- 1 day ago
Before season 2 of ‘The Pitt’ begins, get caught up on season 1. Creator Noah Wyle and stars Isa Briones, Fiona Dourif, Taylor Dearden, Sean Hatosy, Shabana Azeez, Supriya Ganesh, Gerran Howell, and Sephideh Moafi join EW to catch you up on all the twists and reveals, heartbreaks and triumphs from Season 1 in the ER.
The cast reveals which scenes were the most emotional to shoot, so much so that the cast and crew had to take a break from set, as well as the real-world impacts the show has had so far (like a rise in registration for organ donation). From the ‘wall of Gerran’ (a collage of Gerran Howell covered in ‘different fluids’ as Whitaker) to the patient actors they wish they could work with again, this behind-the-scenes recap is so much more than just a refresher of season 1.
Season 1 of ‘The Pitt’ is now streaming on HBO Max.
Season 2 premieres January 6, 2026.
Register to become an organ donor at registerme.org
The cast reveals which scenes were the most emotional to shoot, so much so that the cast and crew had to take a break from set, as well as the real-world impacts the show has had so far (like a rise in registration for organ donation). From the ‘wall of Gerran’ (a collage of Gerran Howell covered in ‘different fluids’ as Whitaker) to the patient actors they wish they could work with again, this behind-the-scenes recap is so much more than just a refresher of season 1.
Season 1 of ‘The Pitt’ is now streaming on HBO Max.
Season 2 premieres January 6, 2026.
Register to become an organ donor at registerme.org
Category
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PeopleTranscript
00:00Hello, everybody.
00:00I'm Noah Wiley.
00:01I'm one of the creators of The Pit.
00:03I am Isa Briones.
00:04I am Fiona Durev.
00:06Hi, I'm Sean Haddesey.
00:07Hi, I'm Taylor Duden.
00:08I'm Shabana Aziz.
00:09My name is Patrick Ball.
00:10Hey, I'm Supriya Ganesh.
00:11I'm Garen Howell.
00:12I'm Catherine Lanasa.
00:14And I'm Sepita Mawafi.
00:15And today, we're going to be doing a speed read recap
00:18of season one.
00:19Were you in season one?
00:20No.
00:20No comment.
00:21Let's catch up together.
00:23Yeah, maybe you can learn something.
00:24Maybe I can.
00:25It's the top of the day shift in attending physician,
00:31Dr. Michael Robby Rabinovich.
00:33Dr. Michael?
00:34His name is Michael.
00:35It's crazy.
00:35Dr. Michael Robby Rabinovich.
00:37Robby Rabinavich.
00:39Rabinavich.
00:41Michael Robby Rabinavich.
00:43Walks into the pit, the emergency room
00:45of the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center.
00:47Today is going to be a tough one.
00:49It's the four year anniversary since his mentor, Dr.
00:52Adamson, died from COVID complications.
00:54And it's the first time that he's been on shift for it.
00:57Before the day can really start, he heads up
00:59to the roof where Dr. Jack Abbott.
01:02Handsome with an edge, attending physician,
01:05Dr. Jack Abbott, meow, he's the night shift attending.
01:09He's staring out over the edge of the building
01:11with just a little too much intensity.
01:14Jack Abbott sounds so much like Jack Rabbit.
01:16Jack Rabbit.
01:16Yes, anyway.
01:17Back downstairs, we meet Dr. Heather Collins,
01:20who is suffering from a bout of morning sickness.
01:23Interesting.
01:24She's keeping her pregnancy a secret.
01:25And the only person who knows is Dana, the charge nurse.
01:29Literally the person who keeps the ER from descending into chaos.
01:32Indeed.
01:33She's a mama bear.
01:34She is a mama bear.
01:35Just outside the nurse's station, we meet the rest of the crew.
01:38Dr. Langdon, Dr. McKay, Dr. Mohan, Dr. Garcia,
01:41and all the new kids.
01:42Melissa Melking, one of my favorites.
01:45A second year resident, Dr. Trinity Santos.
01:47She's kind of got an attitude.
01:49And the two med students, Victoria Javadi.
01:52And Dennis Whittaker.
01:53That's me.
01:54Dennis Whittaker.
