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For Sale Apr 13, 2026 at 1:31 PM

"The Pitt" vs. Its Fandom -- Why is the show's vocal fandom putting characters on trial to be deemed “good” or “bad"?

Posted by MCJokeExplainer

Really enjoyed this from longtime Chicago Tribune critic Nina Metz. I've been thinking a lot about how this feels like a really traditional TV show from a bygone era (with, of course, some modern conventions), and you don't get a lot of shows like that anymore. It's interesting to see Metz connect that to broader trends in media consumption. I think this chunk kind of sums it up: >Yes, the characters and their connections are important. But “The Pitt” is a snapshot of their worklife on one day, there’s only so much interpersonal drama the story can support. If viewers want more, there are 22 seasons and counting of “Grey’s Anatomy” for the watching.  >That’s not what “The Pitt” is doing, and applying this kind of fandom energy to it is screwy. >I think it’s happening because some viewers don’t know *how* to watch a show like this, because they have no real experience with it. I have to assume they grew up primarily watching streaming shows that were written as puzzles to be solved, with a narrative culminating in winners and losers.  >Has that warped expectations? Or *how* younger generations engage with storylines? >Here’s one observation I saw: >*The problem with most critical thinking today — whether watching TV or movies or reading books or whatever — is that most people think good creators are trying to deliver answers, when they’re really just posing interesting open-ended questions. This doesn't necessarily mean they aren't guiding your feelings and emotions toward certain possibilities or themes, but merely that you should never feel settled in one perspective.*
"The Pitt" vs. its fandom
buttondown.com
"The Pitt" vs. its fandom
Why is the show's vocal fandom putting "The Pitt's" characters on trial to be deemed “good” or “bad"?
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battleofmtbubble Apr 13, 2026 +2190
The worst thing a TV creator can do is listen to their online audience. Keep the core focus. Stay the course. Don’t listen to the fandoms.
2190
charliefoxtrot9 Apr 13, 2026 +327
No fan service!
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Fuddle Apr 13, 2026 +206
Except for medical professionals, keep up that realism
206
lipp79 Apr 13, 2026 +54
I would love to be a special effects/makeup artist working on this show. I bet they have so much fun.
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Hesitation-Marx Apr 13, 2026 +37
I used to be so jealous of the people who created the “meals” for Hannibal, because hot damn, they were having the time of their lives. I can only imagine how much fun The Pitt would be to work on.
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lipp79 Apr 13, 2026 +33
Here's a [behind the scenes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-8AkwU3qKE) where they talk about how they did a prosthetic for a patient whose chest they cracked open. Side note: it's so weird to hear Whitaker talk in his normal British accent.
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Wise_Guitar2059 Apr 13, 2026 +8
Supriya and Taylor talked about the p**** scene. They were given one flaccid and one fully erect one.
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Hesitation-Marx Apr 13, 2026 +7
I haven’t been able to see The Pitt yet! *covers ears, drops phone and covers eyes instead*
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CornflakeJustice Apr 13, 2026 +7
They published a cookbook about how they did it! With recipes too, surprisingly little human flesh though.
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Hesitation-Marx Apr 13, 2026 +5
Barefoot Contessa: “If you can’t source home-slaughtered human flesh, store-bought pork is fine.”
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Joessandwich Apr 13, 2026 +6
I distinctly remember an interview with the special effects person on the pilot and first seasons of ER. Before then, emergency medicine had never been portrayed accurately. He said they had real ER doctors on set who would look at the amount of blood and kept telling them to add more. They quickly realized they’d have to up the budget for blood because the reality was so much more intense than anyone ever realized.
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keepfighting90 Apr 13, 2026 +191
Westworld was ruined because Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy made the mistake of listening to the audience, and trying too hard to create a complex plot that would confuse viewers instead of just...telling a good story. The first season, when they just followed their artistic instincts, is one of the single best seasons of TV ever.
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vincoug Apr 13, 2026 +26
I didn't watch Westworld but that wasn't due to then listening to the audience, was it? I thought they were annoyed/angry that the audience figured out the clues regarding some mystery so they arbitrarily changed it.
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Drakengard Apr 13, 2026 +89
Paying close attention to your audience such that you're annoyed they figured out your twist is still "listening to your audience". It's a very twisted and stupid way of listening, but it's still listening.
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Sptsjunkie Apr 13, 2026 +10
Agree, I think it's just semantics. It's not that the audience complained or gave suggestions and they changed their plans. They just tried to hard to fool and outsmart the top 1% of their superfans who were dissecting screenshots on Listnook and Twitter. And they wound up creating something super engaging for that 1%, but alienating for the other 99% who just wanted to tune in and see a good story. I think it's cool for creators to listen to what superfans are saying. And frankly some even have cool ideas they may want to consider. But ultimately, they need to write a great story and if they have done so and left some good clues and foreshadowing of the ending, they need to be at peace with the fact that some of that top 1% of fans might actually pick up on those and figure out the end. That's a feature of great storytelling and not a bug.
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-XanderCrews- Apr 13, 2026 +49
The fans are stupid. We want everything all at once and expect it to be perfect despite the fact we all have different views of what we want to happen. We are not to be taken seriously.
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pumpkinspruce Apr 13, 2026 +48
That reminds me of Veronica Mars and just how involved (and over-involved) the show’s creator was with fandom. He used to post at TWoP (where most of the online fandom was). At first it was all happy happy, but then when the show took a turn that the fans didn’t like, it got ugly fast.
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In_My_Own_Image Apr 13, 2026 +31
Or how Arrow dropped in quality so damn fast when the new showrunner, Marc Guggenheim, started interacting with and listening to the fandom.
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pepperpavlov Apr 13, 2026 +5
The show runners on the OC also took TWoP criticism way too seriously
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pumpkinspruce Apr 13, 2026 +5
Sorkin wrote the Lemon Lyman plot on West Wing as a response to discussion on the TWoP forum. That site was really influential back in the day.
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throwtheclownaway20 Apr 13, 2026 +22
Biggest case in point: Marc Guggenheim, showrunnner of Arrow. He let Tumblr get in his head and just completely steamrolled the actual Green Arrow mythos so that he could put their favorite self-insert, Felicity Smoak, front & center for most of the show's 8 seasons. By the time they attempted to correct that, it was already too late.
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TimeySwirls Apr 13, 2026 +9
You’re right but I wouldn’t blame tumblr for that one, it was a concentrated and vocal group of people on Twitter, the platform where Guggenheim and other producers were most active, who constantly posted and created the illusion that the shows active fanbase wanted that. That was such a shame, the pilot and first season were so good and then the show just never understood where it wanted to go.
