McKay and Whitaker figured out that Amaya’s ovaries were twisting, and she had to undergo surgery in order to stop that from happening over and over again. McKay also looked after Roxie and slowly came to the realization that she was preparing to take that eternal nap. Knox finally reconnected with his sister right before going into surgery to avoid dying of peritonitis and sepsis. Monica, a PTMC clerk who was laid off due to the digital revolution, returned to the fray to help the ER function smoothly despite having gone analog. Samira’s mommy issues and Ogilvie’s daddy issues began to rear their ugly heads. Victoria almost killed a patient, as she was too distracted by the beautiful Nick. And as if all that wasn’t overwhelming enough, it was revealed that a massive accident had happened at the local waterslide, and, of course, all the patients were headed to the PTMC. What’s next? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
The Waterslide Has Taken A Leg
Langdon wants to jump in on the leg amputation case that’s coming in via chopper, but Robby chooses Ogilvie as his assistant because, good god, can this man be petty as hell? Anyway, Robby and Ogilvie head to the terrace, and the first responders hand the patient’s amputated leg to Ogilvie while giving Robby the lowdown about the patient. Whitaker and Donnie join them too, and they start checking her vitals. When the patient asks what’s up with her leg, Ogilvie almost tells her that it has come off, but Robby keeps him from doing so. He tells Ogilvie to simply line up the amputated leg with her stump and send her for her X-ray; if she knows that her leg has come off, she’ll panic way too much. Later on, Park (the Shark) arrives to ascertain if the amputated leg can be reattached to the patient’s body. I think this is one of the best examples of “minimum screen time, maximum impact.” Park looks and acts exactly like what I think a shark in human form would behave like. He moves with such command and poise that you are compelled to tense up and just observe what he’s going to do. It’s only after he’s done observing the patient and has left the room after giving the greenlight to replant that amputated leg that you can ease up and breathe.
As Robby, Donnie, Whitaker, and Ogilvie are preparing the patient’s injured area and the amputated leg for surgery, she regains consciousness. Eventually, she figures out that she has lost her leg because, well, she spots Whitaker and Ogilvie washing said limb with her own two eyes. When the patient says that she wants the doctors to re-attach her leg to her body, Robby treats those words as the consent he needs to send her to surgery. So, yeah, on that hilarious and painful note, the patient is loaded with anesthetics and sent over to Park and Garcia so that they can perform their magic. This gives Ogilvie the opportunity to check on Green, who is doing alright. But going back to that leg amputation, do you know of any cases where such an injury has been fixed with surgery? I have heard of partial amputations where the limb has been reattached and made to work like the patient was never injured. However, in a case like this where the leg has been off for several minutes, can it simply be sewn back on? I know I am oversimplifying the process, but you get my point, right? If there are such cases out there, I’d surely like to know about them.
Derek’s Chest Becomes Langdon and Santos’ Battleground
Even though Robby doesn’t want Langdon to tackle the waterslide incident cases, he gets to do so anyway, because he is in Baran’s good books. Baran even orders Santos to assist both of them, thereby setting the stage for the clash between Langdon and Santos that we’ve all been waiting for. Things start off fine as they get Derek’s vitals, while assuring him that they are trying their best to find his son, Zack, who was also at the waterslide. But when it comes to the topic of the chest tube, Langdon doesn’t want to do what Santos is suggesting, and she takes it as a personal as well as professional jibe. To make matters worse, Baran starts agreeing with Langdon, which seemingly makes Santos think that they are ganging up on her, thereby agitating her. Santos takes a look at Derek’s finger and notices that his wedding ring has almost come off and has degloved the skin on that finger. Langdon and Baran advise her to focus on the chest pain first, and get to the finger afterward. A few minutes later, Garcia arrives, and that’s when they check out Derek’s degloved finger. As Langdon and Santos begin preparing the digit for surgery, he asks her about the tendon they have just tested. Again, Santos thinks that Langdon is questioning her knowledge, and she forgets that the PTMC is a teaching hospital, and Langdon is just doing his job of making sure the resident is worth her salt; thankfully, Baran reminds Santos where she’s at.
