Warning: SPOILERS ahead for The Pitt season 1, episode 13!The Pitt episode 13, Robby (Noah Wyle) is forced to show Jake (Taj Speights) the body of his deceased girlfriend, Leah (Sloan Mannino), who was killed during the shooting at PittFest. As the young man asks the senior attending why he couldn't save her, he starts to cry, listing off everyone who died that day before forcing Jake out of the room and breaking down in the makeshift morgue.

Speaking with Parade, Gemmill and Sachs explained why The Pitt episode 13 was chosen as the moment Robby would have his breakdown. Gemmill explained how the cases that day accumulated, with the shooting and Leah making him unable to keep pushing down his PTSD from Adamson's death. Sachs explained how it was set up from the very beginning, as the senior attending's flashbacks and their association with the ECMO machine laying the groundwork. Check out what the showrunners had to say below:

R. Scott Gemmill: The other part was we knew that we wanted this to be the day that Robby was going to have a meltdown. Basically, this was the day that his PTSD was no longer under his control. And he's been swallowing it and pushing it down. And then we needed something to really push him over the edge. Because what case hasn't been that bad enough to do it in the last four or five years? So we know he must have dealt with a lot of horrible things, but this was just too much. It's so accumulative. So we knew that, at some point, we had to push him to that edge. And what would do that more so than him not being able to save the loved one of someone he cares very, very much about. And because of that individual's sort of youth, being angry with Robby and accusing him of not being able to save someone. Which, of course, Robby did his best. But that's the kind of thing we needed to push him over the edge.

I think if you look at episodes, even there's a little bit where he moves a patient and then complains about his back. All that was already was in there to be part of the aggregate that gets him there. So there's all these little things. I mean, some are much more; that one's very subtle. But they're things that are much more overt, such as the flashbacks, obviously. But if you watch as the day progresses, he gets more and more agitated. How he treats people, he starts to snap a little bit every now and then. So it's all in there. Bbut it's just so that if you go back and look at it in retrospectively, you'll see all the warning signs are there. But hopefully there just seemed like someone struggling through a very difficult, challenging day.

Joe Sachs: I mean, it starts in Episode 1 with his frustration and his ability to reach David and to convince him to stay on a busy, crazy day. When he has his first flashback with ear-ringing panic attacks, that kind of goes over from [Episodes 1 to 2]. And then with the death of Mr. Spencer in [Episode 4] in the peds room, that obviously does it. And then we wanted to do an ECMO case that was a save. But seeing the ECMO machine go by was a trigger, because his mentor was on ECMO at the end.

What Robby's Breakdown Means For The Pitt's Final Episodes

Will He Be Able To Continue Working?

While all the characters in The Pitt have been tackling various challenges during their shift, Robby has been hit the most emotionally because it's the anniversary of Adamson's death. The deceased doctor had been his mentor, and it was clear throughout the show that his succumbing to Covid-19 during the pandemic hit the protagonist hard. But it wasn't until episode 13 that it was confirmed he was the one who shut off his mentor's life , having done so in the pediatric room they were now using as a morgue for the shooting.

Robby's breakdown marks the cliffhanger ending to episode 13, meaning it's unclear what his mental state is going to be like during the final two hours. The losses of the day are on his mind, but he's also clearly still traumatized by Adamson's death, something he'll seemingly be wrestling with moving forward. It's unclear how honest he'll be about his feelings, though, especially when The Pitt season 2 means his story is far from over. But his breakdown will no doubt be central to how the final two episodes play out.

Our Take On Robby's Mental Health In The Pitt's Final Episodes

He's Going To Have To Face His Trauma

Given how much The Pitt has focused on Robby's mental health, his breakdown seemingly sets the stage for a bigger lens on it as the show's final episodes unfold. While it's unclear what this means for him by the time the day concludes, the positive or negative consequences that arise will likely push the show's story into an important, engaging direction. Since there are still two episodes left, it seems likely the show will keep up its focus on the shooting while simultaneously delivering an emotional conclusion for its protagonist.

Source: Parade