‘The Pitt’ Season 2, Episode 13: Back Online

19:30Rob:Anything else you want to say about the outage? I think I agree. I think it was an interesting concept in terms of let's take us back to how medicine works in the 90s on ER, which is not the same show if the Creighton estate is listening, you know, like all that sort of stuff like that. An excuse to bring Monica in, who's an interesting at least flavor to have here. I like having her on the show for the record. Me too. as a character. Yes. I don't want to have any cigarette or meal with her, but... Well, you're a snowflake. They say that about me. Yeah, I mean, overall, I don't, I will say this, there's another storyline that gets kind of wrapped up in this episode that I feel pretty low on, so I'm, I'm, I'm gonna say I feel pretty medium on the outage.

20:15Rob:I think medium plus on the outage. Pretty good. Let's talk about rounds as a good way to sort of like make sure we understand who these new characters are and also where we stand with everyone. First, before we get to rounds, we get this checkup on Nurse Jessie and I thought we might just take a moment to sort of check in on everything we learned about Jessie here. Santos is telling Dr. Henderson about it. McKay let us know that Jessie did a little more than just put a hand on the ICE agent. And I love that for him. Dr. Al Hashimi says the lawyer's on the case and that Perla later has some info.

20:47Rob:She's got her ear to the ground. That he's two hours away and then later Langdon, Perla Abbott, and Robbie are talking about and they're like, he's going to be locked up the entire weekend and that sucks. There's nothing we can do for him. So Jesse is in the Clearfield Containment Center for the rest of the weekend until Monday. Yeah. And that's a best case scenario. That sucks. Although in the processing of that information, Perla again, relaying that her brother-in-law is a cop. She's got inside info. Yeah. We spent half of this episode with Dr. Robbie going full detective mode on Dr. Alashimi being like, okay, what's her deal?

21:22What's going on? What's her history at the VA? Not once did he think, this is a great buddy cop moment with me and Perla. I should bring in the detective who has actual information and clearly knows what she's doing.

21:34Rob:Now that's all I want. I think it could be a great setup. Actually, I don't think I want Rob. I want Perla on the case, but I don't know that I want Robby on the case. I want a different partner. Who in the ED else would you put with Perla? I mean, well, Perla's a lone wolf. Like when she's with Princess, they have a one-two act for sure. But I could see her just going full noir. you know, high collar, trench coat, creeping around the ER, just really, really digging up clues. I love that. Also, real tragedy for our guy, Dr. John Shen, no card or cake or flowers for Robbie. What the hell? He really wanted that cake.

22:04Rob:He's pretty disappointed. Rob, what's your stance on a going away party? Pro? Okay. As you know, I'm in the process of moving. Yes. Leaving Northern California where I've lived like basically my entire life to move down here to Los Angeles. There are several people in my life who are trying to talk me into a going away party. Yeah. I'm anti. Okay. I want to qualify my stance. Okay. I am good with going away parties for contained groups of people. You know what I don't want? Yeah. All of the pockets of people in my life intermingling. That's messy. I don't want that. I also just don't want like a big, like a fuss.

22:36Much ado.

22:37Rob:Yeah. Much ado about nothing. And also, especially, I mean, do you do a cake for like a three month sabbatical? I mean, as Robbie says ominously at the end of this episode, perhaps I'm not coming back. But like, it's just a sabbatical. He's not leaving the department for good, you know? I'm inclined to agree with Dr. Shen because my policy on going away parties is probably similar to mine on birthdays, which is I don't want to celebrate my own, but I want to celebrate everyone else's. So like, if you're going away, let's have a party. If I'm going away, I want to slink out the back door. That's what I'm saying.

23:04Rob:Okay. I will go to a going away party. I just don't want one for me. Entirely fair. That sounds like my nightmare, to be honest with you, with love and respect. If you're Joe's friends out there, now you know. Yeah. Don't do it. Don't celebrate me. You were planning a surprise party. Don't do it. I don't want it. I mean, sometimes surprise parties are fun. Okay, now you're being confusing. No, I don't want a going away party. But like when you were a kid, did you ever have a surprise party? I loathe a surprise party. Okay, tell me why. It's a lot of attention on me at a moment where I don't want it.

23:32Rob:Here's what I, okay. Let's get into my control issues. Here's the moment on every episode of The Pit where we do therapy. Um, when I was in college, uh, a friend of mine, he, his birthday was like four days after mine. And so all of our friends told me it was a surprise party for him. And they told him it was a surprise party for me. But the answer was both. And it was like a surprise party for both of us. That's pretty good. That was great. That's a good move. That was really fun. Cause I was like, wow, you thoroughly got me in a really fun way. That's some quality friending right there. It's really smart.

24:08Rob:Um, okay. for reals let's do rounds Dialis' dad yeah Digby still here Charles Baker still collecting his paychecks for the season Digby and Baby Jane down here all day uh water ski knee tweak yeah Lillian Stegman is the uh is the patient there she really wanted to flex about it too oh well wouldn't you I think if you injured your knee doing a water skiing stunt like that's just what it is you don't need to be like I went off this higher ramp I was doing a 360. You definitely would, Rob. Are you kidding me? I think you would. What if you injured yourself playing tennis, but you did something really cool injuring yourself?

24:48I don't know. I think once you injure yourself, it's not that cool anymore.

