Critic’s Rating: 4.8 / 5.0
4.8
That may have been the best episode of the season.
The Pitt has a way of really bringing it home towards the final stretch, and The Pitt Season 2 Episode 12 was a must-watch.
It’s a fraught, tense, delicious unpacking of emotions that left everyone spiraling, crashing, clashing, on edge, and exposed. Just how we like it!
And it’s just in time, as the night shift and many familiar faces clock in. Let’s recap!
Dana catches a glimpse and hears Emma struggling with the patient inside. She burst through like a warrior charging to save Emma.
Robby is checking on Baby Jane Doe and updating Donnie about Jesse (they still don’t know where ICE took him), when he hears the chaos, Code Hula Hoop, and books it!
Dana injected the guy with something, and dude has a bloody nose.
Robby: How did he get a bloody nose?
Dana: He slipped.
Yeah, right, Dana. But I’m with you, I don’t care. Emma looks rattled—poor baby.
Outside, Joy asks to take a selfie with Whitaker because he’s apparently a legend among Med Students. They call him The Phantom of The Pitt because he lived there for months. Hilarious!
Robby pulls Dana aside to ask her what happened because he likely knows that Dana totally clocked that dude in the nose. He clearly isn’t buying what Dana is saying about how she approached the situation.
He benches her from the case and is upset that the guy may need a CT.
Dana is not happy with Robby pulling rank on her; she’s standing up for her nurses and doesn’t want any of them in danger with that patient, so she wants to deal with him herself.
Langdon, Mel, and Al-Hashimi talk to Brenda and assure her that she didn’t kill her son and that he’s not dead. When Al-Hashimi steps out, Langdon and Mel express concern that the father has arrived but has gone straight to the kid rather than his wife.
Al-Hashimi pulls Robby aside for a talk and tells him she’s going to recommend having two attendings on shift at all times because it’s too much for one person. Robby isn’t thrilled with that.
She brings up Santos and Langdon, noting that they’re at odds. And he tells her that Santos was the one who turned Langdon in.
She then asks if Langdon was stealing drugs from the ED. He doesn’t answer and tells her that the ED will be hers to fuck up, and tells her not to fuck it up. But why does it sound like it’s permanent when he says that?
Outside, Javadi is trying to upload the ICE video when she sees Monica outside smoking. When she tells Monica she shouldn’t be smoking out there, Monica gets snarky with her about her age and her being too sensitive when she calls Javadi an “idiot savant.”
Monica: You Millennials bruise easily.
Javadi: Actually, I’m Gen Z.
Monica: Even worse.
Ick. Anyway, Whitaker is calling Amy, the farm widow, to tell her he’s going to be late because of his shift, when a pickup truck pulls in with a kid who’s bringing his father, Oliver, in.
Oliver is already puking and frothing at the mouth in the passenger seat. He was supposed to be on dialysis, but he must not have had it.
Dana tells McKay to give Emma the full workup for a report in case she wants to file charges. Dana is so clearly triggered.
Robby interrogates her for using a leftover sedative from her pocket to stop the patient, insisting she should’ve had it signed off. And Dana feels attacked and defensive. She saved her nurse, dammit!
But Robby also seems annoyed that the patient gets bumped up for CT, pushing Duke back. So, is that what this is really about, sir?
Dana takes a minute to go to the bathroom to break down and compose herself. She didn’t follow protocol.
They’re treating Oliver for his edema, and Al-Hashimi asks Javadi about the course of treatment, which she seems not to know. Al-Hashimi insists that Javadi answer, not Langdon.
Robby catches Dana again to tell her that they haven’t finished their conversation and calls her out for not being herself today, prompting her to flip that back on him. Ohh! Good!
Side Note: Dana usually notices Robby’s issues but stays silent about them. This time, his behavior is so bad that she finally calls him out. He can’t keep holding authority when he’s not well himself.
She says it’s not just the motorcycle, but he’s going to a known suicide spot. They’re interrupted: Duke wants to leave, and Robby takes off, leaving a visibly distraught Dana, on the verge of tears, right in the middle of the hall.
Samira is treating the older woman who says her husband hit her with the car. He says she walked into it, and they’re bickering.
Duke tells Robby he can come back later, but it’s clear Robby doesn’t plan to be there. It’s stressing him out that his plans are falling into place!
