‘The Pitt’ Season 2 Premiere: There Will Be Blood

20:24Joanna Robinson:Setbound and its delivery device base in QuickPen are registered trademarks owned or licensed by Eli Lilly and Company, its subsidiaries, or affiliates. This episode is brought to you by Marvel Television's Daredevil Born Again Season 2, now streaming on Disney+. Charlie Cox and Vincent D 'Onofrio are back. And Kristen Ritter makes her highly anticipated return as Jessica Jones in an all-new season. As Mare Fisk tightens his grip on New York City, he makes Daredevil as his top target. Matt Murdock fights from the shadows, hoping to bring down Fisk's corrupt empire and reclaim his city. Don't miss Daredevil Born Again Season 2, now streaming only on Disney+.

21:03This episode is brought to you by the Active Cash credit card from Wells Fargo. That's a mouthful, but that's because it packs a lot in. Earn unlimited 2 % cash rewards on purchases with it, big or small. So whether it's buying tickets to the game and grabbing a coffee, it earns unlimited 2 % cash rewards on purchases. Say it with me. The ActiveCash credit card from Wells Fargo. Be a two percenter. Learn more at wellsfargo.com forward slash active cash. Terms apply.

21:32Joanna Robinson:We're going to get to some beats. As is always the case in the pit, there's a lot going on here in the first hour of the shift. But before we do that, it's a TimeWater Prestige TV tradition. we want to come through with a bespoke email address for our coverage of the pit. We should say we're going to be covering the pit and industry side by side in these first couple months of the year. Week to week, every episode. And so we will have a different special, probably Coke-related email address for our industry coverage. But for the pit, obviously, you can always email us, Prestigetv at Spotify.com.

22:10Joanna Robinson:but we like to come up with something fun as well. So Rob, do you want to hit me with, or do you want me to go first? What do you want to do? I would love to go first, Jo. Okay, please do. This is a pleasure because our coverage last season of The Pit was kind of sporadic, jumping in and out. We didn't make one of these emails. So now with the benefit of hindsight, with the benefit of these new batches of episodes, I have a couple of suggestions, but I have to say they're all very season two oriented. So I'm eager to see if you, okay. Let me start with this. melpractice at gmail.com. I had that on my list.

22:41I think you got to. It's a little tricky in terms of getting people to spell it correctly and we'll have to really nail the mel if we go in that direction. How do you feel about quivering bag of worms at gmail.com?

22:53Joanna Robinson:Also on my list. Full alignment so far. We love to see it. See, we are not Robbie and Dr. Al. No. You know, we know how to bob and weave. We know how to do this thing. It's true. If you brought in a full bagel spread, I would just say, Rob, what a guy. I wouldn't feel threatened by it. It's a nice thing to do for your coworkers, especially on your first day. Yeah. How do you feel about giant balls of disrespect at gmail.com? Also on my list. Very good. Very good. Three for three. My last one, Joe, hula hoop is the safe word at gmail.com. Yeah, I had hula hoop safe word, but yeah, close enough.

23:27Here's what I have in addition.

23:32Joanna Robinson:Captain Crunch flying squirrel socks at gmail.com. Yeah. Quite lengthy. A tough sell, perhaps. Quivering Heart, which is just a plus on Quivering Bag of Worms at gmail.com. None with Goopy Eye at gmail.com. That's just, I just, that's very case specific and maybe not exactly what I want to go for. But here's one that is just like, this is a shout out to you, Ramoni. And a shout out to our first Pit Season 2 bonding moment. What do you feel about Dr. Side Bangs at gmail.com? You already know I'm conflicted about it. Okay. So to those of you who did not hear our Pit Season 1 coverage, Rob came up with some Santos-esque nicknames for some of our doctors.

24:19Joanna Robinson:And for Dr. McKay, he called her Dr. Banks, which is all I call her now in my head. That's just who she is. And when they did the first Entertainment Weekly spread to promote Pit Season 2, I texted Rob. I was like, Dr. Sidebanks. She has changed her bangs to side bangs. Rob, we are both side bang having people. Like you and I are - This is why it's complicated. Are side bang people. So Dr. Side Bangs might just be like, I mean, here's what I suggest. Okay. We've got our pal Kai Grady is producing this episode. Should we have Kai pick the email address out of the options that he's heard here today?

24:59I would love nothing more. I would love for Kai to hand pick one of these.

25:03Joanna Robinson:Kai Grady. What's going on, y 'all? Kai. So good to be here. What an honor. Can you please help us? We are desperate for, I guess, a tie break or really just for you to make an executive decision. These are a great batch of names. I think I'm leaning Mel Practice because it's just like, it's clever. I mean, I think if we have it in the description, you guys give the listeners a little bit of a heads up each time, like it's Mel Practice, not Mal Practice. It could hit. and then I'm between that and side bangs. I mean, both of you have them. So it aligns with the pod. I think maybe then we'll go side bangs.

25:42How about that?

25:43Joanna Robinson:Kai, if you had side bangs yourself, would it be a no-brainer? Would you be like, this has got to be? I can just get performative side bangs just so we can all be together in this. In the absence of side bangs, could you at least grow out a Whitaker-esque mullet? Oh, yeah. A little fashion mullet. Yeah. I did kind of like that from Whitaker. He's got a new one. Do you think that was Santos' idea? She's like, you know what? I think she cut it herself. Yeah, exactly. I think so too. I need just like a look into their living situation, you know? Don't we all? Absolutely. All right, so Dr. Side Bangs it is.

26:17Joanna Robinson:Kai, thank you so much. Any additional bang thoughts from you? So just a quick aside. I didn't watch The Pit as it came out. Started binging a few weeks ago. Got through the whole thing. and caught up on y 'all's coverage of it, right? And so I produced the first episode. I think maybe I produced another one. But Donnie, great Donnie Beecham, produced most of that run. When we first did that episode, I hadn't seen The Pit and I hadn't seen anything about it. And when Rob was like Dr. Bangs, that just internalized. So I was like, this is the character's name. That's just her name. I was like, it's Dr.

