Diksha Sundriyal
The fourth episode of HBO Max’s ‘The Pitt‘ ended with the return of a patient whose situation had gotten worse since Dr. Langdon last saw her. The fifth episode picks up with him taking her to Robby, revealing the details of the case so far. Since it is clearly an emergency, Robby takes over immediately, but it means working in a close space with Langdon, and with the air still tense between them, the strain appears in the way they work. The question is whether Robby will let his feelings cloud his judgment and let it impact the patient’s well-being. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Robby and Langdon’s Paths Cross Repeatedly
The returning patient, named Debbie, is told that she has a condition where her body has started to attack itself. This led to the bruise that is now spreading across her leg, with Langdon and Robby desperately trying to stem any further increase. This makes Debbie nervous, not just because she is worried about her health, but more so because it means she will have to spend more time in the hospital and won’t be able to get back to work. When she gets a call from her employer, she tries to explain what is happening, but clearly, her boss doesn’t seem in the mood to understand.
It gets on Robby’s nerves, and he takes the phone from her, chides the boss about how Debbie will sue them, and hangs up. While it remains to be seen whether this act will actually help Debbie, for now, she immediately needs to go into surgery. The tests reveal she has severe sepsis and must be treated immediately. Robby calls for Dr. Garcia while dismissing Langdon, telling him he has done enough. It takes some time, and when the surgeon finally comes, it turns out to be a recently graduated med student, which makes Robby angry. He sends the doctor away, asking an experienced one to be called because Debbie is not getting any better, and there is no scope for making any mistakes or waiting any longer to treat her.
Eventually, Dr. Garcia shows up, and while she assesses the situation and offers the complexities that may appear in the procedure, Robby follows his gut and takes a shortcut, slicing the patient’s skin, which shocks Garcia, but it turns out to have been necessary. Elsewhere, Whitaker tries to talk to Santos, wondering if he said something wrong to her. She brushes off his apology as she is entirely focused on getting her charts done. That is, until Dana points out that new patients are coming in and Santos needs to do her job. To assist her, Dana assigns Ogilvie to her. The duo’s first patient is an old woman whose discomfort stems from the fact that she took Percocet quite a few times and hasn’t been able to relieve herself for a while now.
An Unexpected Advice from Joy Kwon Saves the Day for a Patient
While other patients worry about their disease, Mr. Diaz is concerned about his hospital bills, and his family and doctors try to convince him to stay. Dr. Mohan assures him that financial arrangements can be made, but he remains unconvinced. Noelle Hastings comes in and reveals their options, but even with that, Mr. Diaz notes that he will have to pay thousands of dollars that he cannot afford. Eventually, it is Joy who offers an alternative to shift him to a different ward rather than keeping him in the ICU, which will considerably lower his bills. Dr. Mohan is appalled at the idea because she believes it will compromise the patient’s treatment, but Noelle likes it and decides to look into it.
Later, Noelle reveals that Joy’s idea has worked, and Dr. Mohan apologises for doubting her. Joy reveals that she got the idea from the time they used similar tricks to get treatment for her uninsured grandma, who had cancer. Meanwhile, Noelle’s trip to the Pitt allows her to cross paths with Robby again, and they share a light conversation. In another part of the Pitt, Jackson Davis’ sister waits for him to wake up, while also being in disbelief about how her brother was tasered without having done anything. Dr. Al-Hashimi and Victoria assure her that they are doing their best to treat her brother, and if she wishes, she can sue the university for how her brother was treated.
Meanwhile, new patients keep coming in. A woman named Roxie Hamler is brought in after having suffered a seizure-related fall. She is a cancer patient and is assisted by her husband, who is deeply worried about her. It also turns out that Roxie has a doula whose job is to help her transition to her death, which Roxie jokes is around the corner. Another patient to be brought in is Gus Varney. He is a prisoner who was attacked by another convict and sustained severe injuries. While the doctors treat him, they face the hurdle of the handcuffs, which the prison officer insists must be on at all times for everyone’s safety. In between this, Dr. Mohan keeps receiving calls from her mother, but she doesn’t pick up.
Ogilvie’s New Cases Test Him in Messy Ways
Santos and Ogilvie treat the elderly woman, and it turns out that the patient’s fecal matter will need to be removed from her body through disimpaction. To show him how it’s done, Santos calls in Whitaker. Clearly, she is taking a jab at him, but Whitaker puts Ogilvie on the spot, and things get quite messy, to say the least. Things had already been a little off for Ogilvie after he treated another patient that Santos had left him with. The woman came in with a bad cough, and after an X-ray, it was revealed that she has TB. This means that everyone who came in contact with her must get checked for TB, and Ogilvie, as her attending physician, needs to do it more than anyone else. The idea of getting TB and being on meds had already been haunting him, and now he has literal shit on him. The hour couldn’t have gotten any worse for him.
Elsewhere, a young man comes in with a burn on his chest caused by dry ice. It seems that his cousin had tried to brand him with their family crest, but things didn’t go as planned. Langdon gets to treat the kid, and while he is surprised by how someone could allow themselves to be branded, he is also intrigued enough to look at the video when the cousin offers it. Fortunately, the burn wasn’t as bad, and the patient will live. But when his cousin talks about trying to brand him again in a few months, Langdon makes it clear that it should not be tried again at all. Langdon also tries to stay away from vices of his own, including the ongoing bet on what really happened at Westbridge. The rehab bills have taken enough toll on him to keep him from indulging in such things.
Dr. Al-Hashimi Gives Robby a Reality Check About Their Positions
The question mark on Westbridge continues to intrigue everyone, as both Robby and Dr. Al-Hashimi confess that neither of their contacts has confirmed what actually happened. In the meantime, all they can do is treat the incoming patients, one of whom is the guy with the dislocated shoulder, whom they had moved to Westbridge because of his insurance issues. The patient needs to go into surgery, so despite his requests to get something to eat, Robby tells him he can’t and must wait until after the surgery.
Later, when Robby asks Dr. Al-Hashimi for updates, she asks why he is treating her as one of her residents and not as an equal who will be taking over his job in his absence. While he explains himself, saying that it’s just so he remains updated enough to jump in at a moment’s notice, she points out that she, too, should be updated on his cases so she can do the same. Apart from showing Robby that he is not the only one in charge here, Dr. Al-Hashimi also steps in to help Santos. When she sees her struggling with her charting, she advises her to use the AI app, which could make her task much quicker and easier, though Robby still doesn’t approve of it.
The episode ends with Langdon checking up on Louie, only to discover that he has fallen unconscious. At the same time, Robby enters the room and is once again paired up with Langdon to solve another critical case and save the patient. Perhaps, this will force Robby to confront the situation and finally have the talk with Langdon which will help them resolve his issues. In any case, even if Robby leaves with making his peace, Dr. Al-Hashimi has already assured Langdon that he is welcome in the Pitt and he doesn’t have to worry about Robby’s opinion because he won’t be there for the next three months.
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