Season one of The Pitt ends unexpectedly, yet inevitably. While a few cases still linger, the quiet, meditative first-season finale focuses less on medical drama and more on where its characters have ended up emotionally at the end of a harrowing shift. “9 P.M.” takes its time tying up loose ends while creating new character dynamics. And, fittingly, for the first time all season and therefore in this entire series, we finally see the characters outside of the hospital. In the last hour before going home, Dr. Langdon pleads his case, Dr. Santos reveals a sensitive side, Dr. King gets to watch Elf in September, and Whittaker finds a home. But most importantly, Dr. Robby and Dr. Abbott circle back to a theme that’s been omnipresent throughout the episode and the first season of The Pitt as a whole: Everyone’s a little fucked up, and also: Men, go to therapy!
The finale instantly establishes a reflective tone by eliminating the penultimate episode’s cliffhanger immediately. Dr. Robby berates and pleads with the cops who arrested Dr. McKay for disabling her ankle monitor—and comments on how ridiculous they are to do this amid the aftermath of a mass shooting. When Robby reminds them that McKay saved a brother officer’s life today, they agree to let her go, on the condition that she resolves the broken ankle monitor first thing in the morning. Dr. Robby then convinces Flynn’s dad, whose wife is aggressively anti-science, to approve the spinal tap, through some morbid manipulation—their walk-and-talk ends in the Peds room, which is now the Pitt’s packed-to-capacity makeshift morgue.
“We couldn’t save them,” Robby says, as they stand over the bodies, “but we could still save your son.” The dad calls him a “fucking asshole,” but it works: Dr. King performs the spinal tap while the mom takes her daughter to get food. She walks into the room during the procedure, horrified—and unsupported in her decision to risk her son’s life because of what she’s read on the internet. Dr. Robby has a brief, completely horrible conversation with Jake, who says, “We’re not friends and you’re not my father, so fuck off!” right before he tells Leah’s parents the news about their daughter. Despite his never-ending hardship on this shift, Dr. Robby has the energy for an inspiring speech to the day shift staff before they head home. “This place will break your heart, but it’s also full of miracles.” He encourages everyone to cry, because it’s grief leaving the body.
Dr. Abbott communicated the “Men, go to therapy” message quite literally. This is, essentially, Dr. Abbott’s reveal episode: today was his day off, so he came in on his own volition (I, for one, assumed he simply came in a few hours early for his night shift) and he’s an amputee. After referring a patient to Dr. Shen, Utensil Specialist, Dr. Abbott visits Dr. Robby, who is standing disturbingly close to the roof’s edge, a reversal of Abbott’s first appearance in the pilot. The two old guys talk through it, but it is mostly Abbott talking and Robby asking Dr. Abbott to stop talking. Dr. Robby admits he choked during the MCI. “So fucking what?” Dr. Abbott says. “That’s what happens when you’re in a war and nothing makes sense.”
Then, before meeting the staff for park beers, Dr. Abbott—who is coming back to work around 2am—tells Dr. Robby that his therapist says he “finds comfort in darkness.” When Dr. Robby asks if therapy helps, he says, “I haven’t jumped off the roof yet.” These exchanges are fitting bookends for the season, and for these characters, especially Dr. Robby, who not only survived a personally triggering day, but did excellent work despite the internal and external pressure. Despite the ongoing horrors of their day-to-day life, it’s in their DNA, like Dr. Abbott says.