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PainStorm14 Apr 14, 2026 +7
Arrow is a textbook example of epic fuckup
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TheMooseIsBlue Apr 13, 2026 +8
If any of us were good at show running, we’d be show runners. I mean, all of the fans are entitled to our opinions about how a show should be made, but so are the people who are making it.
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Pwalex Apr 13, 2026 +35
Totally. That's how you end up with botched moments like the ending of Game of Thrones (choices were made simply because they wanted to surprise the audience that had already made guesses), or the later seasons of Westworld.
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SiliconDiver Apr 13, 2026 +28
> surprise the audience I don’t think this was the issue with GOT. They ran out of source material, but they got some general direction from GRRM of how the story would go. I genuinely think that what they did is the correct rough story line/ending that GGRM had in mind. The issue is that the pacing was all over the place and few if the decisions were foreshadowed or led up to. - knight king builds up for seasons, dies in one battle. - dany just snaps in one episode. - Jamie going back to cercei - brans whole storyline. I can complain about the broad strokes storylines, but the issue was much more how rushed it all was when a lot of it wasn’t set up. Even one of the key twists (Jon’s heritage) is something book readers speculated about for years, but I don’t think it would be as popular a theory if it was just show watchers because there were so many less subtle hints and clues, it sort of just happened.
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Sandwichsensei Apr 13, 2026 +22
Idk, there was a lot of talk from the showrunners about “subverting expectations” and how they did want to make surprises for the audience. There is a lot of rushed story at the end for sure but there is some merit to the comment about surprising the audience.
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fireandiceofsong Apr 13, 2026 +14
To be fair, GOT and its source material was built on surprising its audience. Like even GRRM admitted that the big deaths at the end of S1 and S3 were there specifically to subvert people's expectations on where the story was actually headed. I recall someone brought up a good point that these twists work as mid story points because they generate excitement for where the plot will go next but they don't work as an actual ending or climax to the story, and that's where it falls apart.
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someone447 Apr 13, 2026 +17
>dany just snaps in one episode. It wasn't just one episode though. One of the first thing she does when she gets to Westeros is burn Sam's family for not bending the knee. She could, and should, have kept them in prison and held them for ransom or prisoner exchange. She didn't just "snap" she had been cracking for a long time.
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SiliconDiver Apr 13, 2026 +17
It’s partially true. In the books (that exist) there is a MUCH stronger allusion to this, constantly talking about the fine line between greatness and insanity, how Targaryens were a coin flip, drawing parallels to the mad king and the foreshadowing of Jamie’s choice to what Jon did In the shows, we got maybe a scene like that, but it’s not really led up to as much, so as a viewer you are left sometimes thinking “harsh, but monarchs have to be ruthless sometimes” rather than, “she’s totally lost her grip on humanity/reality”
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Yukie_Cool Apr 13, 2026 +6
There’s also a whole plot line in the books that’s dropped in the show where the first Targaryen to come claim the iron throne isn’t Dany, it’s (implied to be) a Blackfyre descendent that she’s had multiple dreams about already. With the realms tired of war and seeking stability, it makes sense they’d be more amenable to someone who claims to be the former heir’s son. It equally makes sense that when Dany comes knocking with her dragons and she sees this pretender on her throne and a realm full of ungrateful people who would pick a pretender over her, she snaps and sacks King’s Landing.
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pumpkinspruce Apr 13, 2026 +6
The ending of Game of Thrones was given to the writers by Martin. At least the main beats anyway.
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MaleficentOstrich693 Apr 13, 2026 +5
For real. They don’t know what they want and what they do want is usually lame.
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BYoungNY Apr 13, 2026 +3
Yes. I love the fact that the camera never leaves the building. Theres so much to be said about the theater of the mind filling in the blanks if what happened between season one and two.
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maqij Apr 13, 2026 +11
Tell that to the creators of How I Met Your Mother.
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Paddlesons Apr 13, 2026 +660
Most people are pretty simple white hat black hat types. That gets turbo charged online.
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TheMooseIsBlue Apr 13, 2026 +233
And that doesn’t work in a show like this that really doesn’t have heroes or villains. It’s more like how the world actually works and there are just people who sometimes make good choices and sometimes make bad choices. But even with that, what’s good and what’s bad is usually subjective. Usually art presents a hero and a villain. A protagonist and antagonists. But this is a show that doesn’t really attempt to make anybody the bad guy.
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Chataboutgames Apr 13, 2026 +183
It's funny because the worst Doctor on this show lives in a way that's more self sacrificing/helpful than like 99.9999% of the planet. Like I'll talk about how Santos is an a****** all day, but I wouldn't call her a bad person.
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mfranko88 Apr 13, 2026 +101
100%. Santos has some baggage and I'm not sure I would want to work with her, and I'm not sure I could be friends with her. But that's just a personality conflict. That isn't an indictment in her character. She is highly competent overall. Not perfect, but overall good at her job. If this show were the real world, the world is better off with her as a doctor than not.
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jayne-eerie Apr 13, 2026 +67
Santos is abrasive but she’s also right about some things. Langdon got a relatively light penalty considering he was stealing patients’ medication. He was suspended and went to rehab, and he mentioned that his wife almost left him, but that’s nothing compared to the fact he could have lost his license. And then Santos, who is the only person who knows what happened and didn’t have a preexisting relationship with Langdon to soften her view, is completely dismissed. The doctor she was hooking up with even says, “I’m in this for sex and ramen, not your icky emotions.” I wouldn’t particularly want her in my life either, but she has reasons to feel the way she does.
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Ink_Smudger Apr 13, 2026 +28
Ironically, I think she has a bit of a "white hat black hat" thing herself. Yes, what Langdon did was shitty and irresponsible, but that doesn't make him irredeemable, an ineffective doctor, or a bad person. We're shown he's a capable and talented healer even as recently as this week's episode, and he seems to be taking his recovery seriously. I think Santos has a strong sense of justice due to whatever trauma is in her past (as also shown by the patient she threatened last season), but it also seems like she's taking things personally due to him not getting the punishment she feels he deserves.
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CallSignIceMan Apr 14, 2026 +4
I feel like that’s a super understandable way to feel, though. To her, he’s not a character on a show who’s flawed but likable, he’s her boss who she caught stealing drugs on her first day and was a huge a****** to her.
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Coolbluegatoradeyumm Apr 13, 2026 +23
She’s not wrong but many of these things are not her decision decisions to make. She just kind of has to live with what she has.