26:52Bangs. And then I was like, who's Dr. Bangs in the show? And then I put two and two together very quickly. But it's just great. I'm sorry to throw you for a loop. Rob's such a not sorry.

27:01Joanna Robinson:He's such an influencer. This is his gift. Well, Kai, welcome to The Pit. Welcome to having watched The Pit. We're so glad to have you on this run. Happy to be here. For the next 15 weeks. What a joy. What a thrill. All right, so you can reach us with your thoughts about, I don't know, firework safety, conjunctivitis, conjunctivitis, local Pittsburgh bangs, quivering worms, at drsidebangs, that's D-O-C-T-O-R, sidebangs at gmail.com. All right, I want to start with this, Rob Mahoney, which I'm calling favorite piece of efficient storytelling. There's a lot to get through in this episode. There really is.

27:45Joanna Robinson:And some of it is done, I would say, a little clunkily, and some of it is done really smoothly. And so I want to hit the smooth before we get to a little bit of the clunk. Um, so I will just say I, maybe this is just like the doctor's daughter and me or something like that. But Robbie writing in without his helmet on is to me a sign of. I just having the motorcycle, which is, which is a death machine in the first place. It's all it does is, is a sign that all is not right with, with our guy, Robbie. It's not the anniversary of Adamson's death, but he is going through something, uh, in, in this current moment.

28:23Joanna Robinson:I would say the Yolanda Garcia-Santos relationship confirmation, given her knowledge of the Whitaker-Santos toothbrush gate, I thought was pretty. Is that your interpretation that Garcia and Santos are spending time together at home if she knows about Whitaker and the toothbrush? I think it's very possible. But it also could just be kind of like office gossip, you know? It could be a thing he was getting hounded for at work and spread around. but I think your theory is more likely. Garcia's calling him white chocolate. She's giving him like a Santos-esque nickname here. And the fact that she knows what he listens to would also suggest that at least she has some insider info.

29:06Joanna Robinson:Here's another piece of information that's dropped here. Robbie says about Yolanda Garcia, she has trouble expressing her feelings. And Whitaker says, not all of them. There's a couple possible interpretations here, right? Yeah, can you walk us through them explicitly? I would like to hold your hand and walk you through these possibilities. A clear easy one is when she feels disdain or something like that. She is free with the insults. We've seen it all through season one. We see it again in this episode. Another possibility, though, is if Whitaker is living in the home with Santos. It is possible that Garcia is just free and vocal with her effusive joy at spending one-on-one time with Dr.

29:57Joanna Robinson:Santos. Are you leaning one way or another when it comes to interpreting that particular exchange, Rob Mahoney? I mean, I'm leaning toward the delicious double meaning because it's right there for the taking. And as you know, Joe, my gaydar is 100 % accurate. So how could we possibly be at fault here other than to assume these two are intertwined in some way? They're best friends. Okay. We already mentioned this, but the fact that LinkedIn has a new locker slash code and has been demoted to the bottom row with rotting food in it. But just him looking at this piece of paper, all of that. We got this sort of welcome back from Lupe, who was sort of welcomed into the hospital.

30:37Joanna Robinson:He wasn't strolling into work. He was coming in through chairs waiting to be sort of welcomed back, but he does have a badge that he can scan in and he's got a piece of paper that tells him what his new locker code is. I just thought that was really great moment of storytelling. And I am, I'm really excited that Langdon's back and I'm really, I thought Patrick Ball was really good in this, like really, really good in this episode. Emma's over eagerness based on Dana stripping all the extra gear off of her when she shows him at the front desk. What did you think of that? The knowing smirk from Dana as she kind of up downs and sees the entire first aid kit slash toolbox that is nestled in her pocket.

31:15Joanna Robinson:Yeah. Incredible stuff, as always, from Dana. But I do think it's a great character moment. I love that we have this character, too, because the beauty of having a teaching hospital is that it is a natural exposition machine. And you get all these reasons and excuses to explain why things are happening. And having a neophyte nurse is something totally new for us. This isn't Princess and Perla who are miles ahead of basically anyone else working there a lot of the time. This is somebody who has no idea what they're doing and is a little bit naive and has to be kind of like shown the nature of this particular world and the particular beast in the pit in particular.

31:51That's a lot of particulars.

31:52Joanna Robinson:You know what? But you're a particular person, so I enjoyed it. On the Princess Beat, I just want to shout out, she's rocking like an incredible braid crown this season. I just like want to shout out her hair game. It's really, really good. The last time I list here of like efficient storytelling, and it's last time I list because I'm actually not sure. I'm curious what you think of it, is the revelation of the patient in chairs who is hearing impaired and the sound cuts out and we get her sort of like, if you've seen the film Coda or whatever, her sort of POV of the world. I thought the sound had cut out on my screener for a second.

32:27Joanna Robinson:And then the person I was watching with was like, no, that person's deaf. And I was like, okay. Okay. So is that great storytelling or did it feel like, how did you feel about it? I thought it was a nice setup. I think this is something that Pitt does really, really well is by my count, there were like 13 active cases happening in this episode. This is the first episode, 13 cases happening. And then there's also the ones kind of being seated in the waiting room. And this is a great example of that, of we don't even know what she's there for yet or what she needs or what she wants or what kind of healthcare is she like, what kind of treatment she's in line for.

33:01We just know that she's sitting there and waiting like everyone else and getting that point of view, which we don't often get from any of the patients on this show. Very exciting stuff. I don't know where they're going to go with it or why they have kind of singled her out as like, this is the point of view character we want to get into other than the obvious, which is a deaf person's experience going through the healthcare system is probably worth digging into on its own.

