Ranking Doctors on "The Pitt" Based on How Much I Want to Date Them

Season 2 edition!

Late last year, I wrote this sleeper hit:

and I was really proud of it. But at the time of writing, I had only seen The Pitt all the way through once (ended up watching it two more times before I published, for research purposes). So while I knew the characters at the time, I like know the characters now. And since season 2 is over, I thought I would revisit the list but I wanted to switch it up with yet another arbitrary ranking. Originally I toyed with “How Much I want to Kiss Them” but I’m a Working Professional now (it goes Abbot, Mohan, Shen, Nurse Jesse, and Whitaker weirdly?—stay with me) so I went with a slightly classier route.

The first half of this season was pretty good. But season 1 is significantly better, mostly because the format of one shift per season worked when everyone was new and we actually got a lot of doctor characterization through the patients. This season, no one outside of Robby really has a character arc, if we’re being honest. And even his I’m getting tired of. Like you’re Noah Wyle. I know you’re not killing yourself. How much more impactful would it be if we saw less and less of Robby as the season went on? I actually wonder how much was rewritten after he won the Emmy.

In season 1, the patients stayed around longer, or it at least felt like they did, so we got to connect with them. Like I really wish we got to see more of the guy and his ex-wife from the first episode of season 2. I know it’s more fun for some viewers to have a constant rush of things happening, but I sincerely hope we get a couple slower episodes next season where we can focus on the characters we know. That said, I wish so bad for next season to fall on Halloween, but if the writers really want to stay away from another holiday, I’ll take like October 30. Show me Abbot in a sweater. (Edit: it’s been announced to take place in November, so I might be able to see Abbot in a sweater.)

Let’s begin! Again, rules are they must be an ED doc, so neither Garcia nor Park the Shark are allowed.

Edit: Aghhh okay I’m writing this part now on April 2, after the Supriya Ganesh news dropped. Maybe instead she got cast in an upcoming Emily Henry adaptation and will come back for season 4 (edit: she’s not coming back lmao). It could narratively make sense for Mohan to just not be on whatever day shift season 3 will cover, but it’s not like her arc is over? Like there’s still a lot to do with Mohan? And to have announced her firing before the season even ended was just really bizarre. Mohan is easily one of my favorite characters and I think they could’ve continued doing a lot with her empathy as a foil to Robby. I’m bummed. This show has shown a pattern of getting rid of its WOC cast members, so I’m sure Javadi is next, seeing as Joy and Al-Hashimi are probably gone too. I also think it’s icky that they combined Supriya’s exit with Ayesha Harris’ promotion.

I’m willing to withhold any judgment until the season 3 premiere next year, but I’m really upset about how this all played out. But um anyways.

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14. Michael Robinavitch

The amount of goodwill this man has lost with me in like the last five episodes alone is actually quite funny. Too annoying and too misogynistic for me. The audacity that he has when talking to Princess Samira Mohan is absolutely insane. YOU go to geriatrics, you menace. Whine about how your mom abandoned you ONE MORE TIME….

It’s actually very funny because it easily could’ve been written that Robby is just slightly misogynistic, but Noah Wyle recently gave an interview and he literally does not see an issue in the way he treats Mohan in comparison to Whitaker. Like it’s fun when a character is slightly evil if it succeeds in advancing the plot. And then you could do something really interesting next season where Robby’s on sabbatical and Al-Hashimi is the attending and we can see Mohan flourish under better guidance. But nooooo.

I’m so mad at him, he doesn’t deserve a photo. And I do not like how they made Mohan apologize to him. Annoying, evil man.

13. James Ogilvie aka Tall Whitaker

If you could believe it, I actually kinda came around to Ogilvie. He reads James Baldwin in his spare time, learned Farsi because he had a lot of Persian friends in college, pronounces Dr. Mohan’s name correctly (Mo-hun), and he can crack a joke (“I see organ donation in my future”). But he’s also the most annoying little gunner asshole alive. Give Javadi a gun. Every time he opens his mouth, I have to brace myself. That entire scene with the larger patient was PAINFULLLLL. And yet his annoying ass is still better than Robby. I actually do think it’s neat that we got proper character development with him, and he found some humanity. But it’s still Ogilvie, so next.

