Noah Wyle takes over the consultations in The Pitt, an effective and tense hospital series which is located between Emergency and 24 hours flat.
What is The Pitt? At Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital, the emergency department is run by Dr. “Robby” Robinavitch (Noah Wyle). When he arrives there one morning, it is in theory to start an eight-hour shift – which will in reality last fifteen. Accompanied by his experienced doctor colleagues and a group of students and residents, he will have to manage the influx of patients, the frantic pace of the service, the incessant ballet of stretchers and ambulances, but also the administrative pressures, the shortage means and personnel, fatigue, tensions and disagreements, ethical dilemmas…
Real-time emergencies
Noah Wyle plays a doctor in an emergency department, in a series with a frenetic and tense atmosphere, created by R. Scott Gemmill and produced by John Wells: does that remind you of anything? If we were in 1996, it would be EMERGENCIESan NBC series with which the three names above are associated. But 29 years later, we are talking to you about The Pittseries available on Max of which we have seen the first two episodes. Note that the initial idea was that of a reboot of EMERGENCIES ; disagreements with the heirs of Michael Crichton (creator of the original series) made it impossible to revive the series which had died since 2009.
Never mind, with The Pitt we start (almost) from scratch: Pittsburgh instead of Chicago, Noah Wyle in the role of Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch instead of Dr. Carter, and a slightly different format that borrows from 24 hours flat. If other series of the genre tell the autonomous stories of patients with longer narrative arcs centered on the lives, loves and problems of doctors and different health professionals, The Pitt indeed adopts another mechanics.
Each of the fifteen episodes follows an hour of Dr. Robby’s shift, with the first two covering, for example, the period from seven to nine in the morning. This format is more than an artifice: it amplifies the tension inherent in each medical and personal decision, accentuating the fatigue, frustration and tension that permeate these hours. By the way, this format is reminiscent of the first episode of the fourth season of EMERGENCIESbroadcast live and therefore in real time on American television.
Also read: We have reviewed for you… Emergencies
Obviously, The Pitt plays on ground known to the public. However, the series is a success in the way it plays on the classic genre of the medical series while immediately imposing its rhythm. Everything is frenetic, because the choice to unfold the story in real time and to create a credible series requires it, but also thanks to a gripping production which plunges us into the corridors of the hospital with an anxiety-inducing immediacy and a feeling…of urgency.
During an episode, a lot happens and there are a lot of patients. The frantic pace – in the emergency department of a city of more than 300,000 inhabitants – never slows down, drawing the viewer and the characters into the chaos of an oversaturated department. The waiting room is always full, the doctors lack time and resources, face the sometimes violent reactions of patients who sometimes wait for several days, they have almost no respite or any break.
Healing in a failing system
The team we follow includes the head nurse (Katherine LaNasa), efficient attending doctors accustomed to tension (Tracy Ifeachor and Patrick Ball) and a small group of residents who have just arrived in the department. There is the one who overflows with enthusiasm (Taylor Dearden), the one who exudes arrogance (Isa Briones), the “daughter of” who tries to convince that she deserves her place (Shabana Azeez); the one who lacks self-confidence (Gerran Howell)… Characters that we are used to seeing in a medical series, who are nevertheless enriched with small personal details in a homeopathic dose as they go along.
But the driving force and nerve center of The Pittit’s Dr. Robby. Played by Noah Wyle (who, after 254 episodes as Dr. Carter, obviously knows what he’s doing), he hooks us in just a few minutes; his presence (his omnipresence, even) expresses the physical and moral exhaustion of an experienced professional, confronted with the failure of the system.
There are a few rare lighter sequences, which momentarily ease the tension. However, The Pitt is essentially the devastating daily life of a hospital department where choices made in a few seconds decide the life or death of a person, in a structurally failing system. Some issues are specific to the United States (like the opioid crisis), but the perspective is more global: the lack of beds and staff, the exasperating bureaucracy, the incessant demands of hospital administrators, outsourcing to reduce the costs, the traumatic impact of Covid… It is more than a backdrop, it is the antagonists against which health professionals fight every day. This is the reality of a hospital service which only functions thanks to the tenacity, strength and even sacrifice of a group of people whose vocation is to provide care.
To put it quickly, The Pitt is Emergencies in real time. In fact, it is difficult to avoid the temptation of comparison. However, parallel or not and apart from any legal quibbles, The Pitt is gripping and formidably effective. It’s a solid, immersive and addictive series, which perfectly exploits the idea of real-time storytelling to accentuate tension and narrative force. And let’s remember that Urgences dates from 1996, when many of the spectators were not even born. The others, don’t thank us for getting old…
The pitt
15 episodes of approximately 50′.
Available on Max.
