I come to your account for your amazing meta analysis so pls what do you think about Langdonās relationship with the nurses on the Pitt? Like nurses get a lot of shit from doctors irl but they generally seem to like him.
Also complete side note but Iād love if they ever did a nurses strike to see what a shit show it would be. Nurses work HARD. But I know the Pitt writers would never touch that shit with a 10 inch pole cowards
Oh, thank you nonnie ;-; This is so kind!!! I am glad you enjoy my meta and I am THRIVING that someone wishes to hear me: Yap More. I shall do this, yes I shall.
The nurses DO seem quite fond of Langdon - which I think says a lot bc, as you say, some doctors can be right wankers towards nurses. My sort of general/'short'(er) thoughts on this can be summarised in that, I think most peoples' general assumption of/knee-jerk take on Langdon's relationship with the nurses is going to suffer from the chronic disease this fandom seems to have (towards all the characters - but it's particularly noticeable with Langdon, imo) where they see what they want to see/expect to see from the character not: what's actually there.
Which is to say I imagine people would assume he's the sort of doctor who IS a wanker to the nurses/considers himself above them/superior/what have you. Because fandom's typical perception of Langdon seems to be: the standard cishet white man who has done everything wrong ever in his entire life. (Langdon ain't perfect by any means - but he's a FAR cry from the stereotypical toxic-masculinity powered, domineering, aggressive, 'alpha male' type some people seem to so badly want him to be.)
Langdon is actually (shock-horror) v respectful of the nurses in general and their time/work, and there are several scenes I'm actually v fond of in terms of illustrating this/why he has a good dynamic with 'em so let us: Discuss Some Of Them. I'llllll break this down by character*, sure, why not, fuck it:
*note: I am NOT going to discuss Langdon and Dana here, bc: 1)- as the charge nurse, she has a little more authority/seniority/~Is Not Like Other Nurses~ in that sense so it fits less into this 2)- their relationship, for all I'm sure they work together well, has always felt much more personal/most of their scenes speak to that so don't entirely fit here either and 3)- frankly, we ain't got the time. I could write NOVELS on the Frank-Dana dynamic, and it'd take a while bc I'd have to cry after every paragraph so. No Dana atm.
But let us focus on our smaller dynamics bc I love me some of those!!!!
You might have seen me waffle on a bit abt Langdon & Perlah here (I wonder if mayhaps that was the inspiration for this ask?? Who knows). But yes that has Many Thoughts and now I shall present: some more!
They're less, like, obviously affectionate, then Frank & Dana/more professional/colleague-based, but Perlah just gives me the vibe of being, like, his cool aunt/Langdon for her is like 'this is the only pathetic little white boy I tolerate here'. They've def known each other for a while and Perlah has seen Langdon's growth from an intern (or earlier (I will DIE on the hill that Langdon has been in the Pitt and the Pitt has been in Langdon since his MS3 days, Javadi-style)) to where he is now.
I think she has a lot of respect for him/his skill and dedication (she works with him repeatedly though the MCI and even after Robby @ Langdon: right in front of her salad and tells him he shouldn't be here, she never makes a peep or questions him or uses that as a reason to go work with someone else, both to save the ire of Robby and also bc maybe Langdon's not fit for this? But nope. There's a job to be done, they're saving lives, and she's gonna stick with him and help him. She also gives him a couple of little 'nice', 'hey u did good here buddy' check-ins/affirmations while they work together in those eps, too (which was: sorely needed bc he ain't getting 'em from anyone else and is sort of stepping up into a more leader-like role, so it's nice he has those beats of support, too)
I also love that Langdon very clearly respects Perlah a lot. He asks for her take/advice on pets/if her kiddos have any pets (which is Interesting bc he very rarely reaches out for advice like this on personal stuff - the only other people I think he does this with are Dana and Robby).
