11:00 A.M. with Isa Briones, Gerran Howell, Nina Ruscio and Matt Callahan

Okay, deep breath in, blow it out real hard. You haven't heard enough already? I need to check for wheezing with forced exhalation. That cough is killing me. You smoke, Mrs. Yardley? Yeah, but I haven't been able to for a couple of days because of this cough. You ever consider quitting? You ever considered minding your own business? Welcome to The Pit Podcast, the official companion to The Pit on HBO Max. I'm Dr. Lok Patel, physician, journalist, storyteller, and everything in between. And I'm Hunter Harris, a screenwriter and cultural critic. Today we're talking about episode five of The Pit, which takes place at 11 a.m. And we're going to hear from Issa Briones, who plays Trinity Santos, and Garen Howell, who plays Dennis Whitaker. You know how Mel gets knocked off of her chair by that one patient? Originally, I was supposed to be in the background of that scene, and I was like, you need to take me out of the background, because if I saw someone attack Mel, I would literally charge after him and attack him. Like, I can't be there. That man is getting punched. Today's shift starts now. Another week has passed. Hunter, episode 5, 11 a.m. I have to tell you, I think this might, for me, be the funniest episode. The amount of one-liners and jokes and like just comical moments catches up. It's a lot of body humor, this episode. It's a lot of body humor. I'll say that. Okay, you're going to have to explain this one to me because we have a patient who has necrotic fasciitis, if I say that correctly. You can just call it neck fasciitis. You can call it flesh-eating bacteria, but you're thinking of necrotizing fasciitis. Awful nightmare situation. Yeah, so a woman comes in with that after being on her feet all day as a server, and it's kind of like one of the more distressing things I've seen on the show so far. Should we take a look? Second IV's in. I'm not overreacting. My body's overreacting. Please, please don't fire me. This is Dr. Michael Rabinovich. I am the chief of emergency medicine at PTMC. If you fire her, she will sue you, and I will testify on her behalf. Okay. Don't worry about it. We got you. That was so boss. That was such a boss move. Period. Like, end of discussion. That was... I love Dr. Robbie. Like, we all need a Dr. Robbie. I, like, kind of want to fight that patient's boss, but also, like, very realistic situation. It sucks. Like, there are people who go to the hospital. Maybe you have a long wait. Maybe you unexpectedly have to get a procedure, and they're worried about their jobs. This is America. It's a big episode for, like, some of these conflicts with people who are patients and how they relate to the outside world, I want to say, because there is a patient who comes in in a really bad way who is in prison and the handlers don't want to take off the handcuffs as he's literally in the trauma room. I don't want to act like I understand the dynamic of being a corrections officer or police, prison guard, whatever, and having an inmate come to the hospital, but I understand the protocol. I get it. The ER is trying to follow patient care. That kind of tension happens when this gentleman who came in who had the altercation, I was like, what is the lesson that we as viewers are going to learn from this case? Because you know, in this show, every patient case like teaches us something about life, about medicine, about a character dynamic. And with this one, I'm like, what are we going to learn? Well, for me, it was like really about dignity and treating a patient with care, no matter like where they've come from. But we can get into more of that later. Because I need to talk about Louie. So back to Dr. Langdon, there's a big moment where Louis is prescribed more Librium because his hand is shaking, and Dr. Whitaker rushes to put his alcohol in the order given the history between Louis and Dr. Langdon and pills. Let's get Louis 50 milligrams of Librium. I'll put it in the order. I will get it from the PDF. I feel like everyone in the ER, from what we've gathered, knows what Langdon went through, even more so than I even realize. Like, everyone knows. Whitaker, it seems like he immediately feels guilty, like immediately feels like, I wish I hadn't said better. It just kind of slipped out, which is, it's like a little, it's sad to watch. But we also go back to Orlando, Diaz and his family. We're trying to figure out how to provide care. His daughter tried to make the GoFundMe that he was very against, but who has a solution but Joy? She has to stay here to get better. Right? Yes. No. Excuse me? I mean, not necessarily. Couldn't we just admit him to med-surg instead of ICU? Wouldn't that be a lot cheaper? Med-surg won't accept him with an insulin drip. Usually true. But let me talk to the charge nurse upstairs. And I'll see what she says. Thank you. I love that Joy's having this moment. Like, think about the general hospital floor as med-surg, medical and surgery, and then the ICU as intensive care. And there are situations when patients need to be in the ICU, either because they're acutely ill, but they might need a higher level of nursing staffing. But the ICU obviously costs more money. And there are situations when you can talk to the team and med surge. You can talk to the attendings. You can talk to the charge nurse and look to see, can we instead get this patient on the floor? This is a conversation that happens all the time in hospitals