We’re back to the elderly couple, and Law & Order: SVU‘s very own Dan Florek is playing the husband! Captain Cragen lives! After noticing his shakiness, Samira has Mel perform a Romberg (Balance) Test on Eddie.
McKay finishes checking Emma, and she’s all clear. Dana wants to send her home, but Emma says she wants to finish her shift. Good girl! Dana tells her to stick close to Donnie, and she wants her to make a statement to the police.
Patient Check: Dante arrives after a firework explosion in his warehouse. He’s freaking out about having so many doctors working on him with Robby, McKay, Joy, and Santos on the case. His scalp is basically coming off, and he has arterial bleeds.
Back to Oliver, they have to do some bloodletting for him. Al-Hashimi keeps reverting to questions for Javadi to test her knowledge, and now it feels like she’s noticeably treating Langdon differently.
News: Some of them have to stay late, but Night Shift is already on the way. YAY
McKay asks Al-Hashimi if the heatstroke mom was an accident or on purpose.
“Sometimes I can’t tell if motherhood has made me more understanding or more judgemental” – Al Hashimi
McKay’s next patient is a woman in a flag bikini with severe sunburn. But she ducks out quickly when someone brings her Roxie’s quilt that was left behind. Oof!
McKay takes it to the nurse’s station. Langdon notices her emotional state and checks in with her, telling her she should cry if it helps. But she says she can’t remember the last time she even cried. Girl, same!
She fears she shut her emotions off for so long that she doesn’t know if she can shut them on again.
“You want a hug?” “God, no.” Give me more of the Langdon/McKay dynamic, STAT!
Samira updates the Cohens’ daughter, Carrie. She tells them that Eddie can’t drive for now and that Frida needs a safer environment for them to navigate. But both refuse assisted living suggestions.
Robby tells Santos that she has to put her past conflicts behind her and learn to work with Langdon. Ha! Hypocrite much? She makes a snarky comment about him being back until he relapses again. Santos can be insufferable.
Robby also doubles down on his audacity by saying he wants her and everyone to see a trauma counselor when he’s gone. Sir, why don’t you see one for yourself NOW?!
And if he hasn’t given Santos enough to chew on, he tells her that he arranged for Whitaker to house-sit for him because that’ll put the kibosh on Whitaker and Amy. Gee, thanks, but what about Santos’ companionship and rent?
Hot Nurse Jesse Update: The hospital defense attorney is looking for Jesse. And Dana is definitely at her wits’ end about this, too. He’s likely at an ICE detention center, and they won’t get much intel.
The guy who attacked Emma is also getting wheeled away, and Langdon checks in on Dana. Tells her she did what she had to do.
Dante tells everyone his story about what happened as Joy and Santos staple and suture his head. Joy alarms the patient when she says, “Oops,” because she has stapled something wrong, but Santos does a good job of pulling her aside to lecture her.
Al-Hashimi checks in with Oliver. Oliver is doing well, but he and his son joke about his son going all Fast and the Furious with only a permit, since the local hospital was shut down due to budget cuts.
So, there is no access to hospitals for people in that rural area. It prompts Javadi to ask Whitaker whether he still has interest in entering rural emergency medicine.
The first person from the night shift arrives to assist, and it’s Mateo. A bearded, super-hot Mateo! Night Shift is NEVER going to beat the allegations that it has the hottest, coolest, most charismatic people.
He jokes with Javadi, and the flirting is nice. He wants her to join Night Shift if she ever figures out what she wants to do.
The patient who attacked Emma is shocked by his actions, and he doesn’t remember anything.
McKay gives Dana the update, and she tells her it might be a good thing he doesn’t remember anything. Damn, McKay, we’re Team Dana, remember? Dana dismisses that and says she’ll be ready to make her statement to the cops.
McKay tells the guy that he was positive for alcohol and cocaine. And he notes that it’s good news for her and the Blonde nurse. So maybe he does remember something? Uh-oh!
Nerd Alert: Langdon nerds out when he sees the guys from the museum who got stabbed with a bayonet. Also, Donnie/Langdon bromance is still going strong.
Frida Cohen has a fracture, but it’s not a bad one, and she can have a straightforward recovery and can go home.
Their daughter is frustrated because she knows her parents can’t take care of each other on their own, and she wants them to consider alternative living options or at least hire an aide.
