Jukebox

[lakeofsilverpike]

Did a little season one of the Pitt rewatch and I’m reminded that Mohan is a character who is repeatedly shown to be exceptional at the doctor patient interaction, to have some strengths and some weaknesses when it comes to her clinical judgment and medical decision making (very normal and expected for a resident as they’re all very much still learning), and is repeatedly shown to be weak in her ability to take feedback as well as in her teaching skills.

One of the main things a resident is expected to do is teach interns and students. And Mohan is interestingly pretty bad at this. I just watched the episode where Santos says one awkward thing to a patient. She’s a new intern and she didn’t handle a patient’s overwhelming emotions perfectly. She wasn’t particularly bad, just not ideal. This isn’t surprising. This is a learned skill for many people.

Mohan takes Santos out of the room and dresses her down her in the middle of the hall. She doesn’t invite a conversation where Santos can reflect and learn. Samira speaks over Santos, shames her, and lectures her. She does the same with Whitaker and the sickle cell patient when she shames him in the middle of the hall rather than encourage him to learn from a common mistake. Both times she’s right in pointing out what her trainee did wrong, but she’s so aggressive and condescending that she’s going to alienate her trainees rather than let them reflect and grow from her feedback. Then she lets Santos take the fall for her mistake with the hyponatremia patient, which is quite a choice for a resident to make.

There’s so much of this character being flattened in fandom that it’s easy to forget that she’s a character with strengths and weaknesses as a resident. And interestingly her weakest point is how condescending and judgmental she is when teaching, which of course is how she will be treated by Robby in season two.

[purplebutterflyglasses]

[apricustar]

actually never going to be over the robby–javadi conversation in any capacity but! my favorite favorite part is javadi running after him to ask whether or not he thinks she has a shot at emergency psychiatry. here is a mentor who is—in her own words—kind of fucked up from the job, but has still guided her and continues to recognize her value as a physician outside of her parents.

the way that, even before she says she’s thinking about going into it, you can see her bracing for some kind of comment about emergency psychiatry being lesser. and then the visible relief on her face when robby just says “very cool,” which is so unlike anything her mom would’ve said. the way she asks him if he thinks she can do it, and his response is just that she can do anything she puts her mind to. you can see it roll over her face, like, woah.

and to hear this from someone whose opinion she values so much...it's like it almost catches her off guard, to be encouraged in this way. like she can't quite believe it

[robbysglasses]

That's that "pressionable" Shamsi was worried about!

She knows all about the horrors of the ED. I do think, as a mom, she is rightfully worried for her daughter if she were to stay in the ED. She knows what it does to doctors. Yes, part of it is bias (not because she thinks ED isn't important or cool, she thinks other specialities can show off the skills she believes her daughter has better than the ED can, which to me is a more of a "jack of all trades" sort of speciality) but I do think part of it is genuine concern for her daughter's well-being.

And to her, she knows she (and maybe even her husband, who seems to have a better relationship with their daughter) are up against someone who they may admire professionally but also know is 100% this cool, intelligent, capable leader type who was there to teach their daughter and support her on what is possibly the worst first day a med student can have. Victoria clearly holds Robby in high regard of some sort (even though she's clearly also aware of his PTSD) and her parents are fearful of that.

Robby is an outsider they can't control the way they can show off other attendings from other departments. Robby and The Pitt are the result of Victoria's almost sheltered upbringing: they planned for everything but Victoria being interested in something they deem more dangerous and unpredictable, which is what they were trying to avoid.

And Robby is very encouraging! He also showed Victoria on day 1 he didn't care her mom was a doctor at PTMC (he didn't even know) and hasn't seemed to have judged her for it. In fact, he's probably one of the first adults and teachers in her life who have said to follow her own path and have encouraged her to do what she wants, which is why, again, Shamsi is worried because Robby is "pressionable" and she can't stop it.

God I love it.

[swagmonster63]

"brocedes 2.0!" you must not understand the gravity of the situation that was lewis hamilton and nico rosberg. you must not have heard the tales.

[alexturntable]

[natashastarkotp]

im just so happy that the writers wrote langdon as a sarcastic funny dude who never makes fun of mel. she misses social cues and he never makes her feel awkward about it, he leans into it and makes her comfortable in the conversation. my roman kingdon or whatever.

