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Warning: This review contains full spoilers for The Pitt Season 2, Episode 15!
And so we come to the end of another long, gruelling, and psychologically devastating day in the ER. The Pitt really gives you a newfound appreciation for what medical workers and first responders have to endure on a daily basis. If it’s this stressful to watch, how tough must it be to actually live through? All I know for sure is that “9:00 PM” is a very strong cap to what’s been a largely enthralling season of television.
Ultimately, Season 2 hasn’t opted for quite as flashy or dramatic a finish as Season 1. That’s been a bit of a sticking point in my last couple of reviews, as the series has worked to ease some of its tension rather than lean into it late in the game. But it does go out on the right note in Episode 15. There’s one last, critical new medical case keeping things interesting, even as the focus shifts to bidding farewell to these characters for another year and exploring the question of just what Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) plans to do next.
In terms of said case, we meet Nicole Wolf’s Judith Lastrade, a woman hellbent on delivering a baby with no medical care whatsoever. Clearly, that was a bad call, and her ordeal rapidly devolves into a life-or-death battle to save both mother and child. That entire sequence offers up one final spike to the blood pressure to cap off a hellish day shift. For much of it, I thought for sure the poor ER team was going to wind up with two orphaned babies to deal with. Luckily, the writers opted for more of a happy ending. At least on that front.
Things are a little less rosy where Robby is concerned. Much of Episode 15 is concerned with allowing the character to make his goodbyes and fixating on the question of whether he has any real intention of returning from his looming sabbatical. Fittingly, we don’t actually get any clear answers. We’re left unsure whether Robby is actively suicidal or just badly in need of some fresh air and the open road. HBO seems to have every intention of moving forward with Season 3, so he’s probably safe to return, but you never can be too sure. That troubling ambiguity is a nice way to leave things for the season.
And, along the way, we get some truly great one-on-one scenes between Robby and other The Pitt MVPs. After seeing them blow up at each other recently, it’s heartening to watch Robby and Dana (Katherine LaNasa) fall back into a friendlier routine. It’s also great to see Robby patch things up with Dr. Mohan (Supriya Ganesh), particularly as we now know that last scene between the two is effectively Ganesh’s denouement on the series.
At the same time, you have the long-overdue blowout between Robby and Dr. Langdon (Patrick Ball), where Langdon has some uncomfortable truths to drop on his mentor. I would have liked to see their big fight go on longer, but it’s worth the wait regardless. And we get multiple very strong scenes between Robby and Dr. Abbot (Shawn Hatosy), scenes that both strengthen the bond between these two grizzled veterans and highlight the question of just how badly Robby is faring beneath it all. Abbot is correct in that this is a man badly in need of therapy.
Things also take a very dramatic turn when it comes to the already frosty relationship between Robby and Dr. Al-Hashimi (Sepideh Moafi). We, along with Robby, learn the full extent of her medical woes, and it’s not great. This is the one area where Episode 15 doesn’t entirely click for me. I’m not sure why Baran would expect anything other than the outraged reaction Robby gives her. Why shouldn’t he be horrified at the thought of the ER being in the hands of an attending who might fall victim to a seizure at any point? This reveal doesn’t necessarily engender sympathy for her character in the way it was seemingly intended. That speaks to a larger problem where Dr. Al-Hashimi just hasn’t been developed and fleshed out to the point she deserves over the course of this season.
That aside, though, Episode 15 hits most of the right notes as it closes out Season 2. The one-two punch of the staff watching the fireworks on the hospital roof and Robby bonding with Baby Jane Doe serves as a welcome dose of emotional release. The stinger with Drs. King (Taylor Dearden) and Santos (Isa Briones) bonding over karaoke is a fun little bonus. As stressful as this shift was, maybe there’s room yet to be optimistic about the future.