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jayne-eerie Apr 13, 2026 +17
Yeah, I’d agree with that. Stewing over it for 10 months has not done her any good.
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CrissBliss Apr 13, 2026 +19
Reminds me of House too. He’s a good diagnostician, who saved a lot of people, but he was also a disaster in her personal life.
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matt1267 Apr 13, 2026 +58
Santos is just clearly a really damaged person. She was sexually abused growing up, and engages in cutting. She's an a****** as a self-defense mechanism because she has a hard time being vulnerable. We can call her out on her assholishness, but its because we want her to get to a better place. Anyone who thinks she's somehow a bad person just needs every character in a good- or bad-person box
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Chataboutgames Apr 13, 2026 +53
I mean, I can also call her out for being an a****** just because I find assholes tiresome. She's a fictional character, I'm enjoying her story but what I say about her literally has zero impact on the place she gets to, because she isn't real and I don't know her lol. The point is, finding her to be an a****** isn't casting moral aspersions. You can be a rude/irritating person and still spend your whole day doing good for the world.
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DrexlSpivey420 Apr 13, 2026 +14
I feel like everybody has also forgotten despite her being an "a******", she opens up her home to Whitaker after seeing he's living at the hospital. Most assholes would tell him he's on his own 🤔
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keepfighting90 Apr 13, 2026 +12
Yeah the discourse around Santos is crazy. I think she's annoying and not someone I would want to work with in a hypothetical real life scenario, but she's far, far from being a bad person and she actually has some understandable root causes behind why she is the way she is.
12
Clarknt67 Apr 13, 2026 +66
I don’t think this is unique to the Pitt. Half the discourse on this sub is “The character is a terrible person.” And “Here’s why this character isn’t a terrible person.” And “Here’s why this villain is actually good. And “Here’s why this hero is bad.” I am decrying it. It invites in a lot of interesting examinations of morality and philosophy. Especially on an elevated show like Mad Men where characters tend to be very ambiguous morally. **ETA: Big typo. I am NOT decrying it.**
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Chataboutgames Apr 13, 2026 +48
So many people think they're so f****** clever looking back on sitcoms and determining "DAE this character, who buy definition was required to be involved in dramatically interesting content for hundreds of episodes, was a bad person?"
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Astroradical Apr 13, 2026 +14
People love stating the obvious. "The friends from Friends are terrible friends!" What's next, "The office from The Office is actually a bad office?"
14
CosmackMagus Apr 13, 2026 +5
I feel like a lot of this comes from people who were really young when the shows began, and didn't really think to deeply about it. Cause those are, like, the basis of the shows.
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Clarknt67 Apr 13, 2026 +17
The thing that bugs me the most is criticizing shows for not being simple morality plays. “It’s terrible Tony Soprano glorifies violence and crime.” As though all entertainment should be an after school special where everyone sees the error of their ways and hugs it out by the time credits roll.
17
OCDCantCatchMe Apr 13, 2026 +7
It’s a lot of chronically online holier than thou, but they just wind up looking a little dim.
7
7thpostman Apr 13, 2026 +18
This part. HIMYM fans are some of the worst about this. Yes, they all do awful or goofy stuff. Because without conflict there's no show.
18
[deleted] Apr 13, 2026 +6
[deleted]
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myman580 Apr 13, 2026 +5
Also it makes me laugh whenever people do this moral grandstanding with sitcoms where their worst characteristics are upped to near max to create funny situations.
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p-r-i-m-e Apr 13, 2026 +17
Its not this sub. It’s social media in general. Very easy to reduce human complexity down as a casual observer and cognitive biases make people apply much harsher judgement at distance.
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TheRaido Apr 13, 2026 +6
It is, but at the same time they’re already have reduced the human complexity as it’s a series, with actors, written by people. It’s not a capture of real life, everything you see isn’t random.
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ranch_brotendo Apr 13, 2026 +20
Even discussion of Breaking Bad that boils down to Walter was bad actually- or Walt vs Skyler is fundamentally uninteresting. LIke yeah of course hes bad! Of course hes worse than the wife. The show is about a bad guy . Thats the entry level analysis.
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pumpkinspruce Apr 13, 2026 +10
The discussion should never be “is this character good or bad,” as in are they evil or not. The discussion should always be “are they a good character,” as in “is this person a well-written character rather than a trope or a cardboard cutout with no personality.” Evil characters can still be well-rounded characters.
10
Really_McNamington Apr 13, 2026 +9
Character analysis is the lowest rung of criticism. It's what you get asked about books you study when you're 12. Gets no traction at all once education gets harder.
9
magus678 Apr 13, 2026 +9
AITAH is enormously popular for the same reasons; this kind of dialogue is basically just gossip with a different overlay. Perhaps unsurprisingly, social media attracts the hypersocial.
9
Extreme_Objective984 Apr 13, 2026 +3
here is the the other thing people forget. People are neither good or bad. They are just people, they can do morally bad things, but they can also do morally good things. People aren't black or white. Nor should they be, they are nuanced.
3
JeanVicquemare Apr 13, 2026 +4
agreed, and there's also this trend online of people having to moralize their dislike of anything. People don't just say "I don't like the way this plot is going," or "I don't like this guy" - It's always, "I don't like this and here's why it is morally bad and wrong." Then they're usually reaching for something to make themselves morally right for not liking it
4
Extension-While7536 Apr 13, 2026 +24
And social media thrives on creating division.  Rage bait works for a reason.
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DiligentTradition734 Apr 13, 2026 +392
My favorite question I saw was someone asking why Robby is still in the hospital since its 8pm and past his shift as if Robby didnt spell it out to Duke last episode lol. Its become more apparent that people just watch shows and movies with a phone in hand..otherwise that kind of question wouldn't even need to be asked lol. He wasn't subtle at all about why.
392
iggyfenton Apr 13, 2026 +153
It was obvious to me in episode 5. >!There are subtitle signs when someone is starting to say goodbye forever and Robby was just doing enough of them to trigger my “ohhh”. !<
153
luigiamarcella Apr 13, 2026 +114
He finally directly gave a reason he was staying out loud even for the audience who couldn’t pick up on the (not even subtle) hints that he was reluctant to leave in the first place.
114
agzz21 Apr 13, 2026 +47
The constant excuses why he can't leave yet through at least half the season.
47
Hank_Scorpio_ObGyn Apr 13, 2026 +16
Yep. I think he even listed out a bunch of reasons why he can't leave...all bullshit of course but he truly doesn't want to leave. As he said in the last episode, the ED is the only thing that makes him have purpose.