Once Santos has answered Langdon’s question, Derek is sent for his CT scan. Until he comes back, Langdon takes care of Samira and Becca, and he tells Dana to look for Zack. He gives Becca the lowdown on how much he can tell Mel about her situation and what Becca has to tell Mel herself, because that’s what the rules say. Going back to Derek, Langdon takes off the patient’s wedding ring, and he asks Santos to irrigate the finger (in case there are any metal shavings in there) before fixing it up. When it comes to the topic of his chest, Santos keeps talking about using a chest tube while Langdon opines that they should go for the Thoravent. Again, as Baran and Garcia agree with Langdon, Santos thinks she’s being attacked. While attaching the ThoraVent to Derek’s chest, Santos takes one last verbal jibe at Langdon, who has been incredibly helpful and apologetic so far, and that causes Garcia to snap. She straight-up tells Santos to learn some basic decorum before continuing her residency, and that somewhat forces Santos to realize how she’s been behaving. While Santos reflects on how she has been mistreating a guy who is clearly atoning for his sins, Langdon can be seen talking to Dana about how to give Louie a proper burial (given he doesn’t have a family to claim his body), even though it’s going to put a dent in his savings. In addition to that, Langdon eases Mel into the revelation that Becca has a urinary tract infection because she has been having insane amounts of sex with her boyfriend. If you are surprised by that info, you can only imagine Mel’s reaction, because she thinks that Becca doesn’t have a life outside of the time she spends with her. Well, Mel has to process that while taking care of her cases, which were being handled by Santos so far. By the way, thanks to Emma, we learn that Zack has been located, and he’s seemingly fine.
Samira Suffers a Panic Attack
Amidst the chaos caused by the digital blackout, Perlah informs Samira that her mother is calling her on the emergency phone. Samira doesn’t want to deal with her right now (even though she had previously come to the realization that her mother is doing this big move just to get her daughter’s attention) and tells Perlah to hang up on her. Dana instructs Samira and Joy to head to triage, because the cases are piling up at an alarming rate; if it’s not cleared up as soon as possible, there might be a riot or something. That said, before Samira heads out, Dana asks her to sign an order for a nicotine patch so that Monica can make it through the day without huffing cigarettes. Samira obliges Dana’s request and then asks her if Abbot is still around. Why? Because she needs him to recommend her for an elective so she can have a shot at a fellowship next year. What’s alarming is that Samira says that she’ll take any elective that accepts her even though, a few hours earlier, it seemed like she was about to accept Baran’s advice to focus on elder care. Why is she not asking Baran for the rec? Has she changed her mind? Why? I guess we’ll find out later. While heading to triage, Samira is hit with a barrage of queries from all the patients that are waiting their turn, and she advises all of them to hang tight.
Eventually, Samira gets to Helen Torres, and as she starts recording some of the basic details about Helen, she starts sweating profusely. Joy notices that and tells her to get herself checked out. Instead of doing that, Samira tries to head out of the Pitt for some fresh air, but since she chooses to go through the waiting room, she finds herself in the middle of a sea of patients asking her when they’ll get treated. This triggers a breakdown, but before Samira can collapse to the hospital floor, Joy arrives with a wheelchair and takes her to one of the rooms to save her from, well, whatever she is suffering from. Langdon arrives at the scene, and he notices that even though Samira’s vitals are fine, it looks like she is having a heart attack. So, he tells Joy to get Robby. Initially, Robby goes easy on Samira, but as soon as he realizes that Samira has suffered a panic attack because of her unresolved mommy issues, he scolds her pretty furiously and leaves the room. He goes straight to Dana and asks her to bring in some doctors so that they can pick up the cases that should have been handled by Samira. Later on, Baran gets a hold of Robby and reprimands him for being so harsh with Samira. However, Robby doesn’t take that too well and makes an offhand remark about how the Pitt is going to crumble if they take Baran’s empathetic approach to treating its workers. When he does run into Samira, though, he apologizes for his behavior and welcomes her back to the fray.
