The Pitt Season 2 Episode 3 Revisits A Real World Tragedy

The Pitt" season 2 continues to turn empathy and competency into great TV, but it also has an eye towards the wider culture and addresses multiple real world issues. Episode 3 continues that trend when a Jewish woman visits the ER with a severe burn on her leg only to reveal that she was actually present at the 2018 shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh — the city in which "The Pitt" is set.

"The Pitt" returned to screens in January 2026 with a season 2 premiere that proved the show hasn't lost a step. Last season we were all simultaneously captivated and horrified by the experience of watching Noah Wyle's Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch and his team struggle through the emergency room shift from hell. But it wasn't just the drama and tragedy that made the show so watchable. "The Pitt" won plaudits for its realism and medical accuracy, as well as its willingness, nay insistence, on tackling real world socio-political issues.

Clearly, nothing has changed in season 2. In fact, the series appears to be doubling down on incorporating real problems faced by patients and doctors alike. In episode 3, we got one of the most obvious and tragic examples yet when a Jewish patient arrives and reveals her injury is the result of lingering trauma from having witnessed the Tree of Life shooting first-hand.

Thus far in season 2 of "The Pitt" we've had plenty of season 1 callbacks, such when Gerran Howell's Dennis Whitaker followed Dr. Michael Robinavitch's example of honoring deceased patients with a moment's silence. Season 2 of "The Pitt" also promises to fix a season 1 plot point that fell short, and we've seen many of our favorite characters return despite their ongoing involvement looking questionable after last season. On top of that, the show maintains its social commentary, but whereas the last season focused on doctors and their experiences in a post-COVID-19 outbreak world, this season, we're seeing more references to problems outside the ER.

Episode 3 features Yana Kovalenko (Irina Dubova), a Jewish woman who visits Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center with a severe burn on her leg. She explains to nurse Emma Nolan (Laëtitia Hollard) how she dropped a container full of hot tea, known as a Samovar, on her leg after being startled by fire crackers. Dr. Robby then enters the treatment room and the two bond over their shared Jewish heritage.

Soon, however, things take a somber turn. Mrs. Kovalenko reveals that she attends the Tree of Life synagogue. We then learn that she dropped the Samovar after being startled by the firecrackers, which brought her back to her harrowing experience on October 27, 2018. On that date, a man entered the synagogue with a gun, killing 11 attendees and carrying out what remains the deadliest attack on Jews in the history of the United States. Mrs. Kovalenko then reveals that she was at the synagogue during the shooting, thereby acting as a proxy by which the show can explore the lingering effects of this very real trauma.

After hearing Yana Kovalenko's story, Dr. Michael Robinavitch reassures here, "There is no clock on how long it takes," in a reference to how trauma is, essentially, a product of its own recurrence. He then leaves and asks Perlah Alawi (Amielynn Abellera) to dress the patient's wound. Already, then, "The Pitt" has once again demonstrated how empathy and connection can make for compelling TV, and shown how these horrific real-world events aren't over once they leave the news cycle. There are life-long consequences to such things, and "The Pitt" is using its standing as one of the most popular new shows to remind us of this fact. In season 1, it was all about demonstrating how doctors still hadn't recovered from the trauma of the global pandemic. In season 2, that theme continues but in a much more broad sense, with "The Pitt" exploring other persistent societal wounds.

That would have been enough by itself to make for a powerful scene, but we later revisit Mrs. Kovalenko as Perlah dresses her wound. The injured patient asks the nurse whether she's Muslim, before explaining how Muslims supported the Jewish community in the wake of the shooting, raising money and paying for funerals. It's a nice way to wrap up a sequence that deals with some undeniably upsetting subject matter, and once again demonstrates how this series is eager to tackle major real-world societal issues but is ultimately looking to find meaning and connection.

It will be interesting to see how "The Pitt" tackles the major cultural issue of Artificial Intelligence going forward. Let's hope it's firmly on the side of those who, unlike Joe Russo, don't want to see the AI garbage future come to fruition.