24:52Rob:I don't know. This reminds me of the evil Knievel guy earlier this season. I just feel like people who do daredevil water skiing are always wanting to talk about how daring and deviling their water ski move was. No argument for me. And then Heatstroke Mom gets a sort of mention. Any follow-up on that case? Do you feel like we're going to get— You know, what's been interesting— Chris and I were talking about this a little bit on The Watch, the way in which the actors have come out this season a bunch and talked about, like, hey, you're watching a different show than the one we're making. Yeah. Whether that's sort of Patrick Ball and Taylor Dearden talking about the Langdon-Mel King dynamic or this idea of, like, trying to solve the mystery of the pit.

25:35Rob:No, we've talked about this. I agree in some way the pit is trying to sort of set up like a medical mystery for you. What's happening with Dr. Al Hashimi? We still don't know. Detective Robbie's on the case. Surely we'll find out before the end of the season. But then like maybe there are things like Heat Stroke Mom where the point is not, did she do it? Who done it? It's not a true kind of podcast and look at the dirt under the fingernails. It's just a sort of like, isn't this a horrible situation? So I don't know, like where are you on that? Do you feel like we're going to get sort of a dun-dun-dun reveal or not?

26:08Rob:What do you think? I mean, no idea if we're going to get the full reveal, but we will get more information just by virtue of a couple of things. One, Heatstroke Kid himself is still upstairs being treated. And so I would imagine we at least get some declaration of whether he's okay or not or what his status is. We also know that his dad has arrived. We haven't met him yet. The dad went straight up to be by his kid's side, has not stopped by to see the mom at all. So I would think we will see the dad. And I think we will get some progress report, if not actual closure. With two hours left in the season, are you starting to sort of have a running tabulation of the things that you need resolved?

26:45Rob:And how high on the list do you put heatstroke mom versus will Langdon and Robbie have another meaningful conversation or not? Well, there's kind of like patient cases and then doctor issues in separate categories. So it's hard to weigh against each other. But among the patient cases, I don't know that there's anything else that's like lingering other than heat stroke kid and his mom. Right. Because, yeah, dialysis dad is soon to be discharged. It seems doing much better. We know Howard made it through surgery. This asthmatic kid seems to be making a full recovery. OK. We don't know about baby Jane Doe.

27:16Rob:So Orlando, what's you know, we won't know what's happening with Orlando. We're also brief that we won't know for weeks. So, I mean, the Orlando case is devastating. An absolute disaster. The way that Noelle comes down is like, well, now you qualify for this, that, and the other thing. Is this the time to settle the bill? Guess what? Let's talk about Noelle Hastings, RN. I'm out on this entire storyline. Totally out. I think her stuff with Robbie this episode and as a season in a whole, because I presume this is their goodbye, has not worked for me. And I don't know if it's like a lack of chemistry between the actors or just the way.

27:49Rob:Like, I just don't. It's a difference between liking a character or not. I don't like Ogilvy, but I think he's a very, like, useful character this season. Yeah. I don't feel like Noelle Hastings, this has worked at all for me at any juncture. I was, like, waiting for a payoff of her relationship with Robbie or her dynamic with Dana or anything like that. And as, like, a conveyance of information about the way in which Billing works at the hospital, she's been, like, a useful sort of exposition machine. Yeah, in the same way that, like, the social workers pop up to explain policy. But like with the Robbie stuff, this just is fell really flat for me.

28:25Well, she's not really a character. Right. Like she serves a couple of purposes. You nailed a couple of them. I think one of them is just having a person who works with Robbie who would also be spending time with him outside of the ED. Right. Who has seen him in other contexts. And the fact that she.

28:39Rob:Who knows that he needs the TV on or else he can't sleep. Knows his most intimate details. He's not sleep maxing. I'll tell you that much right now. No, he's not. He's watching like Mad About You reruns or something. You know, I don't know what he's doing. A great choice, honestly. We're all looking to be soothed in our own ways. And so to have that kind of inside information and still be as worried about him as she is, I think is telling, right? It's not that everyone who works with Robbie doesn't know more, but that's literally all she does on the show is like pop down, maybe on a stray flirt.

29:08Rob:Flirt. And then leave? I don't know. It just didn't work for me. I was hoping for more, and this certainly felt like the last we're going to see of Noel Hastings this season. Didn't really go anywhere. I did love the Abbott sort of shoulder check in that moment. But like. There's a couple of great Sean Hattestey moments in this episode. And this is among them, him like wiggling his way through their, you know, their sendoff. Just tremendous stuff. Their sendoff farewell. He's like, guess this plot line's not working for me either. No, that's why he was raising his eyebrows. Wrap it up. It's like, we're spending this much time on this?

29:39Rob:Yeah, wrap it up. Something that did work on me, I would say my most emotional moment or investment in this episode is the Digby stuff. Yeah. This was a tremendous payoff of like a season long. 13 episodes. Yeah. My one exception to that is I think Dr. Tamarian being like, there's a different guy in that bed was pretty dumb. But everything else like made me cry. Yeah. This is a great moment for Emma, a character that we have been sort of like up and down on this season, but like finished, I think, really strong. Agreed. Dana's bedside manner with him, the way that she talked to him, the way that he talks about, like, his daughter living in his house.

30:18Rob:And you're like, what? Like, how did that happen? What's going on there? But also, like, Emma and Dana don't have to solve that. That's not what they're there to do. They're there to just give him this, like, loving care. His fear that they won't recognize him so they won't be able to find him. Emma saying, did you dance with your daughter at your wedding? Did she always remember you? Like, this really, really got to me. And I thought, I thought Charles Baker was really, really good in this role. And I just thought, I thought this was a tremendous sort of, I mean, I don't know if this is the end of Digby's role in the show, again, with only two more episodes, but like, if so, this is like tremendous arc, I think.