Robby assures Duke that he’ll be out soon. Duke rightfully notes that Robby is too insistent on getting out and calls him out on his desperation to leave. Robby doesn’t admit it, but he’s visibly spiraling.
You’re worried that if you don’t leave at night, you won’t leave at all? I get it, I can feel it in the air, this place is like quicksand. – Duke
Robby has to assist Dante, who is having chest pain, and Perlah takes his brother out and calms him down, helping him breathe. With Princess clocking out for Javadi’s party, it’s nice to still have Perlah around. It really is the Nurse Season.
Dante has a tear in his ventricle, causing his issues. Robby talks Santos through a procedure to help. Santos is really shining, and even Garcia compliments her on how she’s handling things. She needed that win!
Samira and Mel explain to Robby that Eddie’s medications are on the Beers list and that they’re worried about his health. He gives his assessment.
But then he pulls Samira aside to tell her she should consider Geriatrics.
Unlike when Al-Hashimi said it during The Pitt Season 2 Episode 9 out of a genuine sense of championing her knack for it and skills, he makes a dig about her pacing. He makes it seem like it’s all she has the skills to do.
Ugh, the worst part is Robby didn’t even mean it offensively, you could tell. Based on Samira’s look, that didn’t go over well.
Robby asks Monica about Dana, but she’s out for a smoke. He follows her outside, and he asks her if she’ll ever tell him what really happened. Robby tells her that she could lose her nursing license.
He surmises that the vial of Versed she had in her pocket was something she carries around in case Doug Driscoll comes back.
Thoughts and Things: I love these two traumatized individuals having a moment of reckoning about the other person’s trauma. Even the framing of the scene as we’re peering at them from behind Robby’s motorcycle—Chef’s kiss.
Mom and Dad are totally arguing! Dana affirms that she will always do whatever it takes to protect her nurses. And Robby shares that he’s not against safety, but takes issue with Dana “Roaming the halls like a vigilante with a loaded syringe and a vendetta.”
Reflections: But the crux of that, too, is his putting all the pressure on Dana’s feet to be the one to keep everything together when he’s “gone.”
Once again, Robby is upset that a trusted person he’s put on a pedestal could be just as flawed and human as he is, and that they fall short of the impossible standards he imposes on them to fit his own agenda.
If Dana isn’t in her right mind to run the ED when he’s gone (permanently), then how can it go on without him? The Pitt doesn’t make it easy for Robby to leave. His God and Martyr complex is totally at war with his suicidal ideation.
But back to it… Dana calls HIM out on his “Do as I say, not as I do” bullcrap, and it’s satisfying. Clock him, Dana!
Naturally, this argument heads into Langdon territory. Robby admits he doesn’t want him there, and Dana tells him to work it out. The crackling tension in all of this is delicious, and I need more popcorn!
Dana feels that Langdon paid for his actions, but Robby finally expresses his frustration: Langdon didn’t, because he protected him, and he hates himself for that! But is he really angry at Langdon, or upset that Langdon’s “weakness” reflects poorly on him? Dana with the astute reads!
Dana: Our kids disappoint us sometimes.
Robby: Langdon is not a kid.
Dana: No, but he’s your guy, and you’re taking it personally. Langdon fucked up, and you think it makes you look bad, but it’s on him.
Robby: How am I supposed to leave this place when it’s a shitshow?
Dana: First, you can’t stay, then you can’t go? What is it, Robinavitch?
Robby: No, I’m going. I just thought I could leave it a little better when I did.
Dana: Oh, don’t be such a martyr. This place is always teetering on the brink of disaster, with or without you. We do it every night, every day off. This place is bigger than one person. It survived without Adamson, it survived without me, and it’ll survive without you.
Musings: Whew, Dana with the bombs and mic drops! Our Pitt Parents are fighting, and it’s just the type of drama that pushes a good show into greatness. Also, we can collectively agree that Katherine LaNasa is getting that Emmy, right?
Back inside, Samira tells Eddie and Frida that the combination of meds he’s been taking was making his balance and health worse, and that they have a Medicare-covered plan and an agency that will set up personal shopping, aids, and services, allowing them to stay at home. Score!
You know every older person knows what it is to be young, but no young person can know what it is to be old. Thank you for listening. – Eddie
Eddie thanks Samira and Mel for listening, which validates Samira in the ways she needs.
