the pitt – Breaking News Updates

‘The Pitt’ Star Patrick Ball On His Character’s Shocking Reveal & What Will Happen Next

By Lynette Rice

SPOILER ALERT! This story contains details from the latest episode of The Pitt on Max.

Okay no one expected this kind of trauma in the ER.

On the latest episode of the medical drama from John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill, some disturbing observations by Santos (Isa Briones) lead Robbie (Noah Wyle) to make a drastic change to his staff.

He sends Patrick Ball’s Dr. Frank Langdon packing.

Here, Ball talks about when he learned that his character was carrying some, ahem, excess baggage, along with who helped to inspire his character and what will happen next.

DEADLINE How was the role initially described to you? Specifically, was there any hint about a potential issue with drugs?

PATRICK BALL So initially there was no mention of drugs. That did not come up until later down the line. Langdon was described to me as this doctor everybody loves. This guy is rootin’ tootin’. He comes in the lineage of cowboy medicine. And that’s where I started building … this is a blue collar job. I’m not a hero, I’m not a genius, I’m just doing my job. And then it was brought to my attention later in the process what Langdon might be carrying secretly, what he might be going through secretly. It was cool that I didn’t start with that information, I didn’t start off by trying to create a character who was trying to send up signals of addiction or trauma or anxiety or whatever. I started discovering Langdon through his sense of play and his sense of fun and his sense that he loves this job. The underbelly came in later.

DEADLINE It’s interesting you call him a bit of a cowboy, that he is not a hero or a genius. He strikes me as quite smart and confident.

BALL It is really interesting. Both of my parents are emergency workers. My dad is a lifelong paramedic. My mom is a lifelong ER nurse and they can’t watch medical dramas. They won’t watch because they’re like this doesn’t feel real. And also, whenever I think about my parents, I think, wow, how heroic these people are. They’re literally saving lives every day. But that’s not how my parents think of themselves. They’re just doing their jobs. They’re clocking in every day and it is ditch digging work. I think that’s how Langdon sees it. Another important thing is the compartmentalization of everything. I think he’s somebody who can’t be aware of the emotional impact of what he’s doing. You can’t be aware of like, ‘oh, this is somebody’s son, or this is somebody’s wife, or this is somebody’s brother.’ You have to think, this is a body, this is a problem. That’s what I mean by cowboy medicine.

DEADLINE How do your parents feel about the show?

BALL They love it. I actually happened to be with my parents when the call for the screen test came in and I was down in North Carolina. I was there for a birthday and I was like, ‘oh my gosh, this is my first TV show. I’ve never done anything like this. They’re going to put me on a plane and they’re going to fly me to Hollywood and this is so crazy. Can you all just read the script with me?’ And so we read the pilot and the first thing they said was, ‘this checks out. This medicine checks out. This is what I would do.’ Now they watch it and I get text messages all the time saying how accurate it is, both from my parents and I get nurses and doctors and everybody reaching out, thanking me for finally showing a hospital drama that they can see themselves reflected in, which is amazing.

DEADLINE How has it been learning the medical dialogue?

BALL Yeah, I mean, I’d like to say it’s nuts. It’s sort of like speaking Latin and writing a unicycle and falling in love all at the same time. [Co-EP] Joe Sachs is pretty brutal with some of the language he gives me, but I’m really glad he does because it’s all real. But yeah, there are lot of bloopers out there.

DEADLINE What feels different about this medical show from others that you may have watched?

BALL I say this to Scott Gemmill, the showrunner. I’m like, kudos to you, man. You made a hell of a bet. You gave it to him straight. No chaser. We’re not doing any of the things you’re supposed to do to be popular. Great romantic intrigue. There’s no sex. There are no big starry names other than Noah. Outside of Noah, most of us are new. Our characters don’t go home with people, we don’t get caught up in personal storylines. It is really medicine first. It is the job first. We stripped it all away. There is one set. We don’t have lighting setups, we don’t have dolly tracks. It’s like making a play. We just have a set that we show up to. We’ve got two cameras that are handheld and it’s just focused on people. It’s just focused on telling human stories about real people in a real way.

DEADLINE And how does that feel being in that one room? Do you ever feel claustrophobic?

BALL It’s crazy, but it’s really cool because I show up to work every day at the same place. It’s the same room, same lighting. And also the crazy thing about this show, because it’s all in one day, all the background artists are the same. So if you have a patient who is waiting to be seen sitting in a gurney in the hallway in episode one, they’re probably still waiting and sitting in that gurney in episode 10. And that might be 10 hours for the show, but that’s six months in shooting time. So we have hundreds of background artists who are there every day. And every series regular does background and every background artist is a series regular. It really becomes a family. It becomes a repertory company.

DEADLINE So what is Langdon’s deal with Santos? Is there a little professional jealousy going on here? Does he see that Santos has the goods to be a good doctor?

