The staff of the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center is pushed to their limits in HBO Max’s ‘The Pitt.’ The previous episode ended with Orlando Diaz being wheeled back into the hospital. He had been admitted earlier that day, and despite Dr. Samira Mohan asking him to stay, he decided not to. At the time, the only thing on his mind was that he couldn’t afford the medical bill, considering that his family neither had insurance nor were they eligible for Medicaid. Now things have gotten worse, and Samira somehow feels responsible for her. As if her day hadn’t already been bad enough, she also feels guilty about not trying harder to make Mr. Diaz stay. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Mr. Diaz’s Return Makes Samira Spiral
Dr. Mohan is visibly upset with the return of Orlando Diaz, and Robby sees the toll that the whole thing is taking on her. With the night shift coming in, Dr. Ellis returns and takes on Orlando’s treatment. While they know of his insulin problem, they don’t know why he fell unconscious, so he is taken in for a CT. He turns out to have swelling in his brain, so the neurosurgeon, Linda, comes in. When she asks Samira to join her in the procedure, she refuses. The offer is extended to Victoria, who refuses, saying her shift is over, but Robby tells her what a great opportunity it is to learn from the best, and she accepts it.
Orlando’s wife returns, having no idea that her husband had bailed earlier and is now back for another complication. She asks Samira why she let her husband leave. She is told that, given her husband’s current situation, it doesn’t look like he will make a full recovery. The irony is that now the family qualifies for Medicaid, so they don’t have to worry about the medical expenses anymore. Since Orlando’s return brings Noelle back to the floor, she and Robby have a chance to catch up and say a proper goodbye.
Meanwhile, the night shift starts to take over. Dr. Abbott and Dr. Shen are back, with Dr. Crus Henderson and a new intern named Nazley (with whom Dr. Al converses in Armenian). Dana updates everyone about what happened with Jesse and Emma, who is happy to witness the changing of the guard. Through her contact in the police department, Perlah discovers that Jesse will be taken to an ICE facility about an hour or so outside the city. What makes it worse is that he might have to stay in detention for the whole weekend. The only good news is that the systems are back on, but it means that the day shift doctors now have to stay back and update all of their files.
Robby Notes That Something is Wrong with Dr. Al
Dana and Emma check up on Digby. They give him a shave and a haircut, transforming his look so much that he is unrecognizable. It turns out that despite living on the streets, he owns a home, but his daughter lives there. A patient named Grady Barnhill is brought in. He is wheezing, and his situation is getting critical by the minute. It turns out he has asthma, but he has not been taking his prescription meds because his family doesn’t have Medicaid anymore. When Grady cannot breathe, Langdon suggests they do an intubation, but Dr. Shen points out that it could kill him. Later, Langdon wonders if he is ready to be back. He missed an important detail about the patient and could have killed him.
Mel assures him that he is ready, focusing on the fact that he didn’t actually kill the patient. She also talks about her deposition and how it made her question herself, so Langdon is not the only one who is continuously doubting himself. When Robby shows up and tries to talk to Dr. Al-Hashimi, she doesn’t reply. Later, he asks Samira if Dr. Al has a history of zoning out. While she says that it didn’t happen when they worked at the VA together, she did notice Dr. Al go blank for a minute while checking on the baby earlier that day. When Robby confronts Dr. Al about it, worried that it compromises her ability to run the place, she dismisses his concern, saying she didn’t reply because she was thinking at the time.
McKay is ready to finish up and leave, but she is assigned a patient who came in during the day shift. Nazley is assigned to assist her, and they look at a patient who seems to be using too much bronzer and turns out to have an inflamed liver. When McKay can’t figure out the reason for her inflamed liver, she asks Santos for help. It turns out that the woman has been taking too much turmeric because a health influencer suggested it. While McKay is glad she was diagnosed in time, which potentially saved her life, Santos doesn’t hold back in calling her stupid to risk her life like that.
Ogilvie Wonders if He is Cut Out for The Pitt
Robby and Dana’s fight from the previous episode continues as neither seems ready to leave. When she calls him out for it, he uses Duke as an excuse, who might still have to wait a few hours for his CT. While Robby gets increasingly concerned about his friend, Duke seems to be having a good time befriending the nurse, Vivi. Meanwhile, Whitaker and Santos fill up their charts. She thinks about handing over the work to Joy or Ogilvie. But Joy checked out the minute her shift was over, and Ogilvie is nowhere to be found. He was last seen working on a patient called Mr. Green, so Santos checks on the patient to figure out where Ogilvie would be. It turns out that the patient did not survive his surgery. He also has a long history of ailments and should have come in for a checkup a few months back, but didn’t.
While they lament that they would have known about the patient’s history and treated him better if the systems were up and running, Santos also lays the blame on Ogilvie for not asking the patient the right questions, especially when the patient himself didn’t come forth about it. She also asks Whitaker if he is still going to Amy’s later and makes a snaky comment about accepting Robby’s offer. Their conversation is broken off by Nazley, who comes to them for help regarding a teenager with jewelry magnets stuck in her septum. She notes that all the other seniors or attending are busy, and Santos points out that she has already helped McKay. Whitaker takes over, and fortunately, the patient’s issue is resolved pretty easily.
Emma finally checks out, but before leaving, she notices Ogilvie sitting in the ambulance bay, covered in blood and staring out into nothing. Whitaker checks in on him, and Ogilvie starts to cry about Mr. Green’s death. It makes him wonder if he is not cut out for all of this, and if he should change departments and find something easier to deal with. Whitaker shares his own experience of losing his first patient, and says that while it never gets any easier to lose a patient, it is also rewarding to save lives. He tells Ogilvie to go home, have a rest and think about it with a clear mind before giving up so easily.
Robby’s Concern For Duke Makes Him Spit a Shocking Truth
Dr. Crus Henderson treats two patients and discharges them. It turns out they had been signed up for an X-ray but never got it, to which Crus replies that he is the one who cancelled the X-ray and put them on ultrasound instead. Samira is impressed by this, and she asks him about his intentions for an ultrasound fellowship. He talks about how qualified he is for it but still doesn’t know if he’ll get it because there is so much competition. Hearing this makes Samira shred her application. To end the hour on a worse note, Whitaker shares his condolences about Mr. Green’s death, not realizing until later that she didn’t know about it.
Meanwhile, Duke’s results come in, and Robby gets worried about his friend. He tries to expedite his care, but no matter how hard he tries, he cannot be taken in until next week. When Robby wonders if something happens in the meantime, he is told that Duke will have to be brought into the emergency, like any other patient. The helplessness makes Robby angry, and Dana tells him to take a walk and rein it in. Once again, she tells him to leave, assuring him that they will manage things until he is back. She is taken aback when he responds, what if he doesn’t come back.
Read More: Who is Harlow Graham? Who Plays Her in The Pitt? Is Jessica Flores Deaf in Real Life?
