Upamanyu Biswas
After Dana’s unfortunate encounter with Doug Driscoll at the end of episode 9, the tenth episode of ‘The Pitt,‘ titled ‘4: 00 PM,’ focuses on the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center’s response to one of their own being attacked by an ungracious patient. As Robby looks for a temporary replacement for Dana’s position, the PTMC feels the effect of their head charge nurse being out of commission for an hour. Meanwhile, tensions continue to flare between Dr. Langdon and Santos, who had a difficult exchange in episode 9. We finally learn more about both sides’ reasons for distrusting each other, while Robby has to act as an intermediary in the volatile affair. Episode 10 also probes a little deeper into Dr. McKay’s personal life as a patient with a personal connection shows up at the hospital’s doorstep. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Dana Takes a Breather as the PTMC Crew Catch Up On Her Incident
The episode starts off with a couple of cops questioning Theresa about David. Robby intervenes and asks who called the cops on David. The answer is Dr. McKay. The senior attendee is distracted when Dana walks in with blood splattered across her face. Every staff member checks in on her while Robby performs a quick exam. Although hesitant, Dana eventually reveals that Doug Driscoll sucker punched her. Despite the shock of the incident, most of the staff relates to the issue, stating that they all have been assaulted at some point by a disgruntled patient. The PTMC security puts out a local notice on Driscoll, letting other hospitals in the area and the police know about his behavior. After realizing that Dana needs rest, Robby asks one of his other nurses to step up as charge nurse in the meantime. Perlah volunteers reluctantly.
The news of Dana’s injury spreads across the ER floor, and everyone is worried about staff safety at PTMC. Robby bears the brunt of everyone’s complaints. For once, he is saved when Gloria arrives to berate him. However, the senior attendee gets his chance to turn the responsibility on to her, stating that he has been asking for better security in the hospital for months, only to be ignored by Gloria and the upper management. He then amusingly walks away while the staff surrounds Gloria and berates her for not making any changes to the infrastructure. It feels satisfying to see Robby get one up on her. Dana heads off to rest on one of the free medical beds in the ER. Robby urges his crew to step up for the last few hours of their shift.
Dr. McKay Sees a Familiar Face in the ER
We finally learn more about Dr. McKay in episode 10 as her personal and professional duties collide. Out of nowhere, her former partner, Chad Ashfort, shows up at the ER with a severe injury to his leg, which he picked up during a skateboarding accident. Accompanying Chad is McKay’s son Harrison. There is clear banter visible between the pair as they clash heads over why Chad had to pick the hospital where she works. It turns out it was the closest to the accident site, so Chad had no choice in the matter. McKay gets to spend some time with her son while Chad is led away by Collins and Santos. She likely stays away because of personal history. However, she stops by during the treatment because Harrison wants to know if his father is alright. Amusingly, Chad shows some signs of jealousy after seeing Mateo interact with McKay and Harrison.
As Collins and Santos put Chad under pain medication, the latter starts mumbling incoherently about why McKay is so happy to see Mateo. Clearly, he is still harboring lingering feelings even though he seems to be in a new relationship with Chloe. Intriguingly, we learn through a cryptic exchange that Chloe is somehow responsible or involved in McKay’s ankle bracelet situation. It will be interesting to see what exactly happened there. McKay is also overjoyed when Harrison decides to stay with her for a while as his dad recovers. Meanwhile, the resident doctor also has to face Robby’s anger as he questions why she decided to call the cops on Theresa and David despite being expressly told not to. McKay explains that she had to take the risk because if she didn’t, the girls on David’s list would be the ones hurt. Although Robby is angry, he realizes that McKay might have a point.
Robby and McKay work side by side on an eye injury case involving a 16-year-old baseball player named Everett Young. He caught a line drive straight to the left eye, leaving it disturbingly swollen. He is rushed into the ER, and Robby immediately realizes after a few preliminary tests that minor surgery is needed to reduce his eye pressure. McKay is surprised when Robby hands her the responsibility of performing the operation, which goes smoothly. Later, Robby explains that he was wrong to question McKay’s judgment on calling the cops, and he wanted her to keep learning more on the job. McKay respects his trust in her. Later, she has to teach Javadi some essential patient communication tips after the latter goes ballistic on Greg Young, Everett’s father, for suggesting the boy could be game-ready instead of focusing on his fatherly duties.
Robby Loses His Cool After Santos Exposes Langdon’s Secret
The tension has been brewing between Langdon and Santos for a long time in ‘The Pitt.’ The two even had a major falling out in the previous episode when Langdon reprimanded her in front of everyone. Robby was not happy with Langdon’s outburst and told him to be a better example as a senior resident. In episode 10, Langdon watches Santos communicate with Robby with a suspicious eye. He is evidently worried about Santos breaking the chain of command and going straight to Robby on separate occasions. However, there is also something off about Langdon for the last couple of episodes, especially since he started increasing the pressure on Santos. Somehow, the seemingly cool and calm resident doctor has been showing signs of suspicious behavior.
Eventually, Langdon corners Robby and tells him that while he is sorry for aggravating the issue with Santos, he believes that the latter is not a team player and could disrupt the dynamic within the ER floor. Again, his reasons, although somewhat justified as Santos has been quite obnoxious earlier, feel forced and designed to harm rather than help. Robby also picks up on this underlying theme and lets Langdon go back to work. Later, he talks with Santos privately, asking her how her day has been going so far. He then shifts the topic to Langdon, probing into her tetchy interactions with him and how she feels around him. The senior attendee realizes that Santos is hesitant to talk about something and urges her to come clean as he is the leader of the ER pack and needs to know everything that goes on.
As Dana returns from her injury to take over the charge nurse duties, Robby tells Langdon to follow him. They meet up in the mostly empty corridor where Robby asks Langdon if he has been stealing medication from patients for personal use, something Santos has suspected for quite a while. When Langdon refutes the claim and turns the blame on Santos, Robby gets furious and orders Langdon to open his locker for an inspection. The latter does so hesitantly, and Robby finds incriminating evidence that backs Santos’ claims. At this point, Langdon finally comes clean about swiping medication, and Robby is beyond apoplectic. He dismisses Langdon’s words and sends him packing immediately. It is the most angry we have seen the senior attendee since the show’s start, and it will be interesting to see how the news of Langdon’s dismissal plays out among the PTMC crew.
Read More: The Pitt Episode 9 Recap: 3:00 PM
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