There is always a risk of too much drama, making a hospital show feel too heavy. While there are certainly some dramatic and somewhat heartbreaking moments, The Pitt season 2 episode 2 brings a little bit of humor to help ease things up.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS from The Pitt season 2 episode 2.
We quickly pick up from where The Pitt season 2 episode 1 ended, with Al-Hashimi looking over the abandoned baby. However, the ER is constantly moving, so we have to take in new patients and focus on the many other cases already in the ER.
Throughout all this, there are some humorous moments between the medical interns and other doctors. The med students end up in some sort of competition, while Mel and Langdon have some quiet but fun moments. Who didn’t love the burr hole comment? Plus, him seeing that she was getting stressed about the idea of having to testify in court after she was knocked over by her patient just shows how much they understand each other.
Al-Hashimi doesn’t like the idea of following the gut on The Pitt season 2 episode 2
There’s a running theme throughout the episode, and that’s trusting the gut. Robby is a huge fan of that, while Al-Hashimi shows that she may not quite fit all that well within the ER. She wants to call in other parts of the hospital all the time, but they don’t necessarily treat the ER with the same urgency that the ER does for itself. Sure enough, the dislocated shoulder is handed before ortho can answer the page.
However, it’s probably why Al-Hashimi has never been sued. She isn’t willing to trust the gut, and while that could mean taking safer routes and even making sure other doctors end up dealing with the brunt of the care, it doesn’t mean the patients get the treatment they need.
Robby isn’t the only one who trusts his gut. Multiple people in the hospital do, leading to some quicker treatments. Just look at the guy who came in choking. Robby knew that only ketamine was needed so that they could get in to find out that it was broccoli that he was choking on, while Al-Hashimi wanted a treatment that would take many more hours.
She also didn’t trust Robby when it came to the pee sample for the abandoned baby. Now, clearly, there is going to be more to this story, but she really needs to learn to go with the flow a little. No pun intended!
The introduction of a new romance on The Pitt
We get the initial introduction of a new relationship. As Noelle walks in to share the update that the dislocated shoulder patient can’t remain at the hospital — because his insurance doesn’t cover it, so he needs to be transferred — there are clearly hints that Robby and Noelle have been seeing each other outside of the hospital.
McKay does seem to take the entire conversation the wrong way, worried that the code the two are talking in means that there’s an issue with transferring her patient. I did take a second to question whether that was the case, until we learn that Robby and Noelle are definitely seeing each other.
I’m sure there’s more to come of this as the season progresses. There are a lot of questions about this one.
The heartbreak of Alzheimer’s Disease
There is an absolutely heartbreaking moment on The Pitt season 2 episode 2. During the first hour, a man was brought in with a DNR, which led to his death. Whitaker ends up having to deal with the wife, who has Alzheimer’s, and it’s clear that the disease has progressed significantly. In fact, another doctor confirms that she needs to be in a home, but she needs to be in the hospital for three days first, so she’ll be going on a psyche hold for the time being.
It does feel a little mean to put her there, but it keeps her safe. After all, the heartbreaking element of the episode is that she can’t remember that her husband has died. Whitaker tells her twice, and both times, it’s like she’s hearing the information for the first time. Then he decides to take her to see his body, and she still can’t see that he has passed away.
This isn’t a woman who doesn’t want to believe the truth; she just can’t see the truth, showing just how much the disease takes from people. My heart breaks for Whitaker as she says that it’s time for her and her husband to go home.
The introduction of AI in the ER
Throughout the episode, Al-Hashimi is trying to push her new idea. She wants to bring AI into the workplace. While I’m not wholly against the idea of AI, there are times that it needs to be completely avoided. In this case, I could see it being helpful, if her studies are right.
Doctors spend a lot of time typing up notes. The AI could do a lot of the work for them. While Whitaker points out that it’s not perfect, we can’t just rely in AI to do it all. I used transcription software all the time for interviews, but I will always look back over it, because it isn’t perfect.
This can help to speed up the process, though. However, Robby isn’t interested in hearing her out. To be fair, there’s a lot going on, and she should have picked some time when they weren’t on shift to talk about this, but it’s clear the two are set in their ways.
Robby is all about the patients, while Al-Hashimi is clearly too worried about being sued to stop herself from being a robot. This is all likely to come to a head during The Pitt season 2, so we’ll have to wait to see how that plays out.
The Pitt season 2 airs on Thursdays on HBO Max.