In this week’s episode of The Pitt, expect to be treated to a scene that’s really going to make you rethink ever praising how detailed this show likes to be.

In “11:00 A.M.,” we feel like we are truly in the middle of the ER and its endless chaotic machinations. There’s sepsis, constipation, a terminally-ill patient who is just trying to figure out the best way to say goodbye. Every room has its own world with its own characters. It is an exercise in the profound realization of sonder. We are just as insignificant in their lives as they are in ours.

Dr. Robby is also not as stoic as he seems. As each hour ticks by, another crack appears, and this episode the biggest one yet gives us a glimpse into what may be coming. For the entire season so far, Robby has managed to avoid Dr. Langdon. Last week, we got that scoop that Langdon filled in for a sick doctor, meaning that he and Robby were likely not meant to cross paths before Robby’s ill-advised motorcycle sabbatical.

Langdon has seen support from nearly everybody at PTMC, minus his old mentor. Though we left last season not exactly expecting them to be chummy, Robby’s continued coldness to his former protégé seems like there must be more to it that needs to be discussed. The waitress who was admitted with a rash is now in full-blown sepsis and in critical condition with emergency surgery needed, and though Langdon did everything by the book Robby still blames him for the situation turning badly.

On death doulas and prisoners

Santos, meanwhile, is simply struggling to do her charts. It seems like every moment she sits down is a moment for something to be needed, especially from Ogilvie. Dr. Al-Hashimi reminds her about the new AI app for charting, because of course they want to keep trying to use an AI app. At least Robby is vocal in his (correct) criticism. Their relationship is still fraught, and it does not appear as if it will get any better.

We learn that night shift charge nurse Lena (Lesley Boone) has another job as a “death doula,” a profession I was unfamiliar with until this episode. Roxie, the terminally-ill patient, is under her care, and as she enters PTMC for an injured leg after a seizure we are confronted with mortality. Her injury, on a healthy person, would be nothing. On her, it is everything.

The ER also gets their first injured prisoner directed from Westbridge. The man, who was jumped, has multiple lacerations and broken bones. The doctors have to work their own protocol around the protocol from the rigid prison guard, who refuses to let them un-cuff the clearly-not-dangerous prisoner. It’s a reminder of the stigma that exists around prisoners, even when they’re incapacitated.

The day is still full of surprises

Ogilvie is clearly this season’s Whittaker by proxy, and it’s always such a moment of levity, even when things seem serious. This week, after helping an elderly unhoused woman, he gets exposed to TB (which is apparently fairly common for doctors). Then he gets to assist another elderly lady with a routine disimpaction that ends rather…explosively. At least he didn’t have to change his scrubs multiple times in one day.

One of the goofiest moments of this episode is when Langdon and Donnie treat a patient who was burned with dry ice by his brother. When he asks if they want to see the footage, both doctors immediately and empathetically say yes. We all need a laugh from time to time, and nobody looks a gift horse in the mouth when you work in a place like a hospital.

Five hours into shift, everybody has found their momentum. Unfortunately, however, next episode that momentum is going to be thrown for a loop. With Louie coding and the screen fading to black, we have no idea what is in store for 12:00 P.M. Whatever it is, though, we can only hope it isn’t worst-case.

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