33:22Joanna Robinson:I was wondering if, and it may or may not be, because I know that they started shooting season two in pretty close proximity to season one, so I'm not sure how much of it was reactive to season one, but I do know that, you know, when you have that, when we had the mass casualty event in season one, there was a mother who had a son who, uh, was deaf and she was like trying to make sure that they understood that, that, uh, they had to like write that on the cards that they were putting on these people so that when he woke up from surgery, like they would know this about him. And I, I saw some, you know, I was, I was sort of looking around to see how people felt about that storyline.

33:57Joanna Robinson:And, and I, I saw some people react like, I don't think they fully communicated the gravity of how confusing and disorienting and all these sort of things could be. So I wonder if this is a sort of like, hey, we're going to dig a little deeper into this thing that we kind of grazed the surface of in season one. I love that idea. I'm interested to see where that goes. Before we jump ahead, I wanted to throw one more into consideration here, which Langdon's conversation with Louis in particular and his like making amends as far as like having this opportunity. He's totally 12-stepping it. He gets the opportunity to apologize to the man whose pills he stole and to come clean about the whole deal.

34:35We know how important this is in that process. I think it's a great moment for Langdon. It's clearly something that he needs to do. Love that part of this episode. It also is so smart in the way it sort of seeds the next phases of this, which is he has to have the same, basically the same conversation with Robbie in a different way. Robbie is not ready to have that conversation.

34:55Joanna Robinson:Robbie actively ducking him as much as he can. Yeah. Completely. But the one I'm really looking forward to is having that conversation with Santos, who absolutely deserves the apology. I think that one may be the hardest for Langdon to kind of eat shit and swallow his pride and apologize to the person he basically tried to throw under the bus. And I can't wait to see how they execute it because that moment has to be coming. I had a, and they're still planning to get to in that section, but I had a section later that I wanted to say, the relationship dynamic you're most interested in for season two.

35:26Joanna Robinson:And for me, it's Santos and Langdon. Already we got some delicious glances. And that was such a... Just on the edge of my seat part of the end of season one is when Langdon comes back for the masked casualty and Santos has to see that he's back and they would just occasionally lock eyes. And then the case at the very end of season one when he calls her bright spark and all this other stuff like that. Like, it's just, I'm really, you know. Langdon is coming back humbled, right? And he's coming back happy. To a degree. But yeah, but his personality is not that. So I'm just curious to see how the day goes.

36:08Joanna Robinson:And that's what we'll be watching. A calmer, softer Langdon at 7 a.m. Where is he going to be by noon? Right, exactly. All right, on the less subtle storytelling front, here are some options. Dr. Sidebang's wanting to get banged. It's been a while. She's solo this weekend. She needs to get laid is what she says. She just says it. Do you think this is related to Nurse Mateo's absence from the show? I was of the mind, I believe, last season that they were not actually hooking up, that he just liked hanging out with her and hanging out with her kid. But is Mateo's absence connected to Dr. Sidebang's and her quest?

36:49I would love that for her. Okay. You know, but I also would create some office drama in a different way, right? Because I think a lot of people are interested in Mateo across the board.

36:59Joanna Robinson:Victoria is definitely interested in Mateo. There's no doubt. And my ears perked up when Victoria is talking with her mom about an opportunity to get all of us together to make plans. And it's like, she's talking about her mom and her dad. But I don't know, all of us together suggest maybe boyfriend, maybe somebody. I was thinking siblings, but yeah, sure. Oh, it could be siblings. Yeah. But she hasn't even really talked about siblings that much. Look, I'm just on the lookout for what's best for Victoria. Obviously, what's best for Dr. Sidebangs. You know, maybe there's a lot of Mateo to go around.

37:29I don't want to rule anything out for that guy.

37:31Joanna Robinson:He seems like a great guy. Okay. Samira talking about her mother wanting to set her up and potentially transferring to New Jersey and her phone continuing to go off. Once again, like a couple of these characters are just saying what's going on with them. So it's not bad, but it's just like a little clunkier than some of these other things. How did you feel about this Samira development? I bumped on it too. I think Samira in general is burdened with a lot of either saying things very directly or having to like dig into the exposition in a way that other characters aren't forced to. It doesn't do her any favors.

38:05And yet I still love that character despite how direct she can be at times just because the script demands it. So I think this is one of the necessary realities. If you're going to have this many cases, if you're going to have this many characters, which maybe there's an argument that you should trim down here or there, but I think they do a pretty good job of juggling overall.

38:21Joanna Robinson:Yeah, absolutely. Samira is so interesting because, you know, season one ended with her going through the mass casualty event and then getting this sort of like adrenaline high where she's like, what's next? What's next? Let's go. And then crashing hard. And she had this devastating moment in the bathroom where she's just like crying, washing her hands, and there's just blood everywhere. So I was really interested in picking up with her here. It's interesting to think about her so high up the org chart. I don't think I really considered, with Dr. Collins gone and with Langdon in the doghouse, Samira is at the top of the list.

39:02Joanna Robinson:And that's a fascinating place to find her, especially Dr. Robbie had such harsh critique of her in season one. So that, you know, and who will be advocating for her, perhaps someone she worked with before. To me, that was a lot of the subtext of her arc in season one. It's like, this is someone who clearly knows what they're doing, who's very good at their job, but you can't be spending all this time on every patient if you ever aspire to be an attending. If you want to be on a track for like a more senior position, you have to be able to balance your time a little bit more effectively. But there were cases where her taking that extra time like paid off.

