Critic’s Rating: 4.6 / 5.0
4.6
We have our snacks, our drinks, and our stress balls.
The Pitt Season 2 Episode 11 is high on adrenaline and emotion. ICE descends and wreaks havoc, short fuses start to blow, and a long-awaited confrontation results in an ultimatum.
Hell, we haven’t even gotten to the horrific treatment of two of our favorite nurses! Let’s dive into the full recap.
We open with McKay and Javadi exiting Roxie’s room, and Javadi is visibly emotional and distraught.
McKay is handling all of this incredibly well and reminding Javadi that Roxie went out on her own terms, and they have to stay focused.
Given the strong themes of motherhood here, it makes sense that this is affecting Javadi so deeply, as she struggles with her own mother.
It also makes sense that McKay can tap into her role as a mom when she offers her pearls of wisdom and advice, even though it sometimes lacks the perspective that would be helpful to Javadi.
Still reeling from Becca’s revelation, Mel immediately seeks answers.
Becca’s boyfriend is three years older than she is. He asked her to be his girlfriend at game night at their adult care facility, and Becca doesn’t want to tell Mel if Adam pressured her into sex or not.
Becca is clearly enjoying the autonomy she has in this setting, while Mel is freaking out, raising her voice, and asking the million-dollar question: Why didn’t Becca tell her anything?!
Because she’s grown, baby girl!
Becca says she’ll talk to Langdon, her doctor, and, as if knowing he’s been summoned, he appears just in time to defuse the tension between the twins when Mel raises her voice, and Becca shuts down. Mel apologizes before Langdon sends her out for a breather, but baby, it’s INTENSE.
Robby asks how long it will take because he wants to get out on time, and Dana reminds him he can leave; they’ll take care of things if he lets them. Yes, call him out for his control issues!
But Robby can’t possibly leave his precious ED in the hands of Baran (who’s eyeballing this exchange), and he’s acting like he doesn’t have the energy to put up with the next two hours. Right, but he literally lives for this.
Also, is he back to hating Baran again?
Also, why does he not trust the staff to run the ED, yet still wants to escape everything so badly? Does his fear of letting go conflict with his desire to check out? Robby needs to sit down with Jefferson and talk these things through.
He checks in on Duke, who is still the most chillest patient ever, and can’t seem to figure out why he has to be there. Whitaker seems like a deflated balloon because he definitely knows something is up with Robby.
On their way to see Mrs. Torres again, Joy checks in with Mohan and mentions she takes Lexapro for depression, noting it also helps with panic attacks. I love Joy. Yes, normalize these things!
Sadly, Mohan doesn’t feel comfortable talking about her panic attack, even when Mrs. Torres asks her how she’s doing, too. Like work father, like work daughter, she’s taken what Robby said to heart.
The runner brings a critical lab result; they tried the red phone, but it was busy. Is this because of Mohan’s mother? Yeesh.
Patient Checks: Howard made it through surgery and is alive! Meanwhile, Baby Jane Doe is still waiting for placement.
Interesting note: Al-Hashimi asks whether Robby ever leaves the shift on time. But why? Does she know she’s not trying to leave her alone there?
Ogilvie says more Ogilvie things, including the hope to perform another intubation by the end of the day, and everyone seems stoked about it, only two hours away.
Whitaker checks in on Santos, as she’s fully defeated after that talk with Garcia. And she says she didn’t expect to see Langdon again and doesn’t believe he’s changed.
Whitaker says he has to run something past her, but they’re interrupted when Dana sends Santos to another case, and she gives up little fight, snark, or anything else. Was he about to tell her about staying at Robby’s for three months or about Robby’s suicidal behavior?
Langdon checks in on Mel, who is emotional and was trying to talk to her sister’s care facility. She’s still reeling from her sister dating someone for 6 months without telling her.
He listens to her, and she realizes, through talking to him, that Becca can, in fact, make her own decisions, especially since it’s per their agreement — Mel isn’t her legal guardian; they have a supportive decision-making agreement.
Side Chat: The truth is, she’s stunned and probably hurt that Becca never told her about this guy in six months. Because she’s made Becca her entire life, she feels lost and helpless seeing Becca now living the kind of life Mel sacrificed for her. Mel struggles to accept that Becca is moving on in ways that highlight everything she gave up.
Suddenly, a woman speeds into the ambulance bay with an overheated son who isn’t breathing, and Langdon checks the kid and races inside the ED in full hero mode (he even has that hair thing).
They focus on the kid, but it’s worth noting that Langdon may have tweaked his shoulder while putting the kid down. Uh-oh.
It looks like Langdon hurts his shoulder when he puts the kid down.
The mother explains the shady story about how her son ended up in the car. He has heat stroke, a temp of 105, and Al-Hashimi tells them they may need a pediatric body bag! Joy is side-eying everything, and so am I!
