The Pitt is the hardest day at work I never had
As each episode of The Pitt finishes, I wipe the sweat (and sometimes tears) from my face, take a sip of water and get ready for another hour in the ED.
If you thought you had a bad day at work, fast-paced medical drama The Pitt will make you feel better (unless of course you’re an emergency room doctor – then this might sting).
ER-famous actor Noah Wyle returns to the hospital, this time as highly competent and engaging attending physician Dr Michael “Robby” Robinavitch (Wyle is also executive producer). Episode one kicks off at the start of a day at the over-stretched Pittsburgh Emergency Room. The season takes us, hour by hour, on the intense ride of a 15-hour shift filled with blood, sweat and stress.
The Pitt takes place in a time of fentanyl abuse, a health care crisis in the US and assaults against health workers. The waiting room is constantly heaving with tired, tense people, staff barely have time to pee and beds pack brightly lit corridors of a unit that is under resourced and over worked. The Pitt also covers ground around neurodiversity, fat-shaming, language barriers and immunisation.
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It serves up a satisfying mix of short and long story arcs - diagnosis and death that are short-lived but captivating, whilst we meet an interesting mix of characters (mostly unfamiliar actors) with narratives we now know will carry on to a second season.
As each hour of the shift ended, I had to take a pause, a deep breath, sometimes wipe away a tear, but couldn’t help stay for the next.
The Pitt is excellent, but you might not like it if you've just come home from a shift at the ED.
Supplied
The Pitt is screening on Neon
You will hate it if You've just clocked off a shift in any sort of medical profession.
But if you dig it, what to watch next
This Is Going To Hurt Based on the bestselling memoir (which I devoured), junior doctor Adam Kay lives in a haze of 97-hour weeks, life and death decisions, and a tsunami of bodily fluids. Season 1 currently streaming on TVNZ+.
House Sharp, snappy and still funny nearly 20 years after it first landed, Hugh Laurie’s medical drama was once the most watched show in the world. All eight seasons currently streaming on Netflix.
ER Where young Wyle cut his teeth as Dr John Carter in the late 90s, early 2000s alongside George Clooney. Not currently available for streaming at the moment in NZ, but YouTube could dish up some old Dr Carter clips.
