The first season of the hit Max series “The Pitt” covers one incredibly intense 15-hour shift in the emergency room of the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. Over the course of 15 episodes, a wide variety of the challenges facing medical professionals in the United States are presented, including staff shortages, gun violence causing a mass shooting, mental health issues, addiction, and plenty more, but there were a few storylines that just didn’t make it into season 1. In an interview with TV Insider, executive producer R. Scott Gemmill revealed that there were a couple of ideas that they wanted to include, but there was already just too much going on in the chaotic, fantastic first season.
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Since Max has already greenlit the second season of the show, there’s definitely a chance that we could see these unused story ideas play out in season 2. The show is an incredibly entertaining ride thanks to its shared DNA with shows like “ER” and “M*A*S*H,” and season 2 really can’t come soon enough. Any details about the upcoming season are super exciting, so this report is a gift to fans everywhere.
The storylines season 1 of The Pitt almost included
Gemmill said that he’s willing to do “The Pitt” for as long as Max will let him, because “the great thing about doing a show that’s set in the emergency department is every day, 100 new stories come in.” There are quite a few different cases just in the first season, so he’s definitely on to something (and his time on “ER” means he has some experience with the subject). Some ideas didn’t make it on screen because the scripts were running too long, and they sound pretty interesting:
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“We didn’t do an Ozempic story that we had talked about. We didn’t do some things about immigration, which we didn’t get into. It’s really about picking and choosing what we want to tell and what we think is going to have the most impact. So, there’s lots of things for us to go back to, and some will make their way this year and some will get put in and then get punted down the line. It’s just the way that is.”
Both of these sound like pretty timely topics, but they’re sure to still be relevant by the time season 2 comes around, if they don’t end up hitting the cutting room floor again. Honestly it would be amazing to see “The Pitt” tackle both of these topics because it has handled its more politically charged elements with heart and grace, and it could potentially help open and even change minds, so hopefully Wyle and some of the other returning cast can help deliver some important messages to otherwise hesitant audiences.
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The Pitt provides a humanistic view into tricky topics
The creative team behind “The Pitt” has been careful to keep the show as medically accurate as possible, including casting real-life medical professionals in background roles, and a part of that accuracy is keeping up with the latest medical recommendations. While there are plenty of people out there trying to push snake oil and fake medicine for a variety of reasons, “The Pitt” seems to have its heart in the right place on all of its more controversial subjects. For example, a transgender patient isn’t used as a major plot point — or worse, a joke — and instead is just another patient who happened to be a bit clumsy and has some inaccuracies in her chart, easily fixed by medical student Javadi (Shabana Azeez). The team goes out of their way to treat everyone with kindness and empathy, even when their patients are making frustrating decisions, like avoiding routine vaccinations for their children or declining treatment.
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This same level of humanism would be great if applied to other topical storylines, like one about Ozempic or dealing with immigration. As it grows more and more dangerous to be an immigrant in the United States, showing a bit of humanity and empathy to everyone is more important than ever. “The Pitt” isn’t just medically accurate, it’s not afraid to get into the tough stuff, and I can’t wait to see what they do in season 2 and beyond.