McKay has Ogilvie accompany her to treat an unhoused patient out in the field. It’s already off to a rough start when he starts talking about how he doesn’t understand intelligent people doing drugs…. Great thing to say to a recovering addict.
He also doesn’t see this as a lack of empathy on his part, and doesn’t get how he sounds judgmental. However, he does deliver a great line while jaywalking: “I see organ donation in my future.”
Back inside, Mel finds clarity with Becca, who steered the sex thing with her boyfriend. “Sex is great.” You know what, Becca? Good for you!
Roxie has officially died, and Robby has to step in since McKay is out to do the final write-up on her passing away. He comforts the father and shares a moment with Javadi, who is emotional.
Ogilvie is not the most graceful with Kiki, the woman with a Xylazine wound. And she picks up on his tendency to be a bit judgmental. But McKay shows compassion towards Kiki as they discuss her stopping her drug use. Kiki says she’s been trying, going to meetings, and so forth.
They have to clean up her wounds and give her the supplies she needs to redress them later on, without her having to come in or see them in the park again.
Santos and Whitaker treat Roberto, who hurt his elbow while catching a baseball, and he’s wary of their lack of baseball knowledge.
Fast Forward: Basically, Roberto has a heartfelt story about why he doesn’t want to let go of this ball, and he also has them set his elbow without meds so he can stay alert. It sounds every bit as painful as you can imagine. Also, Mel totally snaps at Whitaker and Santos during this process.
Mel walks Becca out, and then she finds out that Becca has plans with her boyfriend that night instead of their usual plans, and that Adam’s parents are taking them out.
Becca purposely ignores Mel’s request for a contact number (she’ll later tie up the red phone trying to get it) and moseys on out to continue with her day. Slay, Becca!
Ogilivie asks McKay about the street team, how long she’s been on it, and he is definitely NOT volunteering for it based on his reaction.
Robby asks Mel about the deposition. She answers, and he encourages her to reach out to friends or family when things aren’t going well. As she says she doesn’t have anyone, McKay’s return distracts him.
He’s laying into McKay about leaving the premises and not allowing anyone to treat someone in the park, and he tells her Roxie died, but they get distracted again when ICE comes in with a woman they have zip-tied.
They claim she “fell down some stairs.” Sure, right. Frankly, the most unrealistic thing about this scenario is that they actually brought her to a hospital. We know that doesn’t happen.
Donnie and Emma treat an angry, drunk named Curtis when his friend, or whoever he is, comes in to check things out. Hey, it’s Karosfky from Glee!
Pradita has a possible rotator cuff tear. And she needs an X-ray, which they’ll fast-track because Robby doesn’t want ICE around any longer than necessary.
McKay wants to call Pradita’s family, but ICE says it isn’t necessary, and now patients who may or may not be undocumented are fleeing the ED because word spread that ICE is there. This is fucked.
Javadi talks to the woman about her daughter, McKay is pissed that the masked ICE agent won’t let her make a phone call, and Baran wonders if Robby secured a lawyer for the detainee.
And the heat-stroke child is showing some minor signs of movement. Joy tells Robby that she thinks the mother did something.
“People don’t always respond to trauma the way you expect them to.”
Robby is right, but it’s also suspect, and Baran takes note yet again. She also talks to the mother — she seems out of it still and holds her kid’s hand, processing that he may not have all his cognitive abilities now.
The English teacher needs immediate attention. Ogilvie realizes he made an error in his assessment because he only checked his kidneys, not his aorta. Despite a shot at intubating him, Ogilvie now freezes, reeling from his error.
Shamsi comes down to replace Garcia, immediately notices the error, and assumes it was Javadi, but Ogilvie owns it. Robby attempts to uplift Javadi in that moment, but yeah. Shamsi sucks as a mom, but we see she kicks ass as a doctor.
Ogilvie goes with her to be with his patient since he feels guilty, and Shamsi also alerts Robby that nurses left because of ICE.
Ogilvie apologizes to Robby and takes it easy on him, but reprimands Mohan. He tells her what separates the good doctors from those who don’t make it, and when she says maybe she doesn’t belong there, he doesn’t disagree.
Side Chat: Robby’s self-hatred makes him the hardest on Mohan and even Langdon, because they remind him too much of his own flaws. When they mess up and are human, he has to face that he is, too, and he doesn’t like that. It’s layered and difficult to watch.
Robby also goes off on the ICE agent because he’s losing patients and staff from their being there. He tells him to take his patient and leave. The ICE agent concedes. That doesn’t sound right.
Baran checks on the boy and learns that his mother has disappeared, presumably leaving him there. Saw that coming a mile away! She finds her outside about to walk in front of a semi-truck, and Baran saves her.
