‘The Pitt’ Finale Proves Why The Hospital Drama Is Needed Now More Than Ever

Season 1 never missed an opportunity to say something profound about America’s health-care crisis — among other hot-button issues. It’s part of what makes the Max series so special.

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Gun violence. Racial bias. Anti-vaxxers. Opioid abuse. Abortion access. Mental health. A national nursing shortage. Understaffed hospitals. Lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. And an overwhelmed emergency medicine system. These are just a few of the many topical issues tackled in Season 1 of “The Pitt,” Max’s hit word-of-mouth hospital drama that couldn’t have arrived at a better time.

I remember when I finally started watching the show earlier this year, shortly after its Jan. 9 premiere, and having doubts that a show whose entire season takes place during one 15-hour, stress-inducing shift at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center could pull off such an elaborate plot.

That uncertainty quickly melted away once I saw more people talking about “The Pitt” online, week after week. Much of that buzz has to do with the TV drama’s of-the-moment appeal and an impressive performance from “ER” alum Noah Wyle, who scrubs back in to play lead man in charge, Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch.

Unlike most scripted medical shows that hinge on the melodrama of a chatty hospital staff, “The Pitt” found the perfect balance between that and addressing society’s most pressing issues, all while being an unusually spot-on depiction of a swamped emergency department. The show’s refreshing realism is one of its many superpowers. That, and heaps of empathy for the fractured state of American health care, which is much needed for the turbulent times we’re living through.