The Pitt felt like the best of before-times TV, before streaming and big-budget miniseries with dramatic cliffhangers took over the genre. Here we have 15 solid episodes full of an interesting ensemble of characters, a well-balanced mix of comedy and tragedy, and that address a range of relevant topics.
Set over fifteen real-time hours at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center’s emergency department, the show follows senior attending physician Dr. Michael Robinavitch, aka “Dr. Robby” (Noah Wyle), in the stressful world of emergency medicine. The doctor is still haunted by the emotional toll of working in the hospital during the coronavirus pandemic, in which he lost his colleague and mentor. The COVID-19 outbreak lingers over the entire series and many of its characters. Few shows have understood how to interweave the real-life pandemic with their fictional show as well as this.
The Pitt Follows An Ensemble Of Layered Characters Through A Day Shift
Playing out like a medical 24, The Pitt’s use of the real-time format is genius. Instead of a case of the week resolving within the hour, the show follows a host of patients, making them side characters to the doctors.
We revisit the same patient in the waiting room, follow the aftercare of the parents after the death of their child, and see the ins and outs of one mysterious medical case. This new way of storytelling in a medical setting felt like a fresh take on a format some may argue had become tired. It also allows the audience to connect with patients and their families as we watch their condition change over multiple episodes. Spending time with them also makes death and tragedy more heartbreaking for the viewer.
The Pitt predominantly built its fanbase through its cast of diverse and interesting characters. Played by mostly unknowns and working character actors, they felt like real people rather than the sexy soap-opera versions of doctors and nurses. Although diverse, no one felt like a stereotype; everyone was layered and as complicated as the other. Although we meet the large cast over 15 episodes (some even less), you’ll walk away feeling like you’ve known them for years.
Some of the standouts of the senior staffing team were Katherine LaNasa as the fiery charge nurse Dana Evans, Patrick Ball as the arrogant Frank Langdon, and Tracey Ifeachor as Robbie’s old flame Dr. Heather Collins.
While the senior staff members are the core of the show, the heart is the team of junior staff, some of whom we meet on their first day. Supriya Ganesh’s Dr. Samira Mohan addresses medical nepotism, while Fiona Dourif’s second year, Cassie McKay, battles between being professional and her own moral compass. Isa Briones proves herself one of the most promising actresses on TV as the headstrong first-year, Dr. Trinity Santos, who finds herself frequently butting heads with her supervisor.
A fan favourite is quite rightly Taylor Dearden, whose layered portrayal of Dr. Mel King felt like one of the few instances where neurodivergence was shown for all its strengths and weaknesses. Just one of the many instances where The Pitt kicked the genre into the 21st century. The other fan favourite is smalltown boy Dennis “Huckleberry” Whitaker, played expertly by a permanently shell-shocked Gerran Howell. Whitaker frequently offers audiences much-needed comedy relief as he seems to be a magnet for misfortune and bodily fluids.
The camera follows them between scenes, smoothly cutting between patients and departments. Even when the story doesn’t focus on their character, they appear in the background to add more realism to the show.
No Trending Topic Left Unturned In The Pitt
The Pitt could be criticized for needing to address one trending topic per episode. No buzzword is left unturned throughout the fifteen episodes, from gay marriage to abortion, anti-vax parenting to trans rights. It can at times come across as preachy and on the nose. Perhaps 2025’s America is not the place for subtlety when it comes to politics and body autonomy.
Like every single procedural or medical show, every episode is full of trauma and melodrama. While these incidents are all things that may happen in an emergency department, it is unlikely they would happen to one person in one day, but they make great TV. You’ll feel like you’ve worked a shift in a hospital if you binge-watch this show.
The show isn’t just about the patients, it’s as much about how Dr. Robbie runs the emergency department and how the American healthcare system is sagging with underfunding and understaffing. Throughout the show, Chief Medical Officer Gloria Underwood (Michael Hyatt) is on Dr. Robby, demanding higher patient scores. It’s a reminder that in the USA, the patient is also a paying customer. For non-Americans, it’s an eye-opening look at how their hospitals operate, though many of their problems are echoed around the world. Very little about the way humans behave when confronting mortality gets lost in translation.
The show plods through numerous medical patients, in-house fighting, and bureaucracy, effectively building a believable world. It really comes into its own in the later episodes when the hospital has to deal with the aftermath of a mass shooting at a music festival. By this point, you really care about the character and their inner lives. It’s gripping, tense stuff as the frenzied team must find the strength to finish their shift.
The Pitt is not a show for the faint-hearted either. It’s graphic in its depiction of medical procedures. It’s refreshingly unsentimental in how it handles the body horror of the hospital setting, although fans of ER may argue it’s nowhere near as gruesome. When other modern medical shows pan away, The Pitt shows the procedure in its full gory entirety. Especially memorable is a very thorough birth scene that doesn’t hide behind camera trickery or conveniently placed sheets.
The Pitt is easily one of the best shows of 2025. It’s well-paced and expertly blends modern, trending topics with a classic, character-focused way of making television. Minimally directed, well-written, and well-acted, this is TV made by people who know what they are doing, at their very best.
The Pitt Season 1 is now streaming on HBO MAX.
Learn more about the show at the IMDB site for the title.
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