Back inside, ICE roughs up Pravita, aggravating while arresting her, and they arrest Jesse, too, for intervening and looking hotter, probably.
Hot Nurse Jesse just got even hotter. And The Pitt mugshots should be epic.
Mini-Rant: I don’t know what’s irritating me more, the fact that this shit is really happening in reality, so we have to be subjected to plots like this in the first place for visibility and acknowledgment, or that the ICE plot feels more extra than uncomfortable (which is what it should be).
It’s not a slow-burn case; it feels like it was inserted solely for commentary. I don’t know whether that’s better or worse, given who they chose to arrest.
On the one hand, it’s true that no one is spared when this baby agency is running rogue. Also, it’s people like Jesse who DO need to show up. On the other hand, it’s annoying that the impact only matters in large part because of who they whisk away.
Anyway, Baran brings Brenda back in and catches Dana, Langdon, and Robby up on what happened. They have to figure out what might happen if they discharge her kid before her (she needs a 72 Hour hold).
Robby, still visibly rattled from the ICE situation, looks ready to fall apart now as he faces a patient who just tried to kill herself, and that’s hitting way too close to home. How is HE going in with Baran to talk to a woman about trauma, grief, and suicide ideation when he is not dealing with his own?
Dana checks in with the death doula, lets her know she should go home and skip her night shift, and offers to take her shift.
Langdon seems concerned about Brenda and tells Baran, who asks him about the tension with Santos. He tells her a bit about it, and it’s clear he doesn’t blame Santos or harbor any ill-will toward her.
He’s even willing to acknowledge his wrongdoing and apologize. He says he just hasn’t found the right time to talk to her, but he will, and Baran encourages him to do that.
Their relationship is really great. The difference between Robby loving Langdon as long as he stayed on a pedestal and didn’t fall off, and Baran respecting him despite flaws and recognizing him as being human is interesting.
Dana follows Mel into the stairwell, where Mel talks to her about the deposition and her sister. She’s angry that Becca lied to her for six months. “My sister is a fucking liar.“
Mel admits that her sister has had this whole life and will probably fall in love and get married, and leave her all alone. Dana tells her to quit the pity party.
After seeing Duke’s scans, Robby tells Duke that he needs more scans immediately. It could be cancer. But now Robby is staying for the scan and test results because he can’t leave Duke now without knowing.
Langdon goes to apologize to Santos. She doesn’t take it for what it is, though. Santos finally tells him that she doesn’t think he deserves to be there, that she should have gone to the medical board and reported him, and that he should be in prison.
She tells him that if he’s really sorry, he’d tell everyone the truth about what he really did.
And that until then, she won’t speak to him. Al-Hashimi overhears all of this.
Emma is in the room checking Curtis, the drunk guy’s vitals, but he wakes up, confused and angry, and puts her in a headlock. And no one is presently around to see or hear what’s happening!
MAMA DANA IS GOING TO LOSE IT!! I just want to go one damn season without a violent man attacking a woman, dammit!
Redundancies, Callbacks & Musings:
- It’s nice to see references to the street time, and now Tall Whitaker has an introduction to it, like OG Whitaker. He just likely won’t participate. But it does feel a bit… redundant.
- It’s upsetting to see Emma under attack. Violence against healthcare workers is a prevalent issue. This will likely circle back around to Dana taking steps about her own. But I also don’t feel we needed this again, at least not this soon.
- Is someone going to get arrested every season? It’s too much of a “for shock value” thing.
- It’s about this stage in The Pitt Season 1 when Robby was truly about to crack, and we feel it. You can almost feel the crackle in the air. I’m a ball of anxiety.
- Watching the light leave Mohan’s eyes actually hurts — the cycle playing out in real time is brutal. The job itself doesn’t even have to break people when the likes of Robby can. She feels unsure, whereas Javadi seems locked in.
Over to you, Pitt Fanatics.
What are your thoughts on how they handled all this conflict? Should Langdon ‘fess up? Will Al-Hashimi have something to say about what really happened? Let’s discuss!
The Pitt Season 2 Episode 10 has Robby and Santos getting some reality checks as the waterslide collapse unleashes more chaos!
The Pitt Season 2 Episode 9 has Whitaker and Javadi struggling while Mel’s sister checks in, and they get their first firework incident.
Joy proves herself as the MVP of The Pitt Season 2 Episode 8, while Robby and McKay exhibit real compassion. Let’s recap a strong hour!
There’s a void on The Pitt from Collins’ absence and what she represents. We unpack what the season touches on but hasn’t filled.
The Bad Boy returns on The Pitt Season 2 Episode 7, while Langdon finally talks to Robby, and Dana treats a sexual assault survivor.
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