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

On The Pitt Season 2 Episode 12, “6:00 PM,” tensions reach a new high in the aftermath of Emma’s attack and Jessie’s arrest as the transition to the night shift begins.

Katherine LaNasa continues her excellent work this season on “6:00 PM.” In the immediate aftermath, she transforms into a composed and solid frame of support for Emma. Once Dana gets a moment alone, though, LaNasa erupts.

On the surface, Dana bubbles with anger and frustration. LaNasa’s gift as a performer, though, is her ability to take these big emotions and lace them with layers. Beneath the surface, there’s a defeated feeling of failure; despite how hard Dana tried to prepare Emma for this, it still happened under her watch.

The incident also serves as groundwork for Dana and Robby to come to a head in a major way. Their clash initially stems from how Dana handled Emma’s attacker, but their fight isn’t really about the incident at all. 

It’s abundantly clear Robby’s struggling in terms of his mental health and that the sabbatical may be a guise for something much more serious. Yet, he cannot bring himself to leave. He doesn’t trust the ED to be run by anyone but him. 

The push and pull between Robby having a purpose that also constantly eats away at him provides an interesting lens for his mental struggle. Dana telling him that the ED will be just fine without him is a harsh reality check. On one hand, he does need to know it’s okay that he loosens his grip on this job; yet, without it, what is keeping him here?

Robby’s path to self-destruction becomes more and more apparent to everyone around him. He’s slowly unraveled in an almost frightening way thanks to Wyle’s gripping performance. He’s not afraid to make Robby unlikable or dark and thus, his descent grows more jarring by the minute.

Meanwhile, Dana feels unsafe in the workplace and unsupported by Robby. She points out the hypocrisy when Robby bends protocol and rules to save the day. She saved Emma’s life doing the same, but is being scolded.

Dana raises an important quandary. These nurses are expected to look out for these patients, but who is looking out for them? The Pitt never shies away from showcasing the hardships of healthcare workers, but it elevates the conversation a bit here.

There is a disparity in the way we acknowledge and revere doctors versus nurses when, in fact, they are both essential to successful care. Had something like this happened to a doctor higher up in the ranks, there’d probably be more fervor around it or protections put in place. Dana was assaulted and protocol carried on business as usual.

Rather than reduce the conversation to one blanket, generic statement, The Pitt takes the time to unpack the nuances at the intersection of the conversation. There is a hierarchy at play within the system that hurts and helps various healthcare workers. 

On top of that, Robby’s behavior signals a major reason for concern with Dana. It’s a nuanced portrait of worry and frustration with the inability to breakthrough to someone who is clearly hurdling toward destruction.

This argument sets a precarious stage for the final three episodes of this season. Dana is stubborn and surely won’t let Robby just walk away. But, as we can see, he’s hurdling toward another breaking point that he may not be able to come back from in several regards.

Stray Thoughts

• Javadi uploading the ICE video to her TikTok is a brilliant way to bring that back!
• Santos and Whitaker definitely like living together and that makes me happy. 
• Of course Joy has clear boundaries and no problem leaving at her scheduled time.
• I’m excited to see our night shift come in!
• I love seeing Mel and Mohan work together on a patient. They make a great team and it also provided a really lovely look at the difficulties of aging.
• I feared we’d be seeing Orlando again and this is just going to send Mohan over the edge…

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

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