16
DiligentTradition734 Apr 13, 2026 +104
Yea. There's been hints since the first season. Not even really hints. >!Last season came across as more so depression but not outright suicidal until towards the latter half, but season 2 is full on Robby wearing a neon vest that says suicidal lol!<
104
SingleMaltLife Apr 13, 2026 +61
It was the rooftop scenes last series that made me think he wasn’t that far from making a decision then and there.
61
saltymuffaca Apr 13, 2026 +53
I saw an article about it this morning. Collins and Langdon, his closest coworkers, both left at the end of last season and that isolated him even more over the 9 (?) months. Jake's girlfriend dying also resulted in him losing Jake too. The Robby we're seeing in S2 is the loneliest he's ever been.
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Ink_Smudger Apr 13, 2026 +12
And you can also see him pushing people away that would otherwise have been good support for him to lean on.
12
Absurd_Pork Apr 13, 2026 +18
One of those hints in S1 when Robby quoted "One must imagine Sisyphus Happy", a reference to the essay "The Myth of Sisyphus" by Camus. One of the central themes of the Essay is "The Question of Suicide". Robby has been thinking about this shit in depth for quite some time.
18
iggyfenton Apr 13, 2026 +23
He was depressed at the end of one. But it seemed like a reaction to the mass shooting. But this is was different and yeah they’ve spelled it out clearly now.
23
ernyc3777 Apr 13, 2026 +30
He was showing PTSD in the opening of the first episode. He had a flashback to the dying patient before the show even began.
30
Hank_Scorpio_ObGyn Apr 13, 2026 +5
Yeah that was his mentor. His Dr. Benton in the show.
5
vintell Apr 13, 2026 +12
I feel like a lot of people forget that the day of the MCI was the anniversary of Adamson’s death, the first time he’d been able to bring himself to work it at all since it happened. On that anniversary, he found his ex had been pregnant with his child and terminated it and he’d had no idea, his mentee had betrayed his trust and had an addiction that he again had no idea about, and then in addition to it being the day his father figure died, his son figure ended their relationship over an extreme trauma that also affected Robby. With this being a 10 month time skip and his bike trip supposed to take 3 months, that puts the anniversary of all that during his trip … that’s definitely not a coincidence. The anniversary effect is so real, I think he genuinely can’t face that date in particular coming up 
12
QuietShipper Apr 13, 2026 +7
I saw someone saying that Robby wanting to fix everything before he leaves and being worried the place will fall apart without him is a narcissistic trait (they clarify they don't think he has NPD, just traits, but still).
7
fireinthesky7 Apr 13, 2026 +11
Whoever said that has never met a healthcare provider.
11
iggyfenton Apr 13, 2026 +4
Yeah. Setting things right before you go and worrying about the people you leave behind are two key signs someone is suicidal. There are two reasons he won’t do it. 1) He isn’t happy like the weight of the world is off his shoulders and everything is better. That happens right before they do it. 2) It’s a TV show and they need him to make money.
4
zedascouves1985 Apr 13, 2026 +13
Also we saw the new student doctor leaving in the 12th episode, she doesn't want burnout. All the others are giving their extra because there was a crisis and they have to work overtime. And Robby has all that baggage. He's clearly suicidal and other characters have picked up on this. The audience should've as well, there were 3 different conversations at least where this appeared.
13
The_Bitter_Bear Apr 13, 2026 +31
People shit on the constant exposition in some newer shows but when they don't that's what happens and then other folks who can't go an hour without their phone complain about the show.  Personally, now if I see complaints a show or movie is confusing/they get lost. I'm definitely giving it a watch because more often than not, it just actually requires paying attention the whole time. 
31
dspman11 Apr 13, 2026 +21
Always better to have less. Let the idiots be confused
21
ExtraGloves Apr 13, 2026 +5
Also. It’s completely normal for people in many jobs to stay late occasionally. This show is one day. If it were a daily show sure but everyone’s stayed overtime at some point.
5
MuptonBossman Apr 13, 2026 +208
It's so weird to me that a show like The Pitt has such a vocal fandom about the morality of characters, when the majority of characters on the show are doctors who are saving people's lives.
208
Iosis Apr 13, 2026 +58
Black and white thinking is rampant online, both about fictional characters and real people. You can see it all over the place anywhere someone asks for social or relationship advice: the insistence that if someone has wronged you once, that defines them forever. If someone lies to you, then they are a Liar, and Liars will always lie, so you can never trust them again. That kind of thing. It makes online discussion about any fictional media where characters are nuanced and layered absolutely excruciating.
58
Careless-Degree Apr 13, 2026 +96
Virtue signaling is way more important than outcomes, intent, or saving lives.  They don’t even start their codes with indigenous land acknowledgments - these doctors aren’t serious people who care. 
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luigiamarcella Apr 13, 2026 +16
I snorted at your second paragraph.
16
JoeM3120 Apr 13, 2026 +13
“May I ask for your pronouns, first?” “He just died.”
13
Tackit286 Apr 14, 2026 +4
Errrm it’s *they* just died actually.
4
ExtraGloves Apr 13, 2026 +7
People will do or say anything online to feel relevant and like they belong somewhere. See politics.
7
SureNeedleworker2363 Apr 13, 2026 +414
Fandom is so f****** annoying. I wish people could enjoy things without turning them into their wholeass annoying personality.;
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[deleted] Apr 13, 2026 +113
[deleted]
113
nabrok Apr 13, 2026 +15
I like subs for shows which are over. I don't really pay much attention to subs for current shows.
15
keepfighting90 Apr 13, 2026 +22
I love Severance and The Pitt but I had to get off both shows' subs because the fandom is *unhinged*. I actually prefer discussing shows on r/television because it's a more general audience who watch a lot of different things and have more neutral/normal opinions instead of being unhealthily attached to a single TV show.
22
Glup_Maclunkey Apr 13, 2026 +48
Every once in a while I'll check in on a random episode thread and immediately regret it. Every thread: "This is the best thing ever." "This is the worst thing ever." "Yaaaasss queen slayyyyy." "This didn't go how I thought it was going to so I'm mad." "Not [character] [doing thing]." "I'm so here for this." "Why did [thing that was clearly explained] happen?" Everybody is probably a bot, but still.
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[deleted] Apr 13, 2026 +29
[deleted]
29
Glup_Maclunkey Apr 13, 2026 +23
"Something hasn't been explained yet. PLOT HOLE!!!"
