The hour even begins with the eerie calm before the storm as the staff is briefed about their roles and the content of routine meetings regarding mass-casualty events (not uncommon at any hospital) becomes real terror in real life. The team members’ responses range from the understandably anxious, like poor Dr. King when she realizes she’ll be charged with the extremities unit, or comically flat, like the night shift attending who sips on iced coffee and muses that it was supposed to rain that day.
As Dr. Robby waits in the ambulance bay, Theresa (Joanna Going), the mother of David, the teenager with a vivid manifesto about hurting the girls who’ve spurned him, rushes out to get him to sign the paperwork that could have her son committed. The possibility that David, who has been on the run, committed this heinous violence hangs over this episode—as does Robby’s potential culpability for not calling the police earlier, especially after Dr. McKay begged him to consider the lives of the girls who’ve been threatened.
The episode maintains a high, frenzied pitch of activity with the doctors attending to the wounded, while still fulfilling the character development that has been painstakingly established earlier on. Javadi’s time with Dr. McKay has helped her wriggle out from under her mother’s thumb, encouraging her to think more creatively and giving her the edge over dear ol’ mom, who initially struggles to adapt to the more on-the-fly approach needed to handle this chaos. Her MacGyver-ing of medical equipment to save the day even earns a compliment from Matteo.
As Robby works on patients, he looks up to see Langdon back in the fray—and while, yes, he technically shouldn’t be there, he and his (self-proclaimed) “healing hands” are desperately needed. The series very subtly re-addresses the problem that is Langdon by having him correctly diagnose a diabetic woman’s crash, sparing her from unnecessary examination and also saving precious time that can mean life or death for other patients. However, Patrick Ball brings an edginess to Langdon that could be adrenaline but also could be something else, something that would eventually lead his healing hands to fumble.
Of course, there’s the requisite stare-down between him and Dr. Santos, both of them with pure arctic regard for each other. Fortunately, The Pitt is too smart and grounded to let them have their blow up over a wounded patient. Instead, it offers Santos a moment to show that her, shall I say, contrarian nature has its perks. She catches a sleazy tabloid journo who has snuck into the ER to snap pictures, and when the man slips on a smear of blood, dumps his phone—bearing images of the most vulnerable scenes—into a bloodied bucket of cleaning fluid.
This episode makes several wise decisions to keep a quick, propulsive pacing without forfeiting its deep concern for its characters and their patients. Critically, rather than latching onto several stories of interest, it hones in on Sylvia and her son Omar. Initially, it seems like Omar, shot in the chest, is more vulnerable, especially since he’s deaf. Ensuring that the OR team that takes over Omar’s care knows this falls to Mel, she quickly (after nearly skidding across a blood spatter) writes as much on the makeshift identification card attached to his wrist.
The situation gets even more dire when Sylvia, assumed to have a leg fracture, suddenly passes out, her vitals fading—and fast. Together, Mel and Whitaker quickly determine the cause and resolve it, moments of growth in two young doctors who have doubted their abilities to lead and act swiftly enough to save lives, respectively. In Sylvia and Omar, the show provides an outlet to make the more generalized horror heartbreakingly specific and personal.
Still, The Pitt also highlights the surrealistic mundanity that can attach itself to these tragedies. Social worker Kiara Alfaro (Krystal Mcneil), along with the hospital’s ward clerk, attempt to bring news to the friends and family members of the patients fighting for life in the ER, telling them that paper gowns will be on the way for PittFest survivors who need clean garments. They’re about to tackle the hard and ugly work of helping people in ways that the doctors can’t, trying to process the unbearable.
Stray observations
- • The scene where McKay’s selfish ex, Chad (ugh, Chad), stumbles downstairs demanding to know why his surgery was postponed, only to be brusquely told off by a security guard, might have temporarily fixed something in my soul. That said, seeing her in action seems to have shaken some sense into him. Hopefully.
- • The Langdon and Mel reunion was quick, but it was sweet.
- • Also, of course Mel would volunteer her own blood to save Sylvia’s life. She’s grown so much in terms of her willingness to be flexible in caring for her patients.