12. Victoria Javadi

She remains utterly adorable, but I think that’s why she’s #12. Shabana is only like 2 or 3 years younger than me, but she plays a 20-year-old so convincingly it kinda weirds me out. And just look at her patriotic earrings! So cute!

I’m very proud of her this season, sticking up for herself against Robby (misogynist strikes again!), Ogilvie, and her parents. She clearly loves her work and trying her best. And she’s Dr. J! Get that creator fund bag, girl. I hope she has a fabulous 21st birthday party.

11. Trinity Santos

Never in my life did I think I’d take Frank Langdon’s (Frangdon?) side, but my darling girl, I’m so sorry.

You cannot be beefing with your colleague in front of the patients. And like I know he stole a patient’s benzos but maybe wait like a second. And for her inability to keep a poker face, she’s at #11. Personally, I need someone a little less…annoying? And mean? But also for this reason, I think we’d make really good friends. I’d loooove a girls night with her, Whitaker, and Mel.

10. Frank Langdon

We would not be friends. We would not date. I would not approach him. However…he is slightly less annoying than Santos this season. And I still find his friendship with Mel very compelling. And I do appreciate that he is seemingly trying his best. But I look at him and I feel absolutely nothing. Patrick Ball isn’t an unattractive guy, and maybe if his name was Patrick Langdon I’d take a second look, but I can’t date a Frank.

But like in all seriousness, he is one of the more interesting characters on the show. In season 1, I told him to never be mean to Robby again but I actually need him to be MEANER. Shame his name is so stupid.

9. Joy Kwon

I LOVE JOY!!! One of my most favorite additions to a TV show ever. I love the way she’s so good at her job but she doesn’t give a fuck about it at all. I really hope they find a way to bring her back next season and she’s like “oh well turns out I loved da pitt.” Or she’s on her radiology rotation and they send her down. I don’t know but I need more Joy.

I suppose my biggest fear is her nonchalance would spill over into how she dates, but I also think she’s someone who fiercely protects the people and things she loves. Actually maybe we’re too similar to date.

8. Parker Ellis

I really do like her but I just haven’t spent enough time with her. Though I suppose that is the point of dating, isn’t it? I find Ellis very cool and I wouldn’t mind working a night shift with her. She’s very funny, she’s chill, and she’s a good teacher. I’m intrigued and charmed enough by her to keep the door open.

7. Mel King

Mel is still my angel, but I see us more as friends. The utter heartbreak I felt when she learned Becca not only had a boyfriend and was having sex, but didn’t tell her about it for 6 months. I really loved her scene with Dana in the stairwell, though I think Dana was a bit too dismissive of Mel’s legitimate (well to me, anyways) concerns.

I think Taylor Dearden has publicly stated she’s portraying Mel as asexual, so I will respect that. We can sing karaoke together instead. But as friends.

6. Baran Al-Hashimi

I’m ngl her being pro-AI was such a turn off for me I did not like her at alllll at first. But it was never brought up after like episode 3 and she also proved herself to be a staunch Mohan ally so I’m going to pay her respects. Honestly after rewatching some of season 1, Collins is such a huge loss to the show, but Al-Hashimi wasn’t a bad addition (what’s that thing about The Pitt swapping out WOC for WOC???).

She clearly is trying her best to make legitimate improvements to the ED, even if I think some of it is a bit tedious (the patient passports—really?). But I respect it. And she’s the only one who actually clocks Robby’s shit and isn’t afraid to yell at him. She also always looks snatched in her BBL jacket, but I’m afraid I have too much on my plate right now to take on a partner with a secret seizure disorder. Love her though.

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~Nurses Interlude~

I didn’t put Emma here but just know she’d be in the top 3 if I was going for best friends. We’d gab about Michigan and pop culture over matcha lattes, I’m sure of it.

5. Mateo

I could never go after Javadi’s man, even if she has moved on. But night shift looks good on him.

