Jamie tartt and Frank Langdon, similarities? Differences? If they were to meet what dynamic do you think they have?
@the-bassist - you have no idea how this ask has consumed me. What a treat to get to talk about both of my two favourite guys in one post! I've been so excited to answer it these past two days but didn't really have time, so here goes!
For any of you who don't know one of these characters, meet Jamie Tartt from Ted Lasso and Dr. Frank Langdon from the Pitt.
Just look at them, two guys on a journey of becoming their best selves.
Their storylines are so similar when you look past the vastly different settings they operate in.
Boiled down, Season 1 for both of them is a story of rubbing everyone wrong and being incredibly hard on a new team member (Sam Obisanya and Trinity Santos, respectively) who didn't deserve it and ultimately facing consequences for their actions.
Season 2 is them trying to find their footing again, returning disgraced and unwelcome (by some), trying to make things right with their mentors (and failing for the most part) and trying to extend olive branches to the people they harmed in Season 1.
Season 3 has Jamie settled and loved by his teammates, having real friends and a support network. I'm hoping we get the same for Frank in Season 3 of the Pitt.
So much enthusiasm, so much whimsy
We find out they're both little nerds in S3 and S2, respectively.
We find out Frank loves the revolutionary war reenactors and used to go see them with his mum every time they visited Pittsburgh (now if only someone would tell him Mel loves history too)
When Jamie enters tour guide mode and takes a very down and conflicted Roy on a running tour of Amsterdam while telling him fun facts about the city, culminating in a quest to find a windmill to prove that love is real.
Both Jamie and Frank enjoy the little fun things in life, and I love them for it. There are so many moments to point out, but I'll just leave these two here:
They're both great with kids
We see Jamie on multiple occasions taking extra time to talk to young fans and he's incredibly sweet with them. Frank has two kids of his own and he's giving major cycle breaker, he lets his kids be soft and is enthusiastic about Tanner's interests ("I'd love to hear your song"), and he's amazing with pediatric patients, and will go to great personal harm to get them treated ASAP.
Whether or not you accept Frank's "cause we all have ADHD" as canonical confirmation doesn't matter to me. These two have so much ADHD going on between them. I get into how I think they'd get on later, but it might be for the best that they'll never meet. Who knows where they'd end up together if left unsupervised.
On the flipside: They're both incredible in a crisis and don't lose their nerve when push comes to shove and the deck is stacked against them (also see below 'managing the mood of the team')
They have the same type, in both men and women
This one's very funny to me, their most significant connections are so similar. They both like:
Gruff, older, suicide risk mentor figures for men
Warm, open-hearted, whimsical, blonde, autistic women (now these gifs are vastly different vibes, but I trust Frank and Mel will get there)
Managing the mood of the team
When shit hits the fan and morale is low, you can rely on Jamie and Frank to manage the mood and try and get people's spirits up. With the same body language.
Designated asshole for special occasions
Both Jamie and Frank are in charge of turning on asshole mode when people need to be dealt with. Jamie is famously amazing at getting into his opponents heads and making them make mistakes, and Frank is the nurses' go-to guy when some patient is being an asshole and needs to be dealt with. (I wanted to put the gif of Frank slamming the AMA form against the window in triage, but for some reason tumblr doesn't want to give it to me, so here's Frank being an ass to Trinity instead)
A few more similarities for the road:
They both learn fast from the people they care about
They both don't come from money. We know Jamie grew up in a council estate, and we know Frank's parents do not have enough money to pay for movers, and neither does he, so he had to help them move house himself.
They both seek out the people they love at random times during the work day
I just know both of them eat pussy like it's what they were put on earth for
Gift-giving to resolve resentment: Jamie proposes buying his team mates' affection by getting them all PS5s. Frank hopes a Birkin will save his marriage.
A throuple would solve every one of their problems (missing from these gifs: Frank's wife who would probably also benefit from Mel being in her life)
Streets smarts vs. book smarts
They're both tactical minds, they keep an overview of their domain (pitch or pitt), think ahead about what will be needed from them and get a move on to make sure what needs to happen actually happens.
That said, Frank would get mugged by an 8-year old on the streets of Manchester and Jamie would despair trying to make sense of even a chapter of a medical textbook.
They're both absolutely gorgeous men, no doubt about it, but we have to have a moment for Jamie's ass. No one's got cake like Jamie.
If they were to meet what dynamic do you think they have?
Now this one is vastly different depending on when in their journey they meet. I don't think they'd clash very much, no matter what the scenario. I think even S1 Jamie and S1 Frank could have a neutral encounter (as fun as I think a bitch-off between the two of them could be, I don't see how they'd reasonably get there), especially in a medical setting, because they're both baseline polite guys. Jamie, even in S1, is really only a dick to his teammates. Georgie raised a polite boy. That said, I do not think S1 Frank and S1 Jamie would have a good time with each other.
Frank in S1 would not have the nerves for Jamie's question. I think if Jamie were to see him as a patient, they'd get through business and that's it. Equally, I think S1! Jamie wouldn't be as forthcoming about things he doesn't understand for fear of being taken less seriously.
S2!Frank who had the Mel King crash course in dealing with neurodivergent patients would absolutely handle things differently. He'd take the time to sit down and meet Jamie where he's at, break down the concepts, answer any questions patiently, and the more listened to and informed Jamie would feel, the warmer the interaction would get. S2 and S3!Jamie is so much more expressive and communicative, I think he'd be very comfortable about actually asking all the questions he wants answers to. So I think S3 Jamie would love S2 Frank.
You'd probably find Frank in Jamie's room an hour later, and somehow they're talking about penguins now. I could easily see a friendship forming. Jamie brings Frank to an outing with the AFC Richmond boys and the team folding him in like he's been family for years.
"This is Frank, he's the reason I can walk again."
"You had a sprained ankle, you were always going to walk again."
"Saved me life, he did."
I touched on this before, but these two actually being friends would get them into sooo many shenanigans, because I know off the clock, Frank turns his brain off. These two would get into ridiculous situations together, and I can just see Keeley and Mel groaning when they have to go and get them.
In summary: I love these two with all my heart, and if you haven't seen one of these shows, but you like the other, I highly recommend you watch the one you don't know. You'll have a built-in blorbo off the bat.