30:55I thought so too. Especially because in typical Pitt fashion, this is like all playing with Digby basically the way you would expect this show to handle it, right? In terms of what it's trying to say about this character and his place in the world and his place in the ED and the dignity of just like getting a shave and a haircut and a shower and some sandwiches and just the time to recover where he doesn't have to be, you know, looking for where he's going to be sleeping that night or whatever situation may be. It's all kind of like playing the beats. And then you get that shot of him in the hand mirror, like seeing himself after his haircut for the first time.

31:30and it's an amazing, beautiful moment. And the fact that the show can kind of like thread you along in all the ways you expect and still land those sorts of things. And we saw it all throughout season one too, right? It's like, yeah, it's gonna really hurt when this teenager who overdosed dies and the family has to reckon with it, but then you get the walk through the hospital and it's just, it's what you expect, but hitting in a totally different way. And that was a lot of the Digby moments in this episode for me.

31:57Rob:And I'll just say like Digby starts in a place of like real, you know, his, we talked about the maggots in the cast, obviously, but like, you know, in terms of like dignity and who is owed what and all of that, from the shower, like from the beginning, Dana is really sort of, you know, instructing Emma on this idea of like Digby or Mr. Digby and his, but then like to a certain degree, he became a bit of comic relief. He's just sort of like - Hanging around. Sort of like sunburned bikini babe who gets a great walkthrough inside of this episode. like just there and you know just occasionally just sort of like still there still doing well Mr.

32:33Rob:Digby like you know just Digby all that sort of stuff like that so to then in pit fashion twist the knife and make it like an extremely emotional moment was I thought really really good I did have one question about the did you dance with your daughter at her wedding yeah what if the answer is no like what if what if he had like what's pivot Emma can pivot that's a tough lob to then have to just like back slowly away from so it landed perfectly. And Emma gets just a, I mean, the moment her day has been building towards as well in terms of showing him that kindness and knowing exactly how to comfort this person who is in need of just, he's just panicking, right?

33:10He's having a momentary panic about his ability to connect with his family after looking and feeling like a new man. But yeah, I don't know what the audible was on that one if it fell flat?

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36:02Rob:Whitaker, Santos, Mohan, King, and McKay are all on charting, scanning, shredding duty at various points in this episode as they try to get out of there. But Santos is like, I live here now, I guess. Well, we did learn. I mean, this is what's going to keep them around. right we thought it was gonna be charting no it's scanning yeah she's not even gonna get to her charting that she's behind on because she's got a scan and shred um i just want to shout out a few things mckay fighting the scanner slash fax machine i see you i see you and i identify with you and i love it um and then we get santos and whitaker having sort of like another conversation about their living situation i loved this all the whitaker santos stuff this season's been really really great their little like exchange of glances not glances like right like these very like shy sort of encounter at the very end tail end of that conversation um i you know we've we've talked before about the pit fandom and their tendency to sort of like ship various characters and stuff like that but i do love that the pit does a really good job of these platonic relationships and how important you know santos is hooking up with garcia but that is far from the most important nourishing uh the opposite of that yeah relationship in her life but whitaker is here is like a complete lifeline to her in terms of like someone who sees her and supports her and cares about her and she's a tough person mckay in this episode is like we're gonna get to that.

37:31Rob:Yeah. You know, so she's a she's a tough person to know. She's a prickly person. But she extended a lifeline to him at the end of last season when she's like, hey, man, you're living in the hospital. Come live in my house after bullying him like all day. It can be both. And he's here to offer this to her, which is just sort of like, I'm not going to leave you at the first opportunity. Right. You know, which I thought was really beautiful. But also knowing her well enough to know to not say that. Right. Right. It's like Like she is a skittish enough person where if he was overtly supportive, she would reject it.

38:01Rob:Well, he even said last episode, he was like, you just have to say it. Yeah. Just say it. And then she doesn't say it and he offers it to her anyway. He does. And here it's all like, yeah, I could maybe just stop by Robbie's to take care of stuff. Like never overtly saying, even that I want to stay or that I can feel that you need me around or that you need some company right now. Love it when I steal your avocados. I get really mad at someone. Like, especially if you waited to the perfect ripeness. Come on. And then it's gone. I'm waiting multiple days to get that thing right in the zone. Absolutely not.

38:35Rob:Whitaker on the magnetic nose jewelry. Anything you want to say about that? I mean, this one's like open and shut before it's done. Pretty clever. To me, this is just like Whitaker's moment to what he talks about with Ogilvy later about this is actually kind of a high stakes situation. And he just kind of deals with it with a bit of ingenuity. You know, it's being there for someone on their worst day. I mean, it was almost that girl's worst day. Like the thought of her nose being disfigured was about the worst thing that she could think of in that moment. So he was there. He was there with the answer.

39:03And he was there to do something that was not horribly painful. So check, check, check.

39:06Rob:And I love, I, you know, it's a great moment of like doctor ingenuity when you use a tool but not for its intended purpose. And you're just sort of like, no, we're going to use the other side of it. We're going to do this. And clearly he's like seen some other doctor taught him how to do that. And so he's like, guess what? And he's teaching a new doctor how to do it at the same time. I do have, I mean, I have questions about the science. Like, what is happening with the reverse end of those forceps? What are those? They look like medical-grade tweezers. Medical-grade tweezers, my favorite. But, like, why would the pointy, the grabby end of the medical-grade tweezers not also be magnetically pulling enough?

