Spoilers

“5:00 PM”

I found myself yelling “Don’t end there” at my TV as The Pitt went to black screen.

I thought the lead of this week’s episode would be ICE.

Instead, the sudden awakening patient who grabbed Emma, who was just checking his vitals. The patient was a golfer who had been admitted after passing out from drinking too much and, as he held Emma in the headlock, said “What did you do to me?”

Oof. That was rough and the door was closed, keeping the sound away from the busy ER. I hope Emma gets out of this ok.

Now, back to the big event this week… ICE brings in a detainee for medical attention and brings chaos with them. The Pitt has never shied away from the political storytelling, but this one was a big swing. The very presence of the ICE agents sent a ripple effect through the ER and the waiting room as people were just taking off in fear of what could happen.

It was certainly implied that the patient, the little lady with the torn rotator cuff, had that injury because of the ICE agents. Then, when they were trying to take her away (before she got her sling), nurse Jesse (Ned Brower) tried to intervene because the ICE agents were hurting the patient and he wound up on the ground, arrested too.

At first, Robby wanted to get the patient treated and out of the ER quickly to minimize the presence of ICE, but his monologue he delivered to one of the agents showed how on edge he was about the situation. This whole ICE beat played into Robby’s own struggles this year as he let him have it.

It was a tense stretch of time that really colored the episode.

There were other major things that happened. Rosie dies. Ogilvie is facing so many challenges, including a misdiagnosis that led to a patient’s major trauma. A young boy is brought in with severe heat exhaustion, and his mother struggled with the her failure to protect him. Mel is having issues with her sister’s sex life. Then there is a conflict with Langdon and Santos. Robby’s friend gives Robby the reason to stick around after his shift ends.

This was a solid episode with a lot of things happening.