01:55He's going to get some liquids on him.
01:56You're not supposed to reveal your favorites.
01:58First patients to arrive in the ER are a woman who's been hit by a train after falling on the tracks,
02:03and her savior, a man who jumped down to help her and got knocked out during the rescue.
02:06Her lower leg was so badly injured that as the doctors are setting it back to place,
02:11Javadi faints from the gruesome sight.
02:13I remember that.
02:15That was disgusting.
02:16Unfortunately, no one understands the language the patient is speaking until Dr. Collins
02:20puts a map in front of her and discovers that she is from Nepal and her name is Manu.
02:24In real life, I speak Hindi, which is really similar to Nepali.
02:28I didn't know that.
02:29That's cool.
02:30Like really basic words you can kind of tell.
02:33And I remember hearing it from the other room because we were filming everything and we're
02:35in the back.
02:36I could understand something.
02:37So I was like, ahhh.
02:38It's tricky.
02:39I, in real life, I know.
02:41Later on in the day, her savior Sam gains consciousness and confirms the suspicions of
02:45the police.
02:46She was pushed onto the train tracks in a possible hate crime.
02:49The other side of the ER, an elderly gentleman, Mr. Spencer, is brought in from an assisted living
02:53facility.
02:54He has Alzheimer's.
02:55And a DNR on his chart.
02:57Do not resuscitate.
02:58Which means that he doesn't want heroic efforts to keep him alive, including intubation.
03:02His adult children, Jeremy and Helen Spencer, arrive and, as their father deteriorates,
03:06they decide not to honor his wishes.
03:08We're not ready to let go yet.
03:10God, that was so sad.
03:12Yeah.
03:13I remember crying when I watched that.
03:15It's obvious it is not what Dr. Robbie wants, but his hands are tied by their power of attorney.
03:19Dr. Santos.
03:21Me.
03:22Orders a lab for a patient, and when she tells Dr. Langdon, he informs her that, as an intern,
03:28she's not supposed to order anything without clearing it with him first.
03:31And it won't be the last time he says that, but for now, he's got his eye on her.
03:35Out at the nurse's station, Javadi is back on her feet and she's assigned to help Dr. McKay
03:39with the patients in the waiting room.
03:41Which we call triage.
03:42While out there, they meet Doug Driscoll, a patient complaining of chest pains, who is
03:46anything but patient.
03:48Doug.
03:49Driscoll.
03:50Yeah, we know him.
03:51Yeah, watch out for that Doug Driscoll guy.
03:53He's gonna come back later.
03:54They meet Doug Driscoll.
03:55Doug Driscoll.
03:56Who in real life is so nice.
03:57He's so sweet.
03:58He's such a sweetheart.
03:59As they make their rounds, Dr. McKay's ankle monitoring cuff goes off, much to the surprise
04:03of Javadi.
04:04I think if you were at work and somebody just had an ankle monitor, you'd be like, what
04:10if I had an ankle monitor?
04:11I'd be like, dude, you're so cool.
04:13You don't think I'm cool without an ankle monitor?
04:16Dr. Mohan is chatting with a patient when Dr. Robbie pulls her away to ruin her day.
04:22Sounds like she's got a bit of a reputation for taking her time with patients and it's
04:26earned her the nickname of slow-mo, which doesn't make her feel very good.
04:30This won't be the last time that Dr. Robbie chastises her over the course of the day
04:34or even over the next hour.
04:36Or season.
04:38New patient, Theresa, comes into the ER with her teenage son, David.
04:41She's been vomiting uncontrollably, but turns out she's made herself sick in order to get
04:45him to the hospital.
04:46At home, she came across a list where he wrote the names of girls at his school that should
04:50be eliminated.
04:52The team tries to talk to him, but he bolts and try as he might.
04:55Robbie can't catch him.
04:56Two great actors.
04:57Yeah.
04:58Oh my god.
04:59He walks back into the ER to meet his next patient, Nick, a young college kid who's tragically
05:04overdosing from fentanyl.
05:05Nick's parents, Lily and John, arrive and after Robbie gives them the rundown, he gets
05:09the confirmation that the boy's pupils are blown, the likely result of a brain stem death.