when we're trying to cut costs. We're like, does this patient actually need to be in the ICU for their night? Can we move them to the floor? Because the reality is, is not every physician or nurse understands the entire billing reimbursement process and what resources are available. We get blamed for it. I'll tell you that all day long. If somebody has a hospital bill that's really high or they have what we call a surprise medical bill, meaning they thought their bill was going to be covered by their insurance when it was out of network. They didn't realize all these things. Like doctors get blamed for it all the time. But Noel, the patient care, what would you call that? actually. What would you call her job? She is a case manager. Case manager. Okay. So Noelle, the case manager says, actually, that's a pretty good idea. And then with Noelle, a little sparks flame between her and Dr. Robbie. Listen, yeah. I came down for a consult and to persuade Ahmad to start a new betting board. Why is the Westbridge board full already? I was going to ask him to start one about you and your midlife crisis trip. I give it four weeks. Seven tops. You have a little faith. Not enough faith, just facts. Facts. Based on my experience, you're a seven-week-age kind of guy. Noelle, like, she knows what she's doing. She does. They definitely have a lot of flirtation. What I love about this episode, too, is that we get a bit into, like, how they are outside of the hospital because she later says to Dana, like, he can't sleep without the TV on. like, I don't trust this, blah, blah, blah. We have to talk about Ogilvy, who has a pretty big episode this week. He is treating an unhoused woman who has a cough, trouble breathing, and she kind of has an attitude with him, which is a little bit funny to see him getting so nervous. But she ends up having TB, and so now he has to get TB testing, and Santos, a little bit is not smug about it, but I don't know, I sensed a little attitude. Call infection control and public health, and now you get to sign in as a patient and get your blood drawn for a quantifier in gold. It's too soon to be positive. Yeah, but you were exposed. You need a baseline test, and then again in eight weeks to see if you convert. And if I do? Then meds every day for three or four months with regular blood tests to check for toxicity. Jesus. She's still going through something. We talked about this in the last episode. She does normalize it, though, in a... I don't want to say a helpful way. I mean, she's, like, devoid of empathy towards Ogilvy and the fact that he may have TB exposure, you can tell he's scared. And she's like, dude, relax. Like we're all exposed to it. It's a big deal. You know, if you are working in healthcare and you think you may have TB, this is exactly why we get screened for TB every single year. Oh, wow. We run into it. And I have colleagues who have had to go on medication because they tested positive for TB. I had one colleague who needed surgery because he had TB and they're like, you got it somewhere in the hospital and it decided to become a serious infection in your body. So it's a common scenario. they highlight here. One very, very nerdy detail. Again, the nerdy details in this show I live for is there's a part when Ogilvy's listening to her lungs and he goes, say E. And she's like, E. This is so cool. But if you have fluid or some type of mass in your lungs and you say E, the speed of that sound will change as it's going through the consolidation. And somebody listening to you will hear ah instead of e isn't that cool wow it's called egophany it's like an old school physical exam trick and i know that some er consultant was like ogilvy is a gunner and he would absolutely be doing this on a lung exam interesting okay good to know well you're also like shut up alok no no i mean ogilvy might have tb but he definitely has uh diarrhea on him he He performs a bowel disimpaction for an elderly patient who hasn't had a bowel movement in several days. And I love that Whitaker is being very patient with Ogilvy, telling him how to clear the guts. I know that you're very fascinated by this procedure, Hunter. You can also call it a digital evacuation, which almost sounds like a DJ hit or something, digital evacuation. Yeah, it sounds like a techno club. I want to know, I know we talked to people who make props in this show. Like I want to know what exactly they use to get that consistency Wow And I would never have thought about that I mean the consistency is a little soft So I was like you know I don know if we going like melted chocolate or something We need to move on. Okay, update on Santos and her charting, which she will never be quiet about, is Dr. Al-Hashmi suggests maybe she tries like some AI tools to help the charting go a little bit quicker. And you rarely have to stay over time to complete charts. Yeah? Okay. Yeah, I'm usually here. at least a couple hours after every shift trying to catch up, so. Sure, AI will make doctors more efficient, but hospitals will expect us to treat more patients without any extra pay, of course, all the while eliminating staff positions for attending and residence. Oh, Dr. Robby, I am not an advocate for erasing my own profession, but I am advocating for getting to spend more time with my son. She mentions that. She mentions the degenerative AI. The thing that I really like is then all of a sudden, Dr. Robby jumps in there, and he kind of makes a snide comment And again, kind of