Diksha Sundriyal
The penultimate episode of HBO Max’s ‘The Pitt’ Season 2 cranks the pressure for Dr. Robby as the time of his departure becomes imminent. The previous episode ended with him starting to lose it a little, spiraling to the point where he almost confesses to Dana that he may not be returning to the hospital after his three-month bike trip. The intention of his words echoes in this episode as the patients continue to flood in, and every other doctor tries to figure out their own personal and professional issues. With just one hour left in this season, this episode sets the stage for a finale that is sure to be an emotional gut-punch for the staff of the PTMC. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Day Shift Tirelessly Works to Wrap Things Up
As the night shift takes over, Dr. Chen and Dr. Abbott take over the new patients, while the day shift doctors try to wrap up so that they can leave as soon as possible. Santos and Whitaker are still on duty, filing the charts as the system reverses from analog to digital. Because they are flooded, Robby rounds up the remaining day staff to help them and get it over with as soon as possible. This includes Dr. MacKay, who had thought about going on a date with a patient, but the day has been so long and endless that all she can think about now is curling up with a book in the comfort of her home. In the midst of this, Whitaker notices that his badge is gone, and he spends the rest of the episode looking for it, among other things.
Meanwhile, Duke is getting impatient, still waiting for his results. Perlah tries to keep him in bed, leading to a hearty banter between them. Dr. Ellis and Langdon catch up, and he confesses that he may have gotten a bit rusty. He also talks about how Robby is mad at him, which is not making things any easier. But Ellis points out that it is not Langdon Robby is mad at, it is himself. Meanwhile, Robby finds Victoria on her phone, likely making TikTok for her channel. Without inquiring what she was making the video about, he chides her for doing the extra work on company time and tells her to go work on the charts instead. Later, MacKay tells him that Victoria has been using her platform to find out more about Jesse and how to help him as soon as possible, so perhaps he should not be so quick to judge the young doctors.
With the digital system back on, Monica bids goodbye to Dana, complimenting her on keeping the whole place running. Abbott echoes her sentiment and calls her the glue that is keeping the Pitt together, but becomes concerned when she starts crying. She fills him in on the conversation she had with Robby and asks Abbott to talk to him about it. While Abbott understands her concern, he also points out that Robby is a grown man and his mind cannot be changed if he doesn’t want to. Meanwhile, the ambulances continue to arrive, and one of them enters the bay so hastily that it ends up knocking down Robby’s bike.
Robby Calls Out the Incompetence of Two Paramedics
Robby finally fills Duke in on the results of his CT. It turns out that Duke has an aneurysm. It can be treated with surgery, which means Duke will have to spend some time in the hospital and some more time recuperating. If he doesn’t get help, then the aneurysm can rupture anytime, resulting in certain death. Speaking of impossible situations, Mr. Diaz’s wife tries to come to terms with his situation, while Dr. Mohan is still shaken up about the fact that she could have stopped all this if only she’d been more compelling. As the patient is wheeled away to the ICU, Robby tells her that this is not her fault. She tried her best to help him, and the patient chose to do what they liked. He says, rather crudely, that the only mistake that the patient made was not to jump from a higher place.
Dr. Caleb overhears this argument and later confronts Robby about it. By this time, he knows there is no point in trying to get Robby to come in for a session, but he does tell the guy to stay in touch, just in case things get out of hand. Robby says he will, but there is no conviction in his words. Meanwhile, two more patients are brought in. One is a woman who turns out to have been misdiagnosed because the paramedics didn’t do their job right. She could have died, though she was saved in time. But clearly, the paramedics seemed too concerned with the fact that the patient was a woman and her bra was getting in the way of the treatment she needed. Later, Robby finds the paramedics and lashes out at them for not doing their job right and almost costing a woman her life.
Another patient has his hands all beaten up because a game of tug-of-war got out of hand. Another patient sustained a fall while trying to get to a party by getting on a trash can. During the search for his badge, Whitaker discovers that an old lady has been discharged, but she has no way of going back home. She was dropped off at the hospital by her neighbor, and she has no money to take a cab. So, Whitaker does her a favor and books a cab for her, hoping to get some good karma by helping her. But things turn around on him when he is slapped with a fine and a complaint on the app because the old lady passed racist comments to the driver and puked in the backseat.
Robby and Duke Have a Heartfelt but Necessary Conversation
A patient is brought in after he got into a car accident due to an unexplained seizure. The hit led his vertebrae to dislocate, which is causing problems with his breathing, among other things. With each moment, the patient’s situation worsens, so Langdon proposes a plan. He’d seen a procedure to put the vertebrae back into place, but he had never done it himself before. It is risky, but if it works, it could save the patient. While Langdon is unsure of himself, he is encouraged to go forth with the procedure, and it ends up working out for the best. Everyone is deeply impressed by him, including Robby, who compliments him before leaving the room. While Langdon processes the compliment, Dana reminds him that he is already late for his drug test, which sends him running.
Meanwhile, Robby finds out about his bike and later has Duke look at it. Their conversation shifts towards death, but Duke makes it clear that he is not talking about his own. Robby confesses that he doesn’t know if he can be in the world anymore. When Duke wonders if it’s the hospital that makes him feel this way, Robby says that it’s the opposite. He has a purpose in the hospital, but once he is out of there, he feels like he doesn’t want to be anywhere anymore. Duke tells him that running away is not the way to deal with these feelings, while also wondering if this is the final lesson he will leave for the young doctors under his wing.
Earlier in the episode, Robby tries to corner Dr. Al-Hashimi to find out what’s going on with her. She leaves the room at that time, and he doesn’t get to elaborate on the situation. But at the end of the episode, she finds him. She commends him on the way he handles the incompetence of the paramedics, though she personally would have handled it differently. She also asks him for advice on a patient. As he starts to read the file, which talks of seizures and meningitis, he realizes that he is reading her file. Finally, the issue is addressed, but the episode ends, and we’ll have to wait till the finale to find out the rest.
Read More: Who is Nurse Noelle Hastings? Who Plays Her in The Pitt?
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