Noah Wyle returns to the emergency room in the exciting new series The Pitt
If the earthly professional ramblings, like the worker’s bear to your taste, but you’re looking for something really high value, Max’s new series hole (out January 9) will probably do just that. This movie comes from R. Scott Gem FactoryLongtime writer and producer of the hit hospital drama emergency room Gemmill returned to that difficult environment hole (with emergency room host John Wells as executive producer), another intimate look at the frantic life-saving work of emergency room doctors and nurses.
The show is not a continuation of emergency roomdespite the presence of the star Noah Wyleonce a cute young upstart but now a world-weary old professional, might confuse some people on that matter. Wyle plays an attending physician at a struggling Pittsburgh hospital, prized for its expert care but plagued by budget cuts and staffing shortages. Wyle’s Dr. Robby (as he is called) is frustrated by these circumstances, but remains deeply committed to the work. A good thing, since his hospital was a teaching facility and four new interns had just started their first shift. These wide-eyed new recruits, either overconfident or too timid, need his steady guidance.
holeIts conceit is that this season consists of a 15-hour shift in the emergency room, each episode taking place in one painful, aching hour. That means there isn’t much opportunity for character development—how much can a person grow in less than a day? Gemmill argues that they can at least change a little when we look at young doctors—King (Dear Taylor), Santos (Isa Briones), Javad (Shabana Azeez) and Whitaker (Gerran Howell)—learn valuable lessons and reveal behind-the-scenes stories amid the chaos of a life-or-death crisis. Sometimes this is done subtly; other times, hole somewhat broad and generic in its quick sketch characteristics.
The all-in-one-day premise also puts limits on the story’s credibility. I firmly believe that there are wild and terrible things rushing into the emergency room every day. But hole asks us to believe that the full extent of human suffering, folly, and danger can be encountered in just a few hours. In the ten episodes I watched, there was suspicion that a patient was being trafficked; a series of interconnected fentanyl incidents; worries about a potential school shooter are building; an internal drug investigation; a drowning victim; explosion victims; victim of a racially motivated attack at a train station; conflict over a teenager’s chemical abortion, etc
It’s all a bit much in less than a day, a bar of soap by Grey-the richness of the level resonates awkwardly with the studied realism of the medical language and the gentle naturalism of the performances, most of which are presented by unknown actor. We intended to watch this show as a documentary, but then some big new storylines fell through the doors and the show turned into melodrama. However, Melodrama is preferable to another mode of the show, that of moralizing about a relevant social topic.
Still: hole hugely engaging throughout, a show that strangely but effectively interweaves the trappings of prestige TV with the more basic tropes of workplace network drama. Wyle is an incredibly compelling lead. Years of playing a doctor have trained him well; His bedside tone, both endearing and clinically distant, is an accurate depiction of the protective compassion of a real doctor. Wyle deftly manages the changing emotional temperature as each hour passes, taking us on a never-ending rollercoaster.
Wyle’s commanding performance is a key part of the show’s most successful aspect — the way it evokes what it’s like to encounter healthcare workers in the trenches of their careers. I am fortunate to not have to spend much time in the hospital, but when I am in those scary places, I am always impressed by the calm, practical, and outwardly carefree work of the doctors and nurses. hole It is not a complete reverence for these people; they are fallible, arrogant, demanding, and sometimes too callous when dealing with terrified patients. But they are doing something remarkable; To call it magic would be an insult to all the time, effort, and money it took to acquire those skills.
hole at its best when it soberly captures the magic of that daily care, taking us on a survey tour of a liminal world, between life and death. It also helps us understand the crazy influence of money on these problems, especially as more and more hospitals are placed under the control of private equity, which only wants to extract as much money as possible. The more money the better – employee (and patient) welfare be damned. hole is a fitting post-COVID tribute to those who help and a stunning warning to those who would leave these vital places much less prepared for the next round of disasters.