Baran Performs a Miracle
The third victim of the waterslide incident is brought in. Initially, it seems like the kid is Zack, Derek’s son, but it’s not. So, while Derek awaits any information on his child, Baran, Whitaker, Perlah, Robby, and Langdon work together to save the kid that’s before them. They hit a roadblock almost instantly, because they can’t seem to find a way to intubate the kid since his windpipe has been badly damaged. Baran recommends a slash tracheostomy, a form of tracheostomy that involves doing a vertical incision right over the trachea and then a 2-centimeter incision through the tracheal rings. Once that’s done, the bougie is put into the airway, and then the ET tube is inserted into the trachea. The blood from the airway is sucked out, and then he’s “bagged,” thereby allowing for some good old artificial breathing. The kid’s stats slowly but steadily stabilize, leaving Whitaker, Langdon, and Robby in absolute awe of Baran’s expertise.
Baran surprises them even more by revealing that it’s actually the first time she has performed that maneuver on a patient after practicing it in the sim lab in Stanford. Garcia arrives to critique Baran’s methods, but she is too glad that her little experimental move has worked out to be demotivated by Garcia’s sharp words. Anyway, with the kid in Garcia’s more than capable hands, Robby moves on to Duke, his biker friend whom he has been waiting for all day. He’s assisted by Donnie and Whitaker, who help him ascertain what exactly the cause of Duke’s respiratory problems is. His upper airway turns out to be clean, but Whitaker wants to do a chest X-ray to see if there are any abnormalities there, given Duke’s history of alcohol abuse and nicotine dependence. I suppose this is set up for yet another setback for Robby. He has already lost Louie, and I don’t know if he has properly processed that. If something happens to Duke now, he’s going to lose it. And that’s either going to dissuade him from going on that sabbatical or it’s only going to empower him to hit the road. Either way, be prepared for a classic Robby meltdown.
Roxie Passes Away
McKay informs Roxie that she can increase her morphine drip, but that’ll certainly slow down her breathing, thereby killing her. Seeing Roxie accept her fate like that overwhelms Victoria, and she excuses herself from the room. McKay goes after Victoria to make sure that she’s okay and, from the next time, she remembers how to conduct herself in a manner that reflects the gracefulness of the patient. While doing so, McKay realizes that another aspect of Roxie’s death that’s bothering Victoria is the fact Roxie’s sons can’t spend enough time with their mother; meanwhile, Victoria has a mother who’s available all the time, and all she wants is to get away from her. She feels that she’s taking her mother’s existence for granted, and she should remedy their dynamic before it’s too late. So, McKay advises Victoria to try and connect with Shamsi on an emotional level; if it works out, that’s great, and if it doesn’t, at least Victoria won’t feel guilty about not making an attempt. As Victoria works on that, we see Roxie preparing Tucker for her death and telling her what he needs to do when she’s gone. McKay spots Shane waiting outside the room because he can’t bring himself to be in there with his mother and watch her die. However, when McKay advises Shane to go and be by Roxie’s side all the way to the end, or else he’ll always regret not doing so, Shane goes into his mom’s room to give Roxie the support that she needs as she passes away.
Going back to Victoria, after delivering that nicotine patch for Monica (and telling Dana that it’s insurance fraud), she runs into Shamsi. She tries to connect with her mother, just like McKay asked her to, but since Shamsi gets busy reprimanding her for running into situations like that sigmoid volvulus mishap, Victoria never gets to speak her piece. If Victoria and Shamsi become estranged, I think it’s completely going to be Shamsi’s fault because we can clearly see Victoria trying to be a family first and professionals later. Amidst all this doom and gloom, Ogilvie and Joy teasing Victoria about being an influencer is fun. However, going back to Roxie, McKay increases the morphine dosage for the last time, and it’s heavily insinuated that that’s going to (ethically) kill Roxie. The show is known for being chaotic, messy, and exhilarating. Hence, I like the fact that, in this season, it had a subplot that’s slow, meandering, heartbreaking, and so somber in tone. Despite not taking up a lot of screentime, Roxie’s arc took us on an incredibly emotional journey and reminded us, yet again, what a villain cancer is. All of our resources should be going into researching ways to fight “incurable” diseases like this, but unfortunately, we are too busy waging wars against each other. Maybe in the next life, when society is rebuilt atop the ashes of our remains, humans will focus on curing cancer instead of investing in the defense sector to the tune of billions of dollars. What are your thoughts on the same? Let me know in the comments section below.