[hyper-fixation-land]

I’m kind of obsessed with the idea of both Robby and Frank each putting the other on a pedestal.

Frank the perfect protégé.

Robby the perfect mentor.

This idolization manifests itself in different ways. Robby believes in Frank’s abilities as a physician so much that he rarely worries about Frank and leaves him alone more frequently than he would other residents. Frank believes that Robby is the absolute pinnacle of what an emergency medical physician can be and so he frequently seeks advice and approval from him.

One side effect of their idolatry is that neither can see the flaws in the other.

They unintentionally add to the pressure on each other’s shoulders with the weight and uncompromising nature of their expectations. While simultaneously making it easier for them to rise to the challenges they set for one another. They each expect their counterpart to be perfect, but they also believe that the other is entirely capable of meeting those expectations.

They wear themselves to the bone trying to meet impossible standards and not disappoint one of the few (I’m guessing) people in their lives who believes in them unreservedly, but they also reach new heights in their pursuit of perfection. When someone believes in you that much, it’s easier to believe in yourself. (Also I know it’s more complicated than this and that they both have other people in their lives who depend on them, but that’s not the point of this post)

In season 1 they are both forcibly confronted with exactly how imperfect they themselves are, and how imperfect the other man is as well.

Frank feels like he failed Robby.

He minimized his injury and hid his drug use in fear of disappointing his mentor (as well as the larger, real life consequences). But in the end, he wasn’t able to stop it from impacting his work, which he believes is Robby’s primary concern.

During their ambulance bay confrontation, Frank is obviously lashing out at Robby because he is scared and feeling cornered. But, he’s also angry at Robby because he feels like he was only doing what Robby taught him to do (stealing medication from the ED is obviously over the line but denial is a hell of a drug). He was pushing down his personal issues in order to be able to keep working. And it’s not exactly a mystery where he picked up that tendency.

Robby feels like he failed Frank.

Robby let his trauma build and build until the dam could no longer hold back the flood. He was so consumed with his personal issues and the chaos of the ED that he didn’t notice that his ‘best resident’ was drowning.

During their ambulance bay confrontation, Robby is obviously lashing out at Frank because he is disappointed and angry with his resident (and massively triggered by the MCI). But he’s also angry that Frank didn’t come to him, and feels that he was personally betrayed by someone he is “very close” to. And beyond not seeing it, Robby feels that he must have done something to make Frank unwilling to confide in him. Unwilling to ask him for help. Couple that with “I hurt my back. I told you that. You teased me about it, remember?” and Robby is in hell.

They’re both mad at each other, but infinitely more upset with themselves.

Anyway. I just think they’re neat.

[wtw3191]

honestly so funny/interesting to see people tie themselves into knots trying to craft an abbot backstory that somehow makes him morally justified or absolved for joining the military.

oh he joined during peacetime, he was escaping an abusive home, he was poor but he wanted to go to med school to help people, he didn’t think he’d be doing bad military stuff like killing people and then it was too late and he had no choice but to serve his time. he’s nothing but an innocent victim of capitalism and military propaganda.

ok maybe, but it’s way more 1) likely and 2) interesting if he just… wanted to join up. thought it was important and interesting work. enjoyed being a soldier, and would have remained one if not for his injury. understood the moral implications and was able to live with them or even agreed with some of them. not everyone who joins is a gung ho baby killer, but they’re not perfect angel peace-lovers, either. no one forced hypothetical young abbot to join. and reducing him to a perfect liberal icon is boring and a disservice to the character.

