Season 2 of The Pitt has been a lot more divisive than its first outing, in which Noah Wyle’s Dr. Robby was largely presented as a kind, professional caregiver who always did the right thing. This season, however, sees Robby at what I would call his “rock bottom”. I get it, though. With Adamson dying, the Pitt Fest shooting, him failing to save his stepson’s girlfriend, not to mention all the years of ER stress building up and catching up to him, it was only natural for Robby to reach a breaking point, especially if he’s never properly dealt with it.
Robby’s declining mental health made The Pitt Season 2 a very compelling watch, as this season seemed more focused on exploring the burnout and stresses of healthcare workers. It also made for a frustrating watch, as that meant we had to witness Robby’s unprofessional lashings on his colleagues and myriad inappropriate comments and behaviors. All that said, Season 2 ended on a surprisingly heartwarming and uplifting note. Things were still shit, yes, but there’s hope for Robby yet.
I don’t think Season 2 was a bad showing at all. I think we absolutely needed a season that focused on our characters’ flaws. But you know what would actually hurt The Pitt? If we had two seasons in a row of our main character being depressed and falling further on the same trajectory.
In an interview with Deadline, that seems to be what Noah Wyle is suggesting. “I think we’ll find out what that rock bottom looks like next year,” says Wyle, “I like to think we are all engaged collectively in a five to six-year mental health journey that takes a character from a place of real brokenness to a place of health. Hopefully, we’ll get them there together.”
What he says makes a lot of sense. Mental health recovery is not linear. There are setbacks and relapses. But considering that The Pitt Season 3 would take place a considerable amount of time after Season 2, I’d hope that Robby would’ve at least started to make some changes in his life. It’s honestly strange that Wyle would imply that we haven’t even seen Robby’s “rock bottom” yet. Considering that he was straight up entertaining his suicidal ideations this season, it’s hard to imagine him falling any further than that.
From an entertainment point of view, I don’t two consecutive seasons of sad Robby just wouldn’t play well with the audience either. It’d be far more interesting to see Robby on the mend, attempting to do better and turn his life around. Sure, I’d expect the occasional setback here and there, but personally, even as someone who appreciated sad Robby, I don’t think I could handle another season of that.
The Pitt is now available for streaming on HBO Max.