BALL Jealousy could be part of it. I think she comes in very confident, very sure of her own abilities, which is what you want in a doctor. You want somebody who wants the ball, you want somebody who wants the action. And I think to some degree, Santos probably comes into this workspace in a similar way that Langdon came into this workspace … really out over her skis a little bit. I think there’s a certain amount of reflection there that Langdon may not be aware of. I’ve had therapists tell me if there’s somebody who really just gets under your skin and you can’t really explain it, ask yourself, are any of those things that you don’t like about that person true about you? I think there’s certain amount of that. But if you ask Langdon, the problem comes down to a respect for experience and a respect for expertise. I think Langdon has a lot of respect for the experience and expertise of the people who are senior to him. I think that is a really important conversation to be had, especially in the world today with the attack on expertise that you see happening at the CDC in the White House. This distrust for institutional knowledge and experience is really dangerous. And I think that’s something that LinkedIn is really trying to convince Santos of. Like, look, I think you’re smart, you’re obviously talented, but you’re also new. And there are things that I have learned over the course of my residency that you have, not because you’re less smart or you’re less talented, but because you have not had those experiences. I think that is something that he’s trying to convince Santos of. She really doesn’t want to hear. And I think that if you ask Langdon, that’s the primary root of their tension.

DEADLINE Robbie obviously discovered pills in your locker, but we only see Santos holding empty drug vials. Is that a key detail that we should pay attention to?

BALL That’s for the audience to decide. It comes out that Langdon has been self-medicating through the hospital drug supply. He says you’ve got to take him at his word. He says, I’m never high. I’m not high treating my own withdrawal symptoms so that I can do the job that I need to do. But to what extent is that self-maintenance? How much is he taking to fend off withdrawal symptoms? I think that question is still out there and it’s something that I think is better to be wondered about than answered.

DEADLINE Will we get an answer to that question by the end of this first season?

BALL It is addressed again. But again, I think to Scott’s credit, he’s very spare with what answers he provides, and what insights he gives into the doctor’s personal lives. He doesn’t come out and present you with a tidy thesis or a tidy takeaway. He kind of leaves that for the audience to do. And I don’t want to get in the way of that.

DEADLINE Obviously we don’t want to see you fired from the ER.

BALL Me neither! I want to stay. I love it here.

Get our Breaking News Alerts and Keep your inbox happy.

Comments On Deadline Hollywood are monitored. So don’t go off topic, don’t impersonate anyone, and don’t get your facts wrong.

Comment

Name

Website

Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Get our latest storiesin the feed of your favorite networks

We want to hear from you! Send us a tip using our annonymous form.

site categories

BREAKING NEWS

Services to share this page.

Must Read Stories

Subscribe to Deadline

No Comments

Sidebar

Newswire

Site

‘The Pitt’ Breach Of Contract Battle Between Michael Crichton’s Widow & Warner Bros Discovery Given Official Greenlight By Judge – Update

‘The Pitt’ Renewed For Second Season By Max

Watch on Deadline

Adrien Brody Weighing Options Including Paramount’s ‘Evel Knievel’ Pic

Charli XCX Eyed For Role In Greta Gerwig Narnia Movie For Netflix: The Dish

Paramount Global & CBS Seek Dismissal Of Donald Trump’s ‘60 Minutes’ Lawsuit

‘Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy’ Tops $100M Internationally

Submit a comment

Trending on Deadline

Latest TV News

Joshua Jackson Revisits ‘Dawson’s Creek’ Role In Late Night TV Sketch

‘The Traitors’ Season 3 Winner Crowned On Peacock

Walt Disney Animation Studios Staffers Ratify First Union Contract – Update

Marketplace

Deadline

Legal

Sitemap

Connect with Us

Have a Tip?

Stay in the Know

‘The Pitt’ Episode 10 Ending Explained: Is Dr. Langdon a Drug Addict? Stars Patrick Ball and Isa Briones Break Down That Shocking Twist

The Pitt Episode 10 “4 PM” has perhaps the most devastating shocker of an ending yet, and this is a MAX show that’s already left poor charge nurse Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa) bleeding on the concrete outside the hospital! Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) decides to take Dr. Santos’s (Isa Briones) concerns about Dr. Langdon (Patrick Ball) seriously. When Dr. Robby gets to the heartbreaking truth about Langdon, it feels like a stunning blow of betrayal.

**Spoilers for The Pitt Episode 10 “4 PM,” now streaming on MAX**

The end of The Pitt Episode 10 “4 PM” confirms that Santos’s suspicions are correct: Dr. Langdon has been stealing prescription painkillers from his own patients.

So what exactly comes next? Does this mean that Dr. Langdon is gone from PTMH for good? How long did actors Noah Wyle, Patrick Ball, and Isa Briones know that this twist was coming? And does this mean that everyone should be nicer to Santos now?

