Twists, Turns and Trauma: The Pitt Season 3, Episode 3
- Marielle Bokor
- 24 minutes ago
- 10 min read
Another episode, another hour in to a brand new shift at The Pitt. It’s 9 am for Episode 3, and as it would be IRL, we’re already knee deep in gore, drama and story. So, let’s glove up and get examining …everything.
This week we lead off with two of the new docs, and the two I least enjoy so far – Joy and Ogilvie. As Whitaker notes, Joy’s pretty peculiar (though I’d say aloof and disinterested) and Ogilvie’s really smart (and way, way too competitive).
We’ve got a new patient who hit his head and is unconscious. He’s also diabetic, and we get a little infighting between Smarty Pants Ogilivie and Smarty Pants and Trudy in front of Langdon over what they should do.
McKay still has her altered mental status guy with the scaphoid issue, and, now we’re just back to the recaps.
A little bit more recapping of last episode happens, but we’re going to skip that, because we recapped last episode in our last episode recap.
Back with our belligerent college guy - this dude’s been tased and he still isn’t settled. He’s shouting things that are setting off some alarm bells for me but I’m not exactly sure what to make of it all yet. 2701, Title 18. Reasonableness, 2709. I have to assume none of that is purely random. When I threw it into Gemini, it ends up making a little bit more sense. In the context of PA law, apparently, that all makes very good sense. Title 18 S 2701 references Simple Assault, 2709 Harassment and Stalking. Maybe that’s not a thing, maybe it is. I’m sure we’ll find out.
We’re done with priapism guy for now, and he’s told to calm down the activities and lay off the Viagra, basically. Will he be back? I have a feeling he might, but let’s hope not.
Remember that racing family? Our original patient’s better, but they’re all back in the waiting room, and they seem like trouble. The oldest of them, or one of the oldest, got dizzy and fell.
Back to Digby. He hates doctors. Fair. Luckily, he also has the best nurse in the whole damn world with Dana, and she’s able to reason with him enough to be able to get him to talk to our new social worker to seek ongoing care. She also gets him a sandwich. The people who help in these practical, essential ways, are angels on earth. Thank a nurse next time you see one.
Now we’ve got the campus cop, large and angry, blustering about our screaming college kid. Apparently he got a chair thrown at him by this kid, and he’s out for revenge. He wants to stay in line of sight with him so he can watch him, as any white guy drunk with the power of some sort of badge would. If you couldn’t tell, I really, really don’t trust him, and I think maybe we’ll find he’s one of those who work forces, if you know what I mean.
Our new social worker is back, and other than the man bun, he’s turning out to be another of the good ones. He’s working with Santos on our potential abuse case. There’s some red flags for him, but not enough to call it abuse, or blame anyone. Santos, natch, is absolutely dogged on this, and convinced that the father, who they’ve called in to interview, won’t show.
Back with our college kid, it’s time to pull the taser barbs out. This oughta be a piece of very very angry cake. King’s a pro here and we see her actually confidently teach. Still, it’s tricky,but luckily for us, Dr. Al-Hashimi’s got sage advice on pulling them straight out, and so, despite the rage, the job is done. Seems like Dr. Al’s got some experience here that we might dig into later.
Just when you thought we were resolving too many things, a double trauma’s called. I hate to say something like “oo boy!” but “oo boy!”
This one’s an auto vs. a motorcycle and of course, Robbie’s on it. It’s pretty bad, and so far we know the driver’s not okay. When the motorcyclist comes in, it’s pretty clear that the massive trauma means he’s more or less DOA. Surprisingly, Joy has a pretty strong reaction, while Robby barely blinks before heading to another room. Also surprisingly, Joy’s the one asking about a moment of recognizance, and Robby’s out the door already to see the driver of the car that hit the motorcyclist.
His wife is in the room, which never means anything good. And, here’s the first twist - the driver’s quadriplegic?