4. Donnie

Heyyy Mr. NP. As a new father, he doesn’t need to trifle with me. And I don’t really need to trifle with that either. But he’s cute! When the Pittlings were resetting that guy’s shoulder and he starts screaming his head off and Donnie is just nonchalantly standing there drawing blood or whatever, boy did I laugh and laugh.

3. Princess & Perlah

I’d just feel awful breaking up a set so we’d have to be a throuple. But unfortunately, I don’t think polyamory is real.

2. Dana

I really love her maternal energy with Emma this season. But I think the one thing with The Pitt this season is that they’re, like, very aware of the Awards. So you randomly get these scenes that are clearly written for the actors’ package for awards submission. And Dana gets a lottttt of those. But I’m not complaining too much because I still like her a lot. She scares me though, so I’d like to keep her as like my work mom or something.

1. Jesse

My biggest qualm is like we have the same name, but if Taylors Lautner can both do it, then so can I. Um I just think he’s hot. And he got himself arrested fighting ICE. What’s not to love?

Also wait so they really just had him get arrested by ICE and then he was gone. Do you think The Pitt is on a budget? Only so many series regulars and guests per episode? Like why are we randomly writing characters off?

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5. Cassie McKay

I just really like her. She is easily the nicest doctor and she deserves to go on a date and get laid. Personally, I’m not the one to do that, which is why she’s only #5, but I feel like we’d have really fun dinners together. She actively wants to be a better person and better doctor all the time and she’s also very gentle with the Pittlings. I think McKay is slightly too maternal for me, similar to Dana, which means I’d be too afraid of disappointing her, but I legitimately just love her so much. I want a McKay/Javadi team-up every season forever, or until one of them is unceremoniously written off.

:)

4. Dennis Whitaker

Sorry this scene did something to me. He still looks like a sickly, sleep-deprived Victorian child but I guess that’s enough for me to put at #4. Mostly, I find his growing friendship with Santos to be adorable. I think he’s probably getting taken advantage of by that Amish girl or whatever from last season but he needs to learn that lesson the hard way.

I’m really annoyed the writers are giving Whitaker so much to do, when he is in fact only like two days into residency. And I suppose you could chalk that up to the writers wanting to show that Whitaker clearly is meant for the ED and Mohan isn’t, but I’m also not buying that that was the intention. But I guess that isn’t, like, Whitaker’s fault so I’ll let it slide. For now.

3. Samira Mohan

My Queen. My Guiding Light. My North Star. I love her so much. Just endless suffering, and to what end? To what end?

Mohan is the only person in this department I’d actually be comfortable with treating me. If it was between bleeding out to wait for Mohan or being seen by Frangdon immediately, I’d choose death. There’s just something about her aura and personality that tells me I could tell her just about anything and she’d have zero judgment, and like sincerely too. I actually rewatched the episode with the influencer the other night from season 1 and it’s sooooo cute. Samira, I believe you belong in emergency medicine, even if your misogynistic attending doesn’t seem to agree.

The character assassination of my girl will be studied for years to come. Not to be all conspiracy theorist, but I do believe they significantly changed her arc within the last few months or so. Supriya has been very vocal that episodes 13-15 are like the worst moments of Mohan’s life but she’s barely in the episodes! I seriously just don’t get it. Whatever. Supriya, you have now been promoted to my Harriet Fitzpatrick fancast. She also has experience in quitting residency.

I guess the only real reason why she’s #3 is because she’s a woman but like that’s entirely my fault. Otherwise, she is one of my absolute favorite on the show. I will miss her dearly.

2. John Shen

He’s cute. That’s why he’s #2. I also like the way he acts with the patients (“Is there a patient in here? Because everyone in this room looks extremely healthy to me” CUTE!) and his overall demeanor. I hope we get more of him next season. I’m now imagining him in pedes and I think he’d be sooooo good. Like I said last season, you kinda need a guy who doesn’t really give a shit, otherwise you’re all high-strung and on the verge of suicide.

The way the writers knew having two Asian baddies in the ED at once would be too powerful so they only let Joy and Shen have one interaction. RIP. And let him eat cake.