criticizing AI, but he makes a very, very important quick point when he's like, yeah, and hospitals are going to use these tools to get us to see more patients by removing all this work that we do, but not pay us a single extra dollar, which is a very valid argument and kind of an ongoing concern about the misuse of these tools. where they'll be like, hey, now we can speed up your charting time. We can reduce your administrative burden. So now you can see more patients. The system can make more money. We will burn you out even more and we will not pay an extra dollar. That's essentially what Dr. Robbie's sentiment is. And Dr. Al-Hashimi is like, whoa. Yeah, she's a little not too much. Okay, it's just a suggestion. But she's still really on Santos about the charting. And the episode ends in maybe the saddest conclusion I've seen this season so far, which is Langdon finds Louie without a heartbeat. Louie, wake up. I'm gonna get the carotid. I got the airway. Hey, Carla, crash car and intubation tray, please. You know, the episode ends on this somber note, but I have to give a little nod to nurse Perla because Dr. Robbie immediately turns and he's like, hey, this is a code. I need the crash cart. And Perla is already running. Like I noticed that in the episode, like the minute he said Perla, she was already like sprinting at the door. I'm like, dang, there's a lot of love for Louie. Hunter, can we, can we play a quick, quick game, a quick what if game? Let's do it. Let's do it. I don't want it to be morbid. We're trying to be fun here okay which would you rather do a digital evacuation or fecal disimpaction or get cellulitis digital i'm not i'm not saying get evacuation you would rather okay wait get it how like no i'm just saying here's the thing i just i'm saying cellulitis and it probably will not turn into neck fascia probably won't might just be cellulitis and it's fine but after seeing this episode you might think cellulitis is going to turn into something more serious that's why i'm just saying, like you got the gambling case of cellulitis, either no big deal or serious, or you are doing a fecal disimpaction, which is your fecal disimpaction, whether I'm getting it, whether I'm giving it totally the cellulitis scared me. Good. I have no notes. I'm with you. That means that the PSA worked. Everyone should choose. Everyone should choose removing stool with your finger over getting any type of infection. I mean, I pick up my dog's poop every day. That feels easy to me. Like, the alternative sounds much worse. Look at that. Look at everyone having a little bit more awareness about how to manage skin infections and what the warning signs are. Thank you, medical writers of The Pit. Now we're going to head inside The Pit and talk to Issa Briones, who plays Dr. Santos, and Garen Howell, who plays Dennis Whitaker. Jesus Christ. I'm Sorry. Did I do something wrong? Besides interrupting me, probably. Then I apologize. I know that second year of residency can be stressful, so if there's anything I can do to help you, like stop talking? That's a great idea. Yeah. So Santos and Whitaker have been living together this season. Can you talk about your dynamic between the two of you? And sometimes there's friction, sometimes you guys butt heads, but it does seem like you guys are very close. I don't think you guys are very close. Yeah, I think obviously in season one, she can be a little poke fun at the people that she, are kind of her junior accent at the week. But no, I think she can be a little mean sometimes, but I've always seen it as the way that you would act with a younger brother. And I think that's why when she finds out he does not have a home. She kind of immediately extends help because I think there is a level of care there. So I think in the 10 months since the first episode, they've kind of gotten to develop that friendship a little bit. I think there's definitely still some friction for sure. And... I think it's like they're not ready to admit how much they maybe need each other without sounding too dramatic. but I think they're kind of bonded a little bit. Because you're, like, you're away from home. Yep. Santos is very lone wolf and, like, I don't need anyone, but obviously she does, and I think those kind of vulnerabilities do eventually kind of meet up, and I think it really, I don't know, it yields a very sweet relationship that hides underneath, like, joking and poking fun. Yeah, they see each other in a weird way that maybe you don't expect. That's not too cheesy. I see you. I see you. I hear you. Speaking of character development, so Garen, I feel like Whitaker went through this, like, level-up transformation between season one and season two. We had the almost, like, slapstick comedy about the scrubs getting different bodily fluids on them. Oh, yeah. And then the confidence just dials up into season two. And now all of a sudden, Whitaker is kind of leading the charge, teaching interns, and then catches that posterior MI, which I was like, this is a moment. Yeah. How do you feel about Whittaker's growth as a doctor? Well, the bar was low. I know. But, yeah, I mean, it's really nice to be able to play. Ten months, I think, is going to change anyone, but especially from the place Whittaker came from, you know, he had to step up, otherwise he would be fired very quickly. But, yeah, he's a lot more confident now. It's cool to see him without all that fear and insecurity and being overwhelmed. I think he's really come into