Kathryn VanArendonk

So The Pit, because it takes place in the ER hour by hour, and because its co-creators and writers make this really deliberate choice to be focusing on the stories of the patients who come in, not the personal lives of the doctors, the cases that show up on The Pit are things like...

So The Pit, because it takes place in the ER hour by hour, and because its co-creators and writers make this really deliberate choice to be focusing on the stories of the patients who come in, not the personal lives of the doctors, the cases that show up on The Pit are things like...

A situation where a black woman comes in and she is experiencing an incredible painful crisis because she's having a sickle cell crisis. And she is instead assumed to be drug seeking. Stop fighting.

A situation where a black woman comes in and she is experiencing an incredible painful crisis because she's having a sickle cell crisis. And she is instead assumed to be drug seeking. Stop fighting.

A situation where a black woman comes in and she is experiencing an incredible painful crisis because she's having a sickle cell crisis. And she is instead assumed to be drug seeking. Stop fighting.

Later in the season, there is a measles case, and this becomes a big and very fraught discussion about vaccines.

Later in the season, there is a measles case, and this becomes a big and very fraught discussion about vaccines.

Later in the season, there is a measles case, and this becomes a big and very fraught discussion about vaccines.

And then there is this, of course, this huge season arc that's about a mass shooting and that includes a lot of implicit, I would say, commentary on like why, on the role of guns.

And then there is this, of course, this huge season arc that's about a mass shooting and that includes a lot of implicit, I would say, commentary on like why, on the role of guns.

And then there is this, of course, this huge season arc that's about a mass shooting and that includes a lot of implicit, I would say, commentary on like why, on the role of guns.

Yes, I have a theory about this for The Pit in particular. Your brain knows that things are crazy, that the world is very stressful right now. And even when you are seeking escapism, it is very hard to turn off the part of you that is like alarm, alarm, alarm.

Yes, I have a theory about this for The Pit in particular. Your brain knows that things are crazy, that the world is very stressful right now. And even when you are seeking escapism, it is very hard to turn off the part of you that is like alarm, alarm, alarm.

Yes, I have a theory about this for The Pit in particular. Your brain knows that things are crazy, that the world is very stressful right now. And even when you are seeking escapism, it is very hard to turn off the part of you that is like alarm, alarm, alarm.

So things that are purely escapist, things that are like a fantasy world that has absolutely nothing to do with what's going on right now are hard to enter into. Something like The Pit is instead this incredibly comforting fantasy of Competency. Emergencies that are happening that people can deal with, they care about, and they want to deal with in the best way they possibly can.

So things that are purely escapist, things that are like a fantasy world that has absolutely nothing to do with what's going on right now are hard to enter into. Something like The Pit is instead this incredibly comforting fantasy of Competency. Emergencies that are happening that people can deal with, they care about, and they want to deal with in the best way they possibly can.

So things that are purely escapist, things that are like a fantasy world that has absolutely nothing to do with what's going on right now are hard to enter into. Something like The Pit is instead this incredibly comforting fantasy of Competency. Emergencies that are happening that people can deal with, they care about, and they want to deal with in the best way they possibly can.

The world is a mess, but you don't have to care about that. All you care about is what is in the emergency room in front of you at this moment.

The world is a mess, but you don't have to care about that. All you care about is what is in the emergency room in front of you at this moment.

The world is a mess, but you don't have to care about that. All you care about is what is in the emergency room in front of you at this moment.