05:14And even after heartbreaking amounts of tests to try to prove otherwise, they ultimately
05:18have to let him go.
05:19Mom is devastated and as she sobs over her son, it visibly affects everyone with an earshot.
05:23That afternoon, the team reveals that Nick elected to be an organ donor and all of his
05:27friends and everyone from the ER is in attendance for his honor walk.
05:30I'm actually going to cry down.
05:31That was such a gorgeous moment.
05:34That was a devastating scene.
05:35That actress is so talented.
05:37That's the sucky thing about having a patient sometimes.
05:39It's hard to figure out a way for this actor to come back in a realistic way.
05:44Both of those parents made me sob.
05:46I had to leave.
05:47I was shadowing on their days and I was like, I have to go.
05:50And a bunch of crew decided to walk out because they were like, we can't.
05:52We don't need to be here.
05:53We actually found out that organ donor registration has gone up because of the pit, which is incredible.
06:01And everyone should be an organ donor.
06:03Going between these two.
06:05Whitaker is talking to a new patient, Mr. Milton, who came in with chest pains.
06:10There is nothing to indicate that it's anything other than gallstones that have been agitated
06:15after he and his wife went out for a steak dinner.
06:17However, just a short time later, Whitaker checks in on him only to find him non-responsive.
06:22Whitaker starts in on chest compressions, but it's no use.
06:25Mr. Milton is gone despite Whitaker continuing CPR.
06:28Ultimately, he has to call it.
06:30It's agreed that it would have been impossible to catch.
06:32However, the med student is shaken by his first patient death.
06:35Yes.
06:36He is still processing the loss and is hesitating on which case to take next.
06:39It's obvious he's terrified of losing another, so Dr. Robbie hands him a softball.
06:43A patient who simply needs a dose of Mylanta.
06:46Shake it first.
06:47I'll go make sure the lid is...
06:49Screw down tight.
06:50He got it in, like, one take.
06:52I mean, we ended up filming another...
06:53And also, it was perfectly all over him.
06:55Yes!
06:56It was just perfectly all over him.
06:57I think they still ended up using the first take.
06:59Whitaker ruins his first set of scrubs, of which he will have three more over the course
07:06of the day.
07:07Kraken pee, blister blood, tonsil bleed.
07:09Thanks for reminding me.
07:11It's a wet day.
07:12In our hair and makeup trailer, we actually have the wall of Garen, and it's pictures of Garen
07:16with different fluids all over him.
07:18Dr. Langdon is having trouble connecting with a new patient, Terrence, who is suffering from
07:22an injured ankle.
07:23Dr. Mel, that is me, asks to see his chart and clocks that he has autism.
07:28And as she walks into her room, she immediately closes the door, lowers the brightness of the
07:31lights, and silences most of the noise.
07:34I remember this.
07:35In amazement of Dr. Langdon, she is able to get Terrence talking and engaging over the
07:38concerns about his injury.
07:40After he's discharged, Mel explains that her sister is also on the spectrum, giving her
07:44a better perspective on how an autistic person might be encountered in the ER.
07:49David, our teen with the elimination list, still hasn't shown up or answered his mom's
07:54calls and messages.
07:55Robbie doesn't want to involve the authorities just yet, much to the concern of Dr. McKay,
07:59who recognizes the possible danger he could pose.
08:02I agree.
08:03Why isn't he more concerned about this?
08:04I had a huge issue with this, and I was like, why are you saying, like, no to her and she's
08:09causing...
08:10It's like, so many lives that...
08:11Yeah.
08:12That one bugged me.
08:13That one really bugged me.
08:14Well, it seems like it comes back to bite him in the butt.
08:15It's like, no, no, sit down and talk about this for a little longer, in my opinion.
08:20Jeremy and Helen come to their decision to pull their father's intubation tube and make
08:24him as comfortable as possible before he passes.
08:27As they're having a conversation with their father, he takes his last heartbreaking breaths
08:31as his children look on.
08:32Dr. Robbie starts to feel the pressure of being in the same room where his mentor, Dr.
08:37Adamson, passed all those years ago.
08:38I cried endlessly watching this scene.