39:41Rob:Well, he slid it under. You need, like, a flat, doesn't he slide it under? I thought he just kind of hovers it outside and it pops with the magnetic force. Okay. But maybe I'm mistaken. We'll have to revisit. If you're an expert in magnetics, please email us at drsidebanks at gmail.com. If you're Jesse Pinkman, please do email us. drsidebanks at gmail.com. And the last one, at least on this sort of like section, I will say Mel King kicking the shredder, like fonzing the shredder so hard knocks into Santos. It's good. And Issa Briones basically like breaking. Like she's for real laughing that actress.

40:13Rob:Like I just really liked that moment. Can I raise you on the kick with first the beep, beep, beep? I really hope that was like an improv. I really feel like Taylor Dearden as Mel King has such a beat on like the weird quirky things that her character would do. Love it. All right. Anything else you want to say about Maga Monica before we leave her for the day? Let's kick her to the curb, honestly. Oh, real joy. Okay. Orlando. I'm going to say, I'm going to describe what Samira does in this episode as wilting. Just completely dissolving, right? She learns about Mr. Green dying from Whitaker, giving up on the ultrasound application when Dr.

40:56Rob:Henderson's like, guess what? I got this in the bag, babe. I'm diagnosing patients. I've read a paper. It's not looking good as far as that goes. And then asking this medic about the working conditions around the job site to sort of see if there was something that wasn't related to his diabetes that could have been involved in his fall here. just and then like her just like completely shell-shocked inside of this entire you know trauma moment like snapping back at Robbie and Garcia but also sometimes just not responding because she's just completely out of it this devastates me as someone who's like emotionally invested in Samira who's had like a terrible day right to see her completely dissolve like this because you want her to just be like like last season she got all this shit for being so slow and then she just like comes through I know in the trauma moment at the end of the season but this just feels like we're just like continuously nosediving for this character.

41:50Rob:How did you feel about that? I mean, it's incredibly tough to watch. And I think in particular, the moments you identified with Garcia and Robbie, where it's sort of like, I know we're at a teaching hospital, but I don't want to fucking be taught right now. Like she's so invested in this case to the point where, you know, when the opportunity does come up to assist Dr. Conley in terms of addressing Orlando's skull fracture, I completely co-signed that Samira should not be involved in that, right? Like she is too emotionally hit. She's too close to this case. Like that's a good decision to sit that particular one out.

42:20Rob:I would also give Victoria the out, but like Robbie's like, I'm going to push you. So I want to circle back to that one because I think it's like a little more nuanced, but in terms of where Mohan is at this point in the day, like she is devastated. She's, she's taken hits at every turn, not just by like a day and a bunch of cases that are almost like structured to push her to her limits over the course of this season. Yeah. But also having this tailspin about her career You're in the process also having this underlying stuff with her family and her mom going on that we don't really know the full extent of.

42:50Rob:We did get an email from a listener who did not want to be identified, but she was pointing out she was she was a little disappointed that both Victoria and Samira, Mohan and Davadi as like, you know, Southeast Asian women have these storylines related to their moms. And this listener was a little like that's a little stereotypical for like both of these characters to have the moms as the overbearing mothers. as their trigger points. I mean, it's a totally fair flag. So what do you want to say about Victoria that feels a little more nuanced to you? I mean, it is, but like... So this one was interesting because it is not unlike Dr.

43:25Javadi, show your mom that you're built for this. Like it is a vote of confidence from Robbie. And it is a push at a time where Javadi's having her own moments of crisis, right? She's had a tough time with patients all day. She's kind of second guessing herself and her own instincts. but there's something about the way Robbie does it that is like a little forceful that is like this is a great opportunity and you need to take it and I'm almost like not accepting you to decline it but the way he follows it up by staying in the room and the thumbs up thumbs up, double thumbs up he's not throwing her into the deep end and then leaving in the way that he has with other doctors all throughout the day all throughout both seasons this is like this is an opportunity for you I see you being a little shaken in your confidence right now and I'm telling you you can do this

44:08Rob:I don't disagree with you And I just think that like if I were her manager, I would have been like, you don't have to do this today. But the conversation that he offers her. Whitaker's emotional support of Santos, Mel King talking to Langdon when he feels dispirited. Just no one has done that for Samira today. And the moment where it looks like Robbie might, he just wants to know the dirt on Alashimi. That was heartbreaking. Really tough. Because she is like spacing out into the computer, completely lost in the woods. and it's like, it finally seems like he might be pulling her aside for the right word.

44:42Rob:There was a moment when he's talking to Mrs. Diaz and he's like, we honor, you know, your husband had all the information. We honored him. From a certain point of view, that's him backing Mohan up. But also it's him legally covering their asses. It's true. It's just sort of like, you know, so it can be both things. But like, that was a moment where I was like, okay, well, he's like on her team. And he never says to Samira, like, why did you let him leave? You know, So he doesn't do that. But I just like, Mohan really needed someone today to like, we've talked about this before, like Dana talking to Mel in the stairwell, like someone to just like sit down and be like, I see you as a person, you know, like perhaps when she had her panic attack, you know, like Langdon was taking care of her.

45:26Rob:Joy like got her in the wheelchair. There are people who like showed up, but no one just sat down and said, let's have an emotional heart to heart about how you're feeling about your mom. Now, again, there's two more hours in the shift, so this could still happen. But like, you know, Robbie's been giving her nothing but shit all day. So I would love for someone to show up for her the way. But it's realistic. It is. That like for many of these characters, there will be emotional support and emotional bulwark against like absolutely collapsing under a horrible day. And for some of the characters, there won't be, you know.

45:54It's very true. I think especially when you think about the types of people who tend to get that sort of support.