She would be great in geriatrics because of her skills, empathy, and patience. Also, does this mean we won’t have Samira Mohan next season?
Ironically, Santos’s rough day is catching up to her, and we see a brief moment when she eyes a scalpel and fights the urge to cut. But Whitaker popping up behind her and asking her if she’s okay knocked her out of it.
Whitaker won’t give up, and Santos spills her feelings.
She’s upset about Langdon being back, not because he’s an addict, but because he was an asshole who gaslit her and made her feel like she didn’t belong during The Pitt Season 1, and now that she finally found her footing at the hospital, he’s back.
She hates that everyone acts like he’s the greatest and nothing happened, and that Robby is the only one who is as affected as she is, but he’s leaving on his death quest.
Santos feels all alone. And she doesn’t like Al-Hashimi always cutting her down, and when Whitaker brings up Garcia, she acknowledges that Garcia doesn’t like her, just sex. Now Whitaker will be leaving, too.
Verdict: Fine. I feel a twinge of sympathy, but Santos exhausts me, and I’m over the thing with Langdon.
Whitaker and Santos share a great moment when he tells her he thought housesitting was her way of getting rid of him. He makes her admit that she actually likes him living there, and it’s sweet. They’re so sibling-coded, and I guess it’s nice that someone can put up with her.
Assessment: Robby’s intent to help Whitaker and to serve himself is potentially hurting Santos without him even realizing it. Triggered the hell out of that girl’s abandonment issues! Pitt Daddy is letting all of his Pittlings down this season.
Santos hating Langdon and diminishing his addiction also reflects her own self-loathing for her own addiction: self-harm. It all falls under the same umbrella: self-destruction, self-harm, addictive practices — all of it to make the pain go away.
I’m still not the biggest fan, but it’s a great Santos episode.
The patient who attacked Emma is angry because he feels like they’re about to ruin his life. McKay tells him that he’s getting arrested once he’s cleared, and he blames it on the a-a-alcohol (and coke).
McKay reminds him that if he’s drunk and kills someone, he still killed them. My sassy queen even hits us with a quip about it taking forever for him to post bail on America’s “Big Beautiful Birthday.” I love her.
But she also doubles back to give him pamphlets for addiction help. He says he’s suing the whole hospital and her and cusses everyone out. Well, she tried!
Great News: They paid the ransom, and everything is coming back up soon. Residents have to scan all their charts into the system before they leave, and Al-Hashimi tells Robby he’s free to go now; the night shift is coming in, too, and Duke is getting his scans.
McKay stops Robby, since she knows he’ll be leaving soon, and gives him her last bit of advice, joining the ever-increasing list of people clocking Robby to the point of his discomfort.
She lets him know that she sees him and what he’s likely planning. Robby tries to act like he doesn’t know what she’s talking about, but it’s another moment of him being rattled by being seen by those around him.
Musings: I love that everyone essentially knows that Robby is a hot mess and a ball of trauma, grief, and unresolved issues. And they usually give him his space without much comment, but today they’re calling him out and letting him know he’s not as good at hiding things as he thought.
The Pitt staff serves as his mirror, and he can’t deal.
McKay: So, this is it, huh?
Robby: Uh, yeah. Don’t let the place burn down.
McKay: You know, in a previous life, I had a lot of friends who liked to see how close the edge was, as if it was a challenge they were called to meet. Trouble is, they all inevitably found it.
Robby: Okay.
McKay: I’m just picking up on a weird vibe from you today, that’s all.
Joy clocks out, to Langdon’s surprise. It’s still chaos. Surely Joy would stick around longer, put in some overtime, and help, right?
Not our Joy!
Wise Joy tells him about the high percentage of ER doc burnouts and that maybe people need to start establishing boundaries, which she’s doing.
Is she the only well-adjusted person in this hospital? Seems like it!
I’m going to miss her! To make it better, she passes my guy, Dr. Shen. Mr. Ice Coffee himself, and she warns him that it’s a mess in there. I’m living for this handoff.
Night shift is HERE, baby! Let’s go!
And our cliffhanger? Orlando is back with a head injury. He can’t afford this!
Over to you, Pitt Fanatics. Was this the best episode this season? Sound off below. Share this recap for those who may need it. And thanks for the support!
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