39:36Joanna Robinson:And that's what's great about the pit. And we certainly talked about this in season one. Everyone is sometimes right and sometimes wrong. And that's so important, right? Like Robbie can't always be correct. He has to be wrong sometimes. And they all need that inside of their, you know. That's the beauty of an ER, Joe. It's like, it's such a volume game that you have to spread around the wins and you have to make it like an inescapable reality that these people are going to have to swallow down the fact that they screwed up on something really critical an hour ago, two hours ago, yesterday, whatever it may be.

40:10Like that processing is the point.

40:11Joanna Robinson:You already mentioned Javadi's birthday. Victoria's birthday is coming up soon, nearly 21. Mel's malpractice suit is, the deposition is today. So before the day is over, Mel will have a deposition to attend. What do you think about that? She's slightly distracted, it seems. I love the moment of her just kind of like anxiously playing with her stethoscope. staring off into space, but not the most Mel-heavy episode. I anticipate we're going to get a lot of Mel down the line. She's such a fan favorite character. She was one of the clear standouts of season one. Are we going to get her on the stand?

40:47Are we going to get a deposition in person from Mel or does she have to leave to do all that?

40:52Joanna Robinson:Yeah, I mean, that's a good question because we start, you know, I was curious if it would feel like a bigger budget, a bigger show in season two, given that like, you know, HBO was invested in the pit in season one, but now they're like, this is our Emmy winning, you know, anchor show. And so starting with Robbie, you know, motoring through Pittsburgh, we're already sort of, we at least start slightly expanded outside of the hospital. I presume we are going to stay in the hospital, but are we going to go into like, is there a different floor that, you know, that Mel has to go to in order to give her deposition or something.

41:32Joanna Robinson:Like how far outside of the department? We already went to the outdoor shower. You know what I mean? It's true. Like how much are we breaking out of this floor or not? And we've been, I think it was upstairs in season one as Whitaker was kind of like squirreling himself away to sleep. So we've had the occasional little field trip, but you're right. Not really outside the building much except right out the front door. I do have a question. So when Robbie comes in, we see that there's metal detectors as you go into chairs, right? I continue to have questions about the fact that a number of patients just wander in through the ambulance bay, and there seems to be like, even though there's security in the hospital and stuff like that, there's no procedure.

42:13Joanna Robinson:People just wander in those doors, which gives you like, it's good for drama. But here's my first question for the medical community, who I know love The Pit and think The Pit is one of the most accurate medical shows. Do people just wander in from the ambulance bay? Is that a thing that happens? What are you going to do? Stop them? You're going to throw your body in front of them? I think they might. Depends how profusely they're bleeding and from where. Okay. That much is true. Dana's announcement of her return. This was a big moment at the end of season one. We were all devastated to think that Dana might not be coming back.

42:52Joanna Robinson:And then the character was such a smash hit and the actress won an Emmy. and then there was like really no question whether she was coming back, but they just sort of like yada, yada, yada. What are you going to do without me sort of moment? So like, what did you think of that? How that was handled? I'm impressionable. And you put Dana in some aviators strolling in, side-eyeing the motorcycle on the way. I'm just cool with it. And I'm so happy that she's here. And she frankly steals this episode. Like she's just throwing zingers left and right as she leads this basically tour of the entire ER.

43:27I fucking love that she's here and I would be so bummed if she wasn't. So who am I to argue? I agree. I really agree.

43:32Joanna Robinson:Okay. On the relationship dynamic front, so we mentioned Santos and Langdon, you know, subcategory, how excited Mel is for the return of Dr. Langdon and how she like almost goes to hug him, but that doesn't. But like the Mel and Langdon dynamic. She goes for the bicep grab instead. Like it was a very endearing part of season one And I'm excited to see how that continues to develop. So, and then you already mentioned this, but Dr. Al-Hashimi. So like her dynamic with Robbie, I'm very, very curious about. So she's got this, she's burdened with this sort of like interest in AI, which is a red flag for me.

44:13Joanna Robinson:The patient passport thing, which might be efficient. I don't know. Like, you know. It sounded like you were asking for it based on your notes on the ambulance bay and the intake procedures overall. Maybe your pro-patient passport. I might be, honestly. Samira really likes her, as we mentioned. She brought in a full bagel spread, which I think is a green flag. She wants to rename the pit. What color flag is that, Rob? Is that a red flag or a green flag? Well, what does she want to rename it? We didn't really get that far. I think there's only one acceptable alternative, and it's the pit. Oh, okay.

44:46Joanna Robinson:That's right. So if she wants to go with Da Pit, I'm cool with it. Otherwise, I got bad news for this lady. The show is called The Pit. It's not getting renamed. It's not Interview with a Vampire, which is getting a new name for season three. What are we doing here? Okay. She asks to be called Baran, which is her first name. She asked Robbie to call her that, and he does not call her that, which I thought was interesting. And she has this very weird moment to close out the episode with the baby. Anything you want to say about that? I mean, incredibly ominous. anytime the music builds and swells to the to be continued ending as we're all wondering what is going on with this baby that is getting every panel known to man to figure out why it was abandoned in a hospital.

45:27I'm terrified. I'm terrified about this whole baby situation.

45:30Joanna Robinson:In your, you have now seen every episode of Lost. I have. Like, do you agree with me that the ending of an episode of The Pit bears a striking resemblance to the ending of an episode of Lost where they're like, it's just a cliffhanger every single episode. so they want to leave you in the end of your seat. And it's not a binge show. So unless you're re-watching it or something like that, you can't hit next. You just have to sit there and wait to find out why this new doctor has a weird moment with a baby. They know exactly what button they're pressing. And I will say this in favor of both shows.

46:03I think they do a pretty good job of paying off the vast majority of those cliffhangers. There are the occasional like, oh no, everything's okay. We're just going to keep it moving. Everything is fine, which I don't appreciate. Right. But also it can't be a disaster at the end of every single episode. So maybe again, you got to pick your battles a little bit. I love the format though. And I love the way kind of, if you are catching up via binge, yes, would be propulsive. But for people like us, we just get to stew in it for a week and talk about it and theorize and come here and podcast about it.

