The temperature is rising on The Pitt season two as a cool room is set up to combat the July 4th heat. But it’s a new patient storyline that propels the show to new heights.
Missed a review? Episode 2.01 / 2.02 / 2.03 / 2.04 / 2.05 / 2.06
For the second straight week, The Pitt goes for the emotional jugular with a specific patient storyline. With “1:00 P.M.-2:00 P.M.” it’s Ilana (Tina Ivlev), a survivor of sexual assault. Dana (Katherine LaNasa), who has SANE training (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner), immediately jumps into action; she abdicates the front desk to take Emma (Laetitia Hollard) and Dr. Al-Hashimi (Sepideh Moafi) for the rest of the episode to take care of the woman.
And folks, it’s really, really rough. Despite Dana’s fantastic efforts (she’s calm, careful to explain procedures in easy to understand terms, and she keeps checking in), these scenes can only be described as incredibly uncomfortable and confronting. From the need to inspect every inch of Ilana using blue lights, photographs and Q-tips, to the rigid protocol for removing her clothes and placing them in separate bags, to a pap smear that ultimately makes the poor woman break late in the hour, it all feels so invasive.
Honestly it feels like a second assault. And this is despite Dana, Emma, and Dr. Al all being so careful!
But this process, which puts all of the burden of proof (and evidence) on survivors is awful. Dana keeps having to explain to Ilana that they don’t know how long it will take, even as she’s required to answer intrusive questions and strip naked in a barely private area in front of total strangers.
Credit director Uta Briesewitz for the careful framing of that final element. The camera is strategically placed to reinforce how vulnerable Ilana is without rendering her nudity exploitative or voyeuristic; it’s merely highlighting how exposed she is, despite the precautions that have been taken to maintain her modesty and not victimize her further.
But the reality is that that is what is happening, because this is what the criminal justice system demands of sexual assault survivors. It’s so gross and upsetting and The Pitt does a truly amazing job of negotiating all of these complexities with the appropriate amount of depth, integrity, and nuance.
“1:00 P.M. – 2:00 P.M.” is immediately one of the stand-out episodes of this second season and a strong contender to land the show back in the awards conversations next year. I’ve never seen this subject handled with so much care before; The Pitt just became the gold standard for addressing the aftermath of rape in media moving forward.
If I do have one complaint, however, it is that some of the power of this particular storyline is diluted because the show keeps cutting away to check in on other patients. I’d be curious to hear from viewers if they appreciated these moments of reprieve as a necessary way to balance out the episode and avoid leaning into the trauma porn. Despite the gruelling nature of Ilana’s experience, I’ll confess that I found it so powerful that all of the other storylines felt like a distraction.
Which is not to say they’re bad!
- The medical mystery surrounding taser victim Jackson Davis (Zack Morris) continues as Javadi (Shabana Azeez) tries to comfort his sister Jayda (Erin Croom) after her questioning parents arrive.
- Cancer mom Roxie (Brittany Allen) won’t budge an inch on going home, despite the return of her husband Paul (Taylor Handley) in a storyline that finds Robby (Noah Wyle) and McKay (Fiona Dourif) curiously uninterested in exploring her psychological motivation.
- Then there’s the doozy of a gory visual when a patient is airlifted in after getting chewed up by a boat propeller. The wounds are so severe that even unflappable Dr. Garcia (Alexandra Metz) quips “Jesus, this looks like some Jurassic Park shit” <gag>
They’re all good and, in any other episode, they would undoubtedly satisfy well enough. But nothing compares to how devastating it is when Dana’s steely calm breaks while Emma takes Ilana for a break. LaNasa just added one hell of a performance to her future Emmy reel!
Other Observations:
- It’s starting to get sooo uncomfortable between Dr. Langston (Patrick Ball) and Robby. I was happy that Langston finally forced the issue as they waited for the helicopter, though Robby’s refusal to even hear him out, much less forgive him, is maddening. Once again, The Pitt is playing extremely well: Robby is the most generous person (see: his supportive words of encouragement to Taylor Dearden‘s Dr. King earlier), but if you betray his trust…you’re as good as dead to him.
- Another good moment for Robby is when he relates to Santos (Isa Briones) after she voices concern that Whitaker (Gerran Howell) is being taken advantage of by the farm widow and her new baby. Love the line: “He’s our Huckleberry”
- It was very exciting to see Dr. Jack Abbot (Shawn Hatosy) return. Abbot wasn’t a huge part of S01, but Hatosy is so fantastic in this role. The running gag that Abbot’s therapy-necessitated “hobby” is playing medic to the SWAT team (don’t forget he started the series potential contemplating death by suicide). All I know is that Abbot better be hanging around for the rest of the season.
- Anyone else clock the flirty vibes between him and Dr. Al as they bonded over their overseas/war experiences?
- Sidebar: Dr. Al has her own (private) breakdown after the interaction with Jackson’s parents, ducking into the bathroom to call for an emergency neuro-psych appointment. Put that in your back pocket for later.
- Also: the visual gag of Robby clocking Dr. Mohan (Supriya Ganesh) patch Abbot up immediately after he and Mohan promise they’ll keep it between them? So funny.
- Anyone else clock the flirty vibes between him and Dr. Al as they bonded over their overseas/war experiences?
- The propeller injury may be the episode’s worst, but the trachea gunshot wound on Abbot’s colleague is a close second.
- Speaking of Santos, there’s a rare moment of human vulnerability when she abandons her charting to sing to the abandoned crying newborn baby. Santos may be the prickliest of the residents, but these little interactions do a lot to humanize and make her more empathetic.
- Finally, the source of the Westbridge Hospital closure is revealed to be <drumroll> a cyberattack?! And, what’s worse, another hospital has already been hit, prompting the upper brass to immediately take The Pitt analog and turn off all of the computers. This…is going to get wild.
The Pitt airs Thursdays on HBO Max
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