46:00Rob:Yeah. Often it is like, yeah, younger doctors, inexperienced doctors, people who are coming up and you can see. But Mel for Langdon, you know. Well, Mel, they have a unique relationship, clearly, and have a reciprocal care for each other that I think is important. But I wonder if part of the problem with Mohan is like, she is very competent and she is very good at her job. And I think it is instructive to remember, like she is literally hours away from having a panic attack on the floor and should have been going home right then and there. Not because Robbie thought she was unfit for work, but like, you got to take care of yourself.

46:29And I...

46:30Rob:Right, but Emma got attacked in Emma's date and we're all like, good job, Emma. Well, Emma also should have been sent home. I'm proud of her that she wanted to stay, but she also should have been sent home, right? It's like, it is kind of a having it both ways situation. To wrap up the Orlando story, which is by no means like done done, or it might be actually, but like Robbie talking loudly in the middle of the ED about how he thinks Mr. Diaz might have tried to off himself, Danny catching him and later chewing him out about it. Or to back it up even slightly, the fact that Orlando's wife, Lori, has shown up unaware that he even left in the first place.

47:04I brought him a chicken burger. She was just bringing him dinner.

47:06Rob:Yeah. I think there's something especially heartbreaking about that and the fact that Mohan is the one to receive her and has to break the news. But I will say that like when Perla tells her that Orlando's wife is there, like Mohan like, is not like, oh, it shouldn't be me or like whatever. She's just sort of like, okay, let me be the one to intercept her sort of thing. The Robbie Dana stuff touches a lot of different storylines. I like that this is a conversation that much like many of the cases in the ED, like spills out across multiple episodes. It does not make sense that this would have been like wrapped up after their non-resolution conversation last week.

47:41Rob:So like I anticipate this will continue for the rest of the season, two more episodes. But I like their, I love when she calls him out. She's like, you know, you shouldn't talk about patients out on the floor like this. And she's like, you almost got taught. He's like, but I did like over his shoulder. Like, yeah, but I didn't. Like, it just feels very real, their dynamic. And we watched them be rocks for each other last season. Dana was so concerned about Robbie last season, as she is this season. But this season, she has sort of, like, fewer spoons in her own drawer to offer him tenderness. And she's just sort of like, get your shit together, man.

48:22Rob:It's a tougher love for sure. Right? I really liked this. What did you think? Yeah, I think the ongoing bickering between them has been great. And I think they're both quite wrong about themselves and quite right about each other. For everything we've said about Robbie and his martyr complex, and it's addressed overtly in this episode, Dana is putting a lot on her shoulders too. So you get to go the extra mile and the rest of us get accused of being martyrs. He's not wrong in this case. Right. And we just talked about Dana maybe just like pulling a double to cover for Lena to be able to go home.

48:51And it's like these all come from very good places, right? of wanting, in Dana's case, wanting to look after somebody else and give them a break. Yeah. But the result is now probably Dana, at minimum, has to find a replacement on a holiday at night.

49:04Rob:I will say, though, and I agree, I agree with you, that they're wrong about themselves and right about each other. 100 % agree. And this is great shit that the pit is capable of. Thinking about Dana's behavior over the day, we did see her sort of like, she's very sensitized to violence against nurses, as she should be. when that patient grabs Emma's arm. And then, of course, in the Code Hula Hoop moment. So I'm not saying that Dana has all of her stuff in order. She's not taking it out on everyone else the way that Robbie is. You know what I mean? Like the way that he is, they're both traumatized here, not on their best behavior.

49:46Rob:Dana, I think, is much more functional inside of that dynamic than Robbie is today, I think. I think functional is where I might push back a little bit. I agree with you that she's not taking it out on other people in the same way. But if you're walking around all day with a locked and loaded syringe of like a sedative, I mean, that means you're looking for trouble around every single corner. There's a part of me that thinks they all should have that at all times. You may not be entirely wrong. Clearly, this is a very dangerous place to work. But I'm just thinking about the baseline anxiety level of somebody who feels the necessity to do that.

50:20Rob:Well, I think everyone needs therapy personally. So we'll see. All right. Asthma Kid, Grady, who comes in. We get a lot of information about Medicaid being cut because of a mail forwarding error. And I think it's time. Yeah. Dev, you want to cue that thing up for us? Yeah.

50:43Rob:I mean, classic Medicaid conversation information dump from the pit. But we got a clerical error, no less. Right, right. A male forwarding error. But also like the Diaz's, she finds herself in a space where she's just like, I'm a hairstylist. I don't have like, you know, steady pay stubs. My, you know, my money comes and goes. So in terms of qualifying for help, she's screwed in several ways. This case is also here to show Dr. Henderson's extreme competence, which we get all episode. Bearing in mind that the night shift is quite fresh on the shift. and then Dr. Langdon fucking up and freaking out about his fuck up, his oversight.

51:22He wants to intubate anything that moves right now.

51:24Rob:I mean, Frank, clock out. I think you can be done for the day. Yeah, it's time, I think. At least go do some scanning. But I just think that like Mel offering him that support and him being like, well, Robbie's been riding me all day. True. What did you think was going to happen? But her being like, Robbie's leaving. You just have to make it through. One day. You can leave. A couple hours. You can leave right now. It's true. And then that problem is done for you. Imagine that. But also her very emotionally being like, Robbie's leaving. Robbie, who's so famous that Becca knows who Robbie is. It's true.

51:58Rob:The famous Dr. Rabinovich. I don't want you to leave too, right? A beautiful moment. It is a beautiful moment. I would say like philosophically, Joe, do you identify more as a Nietzsche or a Kelly Clarkson? Yeah, thanks so much for asking. I'm a bit more Nietzsche than I am Kelly Clarkson. How about you? I think I might be more Kelly Clarkson. Maybe more Kelly Clarkson. But this is a follow-up to season one Mel King soothing herself with pop music. Right. Is a pretty great one too, I think. I'm down for any of those montages they want to hit us with. Mel walking home at the end of every shift.