23
gimpisgawd Apr 13, 2026 +6
I checked out a thread about the Malcolm In The Middle revival, someone called a plot hole on something he had explained about 3 minutes into the episode.
6
Drawmeomg Apr 13, 2026 +28
I don’t think they’re bots - I think this is the genuine state of media literacy in 2026. It’s awful.  (Yes, I am shaking my cane at a cloud right now, how did you know?)
28
hill-o Apr 13, 2026 +20
The ones that make me crazy are the constant "so and so is a bad character because I don't like them". Like what? Why should you, specifically, like every character? That's so goofy?
20
Glup_Maclunkey Apr 13, 2026 +13
There's also, "This bad guy says bad things and that means the writers support what he says".
13
ATCrow0029 Apr 13, 2026 +8
Also, no matter how fair or progressive a show is, someone will accuse the creators or characters of racism, sexism, ableism, some kind of -ism.
8
dreffen Apr 13, 2026 +5
You *wish* they were bots. That’s people who sit next to you at work, or on a train.
5
Chataboutgames Apr 13, 2026 +13
It's a bummer. I think to talk about things like TV shows more and in greater depth then my IRL friends, so hypothetically discussion boards are great! In practice, I have never joined a television sub that didn't feel like an asylum.
13
dannygloversghost Apr 13, 2026 +10
Agree. And social media just makes it worse, because it gamifies and commodifies “takes.” Online “discussions” aren’t really discussions as much as they’re contests to see who can get the most likes, the most engagement, etc, and making bold declarative statements grounded in politics, social justice, etc. is one of the best ways to do that.
10
MrMaxwellLordJLI Apr 13, 2026 +25
Something has happened that goes beyond that. I remember when even the most dedicated of fan could see different layers to a character and understood shades of grey and had far, far better critical thinking and didn’t expect a homogenized security blanket out if every piece of art. Something really bad happened to an entire generation’s ability to think critically about art and I can’t pinpoint what exactly it is.
25
Chataboutgames Apr 13, 2026 +48
> > Something really bad happened to an entire generation’s ability to think critically about art and I can’t pinpoint what exactly it is. I don't know that I would call it a generational thing, but decades of "STEM is all that matters liberal arts are dumb" followed by "why can't anyone engage in critical thinking" is no coincidence.
48
Analogmon Apr 13, 2026 +19
Short form content happened.
19
SureNeedleworker2363 Apr 13, 2026 +18
Echo chambers. Entitlement. I dunno. I think the internet and social media have soured everything. Sports, politics, art.
18
Cromasters Apr 13, 2026 +7
Tumblr SuperWhoLock fandoms have spread to everything
7
Slimee Apr 13, 2026 +13
Preach. Just gets worse and worse with each new IP
13
Al_Tilly_the_Bum Apr 13, 2026 +184
I watch The Pitt because I want to see highly competent doctors and nurses save lives. I also watch because there is a debate for every single patient, to intubate or not I don't care if a doctor is hooking up with a surgeon on the DL
184
Venixflytrap Apr 13, 2026 +57
I watch for the grotesque things that happen to the human body and how one might fix that
57
lipp79 Apr 13, 2026 +24
There have been a few that made me defintely cringe and look away lol.>!Putting the leg back in place for the lady hit by the train in S1E1 and the floating face in S1E2 were gnarly. !
24
PrestigeArrival Apr 13, 2026 +9
The >!floating face!< got such a visceral reaction out of me. Partially because I wasn’t expecting it and partially because I didn’t even realize that was something that could happen
9
lipp79 Apr 13, 2026 +9
Same exact thing for me with that lol. I was like, "Why is Langdon sticking his fingers in....OH OKAY!"
9
I_am_so_lost_hello Apr 13, 2026 +19
I love when one doctor says to intubate and the other doctors are like “are you stupid?”
19
lookingup9 Apr 13, 2026 +40
for the first season it was competency p***. but the second season, the main character who is taking up increasingly high percentage of the screen time, is having a mental breakdown. then most of the rest of the staff is having their worst day ever too. the focus has absolutely shifted this season from the patients to the mental state of the doctors, which is by design, but there’s definitely more character drama this time.
40
coldblade2000 Apr 13, 2026 +36
There's also an overarching theme of "corporate and politicians squeezing every last bit out of healthcare workers leads to a slow death spiral". Most of the issues in the show would be fixed with a higher staff count and a better healthcare/insurance system, and you wouldn't have healthcare workers increasingly suffering mental distress just to keep the lights on and the patients alive.
36
_Army9308 Apr 13, 2026 +44
Hot take... The issue is this show attracts an audience that  wants characters to be more morally clear as bad or good cause thats how they view the world.  You either have th3 correct values fully or you are bad. We seen this in a lot of tv shows where characters are very one dimensional lately and get trolled outside these demos as so basic and dumb. Reality is the main character and many others say the right things publicly but privately also deeply flawed...annoys them as they dont have nuance. "Dr Al pushed AI tech so she must be bad  but wait she is nice and compassionate....nooooooo! They are used to moral absolutes in today's culture wars and political debates.
44
SeahorseRevolution Apr 13, 2026 +8
Not a hot take at all, I think it's an indictment of how modern audiences have lost the ability to understand people aren't monolithic, and that well written characters have flaws. I have seen a sharp decline in media literacy around the ability to see a person as a fully formed human rather than a collection of virtues to uphold.
8
ThisMayBeAquatic Apr 13, 2026 +89
I’m a big fan of this show but sometimes over on the sublistnook people can be a bit nuts with the theorising. I sometimes wonder if we are watching the same show, because this isn’t the soap that they’re all craving for and thank god for that! I always tried to get into medical shows before this “ER was pretty great though” and I always ran into the same problem. It’s too soapy, the melodrama, the music playing in the background of a scene at the end of every episode when 2 characters are having a deep conversation to illicit emotions. I’m so happy none of that is here.
89
Chataboutgames Apr 13, 2026 +32
It's the spiritual successor to White Lotus where any post on the show sub will have you wondering if people have ever actually seen the show before. I will never forget that the primary, running theory on that sub for S2 of White Lotus was that the kid from the 3 generations of guys was an incel and was going to be the source of the death/violence.
32
SpinkickFolly Apr 13, 2026 +61
It's not just the sublistnook. It's reviewers and editorials about the show that are constantly putting out real head scratcher takes on the show. I don't look for it, but the algorithm shoves these headlines on me. Like IGN complaining S2 didn't include an event BIGGER than the MCI from S1. Like they really wanted the show to fall into the "24" or "911" trope of every season needing to be bigger than the last, with more stakes than before.