his own. And now he's also teaching med students, which is just another level. The management, you know, of an ER is insane. And it's just another thing that, you know, has to be done in a teaching hospital. But I think he's flourishing as much as he can. In front of med students, I think you have to at least appear to be more competent than you are. Because otherwise... Look like you know what you're doing. Yeah. Stand taller than you feel, because how can people possibly trust you or want to follow you? So there's a lot of that. He's flourishing so far. So it would be cool to see the downfall. Whoa. Oh, Jesus. I'm ready. The darkness is coming, apparently. Yeah. I wonder how do you think Santos being right about Langdon and, like, the drugs impacts how she trusts her gut moving forward, when she sees patients? Yeah, I think with Santos, her gut is a big part of her superpower as a doctor. I think, you know, all of the different doctors have something that makes them really special, their own kind of special sauce. And I think hers is that she can really spot certain things that other people don't. She can really spot someone who's very vulnerable that may not appear that way or may not show that. I mean, you see it in season one when she's treating the person who tried to end their life. That is something that other people were not going to pick up on. And I think she's learned that she can trust her gut, and I think people like Dr. Robbie have encouraged that. But there are moments, and I've talked to many medical professionals who have said that this happens, where it's sometimes you're right, You're right on the money and your gut is so right. But sometimes it's your baggage coming through and you putting something on a patient that is maybe just something that is on your mind and you need to keep in check. And there's a very fine balance that you need to find there. And so with Kylie, I think because we've seen her deal with a girl that she believed was being abused before. And I think we can kind of infer that she was right on the money with that one. but that doesn't mean that every little girl that comes in is going to be that case and so I think it's a moment of a lot of what happens this season is a humbling for her and a reminder that she is still very much learning being a second year resident is nowhere near being an expert you are still in the learning process you are still a student always and I think that is another reminder of like okay it's not always going to be something that is deep-seated in your trauma Sometimes you need to just treat the patient and look at the signs that are there. I think Santos is also kind of a badass. If there was like a fist fight in the pit, I would be like, Santos is on my team. Oh yeah, no, you know how Mel gets knocked off of her chair by that one patient? Originally I was supposed to be in the background of that scene and I was like you need to take me out of the background because if I saw someone attack Mel I would literally charge after him and attack him Like, I can't be there. That man is getting punched. I didn't know that. You were in the background. They were going to have me in the background. I was like, I can't be there. I'm literally knocking that motherfucker out. Here's what's interesting. So Whitaker has this softer background, comes from a farm, is lovingly called Huckleberry. and it almost seems like Whitaker and Santos had this yin-yang between a little bit more of a hardened exterior and then kind of the softer side. How do you see the interaction with Santos changing Whitaker? Do you think that Whitaker has hardened up a little bit in those last ten months? Absolutely. I think she's taught him a lot just about existing in the world, in society. I was like, get a haircut. Yeah, get a haircut. Look at him now. That's the glow up. Yeah, no, I think he needs more of Santos, and I think Santos maybe needs a little bit more Whittaker in different ways. Ying and Yang, I think, is a good way to put it, really. You've been talking a lot about the, like, boundaries and all of that that Whittaker learns, and I feel like that's maybe something that she's trying to impart. Absolutely, yeah, because I think it is a balancing act in the ED, like of how much do you empathise with the patient, Do you keep them at arm's length? Do you really go all in emotionally and smother them to get to the bottom of what it is? And that sort of comes back to bite Whittaker quite a lot, actually, this season. So hopefully maybe Santos can see a wider angle and tell him when he's just going too far, when he's being too good. Those are the moments of care that really come through when we're not talking to each other, but when we're talking to other people because a lot of what happens this season is me talking to Robbie or someone else about Whitaker being very clearly concerned about him and being like, I don't want anyone taking advantage of him. But she'd never say it to him. She's like, I don't give a shit about you, whatever. But she's like, I care about this kid. This is my brother. So it's a sweet relationship. that they've found of how they rub off on each other. Absolutely, yeah. I think Santos Whitaker sounds like a good spinoff. Oh, absolutely. Exploring this, right? I appreciate you both. Thank you so much. Thank you. You know, Hunter, it's awesome how many people on the show told us that they bring elements of their real personality, their life situations to their character. I was