In emphasizing his burnout, ‘The Pitt’ is undercutting the rest of its ensemble.
 

MARCH 24, 2026

 

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We Need to Talk About Robby The Pitt’s biggest martyr is also currently its biggest jerk. Is it working?

By Roxana Hadadi

Photo: Warrick Page/HBO Max

Spoilers follow for the second season of The Pitt through the 11th episode, “5:00 P.M.”

Dr. Michael “Robby” Rabinovich in season one of The Pitt: A COVID-traumatized leader who was hard-nosed but fair to his colleagues. An emotionally overwhelmed guy trying to be there for his sort-of stepson after the kid’s girlfriend was killed. A regretful romantic partner who understands too late that he was so emotionally distant he had no idea his former lover got an abortion. A flawed man, but one you wanted to have around when things get hard. Dr. Robby in season two of The Pitt: A hothead who casually insults his colleagues and says within earshot of patients that he can’t wait to get out of the ER. A man who has yelled at basically every brown woman he works with, lied about his self-destructive tendencies (wearing a motorcycle helmet, my ass), and failed to protect his patients and colleagues against ICE’s incursion into the ER. Eleven hours into this 15-hour shift, most of the attending’s best qualities — his pragmatic approach to medicine, his encouragement of young colleagues, his ability to roll with unexpected challenges — have curdled into huffy dismissiveness and defensive blind spots. Those slutty little glasses aren’t cutting it anymore. This is Robby’s asshole season, and it’s tougher to watch than all the de-glovings and severed limbs The Pitt can throw at us.

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THE CRITICS

In Short

A narrative series about a tabloid scandal needs to answer two questions: Why this story, and why at this time? The Lady fails on both. "Inspired by a true story," the Britbox show streaming now centers Jane Andrews (Mia McKenna-Bruce, soon-to-be a Beatles wife), who was convicted of murdering her wealthy boyfriend Thomas Cressman (Ed Speelers) after years of serving as Sarah, Duchess of York (Natalie Dormer)’s royal dresser. Is The Lady, which uses talking-head interviews with Jane’s family and social circle to mimic a true-crime series, trying to critique marriage, upward mobility, the royal family? Sure, but Andrews's characterization is so thin that four episodes feel egregiously long in her perspective. The series also nixes aspects of Andrews's backstory, like her abortion, that would at least complicate the question of whether she was abused, mentally ill, or simply an opportunist. The Lady can't nail down the lady herself, or why her story is important to tell. —Roxana Hadadi

➼ Read the latest criticism from Vulture here.

 

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