Nothing prepared The Pitt fans for Dr. Jack Abbot’s season 1 finale reveal.
Warning: Spoilers for The Pitt season 1 finale, “9:00 P.M.,” below.
The Thursday, April 10, episode of HBO’s hit medical drama brought an end to Dr. Robby’s (Noah Wyle) nightmarish 15-hour shift in the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital emergency room. It also offered a hint at combat veteran Dr. Abbot’s (Shawn Hatosy) past by revealing him to be a single-leg amputee.
“I knew from the beginning,” Hatosy, 49, told Us Weekly exclusively about his character’s reveal. “This revelation at the end is a big surprise to many of our characters who just met Abbot that day. But it’s also a big surprise for the audience.”
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Hatosy said that the reveal did exactly what it was intended.
“Him being a single leg amputee doesn’t define him,” the actor declared. “What defines him is not this injury, it’s his strength, it’s his presence, it’s his talent in emergency medicine. He’s the guy that you want in the room when things are failing.”
Hatosy further explained that there was a discussion before filming about having Abbot “work with some kind of physical attribute” before filming — however, they decided against it.
“We felt that would maybe tip it in a certain way,” he said. “I definitely had it in my mind when I had to move fast. I tried to keep it a secret, without going too fast. But it’s amazing with these prosthetics, how mobile you can be now with the technology. It’s incredible, really.”
Fans were introduced to Dr. Abbot during The Pitt’s series premiere back in January when Dr. Robby found him “literally on the roof about to jump” off the hospital. While Abbot leaves work in a “very emotional place” following his night shift, the doctor returns when a mass shooting at the fictional PittFest music festival contributes to a large number of casualties.
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“When Abbot returns, he says, ‘I was listening to my police scanner’ and shows up with a go bag,” Hatosy tells Us, explaining how that one line tells viewers exactly who Abbot is — and why he’s become a fan favorite among viewers.
“I think it’s just that his flaws are human and relatable. Despite them, or maybe because of them, people respect him, and they trust him. They want him in the room when everything’s failing.”
“I’ve never experienced a character that has received this much attention, who’s been universally liked,” Hatosy added. “I’ve carved out a lot of characters over the years.”
All episodes of The Pitt season 1 are now streaming via Max.