like, are you two? I'm losing sight of which ones are Issa and Garen versus which ones are Santos and Whitaker. I think they do also have a very kind of opposite energies, which makes them really fun to play off of each other on the show. Like you said, I think Issa, she seems very active, like very curious, and Garen seems more like thoughtful, ruminative maybe. Oh, they're so fun. I really, we're so fortunate. And so are you listeners and viewers that we get to hear from people and you get to see their real personalities and how they show up on screen. It's super cool. The foundation of the show is literally the foundation, the set. It feels so much like a real hospital to me, although I haven't spent much time in hospital, so maybe I don't know. Your instinct is on point. We were lucky enough to visit that set, and when I walked on, I was like, oh my gosh, this is scary accurate. And I think it just adds to the overall immersive element of the show. Super impressive. Definitely. No, I really felt the realism. This week for Outside the Pit, we get to talk to the people who made this incredible set. production designer Nina Ruscio and set decorator Matt Callahan. Let's go. So excited to talk to both of you. I have to be honest about something. I had a true out-of-body, starstruck, Pitt fan moment, Nina, when I ran into you, when Hunter and I got to see the set. Saw you and I was like, she put this together with the big team and it's incredible. So I just have to ask you, what was it like from start to finish coming up with this idea of being inspired and working with what I heard was a crazy timeline? Well, actually, it was kind of a ride. John Wells and Noah Wiley and Scott Kimmel, John specifically called me to see whether or not I could do the show. And I wasn't available, actually, to do the show at all. What he really wanted, he sort of pleaded, was a ground plan. Because Scott, they didn't want to write a single word without an actual layout. So I was able to offer up a holiday break on the job that I was on, because I was unavailable. And so I was able to offer up this holiday break and intensively immersed myself in hospital design and very, very thoroughly invested in those few weeks and the nights and the weekends of the January that followed to be able to offer up a ground plan that they could work with. Feeling really guiltily unavailable to be able to do the job because I love John Wells and I've worked with him on many projects before and I thought it was such a big honor to be asked to do that because it's really quite a responsibility. At first I was really flattered and then I realized, oh, holy moly, this is a really big responsibility. How do you make a hospital? I have everything there because I have no idea what storylines they might need. They wanted the set before they had the script so that they could write the script to the set. Writing to a set is crazy. I've never heard of that before. Yeah, and it was the first time. It was very impressive. I mean, when you think about how that's all panned out. Yeah, truly, truly prescient on their part. And at that point, I had to pass it on and then let go and then continue on the project we were on, thinking I could never complete what I had now become really attached to. Because it wasn't... To me, a ground plan is not the beginning of a design. It's really the conclusion of a lot of very, very careful thought of physical choreography and all kinds of aspects of a physical layout need to be thought through to a fairly well, really, carefully. But she nailed it because they didn't change a lot. They didn't change a thing. So I got back the ground plan. The job that we were on continued, but this job, the pit, extended its start date to a time when I could start and that he could continue on with me as well. So as it turned out, we just sort of swung over to this project. And at that point, the heat was on because I was given back the ground plan, fully imagining that everything would change, but it didn't. To their needs, because somehow I had imagined their needs, every single one of them, in the layout. And then the race was on. So we had nine and a half weeks before we started to shoot. I'll just say that the layout is kind of brilliant because it allows you to move through the space in a way that is not typical of a lot of sets you know the way Nina and the guys designed it has an amazing flow and you can the camera and the actors can move through it sort of endlessly right and the lighting is embedded in the design so that's a very very unique type of set to be physically in. We don't put lights on the ground. There's none of this equipment around us because it's designed to be able to be handheld, to be able to be shot from one end of the space to the other without stopping. There's 689 lights that are all able to be adjusted off. There's a little man behind the curtain, Brian, who's actually manipulating it. Which we found because normally, you know, on a TV show you have set lighting and they stop and they light the setups and all that kind of stuff. We don't do any of that on this show. All of the lighting is practical, all provided by the set deck department with adjustments that were made by the gaffer. Electric, yeah. So they took these lights that we bought and they stripped them out, put in their own LED stuff so they can control every single light, the color temperature, the intensity. So the whole set is kind of this living system. Yes, it really