So You Noticed Dr. Robby Wasn’t Wearing a Motorcycle Helmet

With its second-season premiere, The Pitt codifies its signature establishing shot, following Dr. Robby as he approaches Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center at the start of another long, sure-to-be-eventful shift. In the opening moments of the series’ breakout first season, Robby’s sunglasses, hoodie, and backpack casually slung over one shoulder were immediately striking — because Noah Wyle looked hot in them, sure, but also because these details clued us in to who Robby is before he speaks a single word: confident and comfortable at work, a far cry from the timid intern in a tailored white coat whom ER viewers met back in the premiere of Wyle’s first hit medical procedural. But in season two’s “7:00 A.M.,” viewers are more likely to take note of what Robby, riding atop his heretofore-unmentioned motorcycle, isn’t wearing: a helmet.

It’s possible to wave this off as a practical stylistic choice — why open the season by hiding your most recognizable star behind a visor? — but Robby’s reintroduction is far too purposeful in execution for it to be that simple. For one, it’s an exact mirror of season one’s opening shot, featuring an ambulance driving across Pittsburgh’s Rachel Carson Bridge at sunrise, during which it crosses paths with, you guessed it, a motorcycle. This time around, we get the exact same view of an ambulance crossing the exact same bridge at sunrise, only this time it’s being followed by a motorcycle: Robby’s. When Robby pulls into oncoming traffic to pass the ambulance and gives it an unbothered nod, the move is as undeniably cool-looking as it is reckless.

As with the hoodie and sunglasses, Robby’s unworn helmet is a subtle but effective deployment of character via costuming, one that Wyle and the show’s creators put a lot of thought into when considering Robby’s season-two arc. The bike itself is something like a new character this season; while it doesn’t get much screen time past the premiere, it’s a Poochie-like specter hanging over the first nine episodes that were provided for early review, recurring as a topic of conversation between Robby, his co-workers, and his patients. And with that helmet strapped uselessly to the back fender instead of on Robby’s skull, where it belongs, the bike is positioned as season two’s stealth antagonist.

Motorcycles carry inherent associations we can map onto Robby’s state of mind as he prepares for his planned sabbatical of riding across the country, a journey it’s safe to assume has roots in Robby’s trauma from last season’s PittFest shooting (not to mention the lingering COVID PTSD he was already carrying into that situation). A classic midlife-crisis symbol, motorcycles represent a heady blend of romance and risk, the freedom of the open road versus the likelihood you’ll end up splattered across it. The probability of catastrophe only rises when a helmet is removed from the equation, something Robby is surely aware of: The American Medical Association is quite clear in its recommendation that physicians “counsel their patients who ride motorcycles to wear appropriate protective gear and helmets that meet federal safety standards.” No doubt that’s why Robby walks into the emergency department with the helmet dangling from his backpack strap, like a talisman to ward off the judgment he expects to receive from his co-workers — especially Dana, whose unimpressed glance at the parked bike as she walks into PTMC tells us everything we need to know about the conversations the two of them have probably had about Robby’s new toy (one of which perhaps had to do with the fact that Robby’s “brain bucket” half-helmet style offers minimal protection, at best, in a crash).

But it’s a later conversation with a different co-worker that really drives home what’s lurking in the subconscious depths of Robby’s unhelmeted head. When Langdon, fresh out of his rehabilitation program and working through the steps, attempts to reconcile with the former mentor who is literally trying to hide from him, he opens with some small talk about Robby’s trip, inquiring about where he’s going. “Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump,” replies Robby, explaining that it’s a (very real) UNESCO World Heritage Site in Alberta. Robby says he’s going there because “I’ve never seen the badlands,” which is a plausible enough reason for picking this random-seeming destination with a very on-the-nose name. Langdon accepts this explanation, perhaps because he’s more interested in trying to clear the air with Robby (which he’s unsuccessful at) or perhaps because he wasn’t there on the roof at the end of last season’s shift from hell, when Dr. Abbot found a defeated-looking Robby peering over the edge, seemingly contemplating his own head-smashed-in buffalo jump. In that context, Robby’s motorcycle and unused helmet are transformed from cool-guy paraphernalia into symptoms of his death drive.