Cut to McKay, who’s got on some sort of pheromones or new perfume, because man, is she getting hit on. Most immediately by an older gentleman named Mr. Montrose who’s been found wandering around the ER. He was in for a fall, and awaits the therapeutic donut he doesn’t want to admit he needs - I imagine this happens, but does it happen as often as it seems to in The Pitt? A guy in the gurney across from the pair is also shooting his shot - which seems a lot more logical coming from him, but still…right now?
Flash back to Louie, who’s nearing the end of his ordeal. They tell him he’ll be out before the fireworks tonight, and for some reason in this context that makes me feel like he’s not going to live to see them. Call me a hardened viewer, but, that, coupled with the Things They Learn From Him suddenly…it just feels like there’s some danger here.
Back with McKay again, but she’s with her scaphoid/weird affect guy. And he’s got a brain tumor…which, we assume at least, explains all the strangeness we’ve seen from him. He’s not too keen on a brain biopsy, and –who would be? But McKay explains the stereoscopic guided CT assisted biopsy process and he at least seems like he’s gonna do it.
Now we’re in with The Hansens, our racing family, and they’re packed in the ER with our patient and arguing right over his gurney. Langdon finally cuts the crap and they discover he’s taken a medicine that wasn’t his and that they don’t know what it was. This seems way TOO feasible in today’s world, what with the ivermectin crowd.
In the next room over, Robby’s back with our driver from car vs. motorcycle, making reference to knowing more as soon as they consult the Donut of Truth, which I’m gonna assume is a CT scan, because, well…it turns out it is. He’s about to be wheeled up when they note his mental status is also very altered. The wife’s hovering nearby and has heard he’s paralyzed, and she’s panicking, fully. She wants to tag along but there’s radiation in that there donut, so she can’t. Robby has her wait with him til he goes, and he and Hashimi - decide to split up?
Here we have our first bit of ..flirting between Robby and Dr. Al. Do we like this? Is it weird? It feels weird.
Meanwhile, our Eastern European lady turns out to be Jewish. She’s also got Robby’s number, and her classic Jewish mothering to him is really very charming. She’s used a home remedy for a burn that’s really, really gross. Honey. She’s also from Tree of Life, a synagogue that was involved in a shooting. Our new nurse is uncharacteristically a little rude, laughing at the honey remedy. Turns out, it’s only half not a great idea, but could actually work on a lesser burn. Robby’s got her, and promises she too will be home by the fireworks, but she’s begging not to go home until after.
Meanwhile, Santos gets surprised by her pet case’s father, who seems remarkably non suspicious. He’s chill, he’s answering questions calmly, and he’s remarkably sweet with his daughter. There’s no real red flags with this guy until he starts interacting with the girlfriend, and blaming her for everything that’s happened, aggressively and standing over his gurney. Enter our social worker, who sweeps in and pulls them out of the room with the girl and girlfriend. He’s asking questions tactfully and Santos is interjecting at just the right time to really provoke him. He goes straight after his girlfriend, and they end up in an altercation where he also chooses to threaten our security guy. Absolutely not!
Enter Dana with the lab results. ITP 9000. Do I know what that means? Of course not, but I think it means everyone shuts up and waits to find out.
Robby’s now back with Ms. Kovenko, and he’s not only patching her up, he’s listening to her. She was there for the shooting, and fireworks are a huge trigger for her. Honestly, this is an issue more people should talk about at holidays and celebrations because it’s not just pets that can suffer when fireworks are happening - many soldiers and victims of shootings/bombings can feel the same way - unsafe, scared, and incredibly reactive. I hope this ends well for her, and she can get some sleep in the hospital away from the triggers.
When Robby heads over to Mr. Yee, our car accident victim, we’ve got Mrs.Yee freaking out because she’d been arguing with her husband prior to the accident and doesn’t want him to pass away on those last words. Good news for this crew, the CT revealed normal results, and after another surprise phone call and labs with critical potassium we find out his paralysis is temporary, and he’ll get better- including use of his limbs.
Over in another bed, we’ve got a squiggly and adorable kiddo who shoved some beads up his nose. Now I know this one’s common - my brother did this when we were kids. I remember thinking I had no idea why he’d do it, but also no idea why it required an ER visit. It’s a bit of a dad’s club and it’s nice to see dads supporting dads or dads to be.
