thank you the pitt season 2 for having so many complex female characters that i'm overwhelmed with all of the representation. thank you the pitt season 2 for having representation of a character who struggles with sexual assault trauma and a self-harm addiction. thank you the pitt season 2 for depicting a rape survivor in a beautifully careful and loving and respectful light. thank you the pitt season 2 for unflinchingly depicting the way that women and women of color are spoken over in professional settings despite their expertise. thank you the pitt season 2 for having gentle male characters like donnie and dennis and mateo for men and boys to look up to and emulate. thank you the pitt season 2 for refusing to soften the ugly realities of suicidality and mental illness. thank you the pitt season 2 for refusing to be silent on the kidnappings and murders of people of color at the hands of a state-sponsored terrorist organization. thank you the pitt season 2 for including people and languages from all around the world. thank you the pitt season 2 for bringing awareness to the epidemic of violence against women. thank you the pitt season 2 for appreciating nurses, particularly in a time where nurses were and are fighting for fair treatment. thank you the pitt season 2 for depicting religious solidarity at a time of incredible hatred and vitriol particularly against jews and muslims. thank you the pitt season 2 for depicting addicts and recovering addicts with empathy and love. thank you the pitt season 2 for repeatedly emphasizing how the current administration's gutting of funding for medical programs and healthcare has and will continue to brutally kill people.
thank you the pitt season 2 for emphasizing that there is no replacement for real human minds and real human empathy.
I appreciate how even if Mohan checks Robby's intentions when he asks her how she's doing she still answers honestly when he tells her he's really checking in. Like, I understand why she has so much hope in him when they show us moments like this. Because Robby's deterioration has been gradual and getting worse more recently. I imagine that at first, this kind of check in and offer of reassurance was more the norm than the exception. And so through the wear and tear of their relationship, Mohan still hopes for this version of her teacher and Robby's still trying to give it to her even if he finds himself falling short more frequently as time passes.
He knows this particular case, this particular day, HIMSELF in particular—is driving this to be such a rough day for her.
He tries to check in. Legitimately. He tries to reassure Mohan that she did everything she could. He even mentions the goody bag! She tried SO HARD and her patient still left.
That's the hard part about becoming a doctor, let alone an EM doctor:
You can try to do everything right, even begging and pleading for your patient to stay and sometimes you won't be listened to. They will discharge AMA and the outcome from that can be devastating, let alone deadly.
But she did her best. Robby knows she did her best. Mohan WANTS to believe that if she did something differently, said something differently, begged for longer, it would have changed the outcome.
It didn't. It wouldn't.
She did her best. She tried. Robby knows it.
And apart of me wonders if she also thought that Mr. Diaz might have tried to kill himself, too??? I know she asked the EMTs if maybe there was a broken railing, or something unsafe where he had the fall, but she doesn't find her answer. We hope it wasn't that. We hope it was something that caused him to lose balance, lose consciousness, etc., and it made him fall.....
Or it didn't. And that's way more heartbreaking than it needs to be.
I really appreciate Robby (trying) to check in with her. I hope we get a nice scene between them both during the finale because they both deserve it and we as an audience deserve to see it (of have it be hinted at) too
yeah I'm sorry there's wayyyy too fucking many people that won't hesitate to absolutely shit on Robby and hate him but they loooove Jack and Frank. like I don't trust you or your opinions.
especiallyyy if you claim to hate Robby because he's a white man with bias, as if frank doesn't have clear biases especially in s1??? and not just trinity, also undermining his wife and calling women "females" 'wait.. is this a female thing?' and the "namaste" comment to princess.. etc... or if you claim to hate Robby because he's a dick. as if. jack doesn't have moments where he's a dick. that moment he has with Cassie is seen as sexy but it truly was so rude and patronizing.
the famous mohabbot scene in s1, the pigtail catheter, is received with rounds of applause for the Samira and Jack dynamic. a slew of people who go look how smart he knows she is!! he really believes in her!! he thinks she's capable!! he thinks she's a rockstar!! ugh they're so buzzy!!
imagine. for a moment. if it was Robby instead of Jack. because even if it was the exact same, it would be received wildly different. Robby would be a total dick for pressuring her, for making her do that. it would be called a racial or misogynistic bias because of something something "oh of COURSE he makes the WOC do the risky procedure so if it messes up it's Her Fault :/"
and don't say this is unfounded because we literally just saw this exact thing happen with his scene with Victoria in ep13.
