Review: The Pitt, "2:00 PM" | Season 2, Episode 8
Going old school analog
Much like the enthusiastic Jack Abbot, I am a little giddy at the current situation enveloping PTMC. Removing online systems is a fantastic way to throw the entire hospital into disarray, providing space for comedic interludes amid the increasing chaos on The Pitt. Cue every single Gen Z character asking, “What is that?” about equipment being pulled out of storage. Experience working in a hospital back when it was mostly analog now counts double, as systems revert to paper, and the only calls coming in are via landline—the only cell service is in the ambulance bay, and Spectralink phones are not an option. Rather than repeat a mass casualty incident, this instant reshuffling offers a different take on an all-hands-on-deck narrative that currently has no predicted endpoint (it could last up to 24 hours).
One echo of last season’s curveball is Robby and Abbot tag-teaming the staff briefing. But instead of slapbands and assigning color-coded zones, the pair gives a rundown of picking up patients, charting, ordering tests, and discharging. It is a quick exposition dump for both staff and the audience, highlighting the reliance on computers and that this day just got harder for everyone. Anyone who watched ER will get a sense of déjà vu (not because of lawsuit reasons) at the familiar clipboard system. I am feeling my elder millennial age during these scenes, especially when Joy makes age jokes about Abbot working in the 1900s. Though I admit that if you put a fax in front of me, I would struggle.
It isn’t a complete retread of Robby and Abbot's quick tutorial, since a third voice is in the mix. Al-Hashimi purposefully doesn’t take the lead after Robby’s understandable prickly reaction to not being alerted first (or at least before the rest of the department). While Robby doesn’t let his grievance fester, he does find it hard to hide his smirk when Santos brings up the AI program.
