I think we can all agree Dr. Michael Rabinovich is the heart of The Pitt. There are fan favorites, fun guest stars, and a galaxy of side plots, but Dr. Robby is the nexus point for everything. The writing staff of The Pitt has done a tremendous job in rounding out a flawed hero. The medical knowledge dispensed by the senior resident is dizzying. The character is a walking Wikipedia (ChatGPT?) for medical knowledge. He’s compassionate at times and taciturn at others – in short, he’s anything but a flat character.
What is of special note, though, is how he interacts with the other staff in the Pitt. Specifically, what’s his pattern of interaction with his subordinates? (Yes, I know that subordinate ground is shaky ground, but let’s just remember this is a fictional universe, ok?) For the constellation of other doctors and student doctors on The Pitt, an interaction with Dr. Robby can have season-long effects. So, let’s dive in and look at his most common interactions and see if we can sleuth out a pattern.
Dr. Robby is toughest on Dr. Mohan
Known as “Slo-Mo” in season one, a distinction season two has downplayed, Dr. Robby and Dr. Mohan have had several clashes. In season one, Dr. Robby reprimanded Dr. Mohan on multiple occasions for not flipping beds over quick enough and spending too much time with patients. He even went so far as to suggest that she may even want to move to the concentration of psychiatry. Which, what’s wrong with that? I’m sure that’s looked down upon the medical profession as not being a “hard science,” but people need help in all kinds of ways.
The Mt. Vesuvius-level explosion came recently, though. Mohan appeared to have something akin to a panic attack, feeling overwhelmed with the difficult day (is there an easy day on The Pitt?) and the intrusiveness of her mother. Dr. Robby absolutely eviscerated her for having “mommy issues” and told her she needed to get her head in the game. What’s interesting, though, is that at varying points, he’s been highly respectful of her medical talent, praising her on multiple occasions. As is typical with The Pitt, every relationship is multi-coded.
Dr. Langdon is the problem Dr. Robby can’t quit fast enough
Dr. Langdon comes out firing in season one. It’s clear he’s got the knowledge base to become a resident in his own right. He’s shown an aptitude to learn in certain situations, playing out a long arc with Dr. King surrounding the issue of patients with autism. The heart of the issue with Dr. Robby, of course, is the stolen drug subplot from season one.
Early in the show, Robby sees Langdon as something of a protege and treats him as such. Post-drug issue, Langdon turns into toxic waste as far as Robby is concerned. He’s shoved out to triage in season two, emotionally stone-walled on the helipad, and generally avoided like Covid-19 (a special bugaboo for Dr. Robby in its own right). We have yet to see the resolution to season 2, but thus far Robby’s method for dealing with Langdon has been one of outright avoidance.
Dr. Whitaker, Dr. Robby’s “guy”
Dr. Whitaker has become something of a fan favorite. His combination of earnestness, physical humor (how many scrubs did he go through?), and dedication to the job is seemingly catnip to Robby. Robby frequently checks in on Whitaker, praises him, and acts as a general father figure in various scenes. The most obvious cue to how Robby feels about Whitaker is his commentary on Whitaker’s relationship to the “farm widow” (let’s just call it “farm benefits”?).
After checking in on him generally with the situation, Robby comes pretty close to “lecturing” Whitaker on his decision-making in this instance. Once again, it’s never all one note regarding Dr. Robby’s relationship with his subordinates; there’s a chorus of notes.
So, what can we learn from the way Robby treats others?
From this triple pack of visceral Robby relationships, what can we learn about the senior resident on The Pitt? Robby isn’t driven by sexism. He has numerous negative interactions with women but also praises Dr. Mohan and has an outright shouting match with Dr. Langdon. He’s not driven by some kind of misguided sense of meritocracy, either. He’s clearly softer on some doctors than others. So what is it?
It is, according to legendary author George R. R. Martin, the only thing worth writing about – conflict in the human heart. We’ve seen glimpses of Robby’s struggles. Most of them seem to stem from the loss of his mentor on the show during the Covid-19 crisis and have led to an outrageous number of Dr.-Robby-riding-his-motorcycle-without-his-helmet statements this season. Dr. Robby is committed to his work and rewards those he perceives to share that trait – Whitaker springs to mind immediately.
He reserves his fiercest anger for times when the outside world gets in the way of the job—Langdon's drug problem and Mohan’s externally caused panic attacks. The irony is this, though: Robby attacks those traits because he is really attacking himself. His unresolved issues become the springboard for the times when his compassion and wisdom quickly devolve into bullying and anger.
As season two resolves, it will be fascinating to see where the writers leave Dr. Robby on his path to healing. I’ll be watching what we can learn from his interactions with the people around him as he faces that journey.