is. And it's a continually capable, immersive space that's almost 23,000 square feet. It's very big. Because of that, and because there's so much visual transparency from one side of the space to the other, you can see a foreground story, a mid-ground story, and a background story all at the same time. So those that love to watch the show can actually re-watch the show and see the eventual storylines that are going to take place in the foreground, actually playing out in the background and the background. And so when we come to set, when I come to work, I normally wear scrubs. And all of the crew are required to wear scrubs. And everyone is because there's so much reflective surface and so much transparency from one end of the set to the other that if you happen to be caught on camera as a crew member or as me who comes in and speaks to a director for a moment, you really need to look like you fit in. And all of those background artists that are there with us and the main actors as well need to be there almost every day. So at any one point in time, the set is populated with 100, 200 people. And on that same note, from a set deck perspective, because you can see anywhere, 360 degrees, looking up, looking over, looking down, going 20,000 square feet of space, if anyone opens a drawer, if anyone opens a cupboard, if anyone moves a piece of equipment, if anything is there in the background, it's also seen. It just as important as if it featured And so all of that is fleshed out with a level of medical accuracy that we taken upon ourselves to be really really really responsible for Matt did an amazing job of outfitting this space. Thank you. It's really beyond. And I have a whole team of people that worked with me. I have to say that. Yeah. And me as well. You know, a hundred people or more that we actually are partners with that we create this environment to be so immersive. And And it's very important for us that we don't tell a story that feels at all unrealistic on any level visually. Wow. Can you talk a little bit about, like, the architectural details in the hospital, like the marble? It has such a sense of history that I think is really cool. Oh, I love that you asked that question. So I wanted to incorporate into the design these architectural elements that did two things for the space. One gave you this feeling that the hospital emergency department was underground, that it was the pit. The pit is a double entendre for being in a basement, essentially. So the columns are both a reflection of the 100-year-old aspect of the hospital. The hospital is a 100-year-old space in my imagination. and the historical elements that are woven throughout that weren't covered over by drywall or renovation are there to sort of tell the story that we're in Pittsburgh. And the architecture in Pittsburgh is very uniquely almost European. It's more European than New York or Chicago and wanting to imbue the physical space with a sense of place was my reasoning for weaving in, peppering in these little architectural kisses in the body main that made you feel as if the physical space had history. Within making it normal and understandable and approachable and accessible as a common hospital that everyone could identify with. It's tied into some elements of the hospital in Pittsburgh where we shoot. Allegheny General. Yeah, especially when you're in the waiting room. The yellow brick, which is on the exterior of the hospital in Pittsburgh, the columns, the marble all exist. And Nina, well, you hadn't even been to that hospital before you sort of matched that. No, I've actually, yeah. Because she brought all that into the set before she'd actually been there. Matt, I have to tell you a fun nod to the set and the decoration. I've noticed that my colleagues in healthcare who watch the show are closely watching all the set design and then comparing it to their actual jobs. And then I've now talked to patients who are in the hospital and comparing it to what they see on the pit. It really, really speaks to kind of the level of detail. So I have to ask you, what made decorating this set fun, unique, challenging? Like, tell us about that process. Well, challenging, because I'd never done a full-on hospital before. So there was a learning curve that we all experienced, but we love that kind of stuff. Because in our business, the range of things that you could be creating is vast. And I'd never done a full-on hospital show, and it was exciting to do because we were going to do it in a way that's unlike other hospital shows, not about beauty. It's about real. They wanted to shoot this like a documentary. So that was a big challenge, and sourcing things was a big challenge. But the way we did it was we went to actual hospitals and looked at what they had. And then I had a team of great people that started finding stuff. And outside sources, shout out to some of the prop houses in L.A., like A1 Medical, Heritage Props, Alpha Medical. They sort of became part of the team, too. You know, I'd call people up and say, I'm looking for a blanket warmer. And somebody calls me back and says, there's an auction in Phoenix. I think we can get you one, you know, in three weeks. So it was a lot of that scavenging, reaching out to companies. Our prop master, Rick Latamade, he came through in a big way. We got beautiful gurneys from Stryker, the big medical company. We got fantastic medical carts from Capsa. So we beg, we borrow, we steal, we go to auctions, we go to prop