Well, well, well… The Pitt Episode 5 “11 AM” finally spells out what’s really driving the tension between Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) and Dr. Collins (Tracey Ifeachor): sex.
Oh, yes, the MAX show confirmed this week that Dr. Robby and Dr. Collins had a thing once upon a time. So when Dr. Collins earnestly offers her gratitude to her ex/boss for coming to her aid with a complicated teen pregnancy test, Head Nurse Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa) swoops in to play “Jane Austen,” teasing Collins that there might still be something sparking between the two.
Whether or not you buy Dr. Robby and Dr. Collins’s chemistry might not matter. Between the way The Pitt’s plot is going — and the existence of a cheeky fan edit on MAX’s official social channels — it’s clear the show wants us to ‘ship these two overworked doctors.
The Pitt is a brand new medical drama created by R. Scott Gemmill and executive produced by John Wells and Noah Wyle himself. The show’s first season takes place over a single fifteen hour shift in an overwhelmed Pittsburgh emergency room. This specific day, though, has special significance for chief attendant Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch as it’s the anniversary of his mentor’s death during the height of COVID.
Early on in The Pitt Episode 1 “7 AM,” Dana suggests to Dr. Heather Collins that she takes it easy on Robby. After all, it’s a day fraught with grief, pain, and panic for the otherwise unflappable emergency room specialist. However, Collins has her own personal drama driving the day: she is pregnant. Not only that, but we can gather that she’s struggled with fertility issues in the past. So while Robby is confronting the memory of death all day, Collins is carrying the fraught hope of new life.
Okay, poetic symmetry aside, these two characters have that natural, fiery chemistry that defines most workplace rom-coms. They’re competitive, combative, and yet, supportive of one another. When a cop tries to get Collins’s number, Robby makes it his mission to tease her into relenting. When Collins earnestly needs help navigating a tough case — a pregnant teen who is trying to sneak in a medical abortion past the ten week ban — Robby nobly helps.
For romance-obsessives, Collins and Robby’s relationship has all the hallmarks of a great will-they/won’t-they. There’s some fun professional tension, confirmed sexual tension, and the pressure of their personal lives spilling over into their jobs. They’re also both quite attractive people, which never hurts.
However, there is a small part of me that sort of doesn’t want them to relapse into a romance. Sorry, Dana, but I’m sort of with Collins on this. Just because they dated years ago, doesn’t necessarily make them end game. Furthermore, there’s something fun about a show actually depicting the complexity of being platonic with someone you once were romantic with. It happens in real life! Some people — ahem, me — are friends with exes!
Then again, all signs point to The Pitt setting up Dr. Robby and Dr. Collins as the ER’s primary slow burn romance. Sure, Javadi (Shabana Azeez) can barely function in hot nurse Mateo’s (Jalen Thomas Brooks) presence, but she’s got the social skills of a literal child. The Pitt is betting on Robby/Collins being the show’s primary ‘ship.
Don’t believe me? Well, maybe the official MAX’s social team can convince you:
Yeah, so, I guess MAX thinks these two grown adults glaring at each other to Gracie Abrams’s “I Love You, I’m Sorry” makes sense. If you check out the comments, even fans of the show are confused by this edit. (Probably because it dropped almost a full week before the episode that revealed the two had, in fact, been a couple.)
Maybe The Pitt Season 1 won’t climax with Collins and Robby kissing, but maybe it will. Either way, this might be the first real hint that The Pitt is open to introducing romance into the workplace, a classic prescription for great TV.
