I have been waiting to scream about this episode for weeks. The Pitt is back for Season 2, taking place on the Fourth of July, right before Dr. Robby begins his sabbatical, and as Dr. Langdon returns from rehab. Robby tries to avoid Langdon like the plague, sending him to work in triage rather than back with the rest of the team. This also means separating Langdon from the one person who was genuinely happy to see him: his least problematic trainee from ten months ago, Dr. Mel King. While their initial reunion didn’t leave any room for the two to catch up, “8:00 A.M.” gives the space for Mel and Langdon to meaningfully reconnect, revealing how much these two remember about each other only after one shift.
When I started watching The Pitt last spring, the two doctors who immediately grabbed my attention were Mel and Langdon. Mel — a kind, sensitive, and brilliant doctor who radiated enthusiasm for helping people; Langdon — an overconfident yet exceptional senior resident who could be good when he wanted to be. Out of his interactions with the new doctors from Season 1, Mel was the trainee he bonded with the most. On the flip side, during Mel’s first day, Langdon was the one who stuck around. Her sensitivity wasn’t looked down on by him; in fact, over the course of the day, Langdon recognized her sensitivity as a strength. His hard edges softened around her, and Mel gained confidence from his encouragement.
That’s why it hit Mel hard when Langdon initially left during the shift in Season 1, and he didn’t say goodbye. It’s why when he did return, and she heard his voice from across the ED, she was so happy. And it’s why Mel dove in to give him a hug when he popped into morning rounds in the Season 2 premiere, “7:00 A.M.” Over the hiatus, many of us speculated how much Langdon would even remember from the shift that changed everything for him. Better yet, would he even remember Mel? Did she make enough of an impact on him ten months ago? The Pitt’s Season 2 “8:00 A.M.” not only proves that he did, but Langdon trusts Mel to be completely honest with her as to why he was gone.
Both Langdon and Mel are having a rough holiday. For Langdon, he’s been relegated to chairs, and his former mentor doesn’t want to engage with him at all. Once Robby’s best resident, now Langdon is humbled and lacks the confidence that dubbed him “ER Ken.” Meanwhile, Mel is anxiously awaiting her deposition later in the middle of her shift. She’s a little unfocused, and frankly, a little lonely. When Mel opens up to Santos about her deposition, Santos makes a joke out of it. Then, to top it all off, this flirtatious patient knocks her down as he runs away from the police just as she was explaining her love of Renaissance Faires. The poor girl can’t catch a break!
While Mel’s being looked over by Dana and Perlah, Langdon happens to be around and sees her. He insists on taking the lead to check her for any head trauma. It’s here in the privacy of this trauma room that Mel and Langdon catch up. Everything in this scene between Mel and Langdon is soft, quiet, and, most of all, safe. Mel is noticeably deflated. Her bright demeanor, which we came to know and love on her first day, is a distant memory. We know that Mel is the sole caretaker of her twin sister, Becca, and she has no one to look after her. When she was visibly not OK after losing a child who’d drowned, and while a patient with a fight-bite was yelling across the ED last season, Langdon saw she was struggling and ordered her to take a break. Ten months later, he’s the one to step in and help, physically and emotionally.
Despite being shaken up by her injury, Mel’s so relieved that Langdon is back. She goes so far as to verbalize when it’s just them. It doesn’t matter the rumors she’s heard whispered around the ED (she never paid attention to them), he’s here in the flesh. After confessing to Louie his past transgressions, Langdon reveals the truth to her about where he’s been. He was in rehab for his addiction to benzos. In fact, she’s the first coworker he’s been brave enough to tell the whole truth to. Langdon admits to her that he thought he could treat himself and that he believes he let a lot of people down. He goes so far as to apologize to her. Mel stuns him when she replies, “You never let me down.”
Mel’s response to Langdon’s addiction and rehab confirms what Taylor Dearden had said in interviews this summer. She speculated that Mel would feel sad for Langdon, and Mel does. There’s no pity or disappointment in her reaction. Her mentor was battling this and had to be away, and she missed him for months. Langdon wasn’t replaced in her mind. Mel latched onto Langdon during her first shift, and it never went away, even after so much time had passed by. She even remembered his Captain Scurvy joke, which she referenced in front of Dana and Perlah. Langdon was bracing for Mel to distance herself from him; instead, she still considers him someone worth looking up to. He didn’t let her down because Langdon is Mel’s person.
However, it’s not one-sided for Mel remembering her fellow doctor during her first day at PTMC. As Langdon tries to express how he feels like he’s let everyone, including Mel, down, the police burst their little bubble to give them an update on the patient who hurt her in his escape. It turns out, he had been hiding out. If they do catch him, the officers mention that Mel would have to testify in court. Mel is already on edge about her deposition, so even the possibility of another legal matter triggers her. She’s immediately uncomfortable and starts to shut down internally. Seeing how distressed she is, Langdon pulls the officers out of the room. As he leaves, Mel tries to assure Langdon that she’s OK, much like she did in Season 1’s “3:00 P.M.” And just like ten months ago, Langdon tells her to take a few minutes. To cap off this interaction, Langdon turns off the lights in the room, noting, “The ER can be a little bright and noisy.”
When I watched this scene for the first time, I just kept screaming, “He remembered!” Dr. Langdon, the arrogant senior resident who couldn’t be bothered with an autistic patient last season, remembered Mel treating Terrance. The way she turned off the lights, cut down the noise as much as possible, and spoke to Terrance on his level to give him the proper care he needed. It was Mel’s treatment of Terrance that prompted Langdon to tell Mel that she was making a “good first impression.” And here he is, months later, paying that forward to the very person who taught him in the first place. Mel really did make an impression on Langdon.
There is a temptation to strip this scene down into something that’s purely ship-related; plenty of people will, and if that’s you, I won’t stop you. If you follow me on Twitter, you know exactly how I feel about Mel and Langdon. However, the strength of this scene is so much more than that. Despite the actors and the showrunner claiming there’s nothing romantic going on between these two, there is simply no denying that Mel and Langdon matter to each other, especially after this episode. They’ve interacted for less than 24 hours, and yet, here they are taking care of each other. Better yet, they trust each other to be honest, vulnerable, and delicate amidst a workplace that is tough for sensitive people. Langdon lost Robby’s trust, but he didn’t lose Mel’s. Mel tries to pick herself up and keep going, but Langdon reminds her to take care of herself, even if it’s just a few minutes alone in a dark room.
While the rest of this shift remains to be seen, this brief moment between Mel and Langdon marks a homecoming of sorts. After all this time, they are attuned to what the other needs, whether that’s affirmation, encouragement, or simply space. Whatever will come, it’s confirmed that Mel and Langdon can and will find support from each other. They aren’t alone in the trials they face this shift; they trust each other to pick the other up and meet them where they’re at. Mel and Langdon have each other’s backs in a way that no one else at PTMC does. Whether this mutual bond evolves into something more or not, Season 2’s “8:00 A.M.” proves how important Mel and Langdon are to each other. They are indeed kindred spirits.
First Featured Image Credit: ©HBO Max