The Pitt episode 2 recap: a traumatic hour in the ER

The Pitt episode 2 starts with a flashback of Robby (Noah Wyle) during the pandemic, as he watches the overrun emergency room struggle. He’s snapped out of these thoughts and back to 8 am in the emergency room by Nurse Leader Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa); a respiratory distress has arrived.

• Also read: The Pitt episode 1 recap

Robby updates Dana on David (Jackson Kelly), an 18-year-old child of a patient, storming out after being quizzed about a list that seems to indicate he wants to harm girls at his school. When she questions why kids are so upset these days, Robby reminds her of the pandemic, social media and the environmental crisis.

Unfortunately for those in the Pitt they’re soon confronted with many more traumas and injuries to contend with throughout this rather intense episode. Here’s what happens in The Pitt episode 2.

The kids aren’t all right

Robby checks in on David’s mother, telling her that David ran away. She calls and texts him, but David doesn’t respond. She doesn’t think David will hurt anyone, but she can’t be certain.

Elsewhere, 19-year-old Nick Bradley arrives unconscious and barely breathing after being found in bed by his mother. A drug test reveals he’s positive for fentanyl. Later, Robby has to tell the distressed parents that Nick wasn’t breathing by himself for too long and is now brain dead.

Also, trouble might be brewing among the med students, as Santos (Isa Briones) keeps calling Javadi (Shabana Azeez), “Crash,” even though she asked her not to. The watching nurses bet that one of them will slap the other before the end of the shift.

Backstory

When discussing Nick, Robby tells Dana he’s not much older than Jake. Dana tells Robby not to go there. Later, Dana tells Dr. Mohan (Supriya Ganesh) that Robby might be sensitive today because it’s the anniversary of Adamson’s death.

After quizzing a Nepalese woman about whether she was pushed or it was a suicide attempt, a policeman tries to ask Collins (Tracy Ifeachor) out, but she instantly rebuffs him. Robby sees it all, then tries to make a joke. But again Collins shoots him down, saying there’s no possible scenario where they have this conversation. Apparently, Robby of all people should know better.

Another bit of backstory we get some clues to with involves Dr. McKay (Fiona Dourif). She tells Javadi she has one kid and is a single mother. Javadi then overly laughs at a joke from nurse Mateo, which McKay instantly recognizes as flirting. As McKay tells Javadi why she likes being a doctor, her ankle bracelet goes off. What’s going on with McKay?

Dr. King wants perfection

Discussing a patient who fractured his face after crashing his bike, Langdon (Patrick Ball) doesn’t want to do surgery, but Dr. Garcia, a surgical consultant, thinks he needs it. Dr. King (Taylor Dearden) puts in an emergency breathing apparatus, but becomes frustrated when her sutures aren’t perfect.

Another patient, 4-year-old Tyler, needs to be kept overnight after accidentally overdosing on cannabis. His mother, Amanda, worries there’s going to be long term damage. When the hospital’s social worker comes in, the mother starts to panic and scream, as she’s worried they’re going to take Tyler away from her. Robby has to come in and calm everyone down, warning Amanda she could be arrested if she doesn’t cooperate.

Dr. King watches police interviewing the parents. When she tells Langdon she’s worried the family will be torn apart, Langdon tells her that they’ll be fine because they’re white. If they weren’t, she’d lose her child and he’d go to jail. This makes King spiral. She goes outside to compose herself.

As she gives a mantra to herself, another patient is dropped off by a van, having suffered a gunshot wound. After losing a lot of blood, and with King’s help, he’s transported to the OR.

Family squabble

Robby tells Helen and Jeremy that their Alzheimer stricken father Mr. Spencer has pneumonia. Their father doesn’t want to be kept alive artificially; if his lungs fail, Robby isn’t supposed to intubate him. Helen disagrees, wanting to save him, while Jeremy wants to fulfill their dad’s wishes.

When Mr. Spencer’s condition worsens, Jeremy and Helen remain at loggerheads. Robby tells them that he might not have much time left.

Helen convinces Jeremy, and they decide to keep him alive artificially. However, Robby wants to proceed with Mr. Spencer’s wishes. Helen threatens to sue if he doesn’t keep him alive. Collins says she’ll back Robby if he decides to go with Mr. Spencer’s original wishes, but Robby decides to intubate him.

Hard lessons

A patient, Joyce, screams in pain as she is forcefully held down by police. Dr. Mohan tells them to stop. They thought she was a drug addict, but she was suffering from sickle cell. Even Whitaker (Gerran Howel) believes she’s an addict. Mohan tells him he needs more empathy. Mohan later apologizes to Joyce for the way she was treated.

Whitaker moves another patient, Mr. Milton, to the hallway. Milton asks for a whiskey or coffee, but Whitaker says it would bring his gallstone back. Robby goes over Whitaker’s treatment of Milton, and approves. Half-an-hour later, Whitaker finds Milton unresponsive without a pulse in the hallway. As they try to save him, Robby looks at his pupils and tells Whitaker he’s been unresponsive for a while. Whitaker keeps giving Milton CPR, even though everyone knows he’s already dead.

The Pitt is streaming exclusively on Max, with new episodes releasing on Thursdays.