46:32That is the kind of show you want to talk about.

46:35Joanna Robinson:Do you, you know, I guess, it's not really a theory show, but like, why not? Let's theorize about it. Like, do you feel like this is a, there's something I figured out about this particular baby? Or is it a, I have a past that is related to an infant and I'm having a personal sort of the way that Robbie would spiral about Adamson in season one? Well, it could be both, right? Like I think we saw that with Santos in season one where it's like your past traumas inform the way you diagnose and treat patients and think about like what is walking in the door. So it could definitely be both. My read in the moment was just that she had experience with some fringe case that would lead her to believe this baby is in real peril based on some experience she's had.

47:20And I think we're seeded for that idea based on, for example, her test dummy experiment with the other doctors at the beginning where it's like, if only you would take into account that this is an atypical situation in which you need to not just treat according to the book most likely outcomes, but you have to actually investigate the least likely alternatives, then you would have known this is exactly what you need to do. Like, she is that kind of person in a way.

47:43Joanna Robinson:It does feel like a classic, we're seeding something here, the pit moment. A learning moment, a pre-learning moment for everyone involved. Okay. Speaking of learning, the new kids, Joy and Ogilvy, right? This is our, to your point, like, Emma is, this is Emma's first day. It doesn't seem like it's, it doesn't seem like it's Joy and Ogilvy's first day. It is because they're not sure what, they don't know about the sort of like, every morning the patients from the elderly home come in, which is something that happened in season one. You could set your clock by it. But it kind of felt like they had been there for a minute.

48:19Joanna Robinson:They knew people's names. They weren't getting introduced necessarily. They didn't have the fresh off the bus from Michigan vibe that Emma does in this episode, for sure. Right, right. Okay. And then I do want to talk about this idea of Robbie passing the torch to Whitaker. I was talking to someone who has seen more I've only seen the first episode it's seen more of the season than I have and was asking me sort of like without telling me what was happening like what I thought of the Dr. El Hashimi character and what I thought the show thought about her versus what Robbie thinks of her et cetera et cetera and I was like well you know what's interesting is that Robbie does and we talked about this in season one have a weird thing with women.

49:05Joanna Robinson:And I don't think it's that he like does not respect women. He obviously respects Dana. Like it's not like, it's not as clear cut as that. And it never is in the pit. And that's, what's great about the pit. But when I brought that up, this person was like, isn't it interesting that, that Langdon's in the doghouse. And so his new pet is Whitaker and not Mohan or McKay or Mel that he's gone all the way down the org chart to sort of like Whitaker as his new disciple. And I was like, that is interesting. It reminded me of this quote when Colin Trevorrow, what a fun name to think about. When Colin Trevorrow was handed the Jurassic Park franchise, basically straight out of Sundance, straight out of a small Sundance film, Brad Bird, who was supposed to direct that film, sort of suggested him to Kathy Kennedy, Steven Spielberg or whatever.

50:02Joanna Robinson:And he said, quote, there's this guy who reminds me of me. And it became this really sticky quote when talking about opportunities for people in Hollywood, because it's not that I think Brad Bird is a sexist or Steven Spielberg is sexist or anything like that, but there is that, hey, I was a young guy, white guy with a baseball cap, and here's the young white guy with a baseball cap, and he reminds me of me. And so I am inclined to sort of reach out my hand to him and give him some guidance. And it is a possibility that like someone like Garcia, who not only like wants to sleep with Santos, but maybe there's something in Santos that reminds her that the brashness, the like, you know, that sort of stuff.

50:45Joanna Robinson:So it's not like Robbie's the only person who does this, but I do remember in season one, the way that Robbie came down on Mohan, the way that he would like sort of roll his eyes at a lot of like the female family members of Patience versus the male You know, like, it was just a thing that came up a couple times. And with Dr. McKay, too, like, of kind of shouting her down sometimes about, like, the real threats that were being presented. Right. And when there was the kid who had the list of, like, girls that he wanted to, like, you know, and Robbie's like, we don't want to ruin this kid's life.

51:16Joanna Robinson:You know, so it's just sort of like, there's just this, like, aspect of Robbie that I don't think is accidental. And I think it is just, like, part of this, like, incredibly interesting, complex character that Noah Wiley and the writers and the creators of the show have put together. And so I just think watching his reaction to this woman is interesting. And I like it. I think it's fascinating to me. So, yeah. For sure. I mean, let's take this in parts. As far as the Whitaker element of this in particular, how aware are you of Huckle Robbie? Rob, this is the best thing about you, which is that you and I are both extremely online, but we're kind of extremely online in different avenues as we've discovered.

52:00Joanna Robinson:It's true. You had to tell me about Da Pit in the first place. So I am 0 % aware of Huckle Robbie. Though, of course - Well, it's exactly what you think it is. Yeah, of course they did. I mean, yeah, to be fair, to be clear, of course they had very important moments in season one with Whitaker finding Robbie freaking out in peas, with Robbie sort of helping Whitaker through some of his first crises and stuff like that. So like there is that connection that they formed there in the first place in season one. So this doesn't come out of nowhere. But anything else you want to share about Hulk or Robbie that might be enlightening in this particular scenario?

52:35I don't even want to dig it too deep other than to say like there are many different reads on the kind of intimacy that they have in working together and understanding each other. And I think it's, I think exactly what you're talking about, which is that germ of an idea of like, I recognize something of myself in this other person can lead to a connection and a closeness. And in this case, I think like a pretty clear mentorship in terms of one following the other and channeling the other in terms of how they go about their work is a meaningful and powerful thing. You're also right about the way it sort of silos us into looking for versions of ourselves, whether we're aware of it or not.

