4.17, 6:45 am update: Caught the first two episodes last night. The urgent pacing and well-chiselled, fat-free narrative quickly affected me, especially as I got to know the crew (and even some of the patients). Even with the scampering rats I was hooked. Expectations exceeded.
Very few speedbumps and yet uncomfortable moments are part of the scheme…I get that. That said, I could’ve done without (a) that one, thankfully brief bit with the fat male patient using a bedpan (TMI) and (b) that woke moment when the young, good-looking doctor says a young couple whose son has accidentally ingested cannabis gummmies won’t face legal consequences because “they’re white”. Otherwise episode #2 just flew right by while pretty much flooding my system. The humanity fills your cup to the brim.
Noah Wylie is great, but then they all are. My “Shitsburgh” concern meant nothing as the show could be set in Portland or New Orleans or anywhere. I cried out when the damaged crimson fingernail of the dweeb med student was lanced with a needle…Jesus Christ! I know that more discomfort awaits, but I’m in. As long as the show doesn’t subject me to any close-ups of fat, swollen feet with fungus-y toenails, I’ll be okay. And the absence of soap opera stuff is wonderful.
Wednesday pm: I don’t like coming into a limited series three months late, but I’ve now decided I’ll suck it up and watch all 15 episodes of The Pitt. I don’t like this kind of long-haul commitment, but I guess I can get through it.
Why didn’t I jump in last January? Because (a) it looked like just another E.R. drama starring Noah Wylie, and (b) I’ve never liked Pittsburgh.
I haven’t been to the area since ’82 when I visited the set of George Romero‘s Creepshow (actually a suburb near Monroeville), and I remember muttering to myself that not having been born there was probably a blessing. Plus I didn’t like Rowdy Herrington and Bruce Willis‘s Striking Distance. And let’s not forget when Sienna Miller called it “Shitsburgh” back in ’08 or thereabouts.
How to explain the good-but-not-great Metacritic score; ditto the 7.8 user rating? If it’s as good as all that wouldn’t the critic rating be in the mid to high ’80s, or even the 90s?
