Fun fact for Breaking Bad fans: actress Taylor Dearden who plays Dr. King is Bryan Cranston’s daughter.

5 Reasons Dr. King Is The Best Character On ‘The Pitt’

Classy, bougie, ratchet. Sassy, moody, nasty.

Updated 2 days ago, April 10, 2025

The Pitt is a new medical drama streaming on Max that follows the staff of an emergency room at a Pittsburgh hospital during one 15-hour shift. That’s it. The whole season covers just one very long day in the ER. And it’s the best medical drama currently on television.

The ensemble cast of The Pitt is so good it is tough to pick a favorite. The doctors, nurses and patients all have compelling storylines so that each episode (one hour of the shift) breezes by. If forced to pick a standout, I will argue that Dr. Melissa “Mel” King (Taylor Dearden) is the best character on season one of The Pitt. Here are five reasons why.

In my non-medical professional opinion, it’s perfectly appropriate to give high fives after saving your patient’s life.

She loves saving lives. Who doesn’t want a doctor who is overjoyed about going to go to work? Dr. King starts her first shift at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital by saying “I’m so happy to be here” and after saving her first patient exclaims “That was awesome!” and looks around for high fives. Her enthusiasm is infectious, which is a great thing for all of the patients on The Pitt.

To make her patient feel more comfortable, Dr. King lowers herself to eye level.

2. She’s really, really good at her job. Dr. King isn’t just an affable character, she is shown to be knowledgable and adept at her job. Saving lives and caring for people’s health isn’t just about coldly reading test results or doling out advice that will be impossible for a patient to actually follow. Dr. King knows and cares about the real life factors that make a difference like getting a patient to feel comfortable enough to share vital information and supporting caregivers to prevent burnout.

Dr. King helps her traumatized 4-year-old patient by gifting her a teddy bear.

3. She deeply cares about her patients. In one of the season’s most heartbreaking episodes, a 4-year-old loses her 6-year-old sister to a drowning accident. Dr. King buys her a teddy bear from the gift shop to help her process the loss. She tells the girl she can use the bear to speak to her deceased sister, saying “If you tell Bear everything you want to tell Amber, then I’ll take Bear and sit her on Amber’s pillow, and then she’ll tell her everything you said.”

In some cases Dr. King’s neurodivergence is a gift. Who better to do a repetitive, detail-oriented task like cleaning out road rash?

4. Her perseverance in overcoming the extra obstacles her neurodivergence adds to her career. Not only is Dr. King likely neurodivergent herself (this isn’t explicitly confirmed on the show), she is also the caretaker for her autistic twin. It would be great if doctors had no personal issues that got in the way of them being perfect life-saving robots. But since we live in the real world and medicine is performed by imperfect human beings, the next best thing is to be someone like Dr. King who is aware of their flaws and proactively counteracts them to be the best doctor she can be.

Dr. King sings Meghan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” to herself.

4. She’s a rare TV doctor who stays humble. It’s clear that Dr. King wants to be a good doctor above all. This is shown by her taking negative feedback very seriously as well as the scene where we see her pumping herself up by singing Meghan Thee Stallion’s “Savage” in a lull between traumas. Dr. King places effectiveness over ego and isn’t too embarrassed to do a little ritual she knows it will result in her getting into the necessary headspace to do her job well.