like I love jack and the pigtail catheter scene was great. but everything Jack does is immediately taken in good faith (or erased or purified) and everything Robby does is immediately taken in the worst faith possible and it's exhausting.
you can hate Robby you can do whatever you want forever. there are valid reasons to dislike his character, I get it, I do. but you almost definitely have biases of your own to look into. at the very least, if you're gonna call shit out, call all of it out. Robby has some shit moments and moments of bias that he really needs to fucking realize and work past. (which, on several occasions we do see him try.) but he's not the only one with bias, and certainly not the only one with shitty moments, and treating him as such is wild.
baran calling him "doctor robinavitch" full last name because she knows why he shortens it, the way that he has to hide parts of himself to feel safe and accepted, while she has made an intentional effort to not shrink herself in that way, to pronounce her name correctly over and over in the face of everyone else ignoring it, and she does it to show him that she truly sees and respects him.
To me, one of the most intriguing undercurrents to Whitaker's arc this season has been about his feelings of alienation, emasculation, and inability to connect with the other men in the department. Javadi calls him an astrology-girlie. The betting boys club mock him and visibly look down on him. He very awkwardly compliments Robby on his motorcycle . Langdon teases him about the med student badge and then gets in his face about the librium faux-pas, physically intimidating him. Ogilve doesn't take him seriously until the very end, Park the Shark calls him an idiot, Joy loudly outs him as having been unhoused in front of the entire department.
And it is both very telling and very interesting that his final straw is Langdon openly mocking his masculinity, the back-handed compliment of stating Whitaker doesn't seem like a gym guy, starting to make what was obviously going to be a crude and inappropriately derisive joke about his sex life. And I don't think Langdon is intending to be as mean spirited or triggering as Whitaker is perceiving it--he has had moments of trying to be a genuinely good teacher to him, being helpful and kind. But still, he has been condescending and patronizing all day, forcing a familiarity and power dynamic to their non-existent relationship that Whitaker is very clearly not okay or comfortable with at all. And exhausted from this shift, stressed about his badge and the shitty old lady and Amy and money, Whitaker has completely lost his ability to swallow it all down. And so for the first time that day, maybe ever, he asserts a firm boundary and stands up for himself.
And crucially this is the first time, too, we see Langdon take in a boundary, hear it, receive it, and respect it. He apologizes, genuinely, and doesn't deflect or defend or respond with hostility. And when Whitaker feels bad, second-guesses himself and start to backtrack, Langdon says--hey, no. You were right. It's okay. It's a huge moment of growth for them both, and the fact that they really hardly know each other is exactly what is critical to allowing so much development.
okay apparently I lied about my hiatus I have too much shit to say
"duke is a useless character" "this could've been jack" hey. I like Jack. I like rabbot. you are dead fucking wrong here.
it could not have been anybody BUT Duke. it was ESSENTIAL for Robby to have someone who is outside of the hospital, partially for outside perspective. duke realizing how fucked up it is to deal with all this day in and day out, verbalizing it.
jack would not have fucking said all that the way duke did, the way that got through to Robby so well. he just wouldn't have. he wouldn't have laid it out as plainly. he wouldn't have started with his own faults and regrets, which Robby very much needed to hear, and was the perfect opener.
jack was already unstable in s1 and if you don't think that you are incorrect. the show starts with him on the roof, clearly and obviously contemplating what it'd be like to just jump off and end it. he's only gotten worse the more we see of him— sure, he's doing better than Robby, but he's still got a lot of PTSD and struggles of his own. he's not the right messenger.
even in s1 when he talked Robby down off of the roof, half of it was spouting bullshit just to get Robby to look at him, just to keep talking, to keep Robby here, because Robby had clear suicidal intentions in a way Jack didn't. (laid his stethoscope on the rail. closer to the edge.) he's also probably much better at that, getting someone away from active and immediate crisis— but not much more. he has hold-ups of his own, and also is too intertwined with the hospital in a way that won't help Robby right now.
most importantly, Robby is not the boss of Duke. here, it doesn't matter that Robby is chief, he doesn't even matter that he's a doctor. here, he's Michael Robinavitch, not Doctor Robby.
it's been a theme throughout the show that Robby is not only isolated, but deprived of guidance or any real supportive figure. his mother leaving him, Adamson gone, dad out of the picture, grandparents (most likely) dead. there's only two people that have especially and specifically gotten through to Robby— Ms Kovalenko and Duke. two older people. two guiding people. Robby so desperately needs and wants that.
