The revelation that Dr. Langdon was stealing drugs from the hospital in The Pitt had audiences asking questions about what will happen to his relationships in season 2, but no one seems to be asking the biggest one. Dr. Frank Langdon (Patrick Ball) was a standout character in The Pitt season 1’s cast, which is impressive considering the overall greatness of the entire ensemble. It’s rare for a cast that big to have no weak links, which is a testament to the actors. But Ball’s senior resident stood out.
Langdon was an incredible contradiction at times. He was impatient and seemingly callous when it came to patients dying, but incredibly patient and nurturing when it came to teaching The Pitt‘s med students new procedures. He butted heads with Trinity Santos, but adored Mel King. He was hyperactive and impulsive, but an incredibly skilled doctor in the trauma center. The revelation that he’s been stealing drugs to treat his addiction explains so much about his behavior in hindsight. His storyline heading into The Pitt season 2 is the biggest question mark, as it will impact so many relationships, including one I’m worried for.
The Biggest Landon Relationship Question Marks In The Pitt Season 2 Are Robby & Santos
He’s Damaged One Relationship & Gotten Off To A Rocky Start With The Other
Langdon’s stolen drugs storyline is a really compelling one, not just because he was a beloved character by the time the reveal dropped, but also because his storyline is so true to life. Emergency room doctors and certain other specializations in the medical field tend to develop substance abuse disorders at a higher rate than the general public, as a few episodes in The Pitt season 1 alluded to. In the wake of the season wrapping, the focus regarding Langdon’s future seems to be on three questions:
- Can he keep practicing medicine in season 2?
- Will he repair his relationship with Dr. Robby?
- Will he and Santos bury the hatchet?
These are all incredibly valid questions. Considering how poorly Langdon responded in The Pitt season 1’s ending to Robby setting the return conditions of inpatient rehab, random drug testing, and probation for the senior resident, it doesn’t appear that Langdon is at the point where he’s ready to admit he has a problem. In fact, he’s so not ready that he resorted to a moment of whataboutism, appearing to threaten Robby with the reveal that an ER nurse had seen Robby’s breakdown in pediatrics. Langdon dangling that is an inferred promise of mutually assured destruction, and it’s not clear that his relationship with Robby can bounce back from that.
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Meanwhile, the relationship between Santos and Langdon got off to a rocky start and stayed rocky. Part of that was because their personalities clashed, and part of it was because Langdon kept coming down hard on Santos for flouting protocol. But Santos was absolutely correct in following her instincts about Langdon, because he is a potential danger to his patients. If Langdon is humbled and apologizes, it’s possible his relationship with Santos can be repaired, simply because it was barely established. However, considering Langdon’s current defiant state of mind, his irritation with Santos may very well curdle into outright hate since she was the one who outed him.
Considering Langdon’s current defiant state of mind, his irritation with Santos may very well curdle into outright hate since she was the one who outed him.
Still, neither Robby’s reaction nor Santos’ reaction is the one I really care about. Sure, they’re important, but there’s one character who still has no idea about why Langdon temporarily left the shift or what he’s done, and it’s her reaction that will be the most fascinating to see in The Pitt season 2.
The Real Question Is How Dr. Mel King Will Respond When She Learns About What Langdon Did
Mel Has Langdon On A Pedestal & She’ll Likely Be Crushed
While I’m curious to see how Langdon interacts with the above characters next season, I’m most interested in seeing how Dr. Mel King responds when she learns the truth. Frankly, I’m worried about how she’ll take it. In a very short amount of time, Mel bonded with Langdon, finding in him a mentor who appreciated and respected her skills and whose personality clicked with hers, which I sense doesn’t happen often for Mel. She learned a lot from him, and he even learned a bit from her when he observed her interacting with the patient with autism.
Some people have read the way Mel lights up whenever Langdon gave her a compliment as romantic interest, and plenty of viewers now ship them. But The Pitt isn’t Grey’s Anatomy, and there isn’t a melodramatic romance starting. Langdon will not have an illicit affair with Mel in a utility closet with his wife and kids at home. It’s not that kind of show. Rather, Mel’s exuberance is simply that she looks up to and really respects Langdon. It thrills her that someone she has already bonded with and views as a mentor values her and encourages her strengths.
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It’s for that reason that I worry how Mel will react when she learns what happened with Langdon. There’s a large chance that she’ll be crushed by the news. It’s not been explicitly confirmed, but The Pitt heavily implies that Mel is on the spectrum. It’s why her emotions are so unguarded, especially her exuberance and enthusiasm. Several times throughout The Pitt season 1, more emotionally nuanced moments flummoxed Mel, and emotionally heavy moments hit her hard. She’s an excellent doctor, but her emotional view of the world is more like a child’s black-and-white binary. It’s why we love her, but it also indicates that she may not be able to process the complicated layers of where Langdon is at right now, or who he is as a person.
Mel & Langdon’s Dynamic Was The Best Part Of The Pitt Season 2
It’s Hard To See How Their Relationship Won’t Be Irrevocably Damaged
Image via Max
Either way, the dynamic between Langdon and Mel, which was the best character dynamic in The Pitt season 1, will irrevocably be changed. Mel’s view of Langdon will certainly be damaged; it will be hard for her to understand that someone she looks up to so much could be capable of such a thing. The disappointment will be crushing. One gets the sense that Mel doesn’t often bond with people, thanks to her challenges with processing social and emotional cues, and that when she does, she puts them on a pedestal, especially if they’re mentors.
Langdon blossomed just as much with having a mentee as Mel did with a mentor. They both made each other better doctors in a very short space of time.
While Langdon’s substance-abuse issue itself isn’t a weakness and isn’t something for which he should be judged, he made bad choices. He’ll no longer be infallible in Mel’s eyes. At the very least, it will feel like a betrayal for her – we already saw how disappointed she was when she merely thought he had just left without saying goodbye. The reveal will be hard for both of them, I think. Langdon blossomed just as much with having a mentee as Mel did with a mentor. They both made each other better doctors in a very short space of time.
Currently, The Pitt season 2 is set to be released in January 2026.
The tragedy of Langdon is that, when you remove the substance abuse, he’s an excellent doctor and a great teacher. He taught the new med students in The Pitt almost as much as Dr. Robby, and he was patient and thorough with his explanations. Mel putting her faith in him meant a lot to him, as maybe he hadn’t had that trust from a young doctor before. It will probably be just as crushing for him when she learns about his fall from grace as it will be for her, and I’m afraid of what happens when that shoe finally drops in season 2.
The Pitt
8/10
- Release Date
-
January 9, 2025
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