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This story contains spoilers for the season two finale of The Pitt.
Well, Dr Robby (Noah Wyle) didn’t die. He didn’t crash his motorbike, the spectre of which has been purring in the background all season. He didn’t “pull a Thelma and Louise” as Dr Abbot (Shawn Hatosy) cautions, careening off the cliff where they used to take buffalo to die. In fact, he didn’t even leave the hospital.
The final moments of the series see him cradling (now internet-famous) Baby Jane Doe in the same room as his season one breakdown, telling her – and himself – that everything is “gonna be OK”. “You got so many wonderful things to see and so many people to love ahead of you. So many wonderful things to see. People to love ahead of you.”
With many fans of this award-winning drama expecting a bang, they might be disappointed with this finale that is much closer to a whimper. The only explosions come from the Fourth of July fireworks booming like gunshots in the distance as the traumatised hospital staff hold one another, staring in stony silence. But that’s not at all to say this episode is bad: 9.00pm is a gut-wrenching meditation on new life, saved lives, and why we choose to live the lives we do.
“Want to know why I never killed myself?” Abbot asks Robby in the scene that will probably win Wyle his second Emmy. “Because it comes for all of us, man. You and I know it more than most. We see it every shift, but we can’t let ourselves succumb to it. Yes, life can suck. It can be unbearable and ugly and heartbreaking, but it’s also beautiful and hilarious.” Robby needs someone, he says, to help him “dance through the darkness”.
Is he finding that in Baby Jane Doe in those final moments? Can we expect the suicidal ideation to pass by season three? Maybe. Hopefully! I don’t know! And I think that’s for the best.
In the past few weeks, fans of The Pitt have flooded social media with increasingly far-fetched analyses craving both grand theatrics and closure in this final episode. Langdon has taken Whittaker’s badge to gain access to drugs (a genuine red herring, for sure). Actually Ogilvie probably took it, and he’s heading up to the roof (wait, that feels excessive). Or maybe it’s Santos who will die; she’s self-harmed before, did you see the scars on her legs? (No one has to die at all). Supriya Ganesh, who plays Dr Mohan, is controversially leaving the show so I bet Mohan kills herself because of how mean Dr Robby was (stop). Also do you reckon the baby is actually Dr Al-Hashimi’s? (What?)
I have nothing against fan theories. I’m a total nerd for it with mystery box shows like Severance – series which revolve around a central mystery, take huge, surreal swings and frequently reward viewers’ frantic hunt for Easter eggs. For better or worse, each season of The White Lotus encourages us to hunt for clues to a murder mystery, analysing small details in recaps and podcasts and Reddit threads.
But that’s not the point of The Pitt at all, and there’s something truly strange about the way many fans have been engaging with it.
This is a character study praised for its gritty realism; a series that tells us, over and over again, that the world is cruel and random – populated by people doing their best trying to survive it. The fact the showrunners clue us in to Santos’ self-harm isn’t the set-up for a dramatic new narrative, but confirmation of one already being told: these people are carrying a lot of pain.
Granted, the show sure did signpost something happening with Al-Hashimi early on, but we got our answer to what was happening in this season’s penultimate episode, with a dramatic confrontation between her and Dr Robby in the finale. That’s enough closure for a show set over just 15 hours. I don’t need to see Robby either kill himself or walk into a therapist’s office. I don’t want a random medical student to die. And I don’t even need Mohan to decide what’s next in her career (though the actor’s exit from the series does give a hint). What they gave us is enough.
Wyle – who is also an executive producer, writer and director of the series – recently spoke about the show’s fandom and discussed the way some people have been hyperfixated on predicted plot lines, relationships and character behaviours.
“I think audiences have become sophisticated in a whole new way when watching a show,” he said. “They’re watching the show that we’re making, and they have another show that they’re making. And when that show doesn’t align with the show that you’re making, they don’t like it as much.”
Those making slash fiction about Dr Robby and Whittaker will be disappointed their relationship remains unchanged this season, as will those shipping Mel and Langdon. But it goes way beyond that. Preconceptions of Dr Robby being the ultimate Good Guy, for instance, were undercut by his cruelty to Dr Mohan earlier this season, resulting in enormous pushback that also rubbed off on Wyle himself.
“It’s projection!” Wyle said, explaining the deliberate way the show is highlighting his character’s problematic traits. “He hates himself so he takes it out on Mohan!”
Could the series have included more of the supporting characters’ response to his outbursts? Maybe. But I’m not mad about The Pitt – a show that can be frequently be too didactic on other fronts – trusting its audience to recognise bad behaviour in its main character and think about that for themselves. It’s also trusting us to imagine his next steps once the credits roll.
Though it seems more common for younger (and very online) viewers these days, demanding either moral purity or complete closure from our favourite shows would make for some incredibly boring TV. And this season has been a good reminder to sit back, trust the process, and loosen your grip on the things you love.
When The Pitt returns next year – the show’s creator has confirmed season three is set four months later, after Robby returns from his trip (no, he didn’t adopt Baby Jane Doe) – I’m going to log off, abandon predictions and take Abbot’s advice: dancing through the darkness of whatever comes our way.
The Pitt is streaming on HBO Max now.
