frank Langdon or love Dana. And I think Dana may be a little more impervious to this than other characters, but by nature of the ensemble, like we were talking about earlier, like, somebody is gonna get less screen time, and it's not gonna be Dr. Robbie.

[Joyda Robinson]

Anything else you wanna say about the Pit? I had such a good time covering the show, honestly.

[Rob Mahoney]

I mean, a very fun season to talk about.

[Joyda Robinson]

However spicy I feel about this finale, I feel quite mixed about it, but, like, I feel quite positive about the experience occurring the show. I don't think this is the best show on television, but I do understand why it's probably gonna win the Emmy again.

[Rob Mahoney]

Sure.

[Joyda Robinson]

And it has become just in terms of a practice of watching a story week in, week out, getting invested, emotionally invested in characters that we spend so much time with, especially in shows that we cover on this podcast, just the length of time we spend with them.

[Rob Mahoney]

Oh, yeah.

[Joyda Robinson]

It's just a very special thing. So I'm gonna miss talking about the Pit, but it'll be back next year. And as they've announced, set in November. Not coming back in November, but next season will be set in November. So do you think it's going to be Thanksgiving proper or do you think it's going to be Blackout Wednesday or whatever it is? We decided that the night before Thanksgiving

[Rob Mahoney]

was called Blackout Wednesday would be great, honestly, like Black Friday, someone just got trampled in a rush for, like, a new flat screen TV would also be. Also be pretty fun. I can't wait to see the wintertime fits that are. That are rolling in. You know, we had the humidity this season. We had, like the busted ac. We had just, like people sweat and bullets out there. But I wanna see everyone cozy time. You know, let's see what we look like. Come on.

[Joyda Robinson]

All right.

[Rob Mahoney]

We've talked about all these character arcs. We talked about the season and what paid off and what didn't. And there's just like one thing that rung out from this episode for me, because it's like the one actual medical case with Judith and her baby and the whole, like, wild birth situation, which I don't even wanna fucking touch with a ten foot pole. But as it was happening in real time, a great character moment that's uniting a lot of these different arcs, especially Robbie's, but also just like the one constant of this show. Even more than Noah Wylie, even more than the ensemble that we love. Even more than, like, the various emotional storylines that were pulled into the production on this show.

[Joyda Robinson]

The viscera.

[Rob Mahoney]

The viscera's unreal. And I said, yeah, the amniotic sack ripple.

[Joyda Robinson]

I rewatched that like four different times.

[Rob Mahoney]

What even is that?

[Joyda Robinson]

How did they do it on the panel? They talked about the fact that that woman, it was like all like, neck up. She was like, sitting, and then it was just like an entire prosthetic body, like, on the table in front of her that they could like, reset it and do it multiple times. But yeah, the amniotic sack slicing was a real. But like. But then, like, the baby coming out, like, so blue. Like, that was actually a really, really tough one for. For me to watch.

[Rob Mahoney]

And I. Terrifying cases we've had on this show.

[Joyda Robinson]

Yeah, absolutely. It was interesting. Scott Gemmel didn't answer this, but I was curious, like, what the thought process was behind, like, you know, okay, so you want a case in your finale where you're gonna get like, Abbott's in there, McKay's in there. You know, Cruz is there. Like, ton of doctors are in there. So, like, what goes behind the sort of like, k, what kind of case do you want? And he's like, oh, we lead that up to our medical consultants. We just tell them we need a case where all these people will be involved.

[Rob Mahoney]

Give us a real scary one.

[Joyda Robinson]

Yeah. And they come up with something. I was like, okay, well, I was terrified. I thought it was gonna be a little bit more story. It is story driven. But like, um. But I was like, the answer was our medical professionals come up with that. I'm like, okay, cool. Well, it was a great. It was a great one. It was very harrowing.

[Rob Mahoney]

The dice rolled. The medical professionals spoke, and it was exactly what this episode needed. So just like a shout out to that case in particular, which, yeah, I was consistently terrified by. But also the way it's executed on the pit is just exceptional.

[Joyda Robinson]

Yeah. Really good. Shout out to the amniotic sack.

[Rob Mahoney]

Shout out to all our amniotic sacks out there.

[Joyda Robinson]

Shout out to everyone who's here in Sycamore today helping us out. Jacob's on the show today. Kai Grady going above and beyond today for many different reasons. Just our fave. I'm so glad that he's here.

[Rob Mahoney]

They just don't make him like Kai Grady.

[Joyda Robinson]

They don't. They don't. Thank you to all of our listeners for hanging out with the Pit all season and stick around for Euphoria and Beef and we'll see you soon. Bye.