He also def respects her skills and competence, too. In 1x08 when Harvey (the guy who ends up on ECMO after a heart attack) needs to be shocked - Langdon calls Whitaker over to the LikePak telling him he needs to learn, and then steps back as Perlah teaches him/works him through it. Similar to his respect of/him singing the praises of Donnie's suturing in s2 - he gets that everyone has their niches/specialities and there are some things nurses know better than doctors/him and to let them teach the stuff they do every day, because they'll do that better than he ever could.
I think both Langdon and Perlah are grafters/work horses. They'll both get their heads down and their hands dirty and do a job until it's done and they won't complain about it. They also have that kind of 'if a job is worth doing it's worth doing well' vibe to them - so I think they have a p similar work ethic and they both appreciate and respect that about each other.
Last bit here on Perlah but, gotta mention Louie's death :((( Langdon and Perlah were both obviously close to him - Langdon asks her about the picture of Louie's wife that he finds. They also share several little looks/glances while they're working on him - no dialogue/nothing overt but: I saw them checking in on each other.
Also, this is a Langdon-Perlah note, but also a v good general Langdon Respects The Nurses And What They Do note:
After Louie is pronounced dead, Perlah says that she'll clean him up, but Dana urges her to take 10 first - which she does. Everyone leaves the room/Louie, except Langdon. Langdon stays and when Whitaker bursts in later in the ep - he finds Langdon partway through starting to tidy-up and sort out Louie's things. Whether he specifically did that to help Perlah out/make her job easier or he just wanted something to do to keep him busy, we don't know, but he clearly isn't the sort who considers himself above tasks like that/that that's something he should leave for the nurses.
Also bonus GIF (bc: why not?) of Langdon joking with Mel abt her needing a burr hole and Perlah rolling her eyes with fond exasperation at this boy's: Nonsense.
The Dad Bros!!! The competent 'get shit done guys' aka 'the pros from Dover', they're gonna treat 'em and street 'em in record time and look good while doing it (all while: sleep-deprived and running on vibes from that: young dad life...I've run out of vague rhymes, that's the end of that). I love how well they work together tho! And also thank u for this ask bc it has given me an excuse to use: this cute lil GIF from season 1 that I didn't have anything else to do with:
Also also on the front of 'Langdon is a good nurse colleague/this is why they like him/fuck with him' (which wasn't really specifically what your ask was about but I guess this is what's happening right here right now and I'm going to: let it):
A really nice little scene/beat that I'm very fond of from season 1 (yes, people, season 1! Because, believe it or not: season 1 Langdon is: STILL LANGDON/the same guy as season 2 Langdon and still had nice/thoughtful/caring/respectful moments even if y'all: have shut your eyes to them and refuse to remember/acknowledge any of 'em unless they're kingdon related, i guess. And I'm fine about this. it's totally cool. It's highly chill. I'm not annoyed by it in the slightest. Ahem.) But yes, le quote:
Walter: Hey, I don't want to be one of those people who say they need an emotional support animal, but is it possible he [Crosby, his dog] could be with me? We could tie his leash to the bed. He wouldn't be in any trouble. I swear.
Langdon: What do you think?Donnie: I'm happy to go get him.
Langdon personally is obviously happy to say yes to this dress request - however, even though he technically has """""seniority""""" as the doctor (mm, it's almost as though that reading of the situation is not nuanced enough and the sense of hierarchy/order/chain of command isn't actually that simple in most hospitals/is more nuanced than people tend to think/assume) he could PROBABLY just, like, agree himself/not consult Donnie on this, and no-one would REALLY have faulted him for it/noticed it as like a 'bad thing'?
But I think it says: so much that he DOES check with Donnie. Because it demonstrates both a professional respect/courtesy and also an awareness of the ED as a whole/as a team and not just his part in it - because he's acknowledging here that, ultimately, he, Langdon, can walk away from this situation/is going to swan off and deal with other patients. Donnie is the one who's going to be ultimately in charge of/responsible for the doggo/is going to be dealing with the consequences of this decision because he's the one who's staying - so it should be his decision if he's comfortable dealing with that/taking that on, it's not something Langdon is going to push on him.