Back with the Yees, we’re trying to figure out how this weird sudden paralysis from a rare disorder only happened now, but before we can, all the alarm bells ring and we’re doing compressions.
Santos and Whitaker discuss the ITP, and smarty pants Ogilvie helps explain what it means…sorta.
The cops come in to talk with our campus security guy, and he’s pandering to them, but they seem smart enough to not just give him a pass cuz he’s wearing a badge.
Back with the Yees again, we’ve stabilized our driver, he’ doing ok, but she’s showing no signs of not freaking out. He’s awake, she’s touching him…and she’s down for the count. Turns out, she’s been internally bleeding the whole time because she didn’t get checked out after the accident on the ambulance or at the hospital when they asked. As a recent person who almost didn’t get checked out, let me tell you, on the record, during a recap of a medical show - get checked out.
Back with our “abuse” case, dad and daughter are calmly reunited, Santos is managing a good bedside manner, and a good conversation with the kiddo’s mother. The girlfriend lurks around the corner, and I’m sure this isn’t over yet.
McKay’s back now, and we’re still just left to wonder what it is about her today that’s attracting all that attention, as she’s being serenaded in French by our elderly guy and persistently chased by gurney guy across the way. No time for that though because scaphoid weird affect man has an ex-wife who’s there – but not happy to be there.
Back with our racers and King, we’ve managed to find out what it is our friendly flag pants man’s taken. Blood pressure pills. Ok, explained away. I thought these guys would be more trouble.
Back with Mr. Yee, he finds out his wife’s faceplanted and been taken away, and he also has regrets, and doesn’t want her to die thinking he hates her. Don’t leave stuff unresolved.
McKay’s now with Scaphoid guy and his ex, and it’s a weirdly pleasant exchange and catchup for them. She backs off her anger at him, and he’s exceedingly apologetic and sensitive to her. He seems genuinely glad she was able to remarry and wishes her the best, and she’s visibly shook by it. McKay makes a polite exit so they can talk more.
Now we’re on to our diabetic and his daughter’s here taking charge until her mom arrives. Ogilvie and Trudy get into a debate on how to treat him in front of her and she brings them back to earth with one single “Huh?” and reminds them that all the knowledge in the world won’t help patients and their families understand what’s happening to them.
Now we’re back with Bead Boy, and they’ve set him up with a VR headset to play with which ends up doing a fantastic job of distracting him completely so they can just go right in and get the snot covered beads. This is a simple scene but such a nice one .
We’re back with campus cop and his real cop friends, and our nurse’s stand stands up for our screaming college student when he accuses him of being on drugs in a roundabout way by loudly reading his very negative tox screen in front of the cops, who are looking at ol’ Campus Cop in a whole new light, it seems.
Back with Kolenko, who’s being attended to by a muslim nurse, we think there might be trouble, but instead, the woman thanks her for what the Muslim community did to support the Jewish community after the shooting. Meanwhile, as she’s about to thank him for the help, the nurse lets slip his motorcycle adventure plans, and boy does he get scolded for riding a motorcycle. It’s actually pretty delightful.
Santos’ injured girl’s father and his girlfriend get into it again, this time outside her room, but in earshot of Santos. Even if it’s not abuse, this isn’t real great for any of them, obvi.
As Dana’s making her rounds, Mr. Yee asks her to record a message for his wife. Uh oh. IT’s really, really sweet but it’s not giving me good vibes on this case.
McKay’s back to check in on our exes, and she’s feeling some type of way because, as it turns out, this affect change is making him profoundly nicer than he was, and she’s wondering if it was the tumor all along. McKay has to acquiesce that it’s possible, as painful as that is, and she asks to stay on as his emergency contact. Aww. This place is killing me today.
Meanwhile, one phone call that isn’t a drill later (I mean, if anyone but Dana said it it’d be insanely corny. And the corn factor is still high.) we’ve got one hospital nearby down for the count and a bunch of patients headed in to The Pitt, whether we like it or not. And…well, that’s a wrap on this week’s Pitt.
What are your thoughts on what happens next? I guess we’ll find out at 10 am.
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