Dr. Robby Finally Breaks Down In ‘The Pitt’s’ Penultimate Episode

The new medical show The Pitt has quickly taken audiences by storm with its first season. The inventive TV series from Max shows the staff of a trauma center working in real time—that is, each of the hour-long episodes features what an hour-long block of the doctors’ and nurses’ shift is like.

This means that things get very stressful very fast, and the characters have to quickly learn how to tamp down their emotions in order to put their patients first. While this can be an effective strategy for a short while, eventually things come to a head for some of the characters, not the least of which is the show’s lead, Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, played by the incredible Noah Wyle.

Noah Wyle from The Pitt — Warrick Page/Max via Warner Bros. Discovery

The Pitt Sets The Stage For Dr. Robby’s Trauma

Throughout the season, Dr. Robby, the senior attending on call, is very vocal about how his team should always put patients first and not let their emotions interfere with their work. This isn’t to say that he’s cold-hearted, but rather that he recognizes the trauma department is in the business of working swiftly and smoothly, and that emotional reactions can cause a costly delay that they can’t afford.

That said, we learn that there’s much more to this particular day that we’re following for Dr. Robby. It turns out that it’s the anniversary of the day when he lost his longtime mentor to COVID, and throughout the series we see Dr. Robby having flashbacks to the horrible moment, hinting that he himself is now struggling with PTSD because of it. The show cleverly portrays these moments by adding a ringing sound in his ears, suggesting that he’s taken out of the present moment and flooded with traumatic images of the past.

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Whenever someone asks Dr. Robby if he’s doing okay, though, he’s quick to cover it up and say that he’s completely fine. Occassionally he even appears irritable that people are checking up on him, acting as if it says more about the other person than it does about him. It’s clear to us as the audience that it’s only a matter of time before the situation bubbles over for him.

Dr. Robby Finally Snaps In Episode 13

It’s only after Dr. Robby and his team are suddenly confronted with trying to save the lives of those caught in the middle of a mass shooting that he finally breaks. His tipping point comes when he tries and fails to resuscitate his stepson Jake’s girlfriend Leah, who was with him at the music festival where the shooting took place. The extra guilt that Dr. Robby feels having to tell Jake that he wasn’t able to save Leah proves to be too much for him, and he crumbles, crying when he breaks the news.

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Jake is likely in shock during the moment, and, in processing his feelings, makes Dr. Robby feel even worse about what was an impossible medical task. He finally unloads his emotions onto Jake, explaining how much sadness and trauma he’s experienced in the scope of one day:

I don’t know how many people I’ve helped today, but I can tell you every other person who has died. There was a man named Mr. Spencer who died in front of his children and an 18-year-old who was brain-dead from a fentanyl overdose and a guy with a heart condition and little girl who drowned trying to save her sister.

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Through tears, Dr. Robby swears to Jake that he did everything he could for his girlfriend. Even though she didn’t make it, he tries to offer what little solace he can:

And I’m gonna remember Leah long after you’ve forgotten her.

Ultimately, his vulnerable confession proves to be even too much for Dr. Robby himself, and he pushes Jake out of the room before he begins to sob, collapsing to the floor. From what’s been established in previous episodes, we know he’s in the same room where his mentor succumbed to COVID, and now his PTSD finally gets the best of him. As he cries on the ground, we hear him pleading and repeatedly saying that he’s sorry—for losing patients, for letting his stepson down, for not being strong enough, for all of it.

Dr. Robby remains missing from the trauma floor until one of the younger doctors, Dr. Whitaker, finds him in the room by accident. Though he’s frightened to see his leader in such an unraveled state, he sits down next to him on the ground and offers him comfort, gently reminding him that he’s needed by others in the same way as Dr. Robby spoke to them that same morning.

The Pitt Isa Briones and Alexandra Metz as Dr. Trinity Santos and Dr. Yolanda Garcia — Warrick Page/Max via Warner Bros. Discovery

In the end, Dr. Robby pulls himself together and makes it back out to the floor, but with one more episode to the season, the question remains whether he’ll be able to stay that way until the end of his shift.