53:10I think often it's subconscious, to be fair, to these people and a lot of real life people. You just sort of latch on to the people with similar experiences to you or who are kind of like you in some way. I think Samir is an interesting counterpoint though because Robbie is very hard on her in the first season it always read to me as like I'm hard on you because I expect a lot of you and like thinking very highly of her and that becoming a critical point that he's sort of needling her with and so temperamentally I think you're exactly right but it is coming from a place of like wanting her to be better as he coddles Whitaker basically so it's like all of these things aren't true at once

53:48Joanna Robinson:Maybe, but in the moment where he was most coming down hard on Samira in season one, it was Dr. Collins who came in and said, no, you do you. And then in that particular case, Samira was right to take her time with that person. And it might be that Dr. Collins saw something of herself in some—so it's across the board, but Robbie in this position of power at the top of the org chart has the ability to sort of shape, of course, what the department looks like. and to that end and this is like sort of the last thing I want to say about this I really loved the moment where Dr. Shamsi Victoria's mom comes down tries to talk about her schedule and her birthday stuff like that and she turns to Robbie and she's like you know we have schedules you have chaos or whatever it is she says and then she says her daughter's quite impressionable and he says and she said you can be very he says impressionable a great moment a great Robbie moment like really good I know it's early in terms of submitting reels for Emmy consideration.

54:54I would like to submit this moment for the nuclear amount of sass coming off of Robbie on the pressionable line delivery. Round glasses, like head wobble as he's doing it. Like, no, I like knows how to do this shit.

55:09Joanna Robinson:The fleas was like zipped all the way up. Like it was a really, really good moment. And like, I think, and then when he was like, let's do the same day, same time tomorrow when he knows he's not going to be there, it was like extremely good stuff. I do want to circle back to the stuff with Dr. Alashimi, though, because I think that is the other side of this. You're right that based on how Robbie responds to a lot of people who suggest they know more than him in any capacity, especially if they're women, doesn't always take it the best. and she's walking such an interesting line too in terms of his sort of like gun slinging but empathetic doctoring does have its appeal, does have its place clearly.

55:46It's improvisational in a way that Dr. Alashimi might not always be. But it's like the data does matter and not just in like a patient satisfaction score kind of way, but like there is in theory something she could bring to the table as like a very valid counterpoint perspective and a check and balance in terms of what Robbie is doing. Will she be written that way and drawn that way? And will we as an audience receive her that way? I think it's going to come down to how human she feels as she's doing that stuff. And some of the lines so far, and I can't tell if this is like episode one stuff where she just has to establish herself in the world.

56:20But even when she's like catching up with Samira, the person she knows most in this entire orbit, she's like, oh, we used to work together several years ago at the VA. You were a fourth year then. It's like, are you saying this because you're dropping the information we need to know? Or are you saying it this way because you're like more of a quant who doesn't interface with people in the most like soft fashion?

56:42Joanna Robinson:I think the AI question is really interesting because, you know, my I have sort of like this, this revulsion to AI personally. But when when AI defenders talk about good uses for AI, they often talk about it in the medical field. Right. That these this is where AI could, you know, give give. Leaps and bounds, advancements, and stuff like that. And so - Like diagnosis and specificity in particular could theoretically be really valuable. Right. And so is, you know, when we talked about Pluribus as an analogy for AI, or when we hear Guillermo del Toro talk about AI, like, you know, these are artists who have a hard line against AI, but are the medically minded writers at the pit thinking about it the same way?

57:31Joanna Robinson:Or are they thinking about AI as actually a potentially good opportunity for this particular field? And is Robbie's resistance to that, you know, is Robbie's potential resistance to that a sign that he needs to get with the times? Or is Dr. El-Hashimi, like you said, too much of a quant, like, you know, too much in her facts and figures and numbers to understand the heart side of doctoring? Or, and my preference would be this, are they both right and they're both wrong at the same time, which is what the pit does really well. And that's where I feel confident about where it's going to end up. I'm not saying every character on the show is going to be a home run all the time, but season one taught us in particular that they're going to get us on the side of these characters at different speeds.

58:17And there were moments early in season where we're like, I'm just like so tired of like, like Santos became like kind of a grading character in moments, just like with her like absolute confidence in what she was doing and insistence she was right all the time. It turns out she was right about some really important things, some season-altering things, some ER-altering things. And slowly getting you into the mindset and perspective of understanding that character is what this show does well over the course of 15 episodes. So I don't know where we're going to go with Dr. Alashimi, frankly. I don't know how they're going to get people like you and I, Joe, to be like, yeah, that AI-driven app sounds like a great idea for this hospital.

58:51I'm going to be a little hesitant to jump fully on board with something like that. But, like, Robbie does seem like the kind of Luddite who has, like, his Hotmail email address and keeps getting locked out of it and asks the younger doctors to like help him get back in. He does seem like that kind of person.

59:06Joanna Robinson:Right. And so a counterpoint perspective, I welcome it. I like that they're kind of rolling their eyes at each other in equal measure. It's not just Robbie and kind of us by proxy rolling our eyes at Dr. Al here. I think there could be a really good balance to this relationship that if executed well could carry, you know, the entire season really. I'm excited. You mentioned, you said you counted 13 cases inside of this episode. Okay. I'm just going to hit you with rapid fire a few, and I'm just curious which ones you're most excited about. The irritable Mr. Williams that Dr. McKay is treating.

59:44Joanna Robinson:This is a Law and Order casting spoiler one for me because Derek Cecil, who's playing Mr. Williams, was a huge part of House of Cards. I know that guy. So that's an actor I recognize, so I don't think he's going to be a one-and-a-half-episode-and-done kind of guy. So that's definitely on my radar. Well, he seems like he's about to freak out and punch somebody, so I would think there's going to be repercussions for this. Yeah, it was very unsettling. When he flinched and she flinched, that was very, very unsettling. This was another classic example of great shows kind of teaching you how to watch them, and The Pit was great about this from the start, but giving us like the stamp introduction through Dana earlier in this episode and you can almost see it like item by item over that course with Dr.

