Mommy Issues - The Pitt s02e10

In talking to people (especially parents) about watching The Pitt, I couch a warning about the various deaths of children running through season one. The kid who goes brain dead because of a fentanyl overdose (they then do the honor walk for him). The child who drowns in the pool. By the time of Pittfest, it's Robby trying in vain to save his almost-son's girlfriend.

In The Pitt's attempts to accurately portray a trauma center, children are unavoidable. And there's been some this year like Baby Jane Doe, the girl with the beads up her nose, or Jude (who lost his fingers in the firecracker accident last hour). Hell, this episode features a drastic medical procedure to save a child's life which ends up being the most harrowing sequence the show's ever done. (More on this later...)

Running through this episode, though, was something different. For all that children are around, this season has centered itself far more on parenting, especially motherhood. Dana taking Emma under her wing, Dr. Al having PTSD from Dashte Barchi... Even clerk extraordinaire Monica Peters runs her desk like a mother hen more than a dictating bureaucrat. There's also Roxie preparing herself for death and having to say goodbye to her children. The recurring stress of mothers bearing down on their daughters like with Mohan and Javadi.

Be it the administration of motherhood or the weight of receiving it, it's a universal social interaction. We'd best understand it.

Just a minor panic attack

Most shocking in the episode is Mohan finally collapsing under the weight of all the pressure she's feeling. Her mother has been calling her all day. The department is pulling her in all sorts of different directions. She's one of the most senior doctors on the floor (by my count, only Robby, Dr. Al, and Langdon outrank her) and she's thinking about where she might want to go study once she's out of the general studies of trauma medicine. It's stressing her out.

So she basically falls apart. It's extremely hard to watch. Then again, Mohan is also the one who reacted to the Pittfest shooting by riding the adrenaline high until she crashed. Her struggles in regulating her emotions amidst major stresses is a feature not a bug.

Her mother probably doesn't have any idea how demanding this job is, or the stress she's adding by making calls all throughout the day when she's terribly busy. I'm sure her mother's needs are pressing, but it's hard to tell how much she's aware of how much she's disrupting the actual workflow. Every call is another spike in blood pressure, and every spike in blood pressure is adding to the ever-increasing weight of the overrun trauma department. Mohan is just the first to crack.

And, like... her mom is calling on the red charge nurse phone? This is the dedicated phone for incoming emergencies and EMTs checking in. With Mohan treating her mother like she's crying wolf, it's no wonder she ignores it. That's not what this line is for. Maybe it can wait, but like... my god. This is a bit intense and hopefully it's not something Mohan feels comfortable dismissing.

Regardless of all of this, Robby's comments to her are disgusting. I understand his frustration that one of his most senior doctors is having an epic collapse at a time of extreme need, but berating her in front of subordinates is deeply unprofessional and the sort of thing he berated Langdon for last season after the senior resident chewed out Santos in front of a trauma room. It's also a hell of a thing for Robby to do considering he had a far more debilitating panic attack amidst the Pittfest shooting last year. And... yeah that was intense as hell and came after he'd reached his breaking point. Doesn't change the fact that he doesn't get to determine what is or is not a good breaking point for Mohan. And he might have apologized, but that apology was tough love at best. He can't turn off his disdain for her cracking under pressure. Perhaps because he sees so much of what's happening to her in what has previously happened to him.

And it matters that the apology comes after Dr. Al (the ostensible mother of the shift) slams Robby for his behavior.

"All I want is less time with mine..."

That line about Javadi comparing her relationship with her mother to the Hamler children's with Roxie is devastating. And it sucks because Javadi herself is a protege. Barely old enough to drink, not even the age to be properly out of college, she'll be a full fledged doctor in a matter of months, and that's not good enough for the demands of her mother. And... yeah. It makes sense that her mother would come speak to her after Dr. J's catastrophic collapse in the last hour. It was harrowing enough to be there when it happened, but her mother dressing her down has all the hallmarks of a demanding parent who expects far too much from her daughter.

But there's also something like terror within it. Javadi's mom is very calm as she shares the tough love and the casual (and all the more brutal) "you're better than this", but the truth is that the job she and her husband have pushed their daughter into is one with serious ramifications if anything goes wrong. Sure, Javadi's mistake could have reflected poorly on her mother, but there is a part of her that is trying to protect her daughter from some debilitating experience that might cripple her entire promising career. Javadi will be responsible for a death in the future. Or a death will come under her watch. It is inevitable. But her mother doesn't need to be so ruthless about it.

