Noah Wyle and The Pitt FYC

Today marked the official end of a grueling and contemplative fourteen weeks (15 episodes) of Max's original medical drama The Pitt. While the series was difficult to watch at times given the intensity and honesty of the fifteen hour shift in the emergency room presented it lead to some of the best television we as a society were lucky to have airing consistently as it did. Before I get into my overall thoughts on the season and especially the focus of the title let me just say knowing the series is returning for it's second season in January makes me quite happy. Having regularly kept up with television on a regular basis as I have for the majority of my adult life the recent trend of multiple years in between season has saddened me as I miss the regular scheduled programming of a network show where it returning year in and year out was necessary to the shows success. Thankfully The Pitt seems to be bucking the trend given it's at least sophomore season returning so soon after it's major successfully first outing.

Anyway now that I've gotten that off my chest focusing in on what made the show work was noticeable early on, that being the strength of the shows ensemble of characters who we grew to know and love throughout the lengthy medical shift. It didn't matter whether it was Dr. Robby Robinavitch, a senior attending or Dennis Whitaker a fourth-year medical student doing his first shift in an emergency room, each fabulous character moving round each other led to many incredible moments of drama, comedy and natural humanity. The show has been praised appropriately by medical professionals for honestly portraying the workplace that is an emergency room and truly I can't think of the series receiving a better compliment.

Noah Wyle whose career was made by a previous medical drama in NBC's ER was beyond brilliant brilliant throughout this first season of The Pitt. In playing Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch Wyle had to comfortably lead the ship as the man in charge and from the start his sense of seniority was present not only from Wyle's casting but also in how he played the beginning. I think of his beginning with his new students and interns and how he comfortably led them into working in the ER. Wyle while an impressive leading actor also serving as writer of two episodes and executive producer of the season so his impact is absolutely necessary to the overall success.

As the show progressed the early strength Wyle portrayed started to crumble down to the pressures of the job and in these moments is where the firmness of Noah's performance really came into a league of it's own. This starting with the end of the tenth episode where Robby based on the words of one of his interns calls out Langdon for his inappropriate misuse of materials in the workspace. Wyle made this moment so powerful in how he played the anger of the betrayal coming out in full force.

In the shows final quarter once the major medical event of a shooting occurred we witness Robby truly breakdown after the professional becomes personal as the girlfriend of Jake whom Robby considers his soon unfortunately passes away. Robby tries all he can to revive Leah but sadly it does not work and in the final moments of the shows 13th episode Wyle gives into the emotion of the moment and beautifully plays the drama of the situation. I genuinely still cry just thinking of this breakdown moment.

Ultimately The Pitt is one of the more surprising yet brilliant television shows to be produced during the modern era of television. I am so thrilled the show has become such a sensation as shows like The Pitt which comfortably build the strength of their audience over airing week to week is such a brilliant delivery of television that sadly not enough networks/streaming services invest the time in producing.