61
radwimps Apr 13, 2026 +41
Thank god it hasn't tried to "one up" itself. I remember watching Greys Anatomy and after the bomb inside a body type shit like where is reality once you get into that must have world altering massive disaster loop every season.
41
Chrononi Apr 13, 2026 +12
These are the most unlucky doctors. Some even survived a plane crash. I mean at that point I'd just think I'm cursed lol
12
Chataboutgames Apr 13, 2026 +11
Kyle Chandler blowing up in the hallway has to be one of the most unintentionally funny videos/images of all time.
11
radwimps Apr 13, 2026 +6
I can't believe that was only season 2. That show went bonkers way earlier than I remembered.
6
Chataboutgames Apr 13, 2026 +9
Look man, that 911 show is having meteor showers ang going to space. A standard has been set. It's time to send medical residents to Mars.
9
hellolovely1 Apr 13, 2026 +4
People were complaining about that in one of the sublistnooks, too. I was like, "It's the 4th of July, a waterslide collapsed, and two other hospitals are shut down." What do they want?!
4
keepfighting90 Apr 13, 2026 +6
Internet discourse around TV shows has gotten to this obsessive level of theory-crafting and endless predictions on some crazy plot twist or narrative wrinkle, even when the show in question doesn't even call for it. Like it makes sense for something like Severance and I understand why people were going crazy coming up different theories, but The Pitt is...really not that kind of show lol. It's not a mystery box and it doesn't have weird unpredictable characters who will do something completely out of character. Like yeah they're complex individuals but the whole point of the show is that these are competent professionals who put the job before themselves and prioritize saving lives. That's always what it's going to be.
6
YourGuyK Apr 13, 2026 +10
Your description really doesn"t apply to the first few seasons of ER. There was personal stuff, but it focused mostly on the medicine and patients. They barely ever played songs the way everyone does now, and when they did it was diegetic. That changed over time as the show went on.
10
hill-o Apr 13, 2026 +5
The number of people convinced that this season was going to end with someone jumping off the roof, no exceptions, had me really feeling like I'd missed an episode. I guess if that does happen that's on me, but boy will I be shocked at that twist lol.
5
Man_Of_AnswersYT Apr 13, 2026 +4
Genuinely the only theory I've seen confirmed was >!The Absence Seizures of Al-Hashimi's !< (Latest Ep). Everything else is just kind of bonkers as of late as people proposes these various dramatic theories of what leads to certain events when it's...typically the most boring/mundane answers.
4
LapsedVerneGagKnee Apr 13, 2026 +93
Puriteen culture where virtue signaling and demonizing anyone deemed problematic is the norm.
93
muscles83 Apr 13, 2026 +19
Never seen the term puriteen before, very apt term
19
_Army9308 Apr 13, 2026 +29
Yeah people shitting on the doctor for using ai transcribing is jokes Then also shocked she is nice as well
29
hill-o Apr 13, 2026 +32
I just can't imagine they're like... adult people with jobs. A lot of places have you use AI for tasks now, and that is what the show is commenting on (my vet's office is trying the same thing, for crying out loud), not like... moralizing a character.
32
Anomaeus Apr 13, 2026 +4
Oh man, I haven’t gone to the Pitt sublistnook to see the absolute nonsense the fandom is in, but I constantly get recommended instagram threads of people with the craziest takes. Like someone vehemently telling me that Dr. Robbie has a clear problem with women of color in positions of power and the show hasn’t been subtle about portraying that. Like… did I miss something???
4
rtrazto Apr 13, 2026 +8
This month I got algorithmed KATSEYE and THE PITT 'fans' virtuously calling out the perceived wrongs against certain rejected women of color. They are certainly passionate in hilariously similar ways.
8
Chataboutgames Apr 13, 2026 +53
Man, so this is going to be the thing that we have articles about every week. I think the best summary of it is "the Pitt is a prestige show with a CW audience."
53
Lord-Dingus Apr 13, 2026 +13
Media literacy is in the toilet. Portraying characters that engage in immoral and unethical behavior is NOT an endorsement of that behavior. Imagine not liking The Godfather because Michael turns into a terrible person when he assumes power. That's the whole POINT of those films!!!!
13
gaaarsh Apr 13, 2026 +12
I think there's also a factor here that online discourse tends to funnel discussion into extremes. You see it in a lot of other mediums where everything is either great or trash and the idea that you can still enjoy things that are imperfect and flawed seems the somehow a more radical idea than discarding an entire thing because it's not perfect. The characters in The Pitt are all flawed and imperfect. But they are also capable of growth, kindness and decency because that's humanity. Generally I would say a vast majority of fans aren't participating in this pissing match. They're just off enjoying the thing.
12
entertainmentlord Apr 13, 2026 +11
don't think its just one fandom. a lot of people in many fandoms seem to want characters to be only good or evil. instead of actually making characters complex and interesting. I'm not saying pure good or pure bad characters can't be interesting but its frustrating whenever people try to pin characters into neat boxes. I also assume one reason people do this is fear of what others may think when it comes to them liking a character. Look into any fandom and chances are you'll see a lot of bitterness towards people who like bad or evil characters. Which I guess comes from people assuming liking a character means you support their actions
11
Reznor_PT Apr 13, 2026 +88
Because they treat the show like it's an integral part of r/Fauxmoi or r/popculturechat
88
radwimps Apr 13, 2026 +45
watching those two subs snark at each other for their different reactions to celebrity trash is hilarious
45
Impressive-Dig-3892 Apr 13, 2026 +22
Sabrina Carpenter is now apparently the most racist woman alive so that was fun
22
bristow84 Apr 13, 2026 +44
Every f****** thread on the show sublistnook descends into something about misogyny or sexism or racism or “the writers hate WOC” or anything in between. It’s f****** exhausting and you get downvoted to hell and back if you even try to suggest something that goes against that narrative.
44
Chataboutgames Apr 13, 2026 +19
*shudder*
19
Harkoncito Apr 13, 2026 +11
Even the weekly discussion thread here is annoying af. You can't criticize any character.
11
Extension-While7536 Apr 13, 2026 +9
Social media thrives on creating division.  More extreme opinions get more views.  Every time we pause and react to something that we emphatically oppose, we begin to see more of that not less of it.  Because they're measuring engagement, not just what we prefer to see. So measured, nuanced thorough in-depth discussion gets less and less time in our schedules.