Regardless, all of this situation has Javadi really turn on the "Dr. J" moniker from earlier in the season. On the one hand, it's good that she's recognizing that this isn't just some cool job where she gets to have fun. This is real stakes with real lives she's dealing with.

... but on the other, there is tremendous value to having "Dr. J" on TikTok giving medical advice. She might not be a doctor, but she's certainly extremely knowledgeable in practicing medicine and qualified in explaining its procedures. Listening to her isn't just something that can soothe the mind of the woman who glued her eyelash shut. It can also help others who freak out about hospitals and medicine. She balances out all the quacks and cranks who run around on social media spreading medical disinformation because of supposition, rumor, negligence, or even malice. If the choice is "Dr. J" or "a random influencer with slick graphics", everyone should want to get Dr. J as they scroll.

It's Javadi's mother not seeing this value (which, admittedly, is a generational challenge) that makes Roxie's handling the grace of her death all the more difficult.

Now that it's clear what Roxie's wishes are, everything accelerates. Saying goodbye is impossible, and Roxie's oldest child has a hard time bringing himself to be with her in this withered state. The moment he has with Cassie is heartbreaking and powerful, and Cassie has handled all of this with tremendous grace and care. It must be hard for her, especially considering how close she is with her son and the role he played in the background last season. But... she knows what she's doing and this is a part of growing as a doctor. Not a hardening of the heart, but a critical distance connected to a tether of empathy.

To be honest, by the episode's end, there is something calm and serene in that final scene. Almost relief. As Cassie presses that plunger down and injects the last round of drugs that will probably stop Roxie's breathing, it feels like this whole thing has come full circle. There is tremendous sadness in the act, but also a resolve that this is the thing to do.

Stand-in

With Mel's finishing up her deposition, she checks back in on Becca. The show has been clear from the beginning that Becca is Mel's world outside of the hospital. And the care that she has for her sister is a major driving force pulling her through the day and her livelihood. If the deposition goes poorly for Mel, it will almost certainly ripple into her care for her sister and her sister's special needs.

This care, though, comes with a sense of entitlement that forces Mel to lose her professional demeanor. And why wouldn't it? Professional or business concerns can completely fall away when love or family intercedes.

Langdon, though, is a god damn professional, and tells Becca that he will not share any medical information with Mel without her express permission. HIPPA violations are very serious and the sort of thing they drill into you if professionally you get anywhere near medical records. But Mel wants to bypass that. Part of it is the duty of care she has for her sister and (again) the needs. But the other is that Mel as Becca's caretaker has functionally become a motherly figure to her sister. Parents get to know what's going on with their children and until their 18th birthday, have oversight into what's happening so they can make informed medical decisions for those who have no agency.

And... it's ableist to admit, but it's hard to not look at Becca and her neurodivergence and assume she needs the sort of care and attention and oversight that a child would. In some ways she might have trouble taking care of herself, but Mel has also created a situation where Becca doesn't understand what a UTI is and how it can be a byproduct of sex without the proper hygiene.

But that's why the revelation that Becca got the UTI from having "lots of sex" shocks Mel so hard. There is a sense that Becca is incapable of making such a mature decision for herself, or that this boyfriend of hers is taking advantage of sex on tap. That, though, denies Becca's agency. Regardless of her neurodivergence, Becca is a legal adult and perfectly within her rights to engage in sexual intimacy. If Mel is keeping her too under wraps and not telling her things that she otherwise wouldn't know about, well... there are risks to that. There's a reason sexual education is so important as one of the things we learn as people move from childhood to adulthood. It teaches the consequences of sex, from risks of pregnancy to the possibility of disease transmission.

It's sad to see, to be honest, and given the previews for next week there's still plenty more fallout to come from the two of them what with Mel having a meltdown about the agency Becca is starting to exert.

But that's motherhood. Tremendous amounts of care in the rearing, and then letting go when the time comes.

Around the trauma center....

