The Pitt Season 1 Review: Sets new standard for medical dramas

A combination of relentless pacing, incredible performances and compelling character arcs turns The Pitt Season 1 into the best show of 2025 so far.

The Pitt is streaming on Max.

Leading The Pitt

The Pitt is a nearly real-time medical drama that chronicles a 15-hour shift in the emergency department at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical. Robby (Noah Wyle) leads the department as the senior attending. Wyle is sensational and delivers the best performance of his career. I would say it’s the best of the year but it only took one therapy scene in The Last of Us season 2 premiere to equal Wyle’s performance.

Whether Robby teaches medical students, empathizes with patients, or experiences an emotional breakdown in the outstanding penultimate episode involving a mass shooting, Wyle makes every interaction feel real. Robby’s not at his best in The Pitt. He’s trying to endure one of his first shifts since the death of his mentor while dealing with a new batch of medical students and challenging cases that hit close to home.

The ringleader of The Pitt is Dana, the charge nurse. Katherine LaNasa shines in knowing when to provide comfort or a kick in the rear. For example, Dana scolds Dr. Langdon (Patrick Ball) for buying a new puppy while also trying to comfort Robby throughout the day.

Robby’s right and left hands are Langdon, and Dr. Collins (Tracy Ifeachor) is the senior resident. Robby is Langdon’s mentor. Langdon clashes frequently with Dr. Santos, a talented intern with a gung-ho attitude. Heather clashes frequently with Robby. They have a romantic past but usually don’t see eye-to-eye on patient care. For example, she supports Dr. Mohan’s friendly bedside manner, while Robby wants her to move quickly from patient to patient.

The best aspect of The Pitt is how it creates arcs for every character. Robby, Dana, Langdon and Collins have the most emotional journeys throughout the season. The rookies also go on quite the trip during their 1st shifts in The Pitt.

Zero to Hero

Residents Mohan and Dr. McKay (Fiona Dourif) have experience working in The Pit. They take turns helping the younger residents and interns, but each of them has their strengths and weaknesses.

McKay is a 43-year-old single mom with an ankle monitor that happens to be malfunctioning. She spends the 1st half of the season introducing Javadi (Shabana Azeez) to the ER. Specifically, they’re in charge of assessing who in the waiting room needs care.

Mohan’s focus on patient care is her biggest strength and weakness. Her sickle cell patient is the perfect example. Mohan is great at realizing the pain is tied to the patient’s sickle cell diagnosis and not drug-seeking behavior. However, when the patient needs intubation, she takes a long time to get the consent form since the procedure will cause discomfort.

Then, there are the newbies. The new residents are Dr. King (Taylor Dearden) and Dr. Santos (Isa Briones). King is a neurodivergent who develops a strong bond with Langdon after communicating with a patient on the spectrum. King shies away from confrontation but thrives doing menial tasks such as picking gravel out of a patient’s wound. Santos is a technically great doctor with a grating bedside manner and an aggressive mentality. She continuously butts heads with Langdon and is overzealous when it comes to prescribing treatment to patients without approval.

Medical students Whitaker (Gerran Howell) and Javadi are rounding out the rookies. Whitaker’s not the most confident, and his aww-shucks demeanor causes some veterans to overlook him. Whitaker also takes the death of a patient hard causing Santos to tease. However, his confidence grows. Javadi is a prodigy. She’s a 20-year-old medical student whose parents also work at the hospital. Javadi’s a bit shy and awkward and doesn’t make the best impression as she faints after seeing a degloving injury.

The best aspect of the rookie character’s journey is how Santos starts on a high trajectory. She becomes a favorite of surgical resident Dr. Yolanda Garcia (Alexandra Metz). However, after injuring Garcia, her stature starts to fall. Meanwhile, Whitaker and Javadi, who begin shaky, slowly come into their own. Then, everyone brings their A-game after the mass shooting.

Patient Care

The doctors aren’t the only character who shines. Several patient situations also stand out. A brother and sister trying to figure out what’s best for their aging parent who has a DNR. I also found the story following the stolen ambulance a fun distraction.

My favorite patient story involves the Bradleys. Nick Bradley, a college student, arrives in the ER unconscious. It doesn’t take long for Robby to figure out it was a drug overdose. Nick took Xanax to help with a challenging class. Unfortunately, the drug was laced with fentanyl.

All of the doctors understand that Nick is braindead, but Robby continues to perform tests. The last test confirms Nick is brain-dead. John and Lily Bradley have lost their only child. Most shows would end with Lily wailing over the loss of her son. The Pitt is not that show.

Through his ID, Nick gave consent to donate his organs. Robby and the hospital transplant coordinator meet with Lily and John. Lily’s not ready to let go yet. However, after continuing to talk with the coordinator and hospital social worker, they agree to donate Nick’s organs. The Bradleys’ story ends with an honor walk and Robby asking if some doctors can attend Nick’s funeral.

The Bradley storyline also has a subplot. Another teenager is wheeled in unconscious. However, she responds to Narcan and needs monitoring. The girl and Nick were classmates. Nick is the one who picked up the Xanax. John has an explosive encounter with the girl, but eventually, cooler heads prevail. As she leaves the hospital, they have a calmer conversation where she says she’s praying for Nick to pull through. John thanked her and told her that she should go.

This whole story is packed with emotional stakes, excellent writing and performances. You could choose a handful of multi-episode stories involving patients that hit hard.

The Pitt Season 1 Final Thoughts

The Pitt Season 1 is an incredible accomplishment by John Well, Wyle, and the cast. The only minor issue is some small roles that don’t measure to the performances by Wyle and the main characters.

Overall, everything else, from the medical jargon to the character conflicts, creates a workplace drama with more realism than any other show in the genre. The Pitt is an early frontrunner for Best Show of the Year.

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