1:00:30McKay as far as like all of a sudden he's kind of staring off into the void. All of a sudden this tone is shifting. Like the anxiety is building in that room and it like having that like fulfill so quickly where it's like we're not waiting four or five episodes for that to come to pass. And there will be versions of that. Like somebody is going to yell hula hoop in episode nine.

1:00:49Joanna Robinson:They have to, you know. And I'm going to be fucking fist bumping when it happens. But in the short term, they're kind of telling you always like, this is what to look for with patience, whether it's in this case or all cases. And like, that's why that one is already like kind of riding on an edge of a really interesting drama. All right. We've got Louis, you already mentioned, you know, his paracentesis. Langdon handed him off to Whitaker sort of thing. So that's... That distended stomach does not look good. It's so interesting because when that actor, when that character showed up in Cheris, I was like, wow, that guy just looks a lot different this season.

1:01:23Joanna Robinson:And there wasn't much time between the seasons. And then I realized that that's what they were doing with his distended abdomen. Digby and his cast removal. Digby who gets the outdoor shower. Digby played by Charles Baker who is Skinny Pete on Breaking Bad. Love to see him here. How is this on your radar? I mean, sometimes you just need a proper hose down for the hard-to-reach places. You know? He could spend all day in the outdoor shower. He was having a great time. Honestly, a worthy and fun subplot. Here's the one I'm really nervous about. Young Kylie with her various injuries that Santos is tracking here.

1:02:04And Perla. You know, the part that really bothered me was how not bothered Kylie was by her urine sample being blood red. It's like, oh, this is what color this is supposed to be. This is a totally normal thing that did not even occur to her to be freaked out about. She's like, I didn't even need any beats. That seems like a problem.

1:02:22Joanna Robinson:Yeah, yeah, yeah. No beats involved. Is there a plausible explanation on the board for her? Obviously, they're kind of fainting at abuse. Right. There's somebody in her life who must be harming her in some way. Is there a head fake in any other possible direction other than that? I think so. I think there are various ailments, and I don't know what they are, that you like bruise really easily. You know what I mean? So if she's someone who like just get injured at the drop of a hat, there can be medical reasons for that that has nothing to do with her father who is not an architect. Yes. None with a goopy eye.

1:02:59Joanna Robinson:Yep. It was just quite goopy. Incredibly goopy. One of the gnarliest things in this episode, and there were some gnarly things. It was, was this episode not way goopier than the pit even was? I mean, I know that the gloving hit us like right off the bat in season one of The Pit, but I feel like the quivering heart, like abdomen, like blood pouring on the ground, all of that stuff just felt like a lot more in my face than season one. So maybe that's in season two, we're ramping it up sort of thing. That's where the budget's going. I mean, within 10 minutes, we're spreading ribs and really getting in there.

1:03:37And I was just starting to get very concerned because at one point I'm like, there are five different hands in this guy. They're like crowds.

1:03:44Joanna Robinson:Whitaker can't even get in there. On that note, the practical effects of that moment and the quivering heart, especially for a TV show, we should say, I don't remember a single time even in season one where I was thinking, that goop looks too goopy or that organ looks like a prop. They do a really great job of making this feel reactive and real. The goop budget is out of control on this. It's really, really good. Weed Cookie Grandma. Yeah, she's had a few too many She's gone a little bit crazy Her brain is turned to mush It's a disaster situation That's a lot That's a lot, Jo Maybe that's how we should all go out You know what I mean?

1:04:24Intractably vomiting?

1:04:26Joanna Robinson:Well, listen, you raise a good point But you're not in Texas anymore You're in California, Rob So perhaps you should consider a new lifestyle I think a couple cookies could have been good for her a couple hundred cookies seem to have taken their toll. All right. Bike accident guy hitting on Mel asking her about Boba. Here's a quick question for you, Rob Mahoney. Yes. Would you, were you like any normal person wanting to hit on Dr. Mel King, would you open with multiple iterations of you remind me of my mother? Is that how that would go, Rob? I don't think it's the greatest entry point, But Mel seemed unfazed.

1:05:07Joanna Robinson:Well, she wasn't even paying attention to him. But not once, but twice. He's like, your hair and your glasses remind me of mom. Want to get some boba with me? It was a lot. Are you rooting for him? Look, I'm kind of rooting for him. Ultimately, he spoke Mel's language. He identified boba very quickly. He wants that boba date 100 % sugar. There's no doubt about it, Joe. I could kind of see them working. They seem like they have not chemistry yet because they've barely had any kind of conversation. But if Mel's interested, I'm happy for it. I don't know that she's interested. She seems interested potentially in Boba, but I don't think she even has clocked his existence in her peripheral vision.

1:05:46She's facing litigation right now. You know, she's got a lot on her mind.

1:05:51Joanna Robinson:Last but not least, he came in on the ambulance right at the end. Dude with bone popping out around the shoulder joint area. Don't like it. Okay. I mean, don't like it in the way that the show wants me to not like it, but definitely a cringey moment as far as the goop and the gore go. I can't wait for the goop budget for episode two. Okay, and then you already mentioned the Hula Hoop safe word, the stamp. We got through all of that. Here's the last thing, and I'm really excited to share this with you, Rob. We get one more sort of, this is definitely happening before the day is out. Robbie makes a phone call.