houses, we do whatever we can. And buying a lot of stuff from, you know, companies like McKesson who sell medical stuff to hospitals. It's also like treasure hunting. But, I mean, it's an enormous amount of stuff that we had to get, you know. And it's something that the SETEC department takes as their intense responsibility. They're very, very consistent about making everything as validly accurate as possible. Yeah. We were blown away that even areas that are not necessarily featured on the show, but maybe the background are tucked in, it's still accurate. There's still like a flyer about a nursing course that you need to take or the Fourth of July Pittsburgh summer barbecue for employees that's in like the faculty lounge. I'm like, oh, my God. It's immersive. In the beginning when we started, there was a round of love letters almost and love exchanges that were from the actors because their experience matched our intentional way of presenting to them a space where they didn't have to suspend their disbelief. So, Catherine, who plays Dana, would constantly come up to me come up to me and say, I have no question about what I'm supposed to do. I know where I work. I work here, and here is a full-on emergency department. I don't have to do the actor task of suspending my feeling. I don't see the edge of the set wall because I work in a real emergency department, and she would say, that's because of you guys. She was such a sweet champion of us all from the get-go, and she said, this is my space. I'm going to put my pictures up here, And then she gets quite testy if anyone sits in her spot like you would if you felt that was yours. And people take agency. They have agency for it. There's the people that work in Dispatch, which is full of monitors and notes and stuff like that. They take umbrage if someone actually moves their things around. It's quite lovely in the way that people have taken on the set. So for me, it's this pervasive experience when you watch it that your eyes are always energized. And your eyes will always, if you're looking, lead you to imagine that there's more beyond. So when the set was up and running, to me, that's the favorite thing. Almost impossible to explain, but the kind of subtextual trick that I've played on everyone, just to keep you feeling like you're constantly moving, which is the experience of being in an emergency department. I cannot comprehend his level of brilliance right now. You have a hard time. Don't look at me. It's amazing. This is great. We love our job. I am almost speechless at what you were all able to create. It truly is immersive. It's incredible. We walked through a set, and I literally felt like I was in a real hospital. Incredible. Well, thank you. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you. It was a pleasure. Thank you guys for having us. Are you guys available to design our homes and do some redecorating? Yeah, if you like medical equipment. I'm still having a hard time comprehending the creative brilliance it takes to put together that set and like the details that we didn't even think about. And we visited the set and looked at every corner. Yeah, I I'm so impressed with like every little we have an incredible memory to think about like where every piece, every prop, every like little element design, every detail goes. I bet some people think you could just go online or to a store and be like, I need to buy these medical supplies. But to hear Matt talk about auctions and sourcing materials from different states and calling companies, it also seems like stressful. I think, honestly, like the real testament to their work is how much of it feels invisible, how much of it feels truly like of the set, of the scene. It doesn't feel like, you know, so produced in some ways. It really feels like real life. I understand why the characters now probably get on set, the actors get on set and they just, they're like, oh yeah, I work in the hospital. I really like that point about Catherine, like making her little desk her own, like her bringing in her own like real family photos and like being very protective of that space. I think that's really special. And I don't think really actors get that a lot, but all of these actors go to the same set every single day, every shot. And that's so cool. I think our new goal needs to be to get invited to a party, Halloween party, holiday party by like Nina, Matt, anyone who's involved in building these sets. I need to see that level of like detail. Yeah. For a social function. Thank you for watching today's episode of the Pit Podcast. You know where to find us every Thursday right here after the new episode drops and share your comments, your questions. Also, shout out to all the nurses out there. You can watch us on HBO Max or listen wherever you get your podcasts. The Pit Podcast is a production of HBO Max in collaboration with PRX. The executive producer of PRX is Jocelyn Gonzalez. Our managing producer is Courtney Florentine. Our editor is Lucy Perkins. Our production managers are Edward Ochoa and Tony Carlson. Our video producer and editor is Anthony Q. Artis with assistant editor Damon Durrell Hinson. This show is engineered by Tommy Bazarian. Special thanks to Joe Carlino. The executive producer of HBO Podcasts is Michael Gluckstadt. The senior producer is Alison Cohen-Sorokach. And the associate producer is Aaron Kelly. Technical director is In Sung Kwong. I'm Alok Patel. And I'm Hunter Harris. We'll see you next week in The Pit.