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Try Not to Cry During HBO’s Most Emotional Goodbye Yet
Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for The Pitt Season 2 Episode 6.
A third of The Pitt Season 2 is already over. In that time, audiences have watched Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch (Noah Wyle) struggle through his last shift before a three-month sabbatical. Not only does he have to tolerate his pushy replacement, Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi (Sepideh Moafi), but Dr. Frank Langdon (Patrick Ball) is back from rehab and looking to have a long-overdue conversation. Over the last four hours, Robby has managed to keep Langdon away from him, only for it to fall apart in Episode 5 as the ER is hit with an influx of patients from another hospital. As last week’s episode ends, lovable patient Louie Cloverfield (Ernest Harden Jr.) has just flatlined. Will he make it through the next hour, “12:00 P.M. – 1:00 PM”?
‘The Pitt’ Season 2 Episode 6 Begins With a Tragedy
Episode 6 begins with Robby doing chest compressions on Louie. An attempt is made to shock his heart back into rhythm, but it doesn’t work. Instead, Louie’s lungs start filling up with blood that spills out of his mouth during compressions. Meanwhile, Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa) continues training Emma Nolan (Laëtitia Hollard) when a phone call summons them to Louie’s room. Robby shakes his head at Dana because it’s not looking good. Louis is hemorrhaging from liver failure, and Robby tells Langdon there’s nothing else they can do. Time of death is called, and everyone is silent for a moment before going their separate ways. Nurse Perlah Alawi (Amielynn Abellera) looks particularly heartbroken.
In another bay, Victoria Javadi (Shabana Azeez) and others are talking to Jackson Davis (Zack Morris), who’s now able to speak. His sister, Jada (Erin Croom), wants to know what happened. Jackson mentions hearing someone in the college library not wanting him to pass the bar exam. Confused, his sister decides to call his law school friends to find out what happened. As we later find out, Jackson’s been dealing with hallucinations for months, long before he was tased, so he’s put on an involuntary psych hold. Meanwhile, nurse Princess Dela Cruz (Kristin Villanueva) visits the cancer patient, Roxie Hamler (Brittany Allen), who doesn’t have the strength to get off her bedpan. She talks about being married for 20 years and how difficult it is for her husband, Paul Hamler (Taylor Handley). Just then, Cassie McKay (Fiona Dourif) comes in to check on Roxie and give her something for her pain.
News of Louie’s death is starting to spread among the doctors and nurses, but there’s no time to mourn now. Dr. Al-Hashimi is talking to Dr. Mel King (Taylor Dearden) and Dr. Samira Mohan (Supriya Ganesh) about a patient when Robby pulls her aside to discuss discharging a patient to make way for more coming in. Dr. Dennis Whitaker (Gerran Howell) is crushed when he hears about Louie and goes running to his bedside, where Langdon is there and fills him in on what happened. They find a photo of Louie with a woman and child. If he had a family, he never mentioned it. There’s an emergency contact listed for him, and because Whitaker was Louie’s primary physician, Langdon offers to let him make the call, but Whitaker’s too heartbroken to do it. Sadly, when Langdon calls the number, the phone rings at Dana’s desk. The ER was his emergency contact.
Langdon Wants to Make Up With Robby in ‘The Pitt’ Season 2 Episode 6
Brandon Lee, a motorcycle acrobat, is wheeled in on a stretcher, but because he was wearing a helmet, he’s at least conscious. (Did you hear that, Dr. Robby?) Robby talks to him about his bike as the others work on him. The patient can move all his limbs, so what’s wrong? His knee is ripped apart, with the joint visible. As they’re leaving, Robby hears that Langdon’s patient with necrotizing fasciitis, Debbie Cohen (Mara Klein), is going to need an amputation above the knee.
Meanwhile, Whitaker pours his heart out to Dr. Trinity Santos (Isa Briones), who is so tired that she can barely stifle a yawn. Dana sends them to do something else while she and Emma clean Louie’s body. They talk about the possibility of his family existing. If he’s not claimed, his body will be cremated, with the remains stored alongside other unclaimed patients. Later, Robby asks Whitaker if he’s okay. Whitaker admits he had a relative who was an alcoholic, but at least Louie seemed happy. Robby’s here if he wants to talk, and walks off after they share a fist-bump.
