With the battle of wills between Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) and Dr. Al (Sepideh Moafi) at a temporary detente, The Pitt shifts back into conventional medical drama mode.
Missed a review? Episode 2.01 / 2.02 / 2.03
Episode four doesn’t necessarily deliver the high drama teased by the last episode’s cliffhanger, though things are certainly heating up (literally, in the case of the waiting room). Many of the patients from the first three episodes have been discharged or moved to surgery, which frees up the show to expand or explore several new cases.
One of the holdovers is Mr. Montrose (Michael Nouri), the older gentleman with the active social life that McKay (Fiona Dourif) has tending to. His fractured coccyx proves to have a mildly amusing resolution as McKay administers an ‘uncomfortable’ procedure (fingers up the butt) to get the wining and dining man back on his feet.
Whittaker (Gerran Howell) meanwhile gets a win when he catches something that Santos (Isa Briones) misses in patient Jean Samba (Derek Anthony)’s test results, saving the man from a heart attack. But it’s Santos who we should be keeping an eye out for as her various interactions throughout the hour suggest something is up.
First she has difficulty connecting with her patient Phylicia (Nyaling Marenah), who is eventually revealed to be suffering from bulimia. It’s only because Mel (Taylor Dearden) recognizes the signs and knows about the disproportionate amount of Black women who have disordered eating that Phylicia gets the help she needs.
Santos is clearly struggling with the workload, particularly when it comes to her charting (something Dr. Al not so kindly reminds her of). Mel tries to offer her advice, but the relationship between the two has always been a little prickly, so it’s unclear how much Santos takes this to heart. As it stands, most of these interactions hint that Santos isn’t cutting it, so let’s keep an eye out for that as the season progresses.
Other Observations:
- One of the most compelling storylines of the hour involves diabetic Orlando Diaz (William Guirola). He came in a few hours ago, but here we learn that he can’t afford to stay in hospital because the family doesn’t have health insurance. It’s a frustrating case because the family makes too much money to qualify, despite barely living above the poverty line. This feels the most like a “ripped from the headlines” issue and it’s quite effective, principally because it’s so unfair.
- But also: Orlando is too proud to accept his daughter starting a GoFundMe campaign. Babies, when it comes to healthcare, you gotta do whatever you can to survive!
- Joy (Irene Choi) is quickly becoming a favourite supporting character. It doesn’t hurt that her snappy, under her breath reads are both hilarious and cutting, but mostly it’s because she usually targets Ogilvie (Lucas Iverson).
- Speaking of the overeager intern: James nearly causes a fatal disaster when he pulls a large shard of glass out of influencer Vince’s (Tyler Lofton) back. It’s pretty gratifying to see him get a verbal slap on the wrist from nearly everyone in the ER afterwards.
- Javadi (Shabana Azeez) is still in search of a compelling storyline, but it is fun to watch Langdon (Patrick Ball) react to the reveal that “Dr. J” is a big social media star. Her response to his question about how many followers she has (“More than you’d guess, Dr Langdon”) is great.
- Was anyone else expecting some kind of eye trauma/catastrophe when Willow (Elysia Roorbach) has to have her superglued eyelashes trimmed?
- Langdon finally gets promoted back to the ER after spending the first four hours in triage. I appreciated Dana (Katherine LaNasa) gently encouraging Robby to take it as a sign to clear the air. The show is really teasing the tension between the two men out, so I’m anticipated a nice cathartic pay-off down the road.
- While I appreciate the closure on Dr. Collins’ storyline from S01 – we hear that she’s moved to Philadelphia for a new residency and is adopting a child – the cavalier half mention still feels like a slap in the face considering how integral the character was last year. Justice for Tracy Ifeachor.
- Finally: everyone in this ER is *real* thirsty. This hour in particular has nearly every character flirting and/or talking about getting laid. Stay out of the break room; this isn’t Grey’s Anatomy!
The Pitt airs Thursdays on HBO Max
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