52:30I know she has to pick up Becca sometimes, but like.

52:32Rob:Not today. Just throw in the earbuds. Yeah. You know, whether it's Megan, whether it's Kelly, whatever we got going, I'm down for it. And then Grady thanking Dr. Langdon, right? I was really scared. Thank you. And this is, once again, underlines what Whitaker will say to Ogilvie. which is like being there for people on their worst day. Hey, that's what this show is about, right? That's the theme of the show. But I thought that was like a really beautiful moment. I like this one even more just because of the complexity of it. Right. I mean, Whitaker just said the thing which we sometimes do not like that the pit does where they're just sort of like, hey, did you know the thesis of our show is we're here for people on the worst day of their life?

53:08Rob:But more nuance in what way do you want to say? Well, I just want to say that Langdon is receiving a thanks for something that he feels he did not do. Right. Like he did not. He he tried to do something and want to do something very dangerous. He did do something. Absolutely. Yeah. But I'm saying like he's clearly feeling so conflicted and heavy in the moment about the risk that he was willing to take because he didn't know about the collapse long. And to me, that's why when he when Grady does say thank you, he almost like doesn't know what to say. And it's Mel who sort of accepts it on their behalf.

53:37Rob:I sort of I read that a little differently. I hear what you're saying. But like I read it a little more like Like I did do something, which was like emotionally help this kid, even if I had the wrong idea about what to do. It was a team effort. It was a team effort. You know, he was there at the, you know, initial intake of Grady and just sort of was bustling around in a way that emotionally made Grady feel better. Even if it was Dr. Henderson's finger in his rib cage that really sort of saved the day there. So I could have lived without seeing that. Okay. Wrapping up Ogilvy. Let's talk about Whitaker and Ogilvy.

54:08Rob:So we've been sort of expecting this all season. Like, again, our expectation of the pit now is that they're going to present us with a character we don't like and then force us to confront the ways in which we do like them before the shift is over. And so Ogilvy being the absolute inhuman worst and then meeting. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration. He's not a serial killer. He might be. I don't know that he's not. He said some shit that we were like, come on. Would even the worst person say that? The tact is not great. And then we got many emails from people being like, actually, yes. But his emotional bond with Mr.

54:45Rob:Green and then just sort of like Whitaker discovering him and giving him the grace of giving him advice that he received in season one and giving him the grace of you don't even have to go back in there. I mean, I think he, I presume his keys in his wallet are in his locker. So I think he should have to go back in there. But let's just assume they're not and he could just walk home or something like that. I don't know. But I thought this was a lovely moment. Yeah, I could see him being a bike rider. I could see him being, Joe, one of the people who rides around on one of those like motorized unicycles.

55:14Do you know what I'm talking about?

55:15Rob:Yes, I do. Absolutely not. You don't think he would ride on one of those? A motorized unicycle? Ogilvy? Yeah. No. Oh, he has that energy to me. No, no, no. That guy might, like he might roll up one leg of his pants and get on a bike. Sure. But still, I presume he locked that bike and he needs the key to that lock. It's a fair point. So I just have some questions about that. I did love this exchange overall. And you're right. It is a little like, let's just say all the stuff out loud. And in particular, I mean, people die and we do the best we can, but people die is about as much of a thesis statement for the show as you could make.

55:48Rob:I think I like being here for people on the worst day of their lives. Hey, that's the show. Also hits. But I think you need all of it, right? Like you need the being there for the people on the worst day of their lives. And I think most critically and what makes the pit the pit is like you need people who are trying their best. And it's like they're wrong. They're misguided. They're driven by ambition. They're driven by the dynamics of the room, whatever it is. But the earnestly trying is what, to me, separates a lot of medical dramas from other workplace dramas, right? The infighting and stuff doesn't often come at the expense of patient care.

56:22At least directly. Hopefully. Ideally. But we're trying to save this person's life in an urgent situation. Usually that's just like, we got to get this blood pressure under control. We got to get this heart rate going, like whatever it is. And the fact that you can... be trying your best and lose people no matter how good your best is. That's good television. It's good drama. It's good on Whitaker to tell us what to look for in terms of the framing of the show.

56:48Rob:We'll keep our eye on Duke. We get a diagnosis, right? That he is textbook aortic ascending aneurysm 50 % one-year mortality, not just the diagnosis, but also the prognosis. So something to watch. It's a bad diagnosis. We'll see how Robbie handles it. But like, I assume that this will be a conversation that is not just related to Duke's future, but also Robbie's future and him going on this trip at all. I mean, this is the whole point to me of the conversation he's having about trying to get Duke fast tracked into surgery. Right. He wants to get everything in order before he leaves because he might not come back.

57:20And that includes getting his friend who's a little hesitant to get medical care into surgery. Basically, not like before he can walk it back.

57:27Rob:you alluded to the detective duo of Robbie and Perla but Robbie here is here on the case with Dr. Al Hashimi this guy's unbelievable pulling Samira out to ask her about this is like one thing him like asking her how long did you work with Dr. Al Hashimi at the VA or whatever while they're working on Orlando is again this man has a drill in his skull and you're like this is the time not the time he confronts her she brushes it off but I assume we're gonna this is all gonna come to a head in the next two episodes. I mean, he's just looking for literally any reason to not leave. And so he has drummed up one and the fact that he can be suspicious of Dr.

