Review: The Pitt, "9:00 PM" | Season 1, Episode 15
The day shift clocks out with an emotionally satisfying end to the first season

Welcome to our final Episodic Reaction for The Pitt, which is actually a review because it felt cruel to even suggest Emma limit her time on this one. The show will be upgrading to the full lineup in season two, so make sure you’re at least a free subscriber so you can be notified when Emma’s coverage returns early next year.
In the last three hours, the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center has treated 112 patients from the mass casualty event, with six they couldn’t save and 71 who went upstairs to surgery. I begin with these figures cited by Dr. Robby because they highlight how ambitious and unrelenting The Pitt’s final run of episodes has been. After getting the emergency department back to business during the second half of the penultimate episode, “9:00 PM” focuses on characters ending the shift and tying up loose ends rather than a stack of new patients (despite Dr. Mohan’s best efforts).
But this debut season has far from outstayed its welcome, and part of the success comes from combining network television pacing within the streaming parameters. While Episode 15 hits the hour mark—making it the longest episode so far—it uses this time wisely, with the last 20 minutes breaking from the hectic rhythm as the work day concludes. Instead of a reaction post, Myles is letting me go long(er), which feels appropriate considering the length of the finale. While “9:00 PM” doesn’t end on a huge cliffhanger, when we leave the hospital (for real this time and not just the Warner Bros backlot), there are still surprises and some characters whose forthcoming employment status is unclear.
Take Langdon’s attempt to get Dana to vouch for him, which turns into a conversation about her quitting. “What have you been hearing?” is his first question to the charge nurse, sussing out how much Robby has told her. The linguistic gymnastics and guessing game deliver information Langdon has not told Robby yet, with a half-admission that stops before a full confession. What struck me about this scene is how little time the staff has spent in the break room all day and how few personal one-on-one conversations there have been in recent weeks.
While Langdon is motivated to save his career, his concern for their workplace when Dana says she is “too old for this shit” (even a cliched statement works in this situation) is genuine. The bitterness in Dana’s voice when she told Robby she’d had enough at the end of Episode 11 has returned, and Katherine LaNasa puts every ounce of Dana’s frustration into making a new pot of coffee (the messiness of this room speaks volumes about the day too). It is an emotional exchange as one person is at the end of her tether and the other is terrified for his future.

Unfortunately, the mass casualty event isn’t the great equalizer Langdon hopes it is, and the argument with Robby outside doesn’t resolve the matter either. He should’ve taken Dana’s advice and gone home. Better for us that he didn’t, as this prickly interaction plays out like a disappointed parent, and Langdon even snaps back like a guilty teenager. Not every beat in the Langdon addiction plot had landed, truthfully, mostly because it came out of the blue. However, the weary back-and-forth gives both actors a chance to lean into their character’s frustrations, and every single jab packs a punch (especially Robby’s last “Fuck”).
Once more, the hospital grapevine gives ammo—this time a nurse from the nightshift who saw Robby mid-breakdown—and gossip can’t save Langdon either. It isn’t wise for Langdon to take this path because it is a false equivalence, but it does raise a valid point about Robby also hiding a medical issue. Between Dana and Langdom, the former seems like the most likely to be part of the second season, and I think there is a good chance Dana will be (regardless of the fact that she took her family photos). Having an unresolved ending like this is a reminder that this is a show run by TV vets like John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill because it ticks those finale boxes of keeping us guessing.
The information we now have about the show’s plans moving forward give us more context to work from. The second season is not only in development, but the plan is to begin production this summer. Again, this balks with the streaming trend of massive gaps between seasons, and I, like many of you, was thrilled to read the earmarked December scheduling, which Variety now reports is January. At the Deadline Contenders event, Noah Wyle confirmed that Season 2 will be set 10 months later (over the Fourth of July weekend!), giving Langdon enough time to seek treatment. There are also logistics to consider with the med students, and I am curious who will make the regular cast cut for its sophomore year (whoever does make the cut will have a bootcamp refresher, which Wyle mentioned when I interviewed him and Gerran Howell last week). Regardless of who does and doesn’t return, the finale doesn’t disappoint in how it wraps up this working day.
I lost count of how often different people are told to finish what they are working on, with Dr. Santos and Mel wanting to stay until their patients have received adequate care. As the most polarizing character, Santos has been a big topic of discussion, and I think the finale hits a stride in balancing her brash, overly confident energy with an empathetic and resourceful follow-through. Similar to the earlier OD using ice water to reduce body temperature, Santos uses her personal experience to inform treatment. The intimate details she shares provide further insight into some of her more obnoxious actions earlier in the shift, including the patient she threatened.

