This article contains mentions of a drug overdose. This article also contains spoilers.

Before watching the first episode of the HBO weekly release series “The Pitt,” I expected it to be like any other medical show I had watched: scandalous, dramatic, romantic and ultimately unrealistic. However, I soon realized that it was unlike anything I had watched before. 

Created by R. Scott Gemmill, the 15-episode medical drama documents each hour of a 15-hour shift in a fictional Pittsburgh emergency room nicknamed “The Pitt.” Although 15 hours sounds painstakingly long (it sure is for the people in The Pitt’s waiting room), just when it quiets down, the show reels you back in for more. 

While I still struggle to accurately summarize the roller coaster of emotions this show put me through, I describe it as a waterlogged ship that everyone in the ER is desperately trying to shovel water out of. Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch (Noah Wyle), a senior attending physician, and Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa), a charge nurse, act as the ship’s captains, keeping everyone afloat. 

A majority of the episodes are focused on the everyday hustle and bustle of a job working on patients with a variety of medical diagnoses — a fentanyl overdose, a drowning victim, a teen pregnancy and even a homeless patient and the three rats that accompany him on his trip to the ER. 

A lack of cliche hospital romances is replaced by the slow revealing of the characters’ backstories. Glimpses of Dr. Robby’s trauma from COVID-19 and losing his mentor in the hospital, intimate scenes of Dr. Heather Collins’ (Tracy Ifeachor) processing her pregnancy and later miscarriage and depictions of Dr. Frank Langdon’s (Patrick Ball) desperate pleas as he struggles with drug misuse are all depicted in a thoughtful and relevant way. 

The show also introduces us to medical students, interns and residents new to the hospital. As they go through their first day, you’re dragged alongside them, watching as they make mistakes and maneuver their way through The Pitt. 

While the show’s decision to introduce the audience to so many characters can be seen as a flaw, I loved it. I became emotionally invested in almost all of the characters, and the move added to the show’s realistic and messy appeal. 

This appeal continues in the final four episodes as the characters are thrown into the deep end: The show pivots to depict the response of The Pitt to a mass shooting event.

What really stood out to me was the beautiful orchestration and balance between scenes of chaos, grief and life-saving procedures during the shooting’s aftermath. Not only did the show navigate the topic in a sensitive manner, it also showed the characters putting aside their personal drama to work through the crisis together and make sure that the metaphorical boat didn’t sink.

The season ends as the ER returns to normal, and the doctors and nurses are finally done with their shifts. The show retraces its steps by referencing earlier storylines, like the rats roaming free on the hospital floor. This return would have been unnerving in any other case, but I couldn’t help but be relieved by the show’s return to a semi-normal waterlogged ship. 

As “The Pitt” returns to normal, the show will also return for another season. I will also return to see how they continue to keep the ship afloat. 

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