“Robby sees a bit of Whitaker in himself, but in a way that has been quite embarrassing for Robby — knowing that I’m the one who has seen him at his worst, and has seen him being weak.”
Photo: Warrick Page/HBO Max
Spoilers follow for the second season of The Pitt through its ninth episode, “3:00 P.M.,” which premiered on HBO Max on Thursday, March 5.
If there’s one thing that first-year resident Dennis Whitaker is probably not going to do, it’s naked yoga at sunrise. On The Pitt, Whitaker has proven he can surprise us — with his undergraduate major in theology, his monthslong stint living secretly in the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center, his secondary nickname of “White Chocolate” — but if he was housesitting for someone, he’d likely keep his clothes on. And that’s what helps Whitaker beat out night-shift hottie and yoga practitioner Dr. Abbot (Shawn Hatosy) for the gig of looking after Dr. Robby’s place while the ER attending is on his much-discussed motorcycle trip. But as is typical in The Pitt, there’s all kinds of subtext in the conversation between the two men about Robby’s trip and Whitaker’s sort-of romance with the widow of a man who died in the ER last season. Does Whitaker actually feel a genuine attraction to Amy, or is his excessive empathy behind the hours he spends at her farm in rural Pennsylvania? Either way, he’s acting a little unprofessionally. Does Robby actually feel trapped by his job in the Pitt, or is he just trapped in his own ongoing grief over COVID and last season’s mass shooting at PittFest — a breakdown that Whitaker saw in the first season? Either way, Robby’s acting a little unprofessionally too.
Robby and Whitaker’s conversation is a rare moment of quiet vulnerability during a frantic shift that allows Gerran Howell to dig into Whitaker’s feelings about his quasi-romantic relationship with the farmer’s wife, his friendship with now-roommate Trinity Santos (Isa Briones), and his growing concern about maintaining professional and personal boundaries. The ten-month time jump has helped Whitaker feel more comfortable at work, Howell says, but even he was thrown by Robby’s seeming gesture of trust — and, maybe, self-destruction. “Whitaker can really see something is going on with Robby. There’s a manicness there,” Howell says. “It took me by surprise, but I think it takes Whitaker by surprise: Oh, you trust me, that’s great. But … are you sure?”
When we meet Whitaker again in the second season, he’s now a first-year resident and more of a mentor. When you’re getting the first scripts, what are you reading about how Whitaker has changed or grown?
It’s ten months later, and he has the responsibility of these med students. He can’t be like season-one Whitaker anymore because he wouldn’t be here. He’d be fired. There’s no way. [Laughs.] It’s kind of fun to have a guy who’s having the day from hell and is completely overwhelmed, but there’s no way that can be consistent. In a way, Whitaker is lucky he has responsibilities now with these med students because it’s got him a little bit out of his head. Ten months in, he’s had to shed a lot of that kind of anxiety, and now he has a few coping mechanisms. I was kind of surprised how sassy I actually came across in the first two episodes. [Laughs.] I’m leading the med students, but kind of begrudgingly. He’s kind of like, These guys are driving me wild, and if they mess up, it’s on me. He’s not necessarily out here trying to be the best doctor and to impress anyone. Now he knows that the way to go about it is to be as useful as you can be, and more efficient. He’s built up a mask now.
Speaking of his sassiness, I immediately thought of him throwing the protein bar at Joy.
Exactly. There’s no time for it, you know? Ogilvy and Joy are two characters who appear to not want to be there. You can only encourage them so much. He’s making sure they don’t make him look bad, to be honest. He would be empathetic with most people, but these two in particular … Ogilvy’s an insane character. It’s great. He’s a real foil to the others.
What was your initial reaction to Robby asking Whitaker to house-sit?
It was interesting because we don’t get warned of these things too far in advance. Knowing the Whitaker on the farm storyline with the widow, in my eyes, it is kind of an inappropriate relationship, and it’s building up and building up. Robby confronts me about it, and I was expecting Whitaker to get a real bollocking. But instead, Robby is like, “Be careful. Here’s the keys to my apartment.” [Laughs.] It’s done so quickly and it’s thrown on me, and he can really see, There are some cracks here. I should be getting disciplined. I was expecting more of a firm hand from Robby there and didn’t get it. To Whitaker, that signifies Robby is in a very strange head place right now. He definitely appreciates it, but I don’t think he fully accepts it.