he's been living with an extremely traumatized inner child his whole life that he hasn't given a scrap of grace to. he berates himself. heavily implied he hurts himself in some way. he thinks crying is weak. he thinks having a breakdown is a moral failure. how long did he go without having someone who just held him while he cried? told him it was okay? and then he probably had it for a while with his grandparents, but the damage was already done.
part of the reason he snapped at Samira's "mommy issues" is because oh, what he wouldn't fucking give for a mother that "bothered" him all the time. it is normal and common to get resentful of people who still have a parent, even if their parent isn't great. because at least you have a mom. at least your mom is calling you. of course he doesn't understand being upset about that.
his inner child damage is where a lot of his emotional immaturity resides. he's stunted. lack of support from an early age just fucking does that to you. he is shown clearly trying on several occasions to be better. the way he often listens after a scolding, (e.g. taking over the abortion case for Heather in s1, listening to Cassie about getting David's mother in therapy) the way he does try to check in on his residents/students and the nurses.
yeah, he fails. pretty drastically at times. he does need to take accountability for it, which I sure hope we see in a later season. it's gonna be a slow but necessary process. he does need to make amends. he does need to get his shit together. but it's not some out of the blue bullshit. it's been building ever since he was a child.
so, to come back to duke, yes, it was very very necessary to have him. duke is older and while obviously flawed (which helps a lot. it's harder to listen to people who are seemingly perfect, because wtf would you know? you're not a piece of shit like me.) is in some ways more stable. duke is not intertwined with ptmc. duke is someone who chooses to be his friend and be with him outside of work, something that is very fucking important to Robby. duke is not someone Robby has to worry about being their boss or mentor first.
no. this could not have been jack. I'm looking forward to their scene in the finale, but this particular breakthrough could not have come from anybody else.
I feel like this is not a good time to say this, and its never a good time to say this, but I'm thinking about it and I want it out of my brain (and I'm sorry, okay?)
Samira Mohan was great during S1 during the mass casualty. Fantastic. Robby said it. Abbot said it. The audience could also see it.
Why was she good??? Because these patients need help immediately and promptly. Everything has stopped and everyone knows its go time.
Theres no history being taken. There's no moments of performing tests to get to the bottom of the issue or consenting to procedures that they may need.
It was pure "Go, go go!" And when push came to shove, she shoved good and hard.
But again, its because there wasn't any time for anything different.
That is also the doctor that Robby sees. That's what he's always expecting of her, and that is what is needed during Emergency Medicine. There's many patients to be seen. All deserve empathy and compassion, and we also need them to hurry to the next patient. We can not spend time with patients like we want. Hell, it's the same complaint I've heard in family medicine, too. There is NEVER enough time, but especially not in a Trauma 1 level facility that is also a teaching hospital.
Time is (literally) of the essence, and it's a very valuable commodity that can not be replaced. In that particular type of environment of the MCI, Samira thrived.
Nobody can stay in that type of environment forever. It will never be that chaotic, that crazy, that terrifying. Mass casualties do not happen every day, at least at the Pitt.
That is not where Samira needs to work on, and I love the writers for showing that to us. That yes, when it's time to put up or shut up, Mohan puts up and everyone needs to shut up.
That never addresses her problem with the ED, though, and to think it does is a disservice to her character.
Why would we expect her flawless performance during the MCI to "speed her up" during the Pits regular operation (i.e., no MCI or computer downtime)? Those are two different scenarios. Both are true. Both are equal in its reality.
Mohan is who you want when it's all hands on deck. I'm not sure if she is who you want to work alongside when it's normal and you have patients waiting over 8 hours to just be seen in the first place.
It's putting patients at risk. It's putting fellow coworkers to see more patients than their former and of course it's driving her boss up the wall because "I know you can go so much faster, please please please help us alleviate this issue with patients having to wait hours and hours and hours."
Is it only Samira's fault for the wait time? No! It's crazy to suggest that. Is she helping? Also, no and it's crazy to suggest otherwise.
Samira has her way of doing things, and it's great. She makes patients feel great and she has great patient satisfaction scores.
Is it still causing issues on multiple fronts, including contributing to wait times and fellow coworker burnout? I think so, but I don't think it makes her or anyone else a bad person.
