season 2, episode 14, “8:00 P.M.”

The thing is, though, the show has been operating in that space with Robby for the past few episodes, if not the entire season, if not the entire series. So while “8:00 P.M.” delivers some nice scenes, it doesn’t exactly elevate the themes of the season. There’s a little bit of a build here, but there’s also a whole lot of repetition. How many scenes can we get of Robby saying some version of “I don’t want to be here anymore” then dramatically walking away to deal with a medical emergency while his friend looks on in concern? Especially when there’s no way in hell the show is actually killing off Noah Wyle next week. 

True, each version of this scene has featured Robby opening up a little bit more than he did the last time. Here he’s honest with Duke about how the ER is the only place he can find purpose and distraction and that his motorcycle trip is an attempt to recreate that kind of adrenaline rush escapism in some other environment—or die trying if he can’t. But while that’s in-world progress, it’s also something I’ve been intuiting for most of the season, so it doesn’t play as a particularly impactful reveal. And though Jeff Kober has been a nice presence as Duke, it just seems odd to give that character so much focus here when so many of our main cast members feel underserved. 

Instead, the most interesting arc of the week belongs to Langdon, who gets a welcome dose of perspective from Parker Ellis. (Now there’s a platonic male/female friendship for you.) The idea that the day shifters are all self-involved martyrs while the night shifters are all chill, well-adjusted straight shooters is a very funny one. And while it’s pretty unsubtle to have Ellis just tell Langdon, “He’s not mad at you—he’s mad at himself for failing you,” at least it gets us somewhere new in the Robby/Langdon dynamic. Earlier in the season, Langdon might have shut down at the rather cruel way Robby demands he “doctor the fuck up” and pull off an impossible cowboy medicine move. Here, however, he rises to the occasion. 

The manual C-spine traction scene that follows is one of the tensest, most thrilling bits of medicine we’ve seen this season. And the way Langdon absolutely beams with pride after receiving a “nice job” from Robby only to have to run off to take a drug test could be a perfect final button for his arc this season, with his tweaked back setting him up for new challenges next year. But the way Dana notes that Robby got his wish and won’t have to say goodbye to Langdon suggests to me we’re not quite done with those two yet. As with so much of this season, how well this episode works in retrospect is going to come down to whether next week’s finale sticks the landing. 

Perhaps the other key theme to keep an eye on is about communication styles. Sometimes yelling works—like when Caleb snaps at Robby to get his attention or Whitaker stands up for himself with Langdon or Robby righteously condemns some EMTs who failed to properly place a 12-lead on a patient because they were scared to get under her boobs. But sometimes yelling elides true communication too. Robby chews out Javadi for her TikToks without stopping to hear her point of view. And though it’s not yelling, exactly, Robby’s dark joke about Orlando not jumping from a high enough spot turns the conversation away from the fact that Samira clearly isn’t doing well. (If there’s anyone I’m worried about actually harming themselves in the finale, it’s her.)

Hopefully that will all feel meaningful and intentional as the show wraps everything up next week. The Pitt certainly has no shortage of characters and ideas to work with. Right now, however, we can only go on faith. 

Stray observations 

• • So Ellis’ go-to reference is the 1983 Francis Ford Coppola teen motorcycle drama Rumble Fish, but she thinks knowing the band Styx makes you old? Okay! 
• • I wasn’t sure if the show was going to have some kind of big PSA moment about Monica’s values, but I like that she ultimately just exists as a reminder that sometimes “beloved” health-care workers are racist conservatives.  
• • I don’t really understand the nuances of straight-male culture. Is it normal to make small talk with a co-worker you’ve known for two days about how ripped they got since you last saw them? That seemed wild to me. 
• • On the other hand, I thought Dana calling Langdon “honey” was so sweet! 
• • Al-Hashimi’s medical chart reveals she’s been living with a seizure disorder for the past 35 years after getting viral meningitis as a kid. I thought her condition was going to be related to the Dashte Barchi hospital attack the show referenced but didn’t explain earlier this season, but I guess not. 
• • I couldn’t exactly track where Whitaker’s sudden anger at Langdon came from, but personally I think Robby is the Skipper, Whitaker is Gilligan, Mel is the Professor, Langdon is Mary Ann, Abbot is Ginger, Santos is Thurston Howell III, and Javadi is Lovey. Dana is the S.S. Minnow.
• • Gnarliest moment of the week: The ambulance bay is especially intense tonight, with two bloody victims of a bar fight (“Gentlemen, you’re on different health journeys now”) and a gunshot wound to the head for a stoned guy who was firing into the air. Still, I’m going to give this one to the brutal tug-of-rope accident from the Hansen family reunion. That was truly unsettling, although it was fun to see them again!    

Caroline Siede is a contributor to The A.V. Club.