This goes without saying, but The Pitt is one of the best shows on TV right now. Whenever a new episode drops on the 2026 TV schedule, I make sure to watch it as soon as possible. Though multiple storylines have my attention in the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning series’ second season, there’s one that’s hitting home for me: the frayed friendship shared by Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch and Dr. Frank Langdon following the big reveal about the latter’s drug addiction last year.
As someone who has been impacted by drug addiction (a friend’s, not my own), this ongoing struggle between the one-time close friends is striking a chord and forcing me to take a look back at what happened all those years ago and how I wish I had handled things differently. I just hope that Robby doesn’t make the same mistake I did.
I Haven’t Seen A Show Handle The Impact Of Drug Addiction Like This In A Very Long Time
If you take a look at some of the best TV shows of all time, it won’t take long before you come across an episode (or full-season arc) dealing with drug addiction. Hell, some of the all-time great HBO series spent countless hours diving into nearly every aspect of substance abuse. However, it’s been a very long time since I’ve watched a series that captures the impact of addiction as honestly as The Pitt.
From Langdon stealing pills from patients to getting caught and then having his big blowup with Robby in Season 1 to Robby’s unwillingness to forgive and forget his old pal in the early goings of Season 2, all sides are being covered, really, really well. Watching the show is forcing me to reconcile with the time I let my pain, emotion, and stubbornness get between a dear friend and me.
But The Robby/Langdon Dynamic Is Making Me Wish I Had Handled This One Friendship Better
Back in 2002, during the first days of my freshman year, I met someone who would become one of my best friends throughout high school and college. We were inseparable, almost got kicked out of school together, were in multiple punk bands over the years, and were more brothers than friends. That all came crashing down nearly a decade later when I finally had enough of my friend’s addiction, lies, theft, and the trauma it all caused.
After a couple of years of not speaking to one another, I bumped into this friend one day, and he said he wanted to make amends as part of a multi-step program. I, being the stubborn, self-centered, and still bitter person I was in my early 20s, told him, “I’ll never let you take my name off that list.” I regretted those words pretty much as soon as they left my mouth, and they still haunt me 15 years later.
Watching Robby and Langdon go through a similar situation on The Pitt is forcing me to think about that episode in my own life and how I wish I had done things differently. Maybe I could have salvaged a friendship. I hope these two don’t make the same mistake.
New episodes of The Pitt are available on Thursday nights with an HBO Max subscription.
