After a successful first season and a fast-paced second season, HBO’s “The Pitt” aired its season finale on April 16.
The 15th episode of the season was anxiously anticipated as the season drew to a close, however the finale felt anticlimactic.
“The Pitt” follows a group of emergency room workers that work at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. The show follows these workers throughout one 15 hour shift per season. The series has been praised by real life doctors and hospital workers as being able to capture the organized chaos that a shift can bring, especially in the ER.
There were, and still are, a lot of stories that the series needed to tie off as the season ended, but the show was instead finished off feeling unfulfilled. This could be due to the nature of the first season compared to the second season, especially in the last stretch of episodes.
In the first season, the workers in The Pitt – the name that Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavich (Noah Wyle) has given the emergency department – are faced with a mass shooting event that begins in the twelfth episode and plays out through the rest of the season.
Audiences were able to see the climactic story of the mass shooting that happened and see patients go in and out of the ER. A majority of the patients that were featured on screen had their stories fully or nearly finished by the time that the credits rolled on the last episode, however this was not the case for season two.
Season two focused more on the doctors, residents, nurses and other workers than on the patients. Obviously the patients were still prominent in the series, but many of the patients’ stays at the ER were not complete by the end of episode 15.
The season had a lot of allusion to mental health, with many of the doctors and nurses seemingly struggling to hold it together for their time on the clock. Many of the staff seemed to be insinuating committing suicide or seemed like they were harmful towards themselves both physically and mentally.
The big twist in season two was that the hospital had to go analog, meaning no computer systems for a while due to a cyber attack. Compared to the “main event” in the first season, which comes from an outside source, this twist comes from inside the hospital itself. This could also be a call back to the mental health themes that are present in the season, showing how poor mental health can affect how you function and present yourself to those around you.
After going analog, The Pitt falls into utter chaos with people trying to remember the digital list of patients and patient information. This ultimately stalls their patient turnover rate, affecting their functionality.
Though the season has been fast paced and action packed, the season finale felt slow. There was a lot of conversation rather than things going on. The only really stressful part of the episode was when a pregnant woman came in with preeclampsia and had to have the proper medical care after both her and her child’s lives were put at risk due to her condition.
This brush with death seemed to pull one of the seemingly suicidal workers out of that headspace and give them a reminder that life is a fragile and valuable thing where there must be a balance between work and a life outside of it.
Even after this apparent switch in mindset, there was no answer on what would happen to any of the patients or workers in the hospital, which can lead audiences feeling as if the season was incomplete.
“The Pitt” has been renewed for a third season to premiere on HBO Max in early 2027.