9
constantsXzeros Apr 13, 2026 +9
Maybe it is a confluence of factors, most likely of which being a male and my 41 years of age, but… I liked the Pitt BECAUSE it was not Grey’s Anatomy or ER. The show focuses on the stress and the work, and the stress OF the work. The interpersonal drama of the Pitt is very realistic because it’s plausible to happen in a setting like that. Do feelings catch? Yeah of course, but there are countless shows about workplace romance. We also all probably deal with workplace relationship scandals in our own real lives, and who the hell actually likes dealing with that shit? It’s annoying. I have no idea why people are so hell-bent on not just appreciating the Pitt for what it is, rather than trying to add and literally create layers that aren’t there, and most importantly, aren’t necessary. The relationship drama is minor, and mostly just a reference, as it should be in a show like that. No need to take a really interesting and intense show and make it generic and predictable.
9
winelover08816 Apr 13, 2026 +8
The “fandom” does not have to be right. In fact, the more popular the show, and the more polarizing the topics presented, the more toxic elements begin to surface within the fandom.
8
MikeArrow Apr 13, 2026 +8
I'd say it's because the show is hitting a lot of hot button issues in modern day society, like microaggressions in the workplace, patriarchy, prejudice, etc. So people get *really* tuned in to those aspects since the show is actively commenting on them and then it becomes a competition of who's 'good' (i.e., unproblematic) and who's 'bad' (i.e., problematic). Anyone on the show that could conceivably contribute to anything problematic is put in the 'bad' column. Edit: As an example. There was one post I saw that was a screenshot of Dr Robby during the scene where he basically belittled Dr Mohan for having a panic attack and told her to go home. The screenshot was Robby 'smiling' but it was more of a grimace (like he was basically expressing, "I have much bigger fish to fry right now, I don't have time for this") and the whole thread was people reading into his expression and saying stuff like, "see, he's *enjoying* himself. He *loves* putting a female POC in her place..."
8
freelanceisart Apr 13, 2026 +7
Another show proving that fandoms destroy what they love. And don’t really get because one of the things that makes this show good is that there is no “good” or “bad” character in a traditional sense - sure, Robby sucks but we love him. Santos is a b**** but is lovable af. Dana is just the show’s truest representation of Pittsburgh. Lol
7
Lokitusaborg Apr 13, 2026 +8
I am so tired of the internets obsession with binary “good” and “bad.” It is so reductionist and juvenile. Complex characters will be complex.
8
jayne-eerie Apr 13, 2026 +8
Excellent, if slightly overlong, essay. We see the characters on a single day per season. We aren’t going to get to know everything about them. I can see where that’s frustrating if someone is desperately curious about, say, the backstory of Langdon’s addiction or the PittFest shooter, but for me it works. I don’t want or expect to have every single thing explained to me. I do disagree with one point, however: > What’s missing are more inconvenient realities a show like “The Pitt” could tackle if it wanted, at least from a patient’s point of view. The prevalence of medical racism or doctors being dismissive of their patients’ insights or concerns. Haven’t they done this? Most explicitly with the sickle cell storyline last year, but also with Ogilvy’s attitude towards the severely obese patient this season, or the way the deaf woman had to wait around for several episodes while they tried to get an interpreter. I guess they could be more explicit but I don’t think the show is at all subtle about the fact that sometimes physician biases harm care.
8
sketchampm Apr 13, 2026 +7
Because every fandom does this.
7
SangiExE Apr 13, 2026 +5
Signs of a lack of emotional intelligence/empathy. Everything needs to be either good or evil for those people. I hope showrunners stay the course.
5
MR_TELEVOID Apr 13, 2026 +6
IMO, it's a holdover from TV in the old days where the good guys/bad guys were more clearly coded. A lot of people don't watch TV to do critical analysis of the characters... it's an escape... they want to root for the clear good guys and shut out whatever they're dealing with IRL. Older TV shows gave you that, where as modern prestige shows require more nuance. We can see this in the fandoms for most modern shows... just more obvious with The Pitt because it's such a massive show.
6
Created_By_InGen Apr 13, 2026 +8
Fandoms, Shippers etc. can/will drive writers to ruining shows it’s crazy
8
Unusual-Ad4890 Apr 13, 2026 +6
it's time for showrunners and actors to stop engaging with Fandoms. Leave them in their own little bubble with nothing but their impotent opinions. Make your show and stopping caring or catering to a minority within a minority. You ever see that one Simpsons episode where Homer's half brother lets him design a car? Letting your Fandom dictate characters and story progression is kind of like that.
6
AleroRatking Apr 13, 2026 +18
Stay off the internet. Most people aren't obsessed with saying characters are good or bad
18
BritishHobo Apr 13, 2026 +5
Yeah I think at a certain point we need to just collectively agree that we will stop treating "random people on social media" as a useful or interesting source.
5
CTeam19 Apr 13, 2026 +6
I don't think people get that it is literally 1 shift in their lives we are seeing. We are not going to see everything going on that affects them. People come and people go all the time in a work place.
6
All_Lightning879 Apr 13, 2026 +5
I love The Pitt, but you people are either reaching or just stupid. This isn’t goddamn Game of Thrones, it’s a one-day deal in a hospital. There’s only so much you can do without breaking your narrative.
5
Straightwad Apr 13, 2026 +6
Tbf, online fandoms are almost always awful due to a few people who are just way too obsessed with whatever thing they are talking about. As someone who liked the show Supernatural that fandom was a mess with people who thought the main issue with the show is the main characters weren’t having incestuous gay sex together lol.
6
gingerking87 Apr 13, 2026 +5
As someone who watches the show over my SOs shoulder I honestly don't understand most of the articles posted about it. They are always titled "Why is X so mean to patients?!" Like the answer isn't: 'because the writers wrote it like that.' I feel like most fans treat it like a reality show
5
ImNotTheBossOfYou Apr 13, 2026 +10
It's not just this show
10
LasDen Apr 13, 2026 +3
I had no idea fandom were so weird. Luckily I don't engage in fandom talks in basically any show so I avoid these....
3
JacksGallbladder Apr 13, 2026 +3
Online Fandoms get way into the weeds and rarely actually represent the audience.
3
Secksualinnuendo Apr 13, 2026 +4
Social media has shown me that audiences can be really bad at watching TV shows apparently
4
kidajske Apr 13, 2026 +3
Low IQ, terminally online, vacuous busybodies. The show being a conduit for political and social commentary by its nature adds fuel to the fire. This is very much a preaching-to-the-choir type of show but the choir in question is unbelievably rigid so any deviation from what they perceive the show should or ought to be doing/saying is met with ire.