08:40I think Taylor was telling a story about somebody who, when his parent was dying, used
08:45the, I forgive you, I love you, I forgive you, like the four things that they say.
08:49It's basically just a few key things that we can say when we're saying goodbye to a loved
08:54one that can really help.
08:55I love you.
08:57I forgive you.
08:58Please forgive me.
08:59Oh, I really read that.
09:00I think he got it from, if I'm not mistaken, like a real doctor.
09:05Dr. Santos decides to put a patient with tension pneumothorax on BiPAP, nearly resulting
09:10in his death and frustrating Dr. Langdon even more because she is supposed to run those decisions
09:15by a senior resident or attending.
09:17Dr. Garcia, however, doesn't see it as a slip up, more of a learning moment.
09:20She takes Dr. Santos under her wing.
09:22Sexy.
09:23Sexy.
09:24Yeah, she does.
09:25However.
09:26Takes her right under her wing.
09:27Doesn't she?
09:28Yeah, she does.
09:29I have to say all of their scenes when she's like teaching her different surgery methods,
09:33it just reminded me of Ghost.
09:35Yeah.
09:36Cause they had, they had like the moments where it's like, and then glide your hand.
09:39Let me help you.
09:40Glide your hand.
09:41It was like.
09:42Yeah, I remember watching.
09:43It's also really gross stuff they're doing, but it was, I could not stop laughing.
09:46I remember watching it being filmed and I was like, nothing is happening.
09:49This is so sexy.
09:50It's like really intense.
09:52Yeah.
09:53And I just love also that the room was full of other people who are all like, what is happening?
09:58She's teaching her, obviously.
10:00She's teaching her.
10:01Dr. Garcia later offers her a chest tube on another patient.
10:05However, it doesn't go smoothly as Santos fumbles her scalpel and it lands perfectly impaling Garcia's foot.
10:12Holy Garcia's foot, this was, I like had a visceral response to this.
10:17Oh well.
10:18I love it when Garcia's like, no, I'll do it.
10:20And she like fixes herself.
10:21Yeah.
10:22If I could take my shoes off on camera, it would, I wouldn't feel comfortable.
10:26Dr. Mel starts working on her elderly patient named Ginger, whose adult daughter Rita brought her in after she took a fall.
10:33Rita is clearly overwhelmed and when her mother is ready to be discharged, she's nowhere to be seen.
10:38As the hours pass, it's looking more and more like Mel's patient has been abandoned.
10:43And it's a prognosis that is very triggering for her, particularly since she's incredibly close with her sister.
10:49Yeah, caretaking fatigue is a real thing.
10:52You gotta take care of yourself first, otherwise you can't take care of whoever else needs to be taken care of.
10:57Luckily, a few hours later, Rita reappears! Sorry, there's an exclamation point and I wanted to make sure that it was said.
11:04She had only fallen asleep in her car from exhaustion!
11:08After Mel explains that there are free resources available that can help lighten the burden, Rita bursts into grateful tears.
11:16That was so hard on the actor, do you remember?
11:18She ended up having to do that, her turnaround in those tears, like the 75th time she did it.
11:22She was amazing!
11:23She was epic, yeah.
11:24A patient starts seizing. As Langdon and Santos rush to help, Santos struggles to open the cap on a vial of atmian,
11:31leading her to ask Dana if she can help with alerting the manufacturer of a possible issue.
11:36It's not a normal occurrence, and Santos remembers it later when they are working with an alcoholic patient of Langdon's
11:42who is missing half of the benzos that he was prescribed that morning,
11:46leading her to suspect that the resident might be stealing meds.
11:51Dun, dun, dun!
11:52It was crazy seeing, like, how obvious I think we made it.
11:56That it was him, like, she'd be like, someone's stealing drugs!
11:58And then it would cut to him and people would be like, it's not him!
12:01What a bitch for saying something and it's like...
12:05He was just like, well, we're leaving it right there for you guys!
12:09Even after it was, like, proven, it was still so many people like, I don't like her.
12:14And it's like, how? How at this point? How?
12:18I'm a Santos truther, I think.
12:20Yeah, I'm on that.
12:21I support her.
12:23Jake arrives.
12:24Jake arrives!
12:25Jake arrives!