I think Robby sees her as a great EM doctor and other than having a MCI every day, he isn't sure how to speed her up.
It was a talking point prior to S1. It was an issue in S1. And it's not resolved during S2, and it's because I don't think Samira wants to resolve it.
We see her GLOW with helping her patients and taking her time. She WANTS to spend time with them. She WANTS to get them the necessary care at home and she THRIVES when she sees a long term problem and fixes it! That's her bag!! Like THAT is what brings her ACTUAL happiness.
Samira is trying to help her inner child by sticking with EM due to the tragic and heartbreaking death of her father, but it's killing her soul. It's killing her heart. And we only see the difference when she is thriving and taking care of patients long-term. We also get the magnificent effects of Dr. Mohan during the MCI, but again, that's literally because it's an adrenaline minefield of "Run as fast as you can".
That's not EM all the time.
And that's not healthy long-term either (I see you Abbot).
I think even if it's Abbot who is her attending, we would be in the same spot. I think he would also encourage her to "hurry" up and I think she would become agitated (because who wouldn't?) And it would be the same cycle.
Whatever she chooses, I hope it's something patient care orientated. I hope it's a place where she can help patients who are slipping through the cracks. I hope it's something that breaths life in her, and reminds her why she is here, now.
EM needs you to hurry, see the patient, and move on.
That's not where she thrives. That's not what brings her joy.
And I just hope she finds that. She deserves that.
(Again....all of this is to ME. I just see a few takes and I feel like we aren't getting into the extra details that I think are very important. She is a great character and I think the writers have an idea of what they wanted to be done for her character.
And I mean, how many of us have truly wanted something, a job, a partner, a location to live in or a change—to only realize it wasn't what we thought it could be? Doesn't that deserve to be seen on screen??? To have that be a focus??? How many of us, especially in our 20s/30s, think we have it all planned out for it to blow up in our face??? That's LIFE. THATS the realism that gets lost in Hollywood. We don't have it all figured out. Some of us never do. That's why we try and try again and try something new and keep at it until we can't.
Because we deserve happiness. Samira Mohan deserves happiness. Wherever that may be.)
Let us all start with a hearty "Fuck ICE" and a good chuckle because LMFAO... Jesse walked into that moment with a level of "FUCK THE AUTHORITIES" that played out so beautifully that it's worth doing a playback for.
Because where McKay is instantly worried the moment she sees them. Robby wants them gone, but he knows he has to play the game. He hates it but he has to. And Victoria's a little nervous just to be there when we see her but Jesse Van Horn does not give a single fuck about these men.
He makes his way through them. Not around. And not politely. Just slides between where these fucks are standing like some protective wall and tells them, the big one SPECIFICALLY, "I need those removed so I can check her vital signs".
Because Jesse has eyes on him from the moment he walked over because Jesse can spot a fucking problem.
And sure, they look equally shook that this man is talking to them like that, but here's the thing: It's not a question because he's not asking.
It's an order and while those chucklefucks can look at each other all day with their thumbs up their asses, he and Robby kind of close ranks for a moment. Jesse takes a seat, but Robby moves from the sidelines where he was watching them and I love that. Because Robby is standing guard, watching these men, but once Jesse is there, he uses that to close ranks a little with himself, Jesse, Victoria and Cassie all kind of forming an inner circle around her.
But even once he is seated, Jesse's eyes are back on them. Can't tell the look from the moment but you see, he's watching them again.
It's actually a really beautiful back and forth because the moment Jesse looks away to do his job and check her vitals, Robby is watching those pricks again.
But when Jesse gives her vitals (heart rate 110, pulse ox 98 so they're good), he gives Robby this look. Seriously watch his face because it does a lot in a little before he again forces these pricks to back up in the way he moves past them, but there's concern, but there's anger too. And he needs Robby to know that.
It also puts him on the big guy's radar because he watches to make sure Jesse is gone before refocusing.
And then we next see him, he's finishing up. He's leaving, but that mountain of fuckface storms over after Robby told him off and gets pissy. And Jesse could walk away, but the moment he clocks that man, he immediately stops and CIRCLES AROUND THIS MAN, READY TO BE A BARRIER!
He goes from being on that man's LEFT to being on his RIGHT so fast because Jesse is ready in a way no one else is because he's a 6ft white guy. Like it's too brief to gif (at 36:42 he pivots, then at 36:44 you can see him on the other side).
