Twenty minutes into this week’s episode of The Pitt, the mood abruptly shifts.
“S--t,” says Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch (Noah Wyle). It isn’t the curse word that is out of place (after all, it is HBO Max), but the extra syllables in Robby’s delivery clue us in that something is off.
That something is quickly revealed to be two ICE agents with a detainee, who “took a nasty fall” during a restaurant raid. Pranita’s (Ramona DuBarry) shoulder is visibly injured, and she needs to be treated before processing. Of the two federal immigration agents, one keeps his face covered the entire time they are in the ED.
As word quickly spreads throughout the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center, it becomes clear that the already-exhausted staff will face even more pressure due to the immigration officers’ presence. By the end of the episode, nurse Jesse (Ned Brower) is also placed in restraints after he tries to finish Pranita’s care before she is taken to a detention center.
It’s five o’clock on an already challenging Fourth of July for staff at PTMC, which has seen the usual array of Independence Day ailments and injuries linked to the hot weather, alcohol consumption, and firework misuse. On top of that, they are in crisis mode: the computer network has been temporarily disconnected to prevent a cyberattack.
In the year since the medical drama from R. Scott Gemmill debuted, it has won an array of shiny accolades and plenty of audience affection. The biggest seal of approval comes from the medical community regarding its depiction of the high-pressure environment.
Television is an escape, but undoubtedly, The Pitt’s success is due to how it speaks to the turbulent times we are living through. If it is in the news, there is a good chance it will appear on The Pitt.
Even before ICE agents arrive, the ripple effect of the Trump administration’s immigration policies is depicted. A 12-year-old boy is the first firework casualty of the day. Jude’s (Anthony B. Jenkins) college-age sister is his legal guardian because their parents were deported to Haiti nine months earlier. The story is familiar: their parents went to a routine immigration appointment and were detained.
A couple of hours later, the hospital staff witnesses the ramifications in real-time.
Robby has two immediate concerns: ensuring Pranita receives care for her injuries and maintaining the safety of everyone else in the hospital. He is prickly with the two officers and instructs his team to be quick.
“I do not want these guys here any longer than they need to be,” he says.
Dr. McKay (Fiona Dourif) treats Pranita like any other patient, asking whether she would like to contact anyone. When the masked ICE agent reiterates that no calls are allowed, McKay utters “unbelievable” under her breath.
Charge nurse Dana (Katherine LaNasa) is more blunt: “Can’t we just tell the agents to f--- off?”
This comment comes after they learn that 10 people in the waiting room and some of the environmental services team have gone home out of fear. Later, surgeon Dr. Shamsi (Deepti Gupta) reveals that two nurses with temporary protected status have also left because “they don’t feel safe.”
Robby’s frustration bubbles to the surface when he sees the masked agent casually leaning on the counter as if he works there. This is the final straw for Robby, and his monologue speaks to a lot of the issues being covered this season:
“You can see how busy this department is, right?” he asks, raising his voice. “You’ve been nothing but a distraction and a disruption since you’ve been here. I’m already short-staffed, and I just lost five nurses and half my environmental services team because you walked in.”
“You know, patients come in here for help because they’re either sick or they’re injured, and documented or undocumented, they have the right to emergency care,” Dr. Robby continues, furious anger in his voice and eyes. “TB, measles, fractures, none of it is getting treated because everybody’s too scared to come in. But then they end up here anyway, but then it is too f---ing late. So, please, for the love of God, can you just go wait over there in the room with your detainee so I don’t lose any more patients or staff!”
The height difference adds to the imposing visual, with Robby having to look up the entire time. Still, the agent seems to be complying with Robby’s request.
But what happens next reads like retaliation. Pranita’s fast-tracked X-ray reveals she doesn’t have a fracture, but still requires a sling. Instead of waiting, the agents want to leave immediately, and this is when Nurse Jesse steps in to aid Pranita. Rather than show how it unfolds, we hear the commotion and McKay calling out for Robby’s help.
Cut to Jesse on the floor with his hands behind his back while multiple staff members hold up their phones to film the disorder. One of those is med student Victoria Javadi (Shabana Azeez), who has a popular TikTok profile under the name Dr. J. How soon will she upload the video?
While this episode was written and filmed toward the end of last year, it is hard not to think about recent events in Minnesota—including this January news report about ICE entering hospitals.
The appearance of ICE agents in the hospital is not something The Pitt’s creative team has kept under wraps. Executive producer John Wells told Matt Belloni on The Town podcast that HBO’s one note was to make it “balanced.” At the Actor Awards, star Patrick Ball said this storyline is an example of the medical drama presenting “the realities of hospitals across America.”
Another example of this is how attitudes toward vaccinations have led to the PTMC staff coming under fire (including Dr. Mel King being named in a medical malpractice suit).
Late in the first season, an anti-vax storyline pointed to the rise in measles cases. While this episode was in production before RFK Jr. became Secretary of Health and Human Services, the writers read the medical tea leaves and could see where it was going (By sheer coincidence, there was also a patient with brain worms last season). When The Pitt finally got the SNL parody treatment this past week, it was RFK Jr.’s MAHA movement that took all the satircal punches.
During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Wyle took a more direct swipe at the current administration via a fake PSA. Wyle peddled conspiracy theories from the measles vaccine turning your son “into a pansexual furry” to 5G towers being responsible for COVID. He also declared himself pro raw milk and raw chicken.
No patient on The Pitt has gone this far yet.
Like The West Wing before it (also produced by Wells), The Pitt could be accused of presenting a liberal perspective, opting for “woke” storylines.
Last summer, Wyle addressed this in an interview with Variety: “You’re not making value judgments. You’re just painting a picture, and if it’s accurate enough and it’s representative enough, it becomes a bit of a Rorschach test. You see what you want to see in it, and you draw your own conclusions from it. If it looks like the system is untenable, unfair, and skewed towards one population over another, maybe it is.”
You can’t say more balanced than that.
