‘It’s a yes and scenario’: Patrick Ball on Langdon’s return to the ER on ‘The Pitt’
Everyone was locked in to The Pitt. The first season of the MAX series threw us into the thick of it in the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. And we watched as Dr. Frank Langdon’s (Patrick Ball) drug issues came to light.
Throughout the season, Langdon’s addiction comes to light and right before a mass casualty event, Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) forces him to leave. When the ER is overwhelmed with patients, Langdon comes back to work despite everyone ignoring his texts and calls. Robby tries to get him to leave and he says that they need him and stays and works.
It is a two fold scene. On the one hand, you can see Langdon’s dedication to his job and saving people. On the other, it feels like a tactic to try and justify his drug use and convince Robby that he’s not an addict. I was lucky enough to speak with Ball in the lead up to the show’s finale. There, I asked him about Langdon returning to the ER and how he viewed the move.
“I think it’s a yes and scenario. I think Langdon sees that there are people in need and that he is needed and that his team is already short staffed,” Ball said. “And if I were not to run in there and help them, all my friends and coworkers would be in a terrible, terrible situation. It doesn’t take a ton of empathy to want to save lives of people who are dying in front of you and, whether consciously or unconsciously. Yeah, he’s very aware of the desperate situation that he is in career-wise and whether to what degree that motivates that decision, who knows? But I don’t think he’s coming in there in a manipulative way. I think he’s coming in there to do the right thing, but I don’t think the desperation of his circumstances is lost on him.”
You can see the rest of our conversation with Ball below:
All of season 1 of The Pitt is now streaming on MAX.
(featured image: MAX)
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