The Pitt Season 2 Episode 6 Review: 12:00 PM

On The Pitt Season 2 Episode 6, “12:00 PM,” the team deals with a major loss while navigating their ever-growing patient load.

Given that his relationships with the team went beyond traditional patient-doctor connections, the loss of Louie rocks the Pitt. The heightened familiarity allows the audience to be closer to the loss as well and it permeates the entire episode.

In the director’s chair, Noah Wyle embraces the silence and invites us up close to these characters as they process the news. The moments immediately following Louie’s death are painful and intimate. Though we don’t know the totality of everyone’s individual relationship with Louie, the impact of losing him is felt.

Dana and Emma’s dichotomy plays out beautifully on this episode while they prepare Louie’s body. It was already so interesting, but we really witness how rich it is and will be as the season continues.

At one point, Emma asks Dana what keeps her coming back after the difficulties of the job. Dana dodges the question and moves right along. The exchange is so simple, yet so profoundly telling.

The trauma from Dana’s assault in The Pitt Season 1 lingers like a dark cloud. Katherine LaNasa externalizes the conflict in Dana’s mind with profound clarity, giving depth and importance to each dark feeling. The anxiety in the back of her mind plays with this resistance to glamorize the job for a newbie; yet, she never downplays the importance of the work. 

Laëtitia Hollard’s gentle and timid portrayal of Emma embodies the opposite end of the spectrum from Dana. She’s fresh, maybe a little naive, but deeply uncynical and open in the way she views this work. She’s almost a flicker of what Dana once was and, therefore, someone Dana feels the need to protect.

Dana always explains procedure to Emma in a very matter-of-fact way, even when getting into the more emotional “why” of things. There’s a clear fight to remain emotionally removed from the patients. Emma, however, recognizes the impact of going the extra mile with small details.

We see this later when Emma holds Louie’s hand, now knowing he doesn’t have family to come and claim the body. Dana may want to care a little less, but she’s still imparting the same message: they have to show up for their patients and their families, even in death. Emma understands this and latches on with ease.

These two women embody a remarkable duality of wariness versus openness. At what point does one become so guarded, they’ve shut the world out? “12:00 PM” carves a crossroads for Dana to either walk toward healing or further down the haunted path she’s currently walking.

Dana’s internal battle arises again with the inmate patient. She finagles the system so he can stay longer and receive the care he needs, despite trying to stay farther removed. She still cares deeply for the patients and, although she doesn’t verbalize it, it’s clear why Dana keeps coming back to this job.

The Pitt routinely succeeds with making its patients well-rounded individuals rather than a medical malady. The biggest triumph of “12:00 PM” is how it makes Louie feel like a whole person, thanks largely to the debrief at the end of the episode.

The team shares their uplifting stories of Louie; it’s remarkable how Louie brought so much joy despite his own personal tragedy that derailed his life. He struggled with addiction, but he was so much more than that addiction.

The fact that no one but Robby knew about Louie’s family also emphasizes another core piece of The Pitt. It does not matter where these people come from or what they deal with, they are worthy of quality care. In some instances, these nurses and doctors are the only people around to provide care.

“12:00 PM” is a sobering episode, but it brings the “why” of this job back into focus amid the chaos. Someone has to care and sometimes that care can make all the difference. Louie passed, but in his final moments he was safe with people who cared for him.

Stray Thoughts

• The AI app backfiring is the least surprising development of the season so far. 
• Harlow finally gets seen, but the hospital struggles to keep an interpreter. Her storyline, though small so far, excellently showcases the frustration of accessibility in healthcare.
• Ogilvie’s tone when disclosing Louie’s death to Whitaker is egregious and his bedside manner needs to adjust.

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The Pitt airs Thursday at 9:00 PM ET on HBO Max.

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