• A quick Santos Corner...
  • Dr. Al calling Santos to assist Langdon continues this collision course that the two of them have been on all season. Santos can't avoid Langdon, and Langdon knows he needs to talk to Santos about what went down. Still, it's frustrating (if understandable) to see the R2 constantly correcting the guy she busted and to see him consistently be better than her. If there's one thing Langdon has proved, it's that he's a hell of a doctor, and it kills Santos that he is so effortlessly above her when she (because she's not a drug addict) can feel a superiority over him.
  • It feels like I should talk about Santos more, because Garcia giving her the hard truth about how she treats people is way, way overdue. Santos is one of my favorite characters on the show (they're all my favorites), and to see her so constantly up her own ass and with full arrogance is a bubble that really has to pop at a certain point. There is value in what Langdon has to teach her just like there's value in listening to Huckleberry or Crash when they have a good idea. More than anyone, Santos still feels like an outsider in this group, and I long for the day where she can start to embrace the community around her.
  • And while we're on the subject, Santos being explicit in her wanting Langdon gone is really messed up. I get that she was no fan of the guy and that the two clashed an awful lot in their limited time before Robby booted him. I get that he did boost meds and became a drug addict. But also? The dude did the time. And he's on the path to being better. Or at least he is so far. Her inability to allow for the grace in his return is even less than what Robby has provided. Her desire to see Langdon fired gives her a really unlikeable image of her and shows just how unprofessional she is and how personal she takes everything.
  • But also? Langdon not having the guts to talk to Santos means that every interaction they have comes with underlying tension. I get that it will be hard for him, and I get that they're busy and I get he's not even been back for one full shift. I think I can cut him some slack. But the longer this goes, the worse it gets.
• So sweet that Mohan wants Abbot to write her a letter of recommendation.
• Ogilvie is having a big hell of a day, but after Cassie slapped him down a couple hours ago, even Robby is now telling him to "keep your fucking mouth shut" tells just how much he's getting on everyone's nerves.
• "Here's her leg." Jesus.
• What is it about this waterslide collapse that is so absolutely fucked. The blunt force trauma to the chest, the degloved finger, the clean guillotining of the leg.. Ugh.
• Park the Shark. What an asshole. He rules.
• Reattaching leg/limb/body part amputation is one of those phenomenons that I will never understand. They're trying to keep the leg alive by keeping it cold enough but not so chilled that it freezes the exposed tissue to death. Just to slow the atrophy? And then the complicated procedure of putting the leg back on... reconnecting all those veins, blood vessels, and muscles... Man. That's just a crazy thing to think about.
• Dana committing insurance fraud for Monia's nicotine patches."Throw me in jail, I could use the vacation." That's the good stuff.
• It is so upsetting that Louie is still in the viewing room. And also that Langdon wants to help with his after-death care. Tragic.
• I about lost my mind when I saw that Jeff Kober was playing Robby's friend Duke. Kober played the black magic drug dealer Rack in season six of Buffy, and if you look at his IMDB the dude has basically been working nonstop for decades. A lot of bit parts, recurring roles, and guest star spots, but with a face like that and a voice that good it's no wonder he's been in constant demand. Great to see him. And given how many guest stars this show burns through, plenty more actors like him are gonna roll through the PTMC.
• Ah yes. Time to talk about the slash trach...
  • For a show with no shortage of tense moments, I don't know if I've ever been more straight up on edge than I was for this agonizing hour ninety seconds. It's not very often one of these procedures completely captures my attention and terror like that. Probably because it was a life-saving procedure on a child in a situation who would have been dead had Dr. Al not literally slit his throat open and gripped onto his trachea with her gloved fingertips.
  • And there was all that blood flow...
  • The podcast mentioned that this is medically accurate but exceptionally rare and really only used when dealing with children for whom more conventional, adulty procedures are impossible.
  • And then it impressed Robby. Is that the first time all season where he's like... legitimately glad that she's here? If she hadn't been, this kid would have died on that table.
  • Jesus Christ, Dr. Al.
• I'm curious if there's going to be more from Mel's deposition or if that's it. This is one of those situations where it wouldn't surprise me if this is all we get and that it's a "big" nothingburger because the lawyers will handle things from here on out. It would make sense given all of the pressure Mel put into the moment, and given that we've been so in Mel's head all day, the professional distance the lawyer provided really does help to contextualize just how frivolous this situation is.
• Did we know that Robby is literally hitting the road tonight? After a shift? Hell, after this shift? What is going on.
• There is a great comparison between generations running through this episode as well. Dana has to read some poor penmanship, which isn't a problem in the digital age. But Emma also manages to pull Zack's info off of social. Everyone can learn something.
• Gross out moment of the week: The degloved ring finger was gnarly as hell, but this is 100% the slash trach. Shiver.

Next Time...

We've got Robby still going after Mohan... and an ICE agent coming in? Jesus man this show is not afraid of anything.