58:05Elashimi of all people, I mean, just makes it that much easier.

58:07Rob:Sunburn Bikini Babe as our new like furry is I'm a big fan of. I suggest a drinking game. Take a shot. I think probably a red, white or blue jello shot anytime you see the sunburn victim walk back and forth in the frame. But not red, white or blue magnetic jewelry. Nope, just jello shots. Just the jello shots. um someone compared someone i think in our comments compared her to are you aware of the llama lincoln uh showgirl bit from snl no this is from like the very beginning of snl's history um i wrote an article on it years ago but like that in the in the background of a lot of not a lot but occasionally in the background if you are if they're filming the hallway like in the hallway offset in the background you will see someone dresses lincoln someone dresses a showgirl or a llama and it's just sort of like a visual gag that they have used since the 70s on SNL.

58:57Rob:So I like the idea of like the furry. Yes. And the sunburned bikini babe. And like, let's think of a third one as the sort of like llama Lincoln showgirl of the pit. I'm a big fan of it. If you have a finish to our tic-tac-toe, prestigeTVspotify.com, please. Our last case before we get to this sort of casting spoiler that you wanted to talk about is it's Sarah Wiley. It's Noah Wiley's wife. It sure is. As Ashley Davis. And I just have to say, as someone who lives in crunchy Northern California for another week, in crunchy Northern California, and hangs out with a lot of crunchy Northern California people, my pal and I were watching this episode together.

59:32Rob:We were like, this is a supplements issue. Like, immediately, we were like, this is what this is. Not that it was turmeric, necessarily, but we were just sort of like, this chick who's like, I'm a vegan. We were like, this is a supplements issue. um mckay coming to santos and being like you're great with you're great at figuring out the weird stuff and i thought santos is like i actually say that about you joe do you yeah if i needed someone to crack the real weird stuff i feel like i would bring it to you well i just look at the online trends just think about what's the stupidest thing that someone could do and like assume that they've done it but uh i loved santos is like very casual like oh yeah sleep maxing oh sure cold room i mask i mean honestly the way she described it i was like i think i might be a sleep maxer perhaps but I don't take turmeric so it's okay.

1:00:14You're getting those numbers up though.

1:00:15Rob:Cold room. Yeah. We've already, you and I have already talked about eye masks and how we enjoy them. White noise. I guess I'm unintentionally sleep maxing. My only problem is I'm just getting like five hours of sleep maxing. Your white noise is like whatever's playing on the television. Don't worry about it. The Robbie style white noise. Anyway, so Santa's being both good at diagnosing and too caustic for Dr. McKay. Yeah. Is she the Dr. Gregory House of this show? Wow. I didn't put it together but kind of. Terrible bedside manner. Yeah. Really good at the weird stuff. Really good at the weird stuff.

1:00:47Yeah. This is the part of Santos too that you just like can't defend. I can justify and explain a lot of what she does. This part like.

1:00:54Rob:But she's both really good at something. She is. And then like horribly dim view of humanity side by side. That's the Santos brew, you know? But I think she crosses within this conversation the line from like healthy cynicism to like outright hostility. Absolutely. And to me it's the difference between what's the stupidest thing a person could do and I assume they did it. Like that, I think is like good cynicism for a doctor. And then she keeps going. Yeah, the like, she did it because she's a big fucking idiot. Yeah, and Cassie's like, okay. Let me slowly back away from this conversation. I have a date at an art gallery to get to.

1:01:27Rob:Okay. I think especially, like, because this case supplements and all, Our Lady and Turmeric, like, she's trying to be healthy, right? She's taking information from sources she probably shouldn't. This is not, this is not any better than Dr. than like Measles' mom, I think. Like, no, it's better. I think that's an unfair comparison. I don't know. It's about like Googling shit and feeling like you know better than medical experts. That's fair. But I feel like we're all trying to hastily research with the time that we have in our lives, the best medical and health related information we can find.

1:02:00And inevitably, your wires are going to get crossed. And Santos even says like the resources you would check it against are mostly toxic waste dumps right now.

1:02:09Rob:Right. Well, yeah. Don't go. Well, yeah, living out with the pay. You don't go on the CDC website, I guess. But also, like, you don't just go on Reddit and be like, everyone's drinking turmeric tea, I guess. The more turmeric, the better. Like, anyway. Great performance in sort of jaundice makeup from Sarah Wiley, I thought. Okay. Last but not least, to wrap things up, we are going to talk about this casting spoiler. There's some casting news that Rob does not want to poison your minds with if you've somehow avoided it. So leave, leave, leave if you haven't left already. Seriously. I think this is a big deal if you are not plugged in on this stuff.

1:02:41Okay. You want to go for it? I would like to disclose. Post-spoiler. Leave if you are so inclined. There's this report today from Variety, a double scoop, that Ayesha Harris, who plays Ellis, is going to be a full-time cast member for season three. Yeah. We love to hear it. We love it. The trade-off. Supriya Ganesh plays Mohan, not going to be in season three. We'll be departing the show. Obviously, there's been a lot of story-related trail leading to this point. We have been bread crumbed all throughout this season.

1:03:12Rob:We were hoping for like a resurgence from Mohan, but it might just be a complete flame out from her. Just straight off the cliff into geriatrics or wherever she, or maybe out of medicine, honestly. Like she's had such a day. I have not. I think you could see a lot of potential outcomes for her. There's a lot of ways to like parse and read the news, but like how did it hit you, Joe? Aisha Harris, who we love, is Dr. Ellis. I'll start there. She wrote on her Instagram, Dr. Ellis got student loans to pay off. We got to work a double shift. been wanting to share this news for a while now. And then she also shouted out Supriya in her post.