1:06:24Joanna Robinson:Yes. Some guy named Duke. gotta come in before 3pm gotta do it we might have to run some tests we had a deal brother can I tell you who's playing Duke oh my god I don't wanna know I don't wanna know who plays Duke no I wanna tell you though you know what for content you can tell me but we should say if you don't wanna know skip ahead 30 seconds a minute it's not like it's freaking Leonardo DiCaprio what if it is Leonardo DiCaprio It's really only for you that I'm excited to tell you. What if it's Benicio, you know? What if the whole cast of one battle after another is coming through the pit? Chase Infinity got degloved, you know?

1:07:06Anything could happen.

1:07:07Joanna Robinson:This is not going to matter to like 89 % of the people listening. But for you 11 % sickos who love Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Okay, yeah. Now you have to tell me. Jeff Kober, who played two characters on Buffy, he played the vampire Kralik in season three and then unfortunately Willow's drug dealer Rack in a later season. But I love that guy. I hope he's also a drug dealer here I hope he's also a dark magic drug dealer in the world of the pit that guy is showing up as Duke what is his relationship to Robbie? I don't know but I was just I just googled Duke the pit and there was a deadline announcement that Jeff Cobra was playing him and I got really excited about it so that's for the Buffy heads out there good journalism great find I gotta say I'm now thrilled to know my anticipation has built I don't think he would have walked in and he would have had like Like, your jaw wouldn't have been on the floor.

1:07:57Joanna Robinson:You wouldn't have been like, they got Cobra? They got Cobra for this? Maybe it would have, you know? And I'm sorry that I robbed you of that, Rob. Certain Buffy alum, when they roll in, you're like, oh, they really did it. Yeah. Anything else you want to talk about this episode of The Pit? Just to close the loop on Mel. There is no doubt in my mind that the malpractice suit is measles mom. Like, it has to be her, right? Oh, my God. Measles mom. I feel so sure of it. I feel like they have to bring that actress back. That's interesting. She was so resistant to the whole spinal tap situation. I can't remember who was...

1:08:37Joanna Robinson:Oh, it was Dr. Ellis. Dr. Ellis was with her. So do you feel like it's a malpractice suit and that's a way we can get Dr. Ellis back in the hospital on the day shift? See, this is all we needed. It was just a smidge of malpractice. At least the accusation of it, the implication of it. If only, well, Dr. Shen, I think, was also involved in that case a little bit. Was he not? Now it's really coming together. Now we've got a team. You have a vision. Now we've got a reason. You have a vision. I love it. All right. Bring Ellis and Shen into the show and you will have no complaints from me. Dr. Shen runs on Duncan and that'll keep him up all day and all night.

1:09:17Joanna Robinson:So let's do it. Let's do it. Okay, great. Can you do your best doctoring that way? I don't know. but he seems to be doing all right. He's moving up the ranks. This is so exciting. You just gave me so much hope that we're going to get Dr. Shen and Dr. Ellis on this show. Thank you. Now I only hope the show, I hope the pit can come through and bring Measel Mom back for just one episode at least. But the other thing I just want to hit before we go, I thought this was just a great Santos episode. And again, a character who has a wild journey in season one is not as easy to latch onto as some of our warmer and fuzzier doctors and residents.

1:09:52And I think it was such a smart decision to have her come into the season and she is just like sharp and considerate and on top of it. But like not in a way that invalidates who she is in any way. Like she still gets to strut and flaunt and be crazy overconfident. But also do all these things really, really well. And I thought the balance of that, in addition to just having like many of my favorite lines in this episode, just really, really great stuff from Santos this week.

1:10:14Joanna Robinson:What were some of your favorite Santos lines? I mean, you're moping around like somebody gunned down your favorite K-pop band is pretty good. it's pretty good Mel being like I don't really have a favorite K-pop even putting the Mel in Mel practice I mean we considered Mel practice for our email like we have we have to salute the work that Santos is doing in this space strong branding very good very good who's the next of kin Barbie very good all right listen this is a great episode of television and we're back it's the pit season two we're thrilled to be here um drsibangs at gmail.com we love We loved so much hearing from the medical community in season one, the local Pittsburgh folks in season one.

1:10:56Joanna Robinson:If you have feelings about Dr. Langdon wearing a penguins ball cap inside of this episode or anything else, anything you want to tell us about what it's like to celebrate Fourth of July and Pittsburgh specifically, let us know. What are the firework policies in Pittsburgh? I don't know. I could Google it or you guys could email us, drsibangs.gmail.com or prestigetv at spotify.com. I, in particular, Joe, would love to know the Penguins subtext. I have always loved the Penguins, elite mascot. Pittsburgh overall, I love the idea of a city with a universal color scheme. Everyone should do it. But it has to be saying something about him, right?

1:11:30The fact that it's not Steelers must say something. If he were a Steelers fan, what would that tell you about Dr.

1:11:38Joanna Robinson:Langdon? I don't know. Okay. I think you just don't want to get in trouble with the Steelers fans. No, Joe, I'm out of my depth. outside of the NBA, I know nothing about any of these other active major sports. Do you think Dr. Langdon, who loves the Pittsburgh Penguins, is a heated rivalry fan? That's my question. Why wouldn't he be? Why wouldn't he be? And who wouldn't be? All right. Send us your Dr. Langdon heated rivalry fanfix. Your Huckle Robbie, was it? It was, yeah. Fanfix. I'm now getting served Huckle Robbie fan art. I don't know what algorithmic wavelength I have fallen into. Why haven't you sent this to me yet?

1:12:17Joanna Robinson:You're letting me down. Look, I guess if you have interesting Hulk or Robbie fan art, hit us up with that too. Okay. Oh, no. You just cursed me in box. See if I can sneak that past you. All right. Absolutely curse request from Rob Mahoney. Thank you to Kai Grady for helping us pick an email and for being with us this season. We'll be in studio for the next couple weeks for the bit. I know. So that's really exciting. and... Thrilling stuff, Jo. That's all I have to say. We'll be back with Industry, Season 4, Episode 1. And we'll see you soon. Bye!

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