The Pitt

Streaming on: HBO Max

Episodes viewed: 15 of 15

In the first episode of The Pitt, a possible hate-crime victim is brought into the care of Dr Robby (Noah Wyle) and his trauma centre team. Her ankle is missing all its skin, an injury known as a ‘deglove’, which causes medical student Victoria Javadi (Apple Cider Vinegar‘s Shabana Azeez), on her first training shift, to pass out — earning her the nickname ‘Crash’.

This is but a snapshot of Season 1 of The Pitt, a uniquely formatted hospital drama — finally arriving here in the UK, after a year-long wait — that dedicates each episode to one hour of Dr Robby’s nerve-shredding extended shift. Created by R. Scott Gemmill, writer and producer for ER, in which Wyle also starred for 11 seasons, the show is a masterful balancing act of character study, medical theatrics and social commentary, all crammed into this bursting-at-the-seams medical centre, for 15 airless, gripping hours.

Wyle carries it all in his bones — the mannerisms, the jargon, the temperament — after having played John Carter, a medical student who works up the ranks to physician over ER’s 15-year run. As the leader of a tight-knit ensemble he brings gravitas and humanity, but also vulnerability. We quickly learn that this particular shift takes place on the anniversary of the death of Robby’s mentor Dr Adamson, who passed away from Covid-19. The death itself plays out via fleeting flashbacks, while its lasting impact, along with the horrors that doctors such as Robby endured during the pandemic, manifest in PTSD symptoms. As the shift rolls into overtime, due to a local catastrophe, his job presents him with ever new challenges.

Aiding Robby is a broad ensemble of key workers ranging from nurses to residents to physicians, who swell in numbers as the day shift rolls into night. The teaching-hospital element of the story gives us an entry point to the dense medical speak being urgently flung around while patients stack up. Perhaps owing to the one-day storyline format, character development is slow, but several standout performances make solid work of keeping us riveted. Among them is an Emmy award-winning Katherine LaNasa (The Campaign), who can ground a chaotic scene with a single devastating look as Dana, a super-skilled charge nurse who keeps the centre shipshape. Shawn Hatosy is equally riveting as Dr. Abbot, a troubled former military man who begins the season on the roof of the building.

Amid personal dramas, the show deftly addresses all manner of contemporary issues, from incel culture to fentanyl addiction, while ensuring that some gallows humour pokes through. When the team staggers out of the medical centre’s doors at the end of the shift from hell, you’ll perversely wish that something awful will summon them back in for another episode.