There's less going on here/less Content, but I feel like I can sum 'em up by just saying: 'game recognise game'.
They're a bit snarkier/more playful (sometimes with a bit of bite in there, as a treat), we get that fun little back-and-forth 'stable, unlike these two (Langdon and Collins)' 'ooh look at you! Princess made a joke!' with bonus action on 'I speak 6 languages' '6!? And I thought Collins was smart!!!!'. Snark is how these people express love (bc they're all emotionally repressed idiots who cope with everything by bottling it up until it: explodes in their faces and they should all probably go to therapy about that) Langdon's preferred love language to recieve at this point, I'm pretty sure, is just: bullying (affectionate) and Princess gets that vibe.
They're also both: extremely competent/good at what they do and, once again, Langdon be mashing that #Respect button. One of my favourite little examples of this is in 1x08 (which is on my: never-ending list of things I want to GIF) but for now, just know that mid-way through an exam, we get this exchange:
Langdon: One of versed. Can we set up for transvenous?
Princess: I was set up before you got here. Versed's on board.
So, okay, first things first: this kinda ties back to him asking Donnie how HE feels about getting Crosby the doggo, because it'll be adding an extra job/element of complication to Donnie's life, not necessarily Langdon's, so it should be his call, and just that awareness/respect of the jobs of those around him, not merely his own. But I always really like/appreciate the language Langdon tends to use when he's giving "orders" (outside of, like, active traumas/pressured situations where someone: has to take charge and clarity/directness matters).
Like - he's not really asking for Princess' permission to set up for this/SUGGESTING that they set up for this procedure, it's a procedure that they need to do, so he needs it to be set up. But he very rarely issues orders as ORDERS, he typically phrases them like he does here - as a question/a request 'CAN WE set up for this procedure?' rather than just barking out commands and expecting them to be obeyed - it's a very small/subtle thing, but I think it's definitely one of those things that goes a long way to informing about the dynamics/level of respect that Langdon generally treats his colleagues, especially those that doctors can sometimes see as "lesser" than themselves? And I think that goes a long way to informing on the way the nurses see/respect/like him in return - he sees them, he respects them and their jobs and their time and he doesn't consider himself above them or superior (either better than them or 'higher rank').
But also I LOVE his response to this as well (so much so I have: made a GIF of it for u all) Langdon asks Princess if they can set-up for the procedure he's now realising they need and she, like the boss-ass bitch she is, responds 'I was set-up before you got here' and Langdon hits her with: MAXIMUM appreciative heart-eyes:
I feel like this is definitely an area where some doctors could easily get Pissy (i feel this bc i have: Seen It) and see this as some weird-ass form of disrespect because 'are you trying to do my job for me? Do you think you can do it better than I can/that you know better than me?' (Well, actually, bro: YES, sometimes that is: absolutely 100% the case in fact!!!) and that competitive 'r u trying to one-up me? How fucking dare u!? Mind ur place!!!'.
But I love that Langdon is just so blatantly enthused/dead-ass delighted by this, like yes!!! Princess knows what she's doing/is obviously good at her job/barely even fuckin' needs me here/can absolutely school my ass anytime and I will sit down and take notes!!!!
Frank Langdon has a competency kink the size of Jupiter and there's no denying it, in this essay I shall- In that essay I SHALL, but in THIS essay right here right now, I shall leave you with this final little beat/GIF which is Princess' response to Langdon's little "we all have ADHD and anything else would be boring as hell" comment, look at that mingled mild exasperation but also fondness and also probably a bit of 'yep, that's why he's #LikeThat' understanding which I feel sums them up quite nicely:
They have mentioned a nurse's strike before in the show - Kim, Donnie, Princess and Perlah menace the tits off of Gloria after Dana gets punched, they remind her of what a shitshow the last nurse's strike was. I feel they could definitely explore that as a 'how do we stretch this shift beyond it's usual 12hr time slot?' chaos-causing option. But I'm not sure they'd be able to do it justice with only one shift/in the format of the show? In which case they might not? But who can say!
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