The Pitt director Damian Marcano talks “Park the Shark,” why Ogilvie might be a surrogate for the audience, and what Robby means in that Episode 13 cliffhanger.
When I chatted with director Damian Marcano a year ago, The Pitt was the little show that could. Now it’s an Emmy-winning phenomenon that has only gotten better — and more popular — in its second season.
“What was the great lesson that I learned for Season 2?” asks Marcano. “I said, John [Wells], what do we do? He said, ‘Do the very same thing you did in Season 1, don’t change.’ And, you know, I guess as we would say in reggae music, don’t rock the boat, man.”
Of course, not everything is the same in Season 2. We’re introduced to new characters, like Emma (Laëtitia Hollard), Joy (Irene Choi), and of course, the divisive Ogilvie (Lucas Iverson), who does rock the boat (and rub some people the wrong way).
Meet “Park the Shark,” Actor Lou Ferrigno Jr.
In Episode 10’s “4:00 P.M.”, directed by Marcano, we also meet “Park the Shark,” Dr. Brendan Park, played by Lou Ferrigno Jr., who “swims” like a man-eater in the ER. Marcano says working with medical experts has given him some insight into the dynamics between surgeons and non-surgeons.
“It seems to me that the surgeons from upstairs, when they come down to the ER, they have this god-like persona. They’re not looking at anyone. They came here to fix your problems that you obviously couldn’t handle down here. And when Lou walked in, you know, I’m sure he had his own nerves, but first performance out the gate, I was like, yep, they cast the right guy. Lou delivered that energy of no one’s bigger than me.”
If you watch that scene closely, you’ll notice how Marcano puts Robby in “an inferior” role compared to the Shark.
“And then you realize there’s a new hierarchy here, right? Park’s at the top, Robby is somewhere here, Whitaker, Ogilvie. And it’s just nice to play with power dynamics.”
Olgilvie: The Pitt Season 2 Villain-Turned-Relatable-Character?
Speaking of Ogilvie, he really evolves over the course of this season, going from a know-it-all to a student unsure if he’s fit to work in the ER after he loses his patient.
“That’s just a brilliant thing about our show being in one day. He started this morning like a gunner. ‘I’m going to come in there. I’m going to show these people what I’m about. I’m going to be tough as nails. I’m taking names and, you know, asking questions later.’ And then The Pitt happened to him. Like it happens to everyone. And The Pitt will show you who’s boss by the end of a 12-hour shift. The Pitt is like a Vegas casino, man. It always wins.”
The scene of him sitting outside the ER covered in blood is a chilling reminder of how not everyone is cut out for this job, as well as how fragile life really is.
“To see Ogilvie break down as he does, to see the fact that losing a patient has literally made him say, I don’t think I want to be here. I feel that Ogilvie really represented most of us this season. And that line of him saying to Robbie, ‘Your version of normal, my version of normal, two different things.’ I really feel like that encompasses Ogilvie’s arc.”
We also really start to see the growth of Whitaker, who steps up to console Ogilvie in the ambulance bay — which proves to be the perfect place for heartfelt conversations.
“For me, it was a callback to Robbie and Collins from Season 1. That ambulance bay is where we make our decisions. Are we going back in, or are we leaving? It was just really refreshing to see Whitaker take the leadership role in this moment and say, no, that’s it for you today.”
What Does Dr. Robby Mean When He Says He’s Not Coming Back?
Obviously, not everyone is cut out for this job, and even the more tenured are showing cracks, like Dr. Mohan (Supriya Ganesh). One thing Season 2 really demonstrates is that our heroes are human and won’t be as sharp toward the end of the shift as they were at the beginning.
“The thing I find interesting in the medical field is none of us decides when we get sick. So if you go in at 8 a.m. and you get the care of Dr. Robby and then I don’t go in until 5 p.m., I expect the same level of care. So we expect doctors to be here all day long. It’s impossible to think about it. So we are showing the human condition of our heroes breaking down. It’s like that act of the movie where you don’t know if Superman is going to get out of this one. The superpower, though, that these people have is that they decide to come back tomorrow.”
But some might not come back, including Robby (Noah Wyle). Episode 113 “7:00 P.M.” ends with a doozy of a moment. What does Dr. Robby mean when he says he might not come back? Marcano stays mum, but offers where he thinks our leader’s head is at.
“I think experienced people in any position, and especially if it’s a position of leadership, who do they get to talk to? Who does Robbie talk to, right? We’ve seen this season, Caleb (Christopher Thorton), our staff therapist try to schedule some time with him. And Robbie’s very pissed off about that. In comes Dana, who he’s been having this very gentle tug of war with. And it finally blows up, and he slams the flask on the desk, and she’s like championship coach at that point. Come on, let’s go talk about it. And Dana becomes kind of like therapy for him in that moment.”
Although, as Marcano points out, the north hallway by the blanket warmers isn’t an ideal spot to chat.
“It’s always amazing to me that these people also don’t have private areas to work these things out, right? There’s always someone around. That’s the joy of directing: Where can we find this little space to have this chat?”
The Pitt episodes drop Thursdays on HBO Max.