Like many, I have bristled at Santos throughout the season, and the drawbacks to the single shift format are most evident with her arc and the antagonist role she inhabits. Hearing details of her backstory adds depth to her previous impulsive choices, but the way the progesterone-spiked dad played out still reads as unclear, not in motivation but in her unprofessional response. Are we meant to think she was in the right for taking matters into her own hands? Or is it a sign of her immaturity? Her vendetta against Langdon (yes, she was right) goes from nothing to significant accusations within hours of them meeting and so it is easy to side with the hot, charismatic (but also dickish) doctor. However, I don’t need them to sand down Santos’ edges; this finale proves that.
The nickname-giving has been grating, but there is a lovely full circle moment with Whitaker turning the Huckleberry moniker from mean to playful. Pairing the sweetest med student with the most blunt intern is a platonic odd couple match made in heaven, and as we saw last week, Santos did check in on Whitaker’s state of mind. One of the biggest surprises in the finale comes from Whitaker’s destination after he clocks out for the night, and I had zero idea what Santos would find on another floor. Part of me thought it was a hookup with the flirty nurse, and I didn’t see his temporary living situation coming. However, the writers have been dropping breadcrumbs, including Whitaker mentioning this unused floor, and in the pilot Whitaker mentions being broke.
There are other notable bookends, like Robby taking Dr. Abbott’s spot on the roof, staring into the abyss, to Robby’s choice of music (“Baby” by Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise)—and how it marks his time to go home. Robby’s relationships with Abbott and Dana are two of the most rewarding of The Pitt, perhaps because they are all as burned out as each other while still being able to dish out advice and words of wisdom. Dana tells Robby to give himself some grace, Abbott thinks he’s figured out why he keeps coming back, and Robby delivers as close to a victory speech to the exhausted staff as he can manage.

It would be jarring to see the fist-pumping version of this, and each time Robby’s voice breaks as he tries to get through the debrief, it matches the show's tone. Yes, they have done brave things, but the world (and hospital) is still a mess. “This place will break your heart, but it is also full of miracles,” Robby says. He dishes out his gratitude and praise, and later struggles when Abbott tries to do the same for him on the roof. “You rocked that shit down there tonight,” says Abbott. Wyle and the entire ensemble have done just that throughout the season, and even at this early stage in the year, I feel confident that The Pitt will feature on the Best of 2025.
Stray Observations
- Jake still doesn’t forgive Robby, and while it has only been a few hours since Leah died, it still is pretty awful that he rejects Robby like this. One hospital trope I don’t mind The Pitt using is the camera staying out of the room when Robby tells Leah’s parents that she is dead. We have already seen Robby deliver bad news to parents, and it is already clear how traumatic this is.
- On a more lighthearted note, Dr. Shen called Abbott and Robbie “two old white guys” and the shit talk is welcome. Robby and Abbott make quite the double act when Gloria asks them both to speak at the press conference (they decline), and Abbott’s reaction to being “surrounded by med nerds” during a procedure also made me chuckle.
- Having gotten so used to the bright ER lights, it takes some adjusting when we land on the dimmer floor where Whitaker is temporarily living—as well as the night sky. Cinematographer Johanna Coelho lensed all 15 episodes (TV shows don’t always have one DP, particularly for this length of season), and the fluidity of the camera movement is impressive throughout the season.
- Mel gets to perform the spinal tap on the measles kid, ending her shift on a win. It is a messy case, but it doesn’t derail Mel from going to pick up sister Becca for dinner and a movie. Having briefly seen the pair interact over FaceTime and how Mel has talked about Becca gives this brief in-person conversation more weight after Mel’s long day.
- Dr. Collins didn’t return, but hopefully this isn’t the last we have seen of Tracy Ifeachor. Despite how much I loved the Robby-Collins dynamic, I don’t mind that she didn’t swoop in to save the day when Robby had his breakdown.
- PSA: Don’t fight your brother while holding a fork because it might end up in your nose. Is it unprofessional of Ellis to take a photo? Probably, but it also feels true to life (I know someone who got stuck in a metal trash can lid and had to go to the firehouse to get it cut off, and they definitely took his photo for their wall).
- Myrna came back! She had a seizure, and I am guessing this is why she was uncuffed in the first place. Will she be back for Season 2?
- Other good news is Doug Driscoll (the asshole who punched Dana) has been arrested but Dana isn’t sure if she wants to press charges as she just wants it to be over. While I can be mad at the cops for arresting McKay, I am with Robby that Dana definitely should press charges.
- One of the best visual gags comes courtesy of an exhausted Victoria in the elevator. The energy levels between the med student and an overly enthused Dr. Mohan help showcase how different people react after a high-adrenaline event. As Dr. McKay predicts, Mohan has a massive crash and ends up crying in the bathroom (understandable!), where bloody remnants of the day are still on the floor. I was happy to see Mohan grabbing a beer in the park
- Speaking of, this post-work hang is another highlight. Robby makes a great case for Victoria having a beer (“I’d say if she’s old enough to put in a test tube and intubate, she’s old enough to drink a beer”), and the reveal that Abbott has a prosthetic leg is understated.
- Reading through your comments about how much the show resonates (including the stories you have shared about working in healthcare) has been fantastic, and I am always excited to see what other elements you have been responding to, particularly as this is the first show I have been covering for Episodic Medium. It is great to be here.
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