[tcnysncrk]

Robby ran in there, worried for his doctor. A heart attack is serious and he cares for his people. He looked frantically at the paperwork, snatched it from her, saw no abnormalities and raced to check her out with a stethoscope himself not trusting anything but his own senses. Then he recognized the signs. A panic attack. And he immediately saw himself in her. He saw how he broke ten months prior and never really pulled himself together. And instead of reacting out of compassion he reacted the same way he reacted to himself. Out of hatred. He treated Samira Mohan, at a very vulnerable moment, the same way he treats himself every day because in that moment she was too similar to himself. And he hates himself enough to contemplate leaving and never returning

[slow--spark]

*cares aggressively*

[punkanonymous]

It’s really important to me that we acknowledge that a foundational relationship in the Pitt is Robby and Abbot’s. Even outside of shipping, they have both been the one to pull the other off the ledge. In Abbot’s case, he’s done it twice, pulling Robby back from that precipice. We know that they worry about each other, “And if it gets dark, you call me.” “I’m not the one who spends his free time getting shot at.” That they are close enough to be emergency contacts and have worked with each other for years. That they know where the other will be after a horrible day. That they are both fucked up but find a way to be there for each other anyway. And this is after spending two days with them.

[thatfanficstuff]

Friends, and i cannot emphasize this enough, canon is only canon if it is actually in the show. scripts don't count, cut scenes don't count, interview content does not count. doesn't matter who says it or what the content is.

if it is not on the show it is not canon.

[icemav86]

Thinking that Robby's gotten good at compartmentalizing patient outcomes; he'd been in even worse shape if he couldn't let go of the rough cases, the unknown of what happens next for at-risk patients who leave his ED.

Except for child abandonment cases. Robby knows he should let the system do what it does, as flawed and broken as it is, but he can't help himself. Those babies--left with no one, with no identity--stay with him in a way he can't ignore. Not if he wants half a shot at sleeping at night.

So, over time, he gets to know the CYF case workers. Ask the right questions, neutrally. "Just want to help how I can." He works through the right channels, anonymously, to send supplies to foster families. Adoptive families. Necessities, like top-of-the-line high chairs and car seats and infant carriers, but also books and stuffies and the kind of toys that can't replace a mother who left, but it's something.

There are kids out there who get packages for years. The adoptive parents, and sometimes, sadly, various foster families, only know the gifts are from a background-checked "Dr. R," who treated the child as an infant. Some are confused at first, some ask more questions about this doctor, but they all love the joy on their children's faces that comes with another mystery package full of the latest popular toys and handwritten notes that say things like, "A special gift for a special kid."

[chungledown-bimothy]

i genuinely don't think there's much, if anything, hotter than someone clearly having a blast doing something they're really good at. doesn't really matter what it is. the combo of competence and joy is absolutely lethal to me

[absolutejukebox]

In the early days of Season 1, I remember checking Wikipedia to remind myself who the hell Jack Abbot was and the description said he was an "old rival" of Robby's.

The source for this was a Variety article from December 2024 about the trailer. So either the source of this rivalry was the author's perception (not sure how you would pick that up from the trailer, but it's possible) or this was the initial outline/description provided by the production.

If it's the latter, then — that was very much not the relationship we saw play out between Jack and Robby over the course of the season. By the time Jack showed back up in person the first thing Robby did was hug him, and any reference to Jack between appearances was to do with Kristi's treatment plan or the veteran who passed away. And not a hint of rivalry anywhere in there. So if this was the initial conception of the relationship between Jack and Robby then I'm curious as to how and when that storyline changed in the production process.

I think what we actually got was much richer and more compelling but it would be an interesting insight into how writing and character conceptions get adapted as the show is being made.

[sunsetbuddie]

we used to get christmas episodes of television. halloween episodes. valentines. we used to get television that felt like part of your life. like it was happening alongside your life. now we mostly get 8 episodes dropping all at once every two years and they don't have time for any of that. i miss characters living alongside us

[lysimachias]

Not "The Character did nothing wrong" or "The Character is irredeemably awful" but a secret third thing: The Character may display moments of deep love & compassion, may even have a strong sense of ethics, and may also be capable of brutal cruelty that is irreconcilable with those traits. The constant tension between the different sides of The Character's nature is exactly what makes them compelling, and attempting to reduce them down to simply "a terrible person" or "innocent & misunderstood" is missing the point of the questions a media with nuanced characters is asking you to consider

[fashnik3]

I don’t think enough people understand that Santos probably feels incredibly used right now. Like, yes Garcia did explicitly say they’re keeping it casual, but that’s a far cry from then basically being told I DO NOT care about your feelings. I only set aside my feelings about you reporting my friend for med diversion because I wanted to fuck you. Like that is devastating. That is so dehumanizing.