The fourth hour of the Fourth of July shift increases chaos. When Westbridge hospital declared a "Code Black," Pittsburgh Trauma Center had to manage the extra load, making the ER intense. Here's my review.
The episode opens with a bit of dark gallows humor. As ambulances are diverted from the shuttered Westbridge Hospital, Robby, Al-Hashimi, and the rest of the staff start a betting pool on the cause. Robby bets on a flood; Al-Hashimi bets it’s something far more sinister.
After weeks of silence, we finally have an answer to where Dr. Heather Collins went. During a check-in with a recurring patient, Whitaker reveals that she has completed her residency and moved to Portland to become an attending physician and adopt a baby. Robby overhears the news, and Wyle plays the moment with a quiet, devastating wistfulness.
Mel is still under the shadow of her upcoming deposition. In a powerful scene, she treats a Black woman with a severe cough and realizes her symptoms were dismissed elsewhere—leading to a necessary discussion on how medical biases often overlook eating disorders and respiratory issues in women of color.
Dr. Langdon is humbled when a patient with a superglued eye insists on seeing "Dr. J"—a local medical TikTok celebrity. Langdon assumes it’s a joke until he realizes "Dr. J" is actually Dr. Javadi, whose social media following has become a point of contention in the department.
A parkour enthusiast is brought in after a nasty fall. While his partner films the whole thing for TikTok, the med student Ogilvie commits a cardinal sin: he pulls a shard of glass from the patient’s back without checking for arterial involvement, nearly causing the man to bleed out in the middle of the bay.
"10:00 A.M." perfectly captures the mid-morning shift transition, where exhaustion meets adrenaline, making it the most authentic medical drama on TV. Highlighting the often unseen aspects of medicine—such as insurance hurdles, charting, and the quiet sadness of a former colleague moving on—adds depth and realism to the intense injuries depicted.
The show also brought meaningful closure to Dr. Collins’ departure, which was genuinely relieving. Its realistic approach—showing how medical professionals move on for better opportunities and personal reasons—made Robby’s reaction feel sincere and mature, without any soap-opera melodrama.
Seeing Santos struggle with her charting was a great "real world" touch. In medical dramas, doctors usually have unlimited time; seeing her R2 year threatened because of administrative backlog adds a different kind of stakes. And the revelation that Whitaker has been "playing house" at the widow's farm from Season 1 adds a messy, complicated layer to his "good guy" persona. It's a storyline that feels destined for a crash.
But while the mystery of the closed hospital is a great hook, the episode ended without a real reveal, making the "Code Black" feel like a plot device rather than a story beat.
Overall, I give this episode an 8.6/10.
What did you think of this episode? With Robby’s sabbatical only 11 hours away and the Westbridge mystery deepening, do you think he’ll actually leave the city, or will the "something worse than a flood" keep him in the Pitt? Leave a comment.
You can catch The Pitt Thursdays at 9/8c on HBO Max.
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