3
AtBat3 Apr 13, 2026 +3
That seems to be all TV discussion is anymore. It’s almost like people watch shows anymore like they’re watching reality TV. These characters are written with flaws included. It’s how we get compelling stories
3
keepfighting90 Apr 13, 2026 +4
I had no idea this was a thing because I actively avoid any dedicated TV show sublistnook. Looks like I made the right decision.
4
fibz Apr 13, 2026 +4
The world is developmentally stunted and stuck viewing reality through a binary lens. You can see it in almost every aspect of society: - Kids aren’t allowed to retaliate against bullies because it can be morally grey and schools don’t want the liability of getting involved - We allow prisons to focus on containment rather than rehabilitation because it’s feels safer to label people as bad forever - We hold better looking people to lower behavioral standards because it’s easier to equate looks to morality  It’s a way of thinking that benefits the higher echelons because it makes it easier to create narratives that manipulate the masses
4
avee10 Apr 13, 2026 +14
Where the f*** is this even happening besides Listnook? Damn people used to be allowed to be inconsequentially stupid without rattling tv writers.
14
nimbuscloud9 Apr 13, 2026 +16
Twitter. TikTok. Any social media.
16
avee10 Apr 13, 2026 +9
Idk the “____ is a bad guy” comments are about as serious as when people are like “ I ship Dr Langdon and Mel 😚” They should just pretend everything is coming from a 13 y/o and write their show
9
_Army9308 Apr 13, 2026 +13
Listnook is mostly a young urban circle jerk and such groups are some of the biggest moral grandstanding i seen
13
r_lucasite Apr 13, 2026 +3
This is just the downside of more amplified discussion I think. The Pitt is deliberately made with its week to week viewing in mind so there’s more discussion going on for it than even the bigger binge release shows. More talk means even more heat naturally. I think sentiment across social media has gotten generally negative so it’s a bad combination these days.
3
LiveChocolate8819 Apr 13, 2026 +3
I feel like fandoms these days are the same group of "typical median American voter" types who just bounce from IP to IP as new content is put out. Strangers Things was like this when the final season dropped, and I remember it back at the beginning of the Marvel Disney+ era too. All the discussions feel the same, just with all the proper nouns swapped out. It seems different than Buffy, Supernatural, X Files, etc.
3
maikuxblade Apr 13, 2026 +3
Media literacy on average is not very high, lots of people seem to have a problem understanding why characters are written a certain way if there is any moral ambiguity whatsoever
3
guitarguy1685 Apr 13, 2026 +3
Fans will ruin a show for you. They're the worst 
3
tryingtobebettertry4 Apr 13, 2026 +3
On a separate note, the individual competency/whos a bad or good doctor discussions also kind of miss the point. Pretty much every doctor and nurse we see is at least reasonably competent. Even the new medical student Joy who explicitly had no long term interest in the department was competent. In fact its almost unrealistic that basically every member of staff is that good. The failings are usually down to small mistakes with unfortunately lethal side effects, the incredibly demanding nature of the job causing mental distress or greater system failures.
3
Wreckingshops Apr 13, 2026 +3
This happens and isn't a Pitt phenomenon. Lost had a similar vibe with a lot of fans who completely missed the point of the show, and stayed too long wanting it to be something else than what it was. I'm not comparing the shows in any meaningful way, just how a lot of fandom stems from people initially liking something and then wanting to further bend it to their specific likes, needs, and connections. That's not how entertainment works. Sometimes you find the things that are nearly perfect for your taste, and others there are things you like or want to like, and you then have a need to "force" it into the same boxes as the things you find that are great. Ultimately, a small but vocal group of fans should never drive creative direction. We're fickle, even when we get what we think we want.
3
lofgren777 Apr 13, 2026 +3
Moral instruction is the next step in complexity in art from pure entertainment. Thanks to decades of ignoring the value of the humanities, Americans have the media literacy of a kool-aid drinking cultist. They know that there is something going on in the Pitt that is more complex than pure entertainment, but they do not have the cultural context to understand it, so they fall back on moral instruction. It's not the worst way to approach a piece of media that you don't quite understand. "What represents 'good' in this story and what represents 'bad?'" is a perfectly valid question to ask if you are trying to interpret a piece of art that feels like it's saying something but you're not quite sure what. However most people lack the tools to then ask more probing questions. If the answer to "what is good and bad" is "it's complicated," then the next step is asking what the story is about, if it is not about "good and bad." Here is where media literacy will help because storytelling is an ongoing cultural conversation. The Pitt is not made in a vacuum. You need to be able to cross-reference it with other TV shows and also with real life in order to understand what it is "really" (or I should say "might be" because it's not like I can claim I know the answer either) saying, which is not "some people are bad and some people are good." This is dangerous because it leaves you susceptible to manipulation both by artists and also by propagandists and advertisers.
3
Chained_Wanderlust Apr 13, 2026 +4
> The Pitt is not made in a vacuum. You need to be able to cross-reference it with other TV shows and also with real life in order to understand what it is "really" (or I should say "might be" because it's not like I can claim I know the answer either) saying, which is not "some people are bad and some people are good." This is it right here. The people that do this are the ones that already keep their hands clean of anything deemed problematic in some way so they have no reference point because they won’t engage with anything not already pure or easy to swallow. These are the people that wouldn’t watch Oppenheimer in the theater because they thought it condoned his actions when in fact it was an examination of them that was oft incredibly unflattering… engaging with difficult art hones media acuity it doesn’t compromise morals as some think viewing it will.
4
madthoughts Apr 13, 2026 +3
Legitimizing fandom is how we got a 4:3 aspect ratio, 3 hours long, black/white, and less fun Justice League. Let’s just slow down and really think about which pockets of fandoms we write articles on, yknow?
3
pepperbet1 Apr 13, 2026 +3
The Pitt fandom has the feel of "Baby's first tv show" sometimes.
3
monchota Apr 13, 2026 +3
Because people are dumb and we are not allowed to call them out on it anymore
3
query_tech_sec Apr 13, 2026 +3
In my opinion the main issue with trying to demonize some of the main characters is that they are all generally good and competent people who make personal sacrifices to help people and save lives. Their personal struggles and conflicts are usually pretty normal. Of course - some of the one time more minor characters aren’t good people.
3
blantoons Apr 13, 2026 +3
Genuinely one of my favorite shows and the discourse on the sublistnook was fun and normal when there were only a couple thousand people the first few months. Once it took off I had to mute it because the takes were absurd or incredibly weird.
3
wemustburncarthage Apr 14, 2026 +3
Because toxic fandom is so bitter and talentless it can’t even write fanfiction.
3
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