The Pitt Season 2, Episode 3 Review – “9:00 A.M.”

If one thought the first two episodes of The Pitt‘s second season were narratively dense, “9:00 A.M.” is here to recalibrate their expectations, an episode packed to the absolute brim with obvious allusions and setups for hours to come, as everyone works its way through what everyone considers a relatively light start to the Fourth of July morning… that is, until an ominous call arrives in the final two minutes, a plot twist that immediately clarifies some of what season two is building towards, setting up the series for what appears to be another fascinating, chaotic shift in The Pitt.

There’s a lot of setup still happening for season two, even three episodes in: which is not exactly surprising, but it’s still packing a lot into the preamble (which, to its credit, feels like it reaches its conclusion at the end of this hour). There are a ton of new patients this hour, from the husband and wife who collide with the motorcycle driver, to the elderly patient who talks about the relationship between Pittsburgh’s Muslim and Jewish communities in the wake of the Tree of Life shooting (a moment that feels a bit on the nose, but continues to add texture to the setting of the world outside The Pitt, ensuring that its stories are grounded, and don’t exist in some theoretical paradisical reality). Some of these new patients are obvious pins being dropped for later episodes to pick up (like Robby lying about “always” wearing his helmet, or the woman who mentions her mother taking the bus to get to the hospital) – but all of them work to start bringing the season’s deeper themes to the surface, especially as the episode pushes towards the big development awaiting in the final two minutes of the episode.

The concepts of the “gut instinct”, filtered through various observations of faith and science, continue to be a prominent theme, be it in explicit forms (Dr. Robby explicitly saying this with multiple patients and doctors in front of Dr. Al-Hashim), or in other, more subtle ways through the episode, particularly in how season two is framing ideas around religion and artificial intelligence outside of Al-Hashimi’s scenes, as they represent the two spiritual ends of the spectrum in The Pitt‘s exploration of faith vs. science, and how it manifests in a million different ways in everyday life – specifically, of course, in the most critical moments of medical emergencies.

“9:00 A.M.” also filters that concept through to the audience, challenging with certain plot lines and characters to examine the relationship between truth and inference, and between the seen and the unknown. One interesting example comes from McKay; expressing some… loin-related frustration in the season premiere, McKay appropriately has her hands full with not one, but two amorous patients in the hospital as “9:00 A.M.” develops. While this is definitely another story that feels like a big preview for something to come later; there’s something a bit concerning about how overbearing Nathaniel the elderly Wal-Mart greeter is, almost immediately becoming a “kindly” flirty old man who is very nearly following her around the hospital (even when the athlete patient flirts with her from his hospital bed). Though his presence is presented as innocent, his sheer presence looming over McKay as he “flirts” with her is certainly an interesting image, if not a nod towards something larger the season may explore later – but in the moment, it does a fantastic job of raising those questions within the viewer, subtly presenting symptoms and patterns, as if giving the audience their own patient of plot to diagnose and assess as the episodes develop.

The line between the known and unknown is one doctors have to cross – and with characters like Santos and patients like Digby, The Pitt continues to consistently find fascinating, nuanced ways to explore these core ideas – which certainly are going to kick in high gear in the coming episodes, as the metaphorical tidal wave of season two appears to be heading towards The Pitt at the hour’s end (this time, in the form of all ambulances being routed to The Pitt because of a Code Black at another hospital, bringing a very different kind of chaos than season one’s PittFest shooting).

The results of crossing that line is where “9:00 A.M.” finds a pair of contrasting resolutions, in the newly-single father of Santos’s patient (who has a platelet issue and was most likely not being abused; instincts – they’re not always right!) and Mark, who discovers he has a brain tumor, news he shares with his ex-wife when she’s contacted as his emergency contact (him being a man and never having updated his forms, of course). Both stories required their doctors to trust their instincts, ignoring their patients in order to pursue their assumed truths; Santos ends up breaking up a new couple, while McKay is able to help heal a very old, painful wound between two people who broke up a long time ago, over what may have been the result of a traumatic brain injury.

If there’s anything “9:00 A.M.” feels a bit flat, it’s here with Santos; it’s been clear there was a subverting event awaiting this story, and the diagnosis that absolves the father isn’t quite able to conjure the emotional power of a couple whose marriage probably ended over an undiagnosed brain tumor. In neither situations, nobody made the wrong decision – but having blind faith in something, be it a diagnosis, idea, or a person, is an easy way to be made to be felt a fool. Whether righteous or not (obviously, Mark’s ex-wife couldn’t have known he had a brain tumor), we can only decide on the information we have – and any choice made without the complete, honest picture has an inherent risk of not working out the way we’d hope it to.

Like the opening two episodes, “9:00 A.M.” is another strong entry – although one whose construction is laid a bit more bare with so many different stories and characters to intertwine and overlap, all before the season’s major catalyzing event kicks into place (at least, for the season’s first act) in the final minutes. While some its application of these stories and themes are not exactly the most layered or subtle, it’s certainly effective, another strong building block in the ever-expanding foundation of The Pitt‘s increasingly ambitious second season. Hopefully it just doesn’t bite off more than it can chew.

Grade: B+

Other thoughts/observations:

• Robby and Al-Hashimi’s relationship continues to be fairly one-note. Hoping this develops quickly as things get more chaotic, or him talking about his gut instinct will start to feel even more repetitive.
  
• Another example of not trusting your instinct: the campus security officer who ends up garnering the police’s attention, having tasered a dude in the back of the neck who was most definitely not on any kind of psychotic drugs.
  
• We’re definitely teasing something with Louie, too.
  
• Donnie’s gonna be a daddy!
  
• Dana offers Digby the possibility of hope: “That’s today. What’s tomorrow?”
  
• “You think everything’s so important. Then you end up here and see.”
  
• Javardi and Ogilve’s competition continues, this time confusing a child into complete silence. Yeah, this could get dangerous.
  
• No idea where we’re going with the family who is sharing all of their medications, but it’s easily the most boring part of this season so far.
  
• “Sounds like a betting grid to me!” The real sign season two’s starting to cook.