How did you and Noah work together on the scene?
Noah likes to play, and he encourages play. We’ll mess around and test things out in a scene. He’s very fluid, and that’s how he is with Whitaker. There’s a real casualness with Robby. I think he knows Whitaker looks up to him. In season one, Whitaker was the one to find him in the trauma room, breaking down. Robby maybe sees a bit of Whitaker in himself, but in a way that has been quite embarrassing for Robby — knowing that I’m the one who has seen him at his worst, and has seen him being weak. He’s less hands-on with me now, and I think it’s shown in that scene. It’s so quick-paced, and I barely get a chance to say anything. He’s kind of, “Here we go, we’re doing this, you have my apartment, and I’m off.” He does that a lot at Whitaker now. He’s warm with him, but, Before you can see my cracks, I’m going to get out of here.
What do you remember about how you played the scene?
I came into it thinking, He’s bestowing his keys on me; it’s a big deal. But I remember being so surprised at how brusque and kind of frenetic it was. In the line readings, we played it like a real peace offering. But then when we got to it, it had a very strange tone to it. It was so quick and confusing and surprising, and we ran with it.
When you were reading this, did you fantasize about what Robby’s apartment could actually look like?
It’s a complete man cave, I think. it would be very similar to Noah’s living arrangements. Noah collects a lot of things and is a bit of a self-admitted hoarder. I imagine Robby has got some real surprising things from travels in his gap years. Nothing flashy, but impressive. Lots of books.
Santos tells Robby that she’s worried about Whitaker’s relationship with Amy, which sparks Robby offering him the housesitting gig as a way to perhaps draw him away from the farm. I’m curious how you understood whatever is going on between Whitaker and Amy.
Even by the end of the season, it’s still kind of intentionally ambiguous. But it is 100 percent an example of Whitaker being just too empathetic, and potentially being taken advantage of, maybe a little bit. Being on a farm is grounding for him, maybe more so than the relationship. For Whitaker, it’s about being useful. It’s escapism for him. He can find a bit of a home there that he’s missing.
We’re seeing that Santos actually cares about her friendship with Whitaker, although she would never really admit it.
That’s a big part of this season: How close are Whitaker and Santos? When Santos says she thinks I’m being taken advantage of, she would probably never say that to me in a direct way. She would hint at it and poke fun at me for it. But similar to Robby, I think Whitaker is a person who can really see Santos now, beyond all of the bravado and the jokes. I think Whitaker probably heard an earful about Langdon and about Garcia; I think he gets vented on regularly and has all the juicy gossip. They’re really close now, but there’s an awkwardness. I can tell when she’s having a bad day — and I definitely can on this particular shift — and she’s keeping me at arm’s length. But I think they really care about each other at this point.
Earlier in this season, Whitaker teaches Ogilvy how to do a disimpaction, which is gross and wonderful. How did you film that scene?
Any time there were bodily fluids mentioned, I was like, Uh oh. Is this the one I haven’t got yet? Is it coming for me? It was dubbed the “poop cannon.” There were multiple mixtures they were trying out and then stuffing into a pressurized tube. I had to get out of the way of it very quickly, and it was quite a surprising bang, actually. It had quite some force to it. It was gross, but Whitaker is very used to those things now. If anyone’s going to be desensitized, it’s him. He has his yellow wings; he has all the wings.
In this season, your hair is longer, a little curlier. Was it your idea, or production’s?
It was my idea. How do you show growth as a character? You grow your hair. [Laughs.] No, it’s just that if there is a bit of a jump, you can show that change in how comfortable he is. The mullet was maybe a signifier of how much he’s missing home. He’s coming into his own personality. Some of that comes from Santos as well, maybe giving him a bit of a talking to. She took him to one gay bar and was like, “Dude, you need to sharpen up a little bit here if you’re gonna hang out with me.”
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