Al-Hashimi and Mohan, along with Mel, check in on prison inmate Gus Varney (John Lee Ames). It’ll be a liquid diet for him for the next few weeks while his jaw heals, but they’re concerned that the levels of protein in his blood are too low. Meanwhile, in the break room, Langdon tells Dana that no one reached out to him when he was in rehab, but asks if the patient who punched her last season was arrested. He was, but Dana didn’t want to go through with pressing charges. Since Langdon is going through the 12 steps, he tries to apologize to Dana, but she tells him they’re good. He wants to talk to Robby, but today isn’t the best day for that.
Dr. Robby Is in Even More Danger Than ‘The Pitt’ Fans May Have Realized
Why can’t Robby take his own advice?
Al-Hashimi tells Robby that Gus needs to be admitted to one of the hospital’s rooms upstairs. He’s not sure what the hospital can do for him that can’t be done at the prison, but Al-Hashimi is concerned that he’s not eating enough. Robby doesn’t think they have the beds to spare, but says he’ll call the prison to see what food they’re serving. Still, Al-Hashimi says they can treat him better here. Robby puts his foot down on admitting Gus because they can’t take everyone. Meanwhile, Paul Hamler asks his wife, Roxie, if she’s ready to go home. She doesn’t look so sure, but he says he’ll be by her side the whole time. Roxie’s worried he needs a break, but he won’t hear it. She tells Paul to go ahead and get the house ready, and she’ll be right behind him in the transport ambulance. He reluctantly agrees, and she’s given a painkiller, but before she’s moved, Roxie insists on staying in the ER instead.
The ER’s Doctors and Nurses Honor Louie’s Memory in ‘The Pitt’ Season 2 Episode 6
The ER’s Deaf patient, Harlow Graham (Jessica Flores), is finally seen by Princess, who can sign a little. She’s introduced to Santos and signs about having a bad headache. There might also be a stomachache, and she may have passed out, but Precious isn’t sure she’s interpreting the patient correctly. Frustrated, Santos walks away until an interpreter can come in, leaving Princess to apologize to Harlow. Robby and others get to work on treating Brandon’s open knee wound. Robby asks where Santos is and is disappointed to hear that she’s probably catching up on her charting — and he’s definitely not happy when she uses the AI app, which incorrectly reports that a patient had a history of appendectomies. Robby confronts Al-Hashimi about it, but Al-Hashimi blames Santos for not proofreading her charts first.
Dana and Emma get Louie’s body ready in a separate room in case anyone comes in to see him. When Emma asks Dana why she keeps coming back to the ER, she has no answer. The truth emerges moments later, when Dana checks on Gus, who’s about to be discharged and taken back to prison, and learns they have some things in common. Suddenly, his pulse oxygen levels drop; now, he’ll need to stay. Dana looks relieved, and when Robby asks her what she did, she feigns ignorance. Episode 6 ends with a dozen doctors and nurses in the visiting room with Louie’s body while sharing stories about him. Langdon pulls out the photo Louis had in his belongings, and Robby reveals the truth: it was his wife, Rhonda. He didn’t want kids, yet Rhonda wore him down, but then, a week before the baby was due, Rhonda and their unborn child were killed in a car crash.
- Release Date
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January 9, 2025
- Network
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Max
- Showrunner
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R. Scott Gemmill
- Directors
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Amanda Marsalis
- Writers
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Joe Sachs, Cynthia Adarkwa
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Noah Wyle
Dr. Michael ‘Robby’ Robinavitch
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Tracy Ifeachor
Dr. Heather Collins
- Louie’s death is treated with compassion, with his character given a final posthumous twist.
- Whitaker has quickly become the most lovable member of the cast.
- Dana is finally given something worthwhile to do in the best of ways.
- Santos being on the verge of a breakdown shows the high stress of a such a complex job.
- The storyline around Debbie’s necrotizing fasciitis essentially disappears.