And that little one isn't doing shit to help or stop anything since I think he's their "not all ICE" attempt, LOL. But Jesse is cautiously between that man and his patient asking to just be allowed to get her a sling with Cassie. And when she cries out in pain because that man grabs her injured arm intentionally, Jesse is between them purposefully (hand over the man's grip on her while his other forearm is against his chest) in a heartbeat telling this man to stop because that fuck is hurting her.
And we don't see it, but Jesse yelling out in pain is the next thing we hear along with things falling. And we next see Jesse on the ground, hogtied, so we know Jesse was assaulted. Victoria probably got it on film since we see her with her phone out (along with others later), but I think it's safe to say Jesse didn't get to the ground on his own accord.
And aside from telling those pricks to get their hands off him, Jesse says in the most choked out way (because a man is actively kneeling on his back) "Robby, I didn't do shit". And Robby knows. Robby says he knows. And honestly, outside of protecting his patient, Jesse didn't do anything.
Note how Robby, I mean, he's talking to Jesse, but he is not looking at him even then. He refuses to look anywhere but at this man that has harmed one of his employee.
And again, credit to Robby, he's on it. He gives him the 'shut the fuck up' spiel, which Jesse nods to. It's so brief, y'all, but he nods. They make eye contact because Robby (OF ALL PEOPLE!) is searching for that eye contact to know Jesse is listening, and Jesse nods. Because he knows to shut up. Robby says so like he says he's gonna call the hospital lawyer about it.
Then goes back to staring straight ahead like this is just another nuisance in a long line of them (and it is), muttering something I can't make out. Just like how Dana is immediately at his side once they start moving him looking all kinds of harried and ready to cry a little that is her nurse and she can't protect him. She can't control the situation.
All this to say that was never just that ONE moment at the end with Jesse stepping up. He was on the defense from the jump, my little punk rock prince. And I love that for him.
But more than that, I love the shock on McKay's face because it hints at how wrong the moment is? Like she's been arrested. Probably not the biggest cop fan, but even still, last season she was in this exact position. But something about this moment is enough to shock her to her bones (maybe Jesse isn't that guy, maybe... like the sound implies, he was assaulted for trying to help, maybe it's just the shock of seeing it happen to someone else), but it's that look on her face that tells you... everything about the moment, really.
Also, shout out to Ned because we all joke about Jesse being the most expressive motherfucker in the Pitt and he tends to say he's just the numbers guy (he reads the numbers in a way that conveys the situation) but... much like with him coming between Frank and Robby during the sepsis patient, he's conveying a whole lot in a matter of literal seconds once again.
They should let him speak more provided Jesse doesn't get fired (praying that he is part of a nurses union and they come through for him, if Robby doesn't personally pick him up from jail after his shift at this rate because Robby may).
Hi! Sorry, can't stop thinking about your Omega!Dennis purring away and it got me thinking:
Is that how Alphas!Jack and Robby found him on the 8th floor after coming back down from the roof? Could they hear Dennis trying to self soothe and couldn't turn away?
Now that he's with them, were there periods of purring from their guestroom?
Does he purr after sex?? Or during his heat??
I need to know everything, that thought was too delicious!!!
omgggg ugh love getting to talk about these freaks
It's really strange learning that purring doesn't always equal a happy omega- the way a dog wagging it's tale isn't always happy. More often than not it is, but if you learn the difference it's easy to spot.
It had already been a stressful shift- Jack found Robby, told him to get some air and followed him up soon after. It was when they were coming back down that they heard that warbling, distressed purr.
They were doctors- they knew the difference. Knew from their own patients laying in their beds trying to self-soothe. Robby opens the door- whoever he expected to see, it wasn't Whitaker of all people.
It didn't take long for the relationship to click into place, after a long and painful discussion about workplace relationships, and are graced with the sound of Dennis's low, thrumming purr, a content purr, easy and relaxed that didn't require him to take in gasping lungfuls of air.
He purrs as he's reaching that point of tiredness where he isn't focused on keeping his reactions hidden. Leaning against Robby in the morning, and given his fresh cup of coffee, happily purring between sips. Cuddled up to Jack watching his westerns. Sometimes when there's nothing out of the ordinary he would be content and purring.
(Something something Dennis's family laughing at how Dennis purrs now and wondering if purrs change over the years- they just got used to Dennis's distress purrs)
