The Pitt Season 2’s Code Black Crisis Mirrors PittFest Shooting

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for The Pitt season 2, episode 3.This week’s episode of The Pitt introduced a new plot element that could give season 2 it’s own version of the PittFest shooting from last season. The Pitt season 1 famously ended with the mass shooting at the PittFest musical festival. Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center was flooded with victims, and the entire cast of The Pitt had to pitch in and help deal with the onrush of patients and medical emergencies.

The PittFest shooting was a tragedy, but it was also the perfect way to end The Pitt season 1. It injected suspense, tragedy, and plenty of unique medical situations into the show. Now, after The Pitt season 2, episode 3, it already looks like this season has found its own version of the PittFest shooting. If it has, the code black at the end of episode 3 could give this season exactly the same kind of chaos and suspense.

The Pitt Season 2, Episode 3’s Code Black Could Be Just Like The PittFest Shooting

The Pitt season 2, episode 3 ended with Dana Evans receiving a call alerting her to the fact that another hospital, Westbridge, had called a code black and is closing to internal disaster. A code black is a code hospitals use to indicate that, for whatever reason, they’re turning away the majority of their patients and sending them to other hospitals (via Nursing CE Central). Reasons for a code black can range from power outages to lack of available beds, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result of Westbridge’s code black, all of their ambulance traffic is being diverted to Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. That means PTMC will be swamped with even more ambulance cases than they normally get, and on the Fourth of July as well. It now seems that this code black and the influx of patients in dire condition will do for The Pitt season 2 what the PittFest shooting did for season 1: change everything.

The PittFest shooting, as previously mentioned, changed the game for The Pitt season 1. Things were already hectic at the hospital, but once the shooting victims started rolling in, it turned to chaos. The last few episodes of The Pitt season 1 were nerve-wrackingly suspenseful, constantly tragic and emotionally charged, and fantastic. The code black can give The Pitt season 2 the same sense of chaos and suspense, and it can hopefully make the second season just as engrossing as the first was.

The Pitt Will Need To Continue Finding Crises In Future Seasons

MovieStillsDB

Westbridge’s code black doesn’t just confirm that The Pitt season 2 is introducing another crisis like the PittFest shooting, it also confirms that crises are a fundamental part of The Pitt‘s concept. The Pitt famously follows a real-time format, with each season covering one of Dr. Robby’s 15-hour-long shifts. A normal shift at an emergency room is very entertaining to follow, but normal patients on a normal day don’t give The Pitt it’s now-famous level of suspense.

The Pitt is at its best when it makes viewers bite their fingernails, worry about PTMC being understaffed, and worry about the doctors and nurses being emotionally and physically drained. The Pitt thrives on chaotic, hectic situations, which means each season is going to need a novel new crisis to deal with. Without a crisis of some kind, future seasons of The Pitt simply won’t be able to live up to the first two installments.

The Pitt also can’t reuse the crises it has already done. Having another mass shooting would feel like a rehash of season 1, and another code black wouldn’t be living up to the high expectations of the show’s writers. The crisis in The Pitt season 3, then, could be something like a natural disaster or a widespread seasonal flu, as long as it makes PTMC flood with patients and not have enough doctors to treat them all.

Release Date

January 9, 2025

Network

Max

Showrunner

R. Scott Gemmill

• 

  Noah Wyle

  Dr. Michael ‘Robby’ Robinavitch

• 

  Tracy Ifeachor

  Dr. Heather Collins

• 
  

•