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\u201cI love you. Thank you. I forgive you. Please forgive me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n A few weeks ago, I was sitting by my dying mother\u2019s bed, searching for ways to say goodbye to her, when a scene from the first season of The Pitt<\/em> popped into my head.<\/p>\n More from Gold Derby<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s an occupational hazard \u2014\u00a0as a longtime entertainment journalist, I\u2019m so immersed in movies and television that it\u2019s often hard to separate my personal life from my professional one.<\/p>\n As I held her hand, I remembered Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) helping two adult siblings come to terms with their elderly father\u2019s DNR (do not resuscitate) order. He shared with them a ritual he\u2019d learned that he hoped would bring them comfort. \u201cI had a teacher, mentor, who told me about a Hawaiian ritual called ho’oponopono, or \u2018the four things that matter most,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s basically just a few key things that we can say when we’re saying goodbye to a loved one that can really help at the early stages of loss.\u201d<\/p>\n And so I found myself telling my 88-year-old mother: \u201cI love you, thank you, I forgive you, please forgive me.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s what my sister and I had been saying for the past hours at her bedside, but giving our thoughts and feelings that structure gave me a sense of purpose and focus \u2014 and ultimately relief. Over and over again, we told her how we felt. We recounted stories from our childhood, laughing and crying, and though she was mostly unresponsive, I do believe she heard us. Her breaths rose and fell with our own. I\u2019ve got a famously loud laugh, and when I burst out cackling at one memory, I felt her gaze lock on me.<\/p>\n \u201cYou’re not the first person who’s told me that that helped them,\u201d Wyle told me later<\/a>, when I was back at work. \u201cThe fact that we got that messaging onto the show and have helped people in that incredibly difficult time, gives me a lot of \u2014 I don’t know what the right word is \u2014 well, it makes me feel wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n Wyle said he\u2019d met Dr. Ira Byock, the author of The Four Things That Matter Most<\/em>, during the show\u2019s first season. \u201cHe saw it more than anecdotally be proven time and time again to have a really tangible effect,\u201d Wyle said. \u201cSo I’m thrilled that you found it to be true, too.\u201d When the subject came up in the writers\u2019 room, he raised his hand to fold it into the episode, \u201c10:00 AM,\u201d which bears his writing credit.<\/p>\n That\u2019s one of his goals with the series, Wyle said. \u201cWe’re trying to build bridges, we’re trying to connect hearts,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s trying to be an empathy generator.\u201d<\/p>\n We may complain about the character flaws and cast changes, but just two seasons in, The Pitt<\/em> has changed the way we think about healthcare. Call it The Pitt<\/em> Effect:<\/a> Like CSI<\/em> and Law & Order: SVU<\/em>, the series has made an impact beyond the screen into our hearts and minds along with our politics. According to a study by the University of Southern California’s Norman Lear Center, a third of viewers of the end-of-life storyline \u2014\u00a0count me among them \u2014\u00a0sought more information about end-of-life planning after watch the show; 1-in-4 did the same for organ donation.<\/p>\n Supriya Ganesh (Dr. Samira Mohan) told me she\u2019s often approached by women who\u2019ve found their voice to advocate for their own healthcare \u2014\u00a0women with chronic disease who haven\u2019t been believed. \u201cI hear from a lot of people with chronic disease, chronic pain conditions where they weren’t believed, especially women of color, who really want this doctor,\u201d she said. \u201cI think someone like Dr. Mohan really represents the doctor that’s like, \u2018No, I am going to listen to you, and I am going to take what you’re saying seriously, and even though other people are calling you crazy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Taylor Dearden (Dr. Mel King) and Tal Anderson (Becca King) talked to Gold Derby about how the show changed how people think about autism and neurodivergence. \u201cWhat the writers are getting right is that they show the diversity of autism in an authentic way, by introducing each neurodivergent character in their everyday lives,\u201d said Anderson<\/a>. \u201cThey don\u2019t focus on the stereotypes, and disability isn’t the story.\u201d Dearden reflected<\/a> on how much that meant to both of them, especially in having a character who’s autistic not rock back and forth stereotypically. \u201cTo have something where you can, as Tal has pitched to writers going, here’s what I personally do when I’m reacting to heavy stress, and the writers being like, please do what you know\u2026 it’s pretty cool,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The impact of the show\u2019s production in L.A. has been well-documented \u2014\u00a0so much so that Wyle testified before Congress about the impact of tax incentives on the state. \u201cIt\u2019s really hard to shoot a TV show in L.A. and it\u2019s really expensive, prohibitively so \u2014 unless you adopt an economic model which takes full advantage of the California tax incentive,\u201d he told Congress.<\/p>\n And of course there\u2019s the ICE episode, which triggered a social media firestorm. “It was something that was happening in the country and happening at hospitals,” Gemmill explained to Gold Derby<\/a>. “We basically try and portray the reality of what’s happening in healthcare today, and that seemed to be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n And for me, it changed the way I approached my mother\u2019s deathbed. I didn\u2019t get to say goodbye to my father, who\u2019d died suddenly in his sleep over a decade ago. I\u2019d often thought about what I wanted to say to him if given the chance \u2014\u00a0but when it came to it when it was my mother\u2019s turn, it was harder than I thought to put words to it. Thinking about that Pitt<\/em> scene made me feel a little less tongue-tied.<\/p>\n I love (and miss) you, Mom. Thank you for making the woman I am. I forgive you \u2014\u00a0and I hope you\u2019ll forgive me for sharing this story.<\/p>\n Best of Gold Derby<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for Gold Derby’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n