12:27He is the son of Dr. Robby's ex, who looks to him as a stepfather figure.
12:32Originally, the two of them were going to the Pit Fest, a musical festival that's...
12:36Musical festival?
12:37It's not a musical festival.
12:39That'd be fun.
12:40Originally, the two of them were going to Pit Fest, a music festival that's happening in the city.
12:46But Jake is taking his girlfriend, Leah, instead, and came to the ER to grab the tickets.
12:51Later on in the afternoon, as Dr. Collins finishes up with the patient, she starts to feel cramping.
12:56It worsens, and she rushes to the restroom. Her worst fear is confirmed. She's having a miscarriage.
13:01Dana tells her to head home for the day, but Collins doesn't want to leave, and continues with her shift, putting on a brave face.
13:06But Dr. Robby can tell something is up, even though he doesn't know the details.
13:10A reveler from the Pit Fest comes in ODing from MDMA. Doctors Mohan and Santos are monitoring, but as she starts coding, Santos recognizes that she might be suffering from hypone...
13:22Hyponatremia? Did I get it?
13:25Yes!
13:26And pushes saline, saving the woman's life. But once again, she didn't run it past Dr. Langdon, and he snaps.
13:32Dr. Robby arrives. His correction is not pretty, but it's quick.
13:36Over in the waiting room, Doug Driscoll is getting more and more frustrated with having to wait, and makes a big show of complaining about it.
13:41Dana steps in to defuse the situation.
13:43You've got about five seconds to change your whole attitude before security and the police get involved.
13:48Which gets him to sit down.
13:49But not for long.
13:51Dana pops out of the ER for a quick smoke break, and he takes the opportunity to walk up and sucker punch her square on the nose.
13:58She falls to the concrete, and he walks off without a care in the world.
14:02Yeah.
14:03I thought that was one of the most shocking moments of television. I was like, ah, god, it's so fricking brutal.
14:07I knew it was coming, but when I saw it, I was just like, ah, carry your hands off our girl!
14:11I remember all of the actors, we were kind of like, David or Driscoll? Who did the thing?
14:16Yeah, someone's gonna come back.
14:17And it was like, I was so glad we were all wrong.
14:19The police arrive in the ER to talk to Teresa. David still hasn't come back to the hospital or answered his mom's calls,
14:25and Dr. McKay decided that the risk is too great. A move that puts her at odds with Dr. Robbie even though she's objectively correct.
14:32But in this instance, she does not back down, and she forces him to see the situation from the perspective of the girls that David might harm.
14:40Dr. Robbie has a heart-to-heart with Santos, checking that she's okay and down for being a team player.
14:45She says she doesn't want to get anyone in trouble.
14:47I don't want to get anyone in trouble.
14:50But when he presses, she pulls the faulty vial of Ativan and tells him of her concerns about Langdon.
14:56Robbie takes it seriously and pulls him to the lockers for a check.
15:00His suspicions are confirmed when he finds the patient meds in Langdon's locker.
15:04A painful moment.
15:06Robbie orders him to leave, and immediately the rumors start flying about his departure.
15:11That's crazy also. If somebody was taking drugs from work, that's crazy.
15:16Dana refused to leave before her shift is over, and Robbie finds her outside finishing the cigarette that she didn't get to enjoy before. Good for her.
15:24She might be done with this place, and as Robbie tells her he doesn't know how the ER will survive without her,
15:30they both get multiple messages coming through on their phones.
15:33There's an active shooter at Pit Fest, and they're about to be hit with a mass casualty event.
15:37It's all hands on deck preparing for the incoming injured from the music festival, and Robbie can't get a hold of Jake.
15:42The first thing Dr. McKay asks is if the police have located David.
15:46Did the police find David?
15:48Okay, everybody listen up.
15:50The night crew has come in early, and Dr. Robbie and Dr. Abbott take everyone through the combat zone strategy.
15:57The injured start pouring in, and as Robbie makes his way through the patients, he sees that Langdon has returned.
16:03But they need all the help they can get, so he's staying put for now.
16:07In the pink zone. The pink zone was really fun.
16:09Pink zone. Team pink zone. Team pink zone. We had a lot of fun.
