| "2:00 P.M." | |
|---|---|
| The Pitt episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 8 |
| Directed by | John Cameron |
| Written by | Joe Sachs |
| Cinematography by | Johanna Coelho |
| Editing by | Joey Reinisch |
| Production code | T76.10208 |
| Original air date | February 26, 2026 |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"2:00 P.M." is the eighth episode of the second season of the American medical drama television series The Pitt . It is the 23rd overall episode of the series and was written by executive producer Joe Sachs, and directed by John Cameron. It was released on HBO Max on February 26, 2026.
The series is set in Pittsburgh, following the staff of the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital ER (nicknamed "The Pitt") during a 15-hour emergency department shift. The series mainly follows Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch, a senior attending still reeling from some traumas. In the episode, the hospital tries to accomodate to its analog status, but the staff faces many problems without the access to the computer system.
The episode received positive reviews from critics, who praised the writing, performances, and prosthetics in the episode.
With the computer systems shut down, Robby tells the staff that they need to go analog. Whitaker's image of the patient board is too blurry to read, but Joy helps recreate the board using her photographic memory, while Abbot stays to assist. With Dana still busy working the sexual assault case, Princess struggles to maintain control as the acting charge nurse.
While treating Howard Knox, an obese man with abdominal pain and fever, McKay and Whitaker advise Ogilvie to stop making insensitive remarks about the patient's weight. Robby successfully places an awake naso-tracheal tube; the team weighs Howard and learn he is too heavy for the hospital's CT scanner, and decide to relocate him to the Presbyterian.
Al-Hashimi gives informed consent choice of thrombolysis medication to Brooke, a patient with central retinal artery occlusion. She also encourages Mohan to take fellowship in geriatrics after seeing her skill in treating the elderly. They decide to accept the suggestion for the abandoned baby to be placed into emergency foster care.
Santos receives praise from Al-Hashimi and Langdon for her diagnosis and treatment of Harlow's trigger point. Santos and Langdon then cooperate awkwardly to treat Jackie Lidell, a woman who bit her own tongue after binge drinking, causing a deep laceration.
Javadi presides over the talk between Jackson's parents and Nicole Steadman, the leader of parents support group for the psychiatric service. Due to the confusion in charting, Javadi and Ogilvie examine the same patient, a man with severe rashes. They are both unsure of what it is and almost misdiagnose it before Joy correctly identifies it as phytophotodermatitis, learning the patient was making margaritas under direct sunlight.
Dana takes Ilana's rape kit to lock it inside the special fridge where the police will collect it within 72 hours. However, she is enraged to find that another kit, which she already finished 2 weeks ago, is still there, and angrily calls the police station to pick it up.
Noticing Mel is still nervous over her incoming deposition about the spinal tap on a boy with measles, [a] Dr. Ellis comforts her, claiming that the procedure went exactly as planned and that the parents' lawsuit is frivolous. McKay states that Roxie still suffers terrible pain, so Robby tells her to increase the morphine up to 12 milligrams (0.19 gr) an hour, a very high dose. McKay is worried, but Robby likens it to the principle of double effect. Robby observes the chaos in the hospital amidst the system shutdown and asks Dana how they "plan to get through this mess."
The episode was written by executive producer Joe Sachs, and directed by John Cameron. It marked Sachs' sixth writing credit, and Cameron's fourth directing credit. [1]
Showrunner R. Scott Gemmill said that the writers had the idea of "going analog" in the hospital, as he and other writers like Joe Sachs wrote for ER , explaining "We just went with the clear boards so we could see through it and give us more shooting opportunities. It was visually interesting. Cell phones weren't really a thing. There weren't digital charts. Half the stuff that's there now wasn't even available to us." [2]
"2:00 P.M." received positive reviews from critics. Jesse Schedeen of IGN gave the episode a "great" 8 out of 10 rating and wrote in his verdict, "If not the strongest episode of Season 2 to date, '2:00 PM' is nonetheless a very solid addition to the mix that manages to amp up the tension in the E.R. considerably. The desperate shift to analog medicine results in plenty of new drama and chaos. The series also continues to benefit mightily from strong performances from the likes of Katherine LaNasa and Patrick Ball. Most of the main characters are in a good place right now, dramatically, but the series definitely needs to sort itself out where Lucas Iverson's Ogilvie is concerned. A character this two-dimensionally repulsive has no place in The Pitt." [3]
Caroline Siede of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B+" grade and wrote, "In some ways, the tech crisis upends the PTMC emergency room as we know it. There is no shortage of missteps and confusion to send the ER into semi-comedic chaos. But, for the most part, our doctors and nurses actually do an admirable job of keeping up business as usual too. Once the younger folks get a basic handle on the paperwork flow and the importance of ballpoint pens, the patients keep rolling in, the diagnoses keep coming, and everyone just about manages to keep themselves above water. I was expecting a full-on crisis this hour, but '2:00 P.M.' mostly continues the sense of semi-normalcy that has characterized this season." [4]
Maggie Fremont of Vulture gave the episode a 3 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "The Pitt is stressful right now. It's not that there is a particularly life-threatening, emergent patient rolling in — although that 'margarita burn' case does look painful as hell, both physically and emotionally, because I would be bummed if I could never make margaritas in the sun again. The stress, this time around, comes from the level of disorganization currently plaguing the ER. That's what happens when you need to shut down all of your computer systems in order to prevent a cyberattack, I guess. It's not that our crew can't handle it, but what a monumental task to ask all of these people to transition to a completely new system of protocols while still treating an ever-growing number of patients." [5]
Johnny Loftus of Decider wrote, "We can think of a few people in positions of power who'd deserve a shove back into line by someone like Dana. Emma's eyes go wide as the all-powerful charge nurse calls Pittsburgh PD to light a fire under their asses. They expect instant treatment for their cops? Well get over here and pick up these crucial chain of evidence rape kits." [6] Adam Patla of Telltale TV gave the episode a 4.1 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "The Pitt envelopes its audience in the chaos without completely alienating them. This shared headspace that effectively ramps up the tension for the rest of the episode with audiences in a heightened, yet frazzled state." [7]
Sean T. Collins of The New York Times wrote, "It is notable how Ogilvie's callousness makes him seem like a man apart from the other characters we've come to know and love in this show. There is a lesson to be learned there: For better or worse, we're all in this together." [8] Jasmine Blu of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4.4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "We get our first glimpse of what going analog means on The Pitt Season 2 Episode 7, and it's a jolly good time. Also, Joy emerges as the best addition of the season, Howard is inarguably the sweetest patient they have yet, and there's so much delicious tension." [9]