1. 👑 Jack Abbot 👑

Listen. I’m not saying his depressed ass would be a fantastic boyfr—actually I am saying that.

He’s smart (doctor), he’s self-sufficient (tried to treat his own bullet wound even though another doctor was right there), he’s a giver (paid for the Uber), he’s a multitasker (I cannot stress enough what giving blood whilst operating on someone did to me), and he’s niiiice (helped me with my vision board).

I too can only wish at my future job, I am allowed to just show up, flirt sometimes, and be charming. If God was real, he’d have Abbot and Joy Kwon work together during the night shift next season.

I remember before I ever watched season 1, everyone kept talking about Dr. Abbot. At the time, I thought everyone was talking about Noah Wyle, and I was like…“him?” Like Noah Wyle isn’t ugly but I couldn’t figure out why everyone was going nuts over him. But then I saw Jack Abbot standing on the roof in the premiere episode, contemplating suicide, and I was like yeah I get it.

I actually have nothing more to say. I love Jack Abbot. Long live Jack Abbot.

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Where I Stand With The Pitt Now

About a week ago, Noah Wyle and R. Scott Gemmill finally spoke out about Supriya Ganesh’s exit at Paley Fest, and I’ll quote them here:

R. Scott Gemmill (creator and EP):

It's sort of the nature of the show. Unfortunately, the way the medical profession works, you come in, you learn, you move on, and we want to try and be as truthful to that process as possible. So we're going to turn over our cast. But I think it's a great launching pad for people and that's the best we can do.

Noah Wyle (EP):

It’s an inevitability that’s going to happen every season with this show because as writers we’re hard pressed to figure out what a lapse of time we can have and keep most of the ensemble together realistically. Emergency rooms have a high revolving door. As always, we try to bring in new characters or promote from within as we go through these cast changes and try to keep the storylines fresh, but obviously Supriya has been a huge part of our show since the beginning. Dr. Mohan is a beloved character, and I love playing with her and working with Supriya, and we wish her all the best in her next endeavors, and we’re going to miss her.

Sorrrrrrry no. Try again. I know how schedules work. I was almost a doctor (I took the MCAT twice). Gemmill has since given an interview since the finale aired that Mohan won’t be working the shift (after some push back from the interviewer, who rightfully pointed out she’d still be an R4), but it feels deeply sinister. You clearly decided to fire her within the last few months, then cut her scenes, and didn’t wrap up her story at all. And it would actually be kinda fun to leave her hanging for a season and then come back in season 4 but Gemmill has also already said she’s probably never coming back! So fuck me I guess. To spend weeks saying it’s a “story-driven reason” because Samira isn’t cut out for the ED, and that it’s the “nature of the show” to have turnover, just to have to admit she’s not working that shift because you fucked up your own timeline would be extremely funny if it wasn’t so upsetting and at the expense of another WOC.

I think The Pitt is going to run into a real problem for the sake of “realism.” You can explain to me how this is the nature of the emergency department until you’re blue in the face, but at the end of the day, this is a TV show. Viewers get invested into the characters on a TV show. If you’re constantly writing off characters because “that’s what happens” IRL, then what’s the point in watching? Why should I care? Sorry Noah Wyle, but Robby alone is not a compelling enough character to make him essentially the only non-rotating actor in the show. The ED is fast-paced but it’s not that fast.

Anyways, those are my thoughts on The Pitt season 2. Noah Wyle, I’m keeping my eyes on you.

Oh wait and my wish list for next season:

1. A SLOW HOUR PLEAASSEEEEEE. Give the doctors time to actually bond with each other, and sit with the few patients that are stuck in the ED. I think there’s a lot of potential for a fantastic mini bottle episode. PLEASSEEEEEE.

2. Mohan comes back. Surprise!

3. Fewer patients and longer arcs for them. Let me connect with them. I’ve literally thought about that guy and his ex-wife for weeks.

4. Abbot in a sweater.

I’m going to miss Mohabbot a lot. Like read this. COME ONNNNN.

Credit: The Hollywood Reporter