i just finished the Pitt half an hour ago and something i cant stop thinking about is the dynamic between robby and langdon. obviously langdon holds so much respect and admiration for robby and robby respects the work ethic of langdon, but i think that’s exactly why langdon didn’t and could never talk to him about his addiction.
he cant be anything less than perfect for robby, visibly feeds off the praise robby hands out to him throughout the show — it’s hard to be vulnerable in front of someone you respect that much and there’s a very strong distinction between respect and trust, and that makes it impossible for langdon to open up to him. robby elevates himself as a mentor and colleague, doesnt exactly let himself be friends with his residents in a way that would manage the emotional connection needed for a conversation like that.
we see it in the scene where robby calls langdon his best resident, not his best friend, and langdon, with some degree of hesitancy, asks if they’re still friends. there was no chance that langdon could ever come to robby about his struggles because robby never fostered the environment where that opportunity could exist. which makes it so much more painful when he yells at langdon about how he should have come to him, because yeah, probably should have. but he couldn’t. why is that, doctor robinavitch? why is that.