16:12Outside, the SWAT team has arrived. In the middle of the melee, Dr. McKay's ankle monitor decides to go off again.
16:17God damn it.
16:18In an act of quick thinking, she takes a drill to it, shutting it up for the time being.
16:22Are you going to get in trouble for that?
16:25Probably.
16:26That was so fun.
16:27It looked so fun.
16:28Also, there was real sparks, you remember?
16:30It was like a, fuck your department's safety meeting.
16:32I wasn't in there.
16:33I was like, guys, it's fine.
16:34It was really funny.
16:35Because I was in pink still, and you went to the north corridor to find that drill.
16:37Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I had a great time.
16:39A truck pulls up to the hospital with Jake and his girlfriend Leah.
16:42He's stable, but it's not looking good for her.
16:45She has a gunshot wound to the chest and no pulse.
16:48No matter what Robbie tries, she continues to be non-responsive.
16:52After he calls it, he wheels Jake into the room to deliver the heavy news.
16:56In disbelief, Jake asks to see her.
16:59Robbie is unable to hold back the tears or the memories.
17:02He pushes Jake out of the room and finally breaks.
17:05Whitaker stumbles on him back in the family room and pulls Robbie to his feet,
17:10and Noah Wiley wins the Emmy.
17:13David finally returns and is immediately tackled by the cops as the suspected shooter.
17:17They drag him inside and lock him in a room.
17:19The rumor mill is at it again throughout the ER that they have the shooter,
17:22but it's not long before the news comes in.
17:24The actual shooter was found with the self-inflicted gunshot wound not far from the festival.
17:29The incoming patients from the festival are slowing,
17:31and we start getting back to the regular business in the ER.
17:34A new set of cops make their way to the nurse's station looking for Dr. McKay.
17:41Apparently, her tampering with her ankle bracelet is grounds for rest.
17:46But Robbie steps in to intervene on her behalf.
17:49She makes her way over to David's room and attempts to have a heart-to-heart,
17:53explaining the fear that his hit list instilled.
17:56Before she leaves for the night, she sees that he and his mother are talking to a social worker.
18:01There's hope.
18:02Robbie gives a debrief before everyone goes home.
18:05It's been such a long and impossible day.
18:07Santos notices that Whittaker doesn't leave, but rather goes up to the empty wing.
18:11He's been living in one of the vacant rooms, and in an act of unexpected kindness,
18:16she offers her spare room in her apartment.
18:18I have a spare room with its own bathroom.
18:20Santos is kind. Santos is a kind person.
18:23We've all had issues with the reception of Santos being like,
18:27She's troubled! This is how she protects herself, damn it.
18:30Yes!
18:31Who has a spare room in their apartment festival anyway?
18:34Robbie goes to see Jake before he leaves,
18:36and it's crystal clear that Jake blames him for Leia's death.
18:39And if that's not enough, the last thing Robbie does for the night
18:42is inform Leia's parents that she didn't make it.
18:44It's all too much.
18:45And Dr. Abbott finds him up on the roof,
18:47a mirror of where they were that morning.
18:49He talks Robbie back from the edge, and they end the night cracking beers
18:52with the crew in the park, toasting each other for surviving the day.
18:56And I just want to say that when he threw the beer to me,
18:59it was scripted that I couldn't catch it,
19:02that I can't actually catch it.
19:03It was scripted that I couldn't catch it,
19:05and I didn't catch it, and it hits the floor,
19:06and then he says, nice catch, and I say,
19:08now you see why I didn't go into surgery,
19:10and then they cut that part, so I just look like I can't catch it.
19:13And I can't.
19:15There you have it.
19:17And that was season one.
19:19And if you haven't seen season one.
19:21What are you doing?
19:22Embarrassing.
19:24We're very embarrassed for you.
19:27Like, everybody's watched it, basically.
19:29Everybody's seen it.
19:30Everyone's seen it.
19:31Yeah, that was a very fast recap of season one.
19:33You should just watch it instead of this.
19:35I am more exhausted reading the synopsis of season one
19:39than I was shooting season one.
19:42We hope you enjoy the upcoming season two.
19:442021 season two.
19:45All right.
19:47All right.
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