Here’s everything DECIDER learned about the explosive end to The Pitt Episode 10 “4 PM” on MAX…

Yes, Dr. Langdon has a dependency on prescription painkillers. More damning, however, is the fact that he’s been stealing drugs from his own patients. This double whammy prompts a massive argument between Robby and Langdon, culminating in Langdon’s firing.

When DECIDER caught up with Pitt star Patrick Ball recently, he revealed that he was clued into Langdon’s secret struggle as early as his first screen test. He was given the scene between Dr. Robby and Dr. Langdon by the lockers as part of his audition.

“So I knew it was coming all along and they were clear that it was going to sort of come to a head in [Episode] 10, but I had no idea what was going to happen between [Episodes] 1 and 10,” he said, before going on to praise series creator and showrunner R. Scott Gemmill.

“Figuring out how to how to thread that needle was really cool and really a testament to Scott Gemmill, the showrunner, because I think he did a really amazing job of not making it overwrought or sending up a bunch of signals or circling everything with a big marker,” Ball told DECIDER. “He allowed it to sort of come out subtly, which was cool.”

Langdon continues to argue, deflect, beg, and plead with a devastated Dr. Robby, pointing out he was given a prescription by their “own Dr. Hagan” and that he’s been “weaning” himself off. It’s a scenario that TV nerds might recognize from another Noah Wyle medical drama, only with the roles reversed. In the ER Season 6 finale, “May Day,” it’s discovered that Wyle’s Dr. Carter has been secretly and illegally injecting pain meds and an emotional intervention is staged.

“You know, it’s so crazy. We watched two shows in my house growing up. We watched The West Wing and we watched ER. We put it in the schedule every week. And now I get to work with those guys, which is crazy,” Ball said. “But in getting ready to do this show, I was really intentional. I was like, ‘I don’t want to go back and watch ER.’”

Ball didn’t want John Wells, Noah Wyle, and Scott Gemmill’s last gritty medical drama influencing him “either consciously or subconsciously.” But before his second audition, he acquiesced and watched “one random episode.” It turned out to be “May Day.”

“Which was crazy because at that point, I did not even know that this was going to be part of my story,” Ball said. “Then we then we got to actually doing the scene. It was amazing.”

“Noah is an incredible actor and he’s an incredible scene partner. He’s a really amazing mentor and has become a really good friend. You know, this is my first TV show, this was my first time doing this, and he’s like really sort of taken me under his wing. And so when we got to have that big blow out scene, it was… God, it was my dream come true.”

Another reason why this reveal is upsetting is The Pitt‘s made Langdon by and large a likable, upstanding character. Santos, on the other hand, has been ruffling feathers on The Pitt. Her investigation into Langdon seems at first to be simply sour grapes, since the older resident refuses to let Santos have her way.

“I think it’s funny because there are a lot of similarities. He’s a very cocky doctor himself and so is she,” Isa Briones said. “So I think from the beginning, it’s like there’s animosity there and it’s always him kind of being like,’ You’re being too bold,’ and Santos being like, ‘He’s always shutting me down.’ And there’s validity to both of those things.”

Ball said, “I think maybe on some level he sees her as a threat. Like, you know, she is sort of sniffing around and he does have skeletons in the closet. And so that could be a scary thing.”

“I also think he sees himself in her, whether consciously or unconsciously,” he said. “She comes into this space very much confident, sort of out over her skis and being like, ‘I’m going to be the star.’ And I think Langdon probably came in in a similar way.”

Briones also warned that she didn’t think that Santos “being right” would be “the win for her maybe she wants.”

“Because at the end of the day, someone’s getting fired who is beloved in the ED,” Briones said. “I think there is, in the world, a tendency to believe a man who’s being really nice, who is maybe doing the wrong thing, and not believe a woman who has evidence.”

“She’s not going to feel like, ‘Wow, I win!’ It’s like, ‘Okay, and what now?’ Like, people are going to blame me?”

Langdon’s officially out of the ER on The Pitt, but is Briones right? Will things continue to be difficult for Santos?

We’ll just have to keep watching The Pitt on MAX to find out…

Entertainment News

The Pitt Episode 10 Ending Explained: Is Dr. Langdon a Drug Addict? Is Langdon Fired?

Solve the daily Crossword

The Pitt’s Patrick Ball Breaks Down Langdon’s Addiction Reveal — Including Clues That Hinted at Twist (Exclusive)

The Pitt slowly hinted that Patrick Ball‘s character, Langdon, was stealing drugs from the hospital — but somehow it still came as a surprise when the show confirmed his addiction.

During the Thursday, March 6, episode of Max’s hit medical series, Dr. Santos (Isa Briones) expressed her concerns to Robby (Noah Wyle) about missing pills and a tampered bottle of Lorazepam. Robby confronted Langdon about the discrepancy, which led to the senior resident being dismissed from his position at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital.