1:03:41Rob:And she said, to quote my girl, thank you for being a real one from day one. So love to Supriya Ganesh who's leaving and joy from Aisha Harris at being, and we love Dr. Ellis. So we're thrilled about that. I do raise an eyebrow. I don't think it's a coincidental double scoop for them to be like, hi, another woman of color is leaving herself. But don't worry, we've already filled her in with a different woman of color. So one in, one out, don't worry about it. It's a little messy. Not my fave. But something that we've been talking about, and a lot of our listeners in the medical community have written in about this, is that the nature of a teaching hospital is that even if Samira did not have the worst day of her life, these people rotate in and rotate out all the time.

1:04:23Rob:The creators of The Pit have talked about this as an opportunity to sort of introduce new people. We get Joy and Ogilvie are here this season as our new med students. And I've been a little worried about that. I'm like, how can they bend the plot to keep so many of our favorites around when like the nature. How long can we keep these high schoolers in high school? Right, exactly. I don't want Saved by the Bell College years. So like this is just going to happen. I'm sad that it's happening this way for Samira seemingly on like a note of defeat and not a I'm excited to go do a fellowship in XYZ.

1:04:53Rob:Right. Presumably we'll get another just like with Dr. Collins this season. And presumably we would get another like in passing recap of what happened to Dr. Mohan who left the ED. But I'm bummed. We love Mohan. We've been talking all season about how much we love her. We love this character. But also I had actually seen some speculation earlier in the season from the fandom that Supriya specifically. And there's a couple other people like Sean Hadassi or Patrick Ball. There's a couple people who have like started to pop elsewhere in their career because of the pit. and so they might be better primed than some of the other actors to want to look elsewhere.

1:05:29Rob:Sure. You know, like, Kathleen Lanasa is not going to be looking around because she's winning Emmys for playing Nurse Dana. But if you're on, like, a big ensemble cast and you're Supriya Ganesh and one of the most beautiful women alive and very talented, like, perhaps you're like, hey, there's some, you know, and she's... Maybe you can book your own pilot. You know, she and Patrick Ball are both doing a lot of stage work, you know, so, like, maybe this is a good thing for her career, but I'm bummed about it personally. Like I'm not happy about it. I'm absolutely bereft. Like Mohan's one of my favorite characters on the show.

1:05:59And I think it's just such a great, fully realized version of a person working in this setting. And Supriya, I just think has done a really wonderful job with her. So I get it. I hate it. Thanks. Unfortunate for all involved, especially me and Supriya Ganesh.

1:06:14Rob:But this is not to say we're thrilled that Ayesha Harris is gonna be here in a more serious fashion. I'll be curious to track other. So what that tells me, especially her post about like working a double shift. So it sounds like it's not just Dr. Ellis is moving to the day shift, but that. It might be a metaphor. Maybe, maybe. But Dr. Ellis being there on a double tells us that we're not getting, probably not getting pit nights, even though we had wondered if maybe we would. It's probably true. Chris on the watch floated this idea of like, what if we start the shift five hours later so we get just like more of the night shift?

1:06:48Rob:especially given like two new members of the night shift that we met inside of this episode. So we get like even more time with Sean Hattesey. I'm certain that the fandom would love that. But that means less time with Dr. Mel King or Dr. Langdon or whoever else your favorite might be. It's true. But I do feel like in this episode is a testament to it. Some of the best episodes of The Pit are the changeover episodes. And some of that is just that you're getting these people who are haggard and depleted of energy interacting with new elements for the first time in hours. So if we shift that to mid-season, I wouldn't be opposed to.

1:07:18I think it could be an interesting construction.

1:07:20Rob:I will say like comparing like Javadi's hair, which is just like, to, you know, like your Mateos, whose curls are crisp and fresh and ready to go. His curls are just that way all the time, I feel. That's true. All right, anything else you want to hit that we haven't? I did have one more thing I wanted to hit about Dr. Conley and her introduction to the show. Just because, I mean, I love everything about that sequence with Javadi and specifically using Javadi as a counterpoint who has been on top of her game. We know she knows her stuff. and from the second Dr. Conley walks in the room, it's like Javadi needs a translator.

1:07:53Like, Robbie and Ellis are having to, like, decipher what she's saying in a way that, obviously, there's hierarchy in the pit. Everyone's reporting to Robbie on the floor, et cetera, et cetera. We just walked through the whole freaking org chart for the night shift. So hopefully you understand that, but, like, there's a hierarchy to the medical specificity of knowledge happening here that I thought was, like, a really cool dynamic to bring in the room, and specifically for someone like Javadi, who knows so much, to be just completely lost and even trying to keep up with conversation.

1:08:20Rob:I think it's, yeah, I love that. But I also just like, like the introduction of Park the Shark. Like, let's bring in these various specialists. Like it's quite fun to see. The heavy hitters. Yeah, the heavy hitters. All right. That's been the 7 p.m. hour on the pit. Two more hours to go. Devastated that the season's almost over. I know. I could take the pit all year round, honestly. So, you know. Don't threaten us with a good time. Night shift and back to the day shift and apparently the medium shift. You know, I think we have lots of variations we can hit. Absolutely. Um, thank you to Devin Rinaldo for filling in for Kai Grady this week.

1:08:53Rob:Thank you to everyone here who's here at Sycamore. It's a whole crew. We're, we're big fans. We love you guys so much. Thank you to Rob Mahoney. Thank you, Joe. Thanks to our listeners. Keep those emails coming. We'll see you next week. Bye. Bye.