“All credit goes to our creator R. Scott Gemmill and the writers because it’s never who you think when it comes to addiction,” Ball exclusively told Us Weekly about Langdon acknowledging his problem. “Addiction is a disease and it’s a disease that a lot of people fight with — including a lot of people I know.”

Ball noted the intention behind making Robby’s right-hand man the one secretly struggling, adding, “People don’t come out and tell you that they’re an addict. The person might not be the one hunched over in a chair. It might be the quarterback of the football team. You don’t know what the person across from you is going through.”

According to the actor, the writers’ room was “really great about being really measured” in the hints and clues leading to the reveal.

“[It was also about] making sure that we depict this addiction as accurately and humanely and responsibly as possible,” he continued. “It’s just been an incredible pleasure and honor to get to be part of telling that story.”

The Pitt, which premiered in January, introduced Us to a group of employees at a fictional hospital working a single 15-hour emergency department shift. While Langdon quickly formed a professional bond with Dr. Mel King (Taylor Dearden), he wasn’t as receptive to mentoring Dr. Santos. The intern subsequently came to pick up on Langdon’s questionable behavior — but the signs were there all along for viewers, as well.

“He refers to having hurt his back while helping his parents move and that is frequently the case. He goes to a doctor who gives him pain meds and then those are habit-forming pain meds. This happens all the time. This happens with people that I know that are very, very high functioning,” Ball explained. “You see this opioid problem that is just riddling itself all across this country. It’s really sad because it’s not people that ever set out to become addicts. It’s people that trust and that get caught in a trap. That’s part of what happened with Langdon.”

Off screen, Ball used his personal connection to the story line to help build upon Langdon’s characterization.

“I’ve got someone in my life who is the star of the family, ran the family farm and then blew out his knee working one day. He goes to a doctor, gets put on pain meds and then it’s just a slippery slope and it just really takes control of your life,” he detailed. “There’s also an element that this sort of self-medicating is something that is not uncommon amongst emergency workers. Every day they deal with a lot of trauma and a lot of unprocessed feelings of their own. It’s not uncommon for people to self-medicate when put in that situation.”

He continued: “So being able to raise awareness to that in a way that isn’t like, ‘Oh, this is a junkie doctor.’ It’s like, ‘No, this is your doctor and this is your neighbor and this is your sister that may be going through this.’ It’s been really cool [to represent that].”

The reveal about Langdon also vindicates Dr. Santos. Before Thursday’s episode, Briones, 26, spoke to Us about how viewers may be judging her character too quickly considering she was correct in her concerns regarding Langdon.

“Not everyone is going to like Santos. But it is funny that when I’ve talked to people — even on set — they would be like, ‘Oh, you’re such a tattletale.’ At the end of the day though, this was something wrong that was going on and she exposed it,” Briones told Us. “Obviously she has a very aggressive way about her and can be pretty arrogant. Her carrying herself that way leads people to being kind of like, ‘What the hell are you doing? Stay in your lane.’ But at the end of the day, it was something that was wrong and needed to be reported. It is illegal.”

Briones was relieved to see that Santos was right, adding, “It’s a cool moment for the audience to be like, ‘OK, maybe that was right of her. I don’t like her. I don’t like what she did but maybe she was correct.’ It will also make the audience ask themselves what was their bias there? People wanted to really like him but then if Langdon is doing something wrong then why are they choosing to cover up for a man instead of believing a woman. That’s what made that story line very interesting.”

Regardless of what side of the conversation each viewer falls under, Ball’s performance has received praise by critics and fans alike. Ball was excited to have The Pitt be his first TV role — aside from a quick Law & Order guest spot.

“It was absolutely perfect. I couldn’t dream of a better first TV show. I’ve spent a little over 10 years doing theater, doing plays and this is the perfect place for a theater person. We move fast. And I’ve been told that the way it normally goes is actors go back to their little trailer and then the crew set up the lights and they set up the dolly and they set up all this,” he explained. “Then they go fetch the actors, who come out and [after they film their scene they] then they go back to the trailer. But with this, there’s none of that.”

Ball highlighted how there was “no backstage” on a show like The Pitt.

“We are all in all the time. All the crew is on set with us and it creates just this mass. You’re just part of the world. Once you’re in it, you’re just in it and everybody’s in it with you,” he gushed. “There’s no time to get in your head. We will rehearse, then we’ll shoot, then we’ll go straight into rehearsal, then we’ll shoot again and there’s no break.”

New episodes of The Pitt premiere on Max every Thursday.

By signing up, I agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive emails from Us Weekly

US WEEKLY HAS AFFILIATE PARTNERSHIPS SO WE MAY RECEIVE COMPENSATION FOR SOME LINKS TO PRODUCTS AND SERVICES.