HBO Max‘s The Pitt Season 2 Episode 5 “11 AM” ends on a terrible cliffhanger. One of the Pitt crew’s favorite patients has lost his pulse and it’s unclear if Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) and Dr. Langdon (Patrick Ball) will be able to save him.
**Spoilers for The Pitt Season 2 Episode 5 “11 AM,” now streaming on HBO Max**
The Pitt Season 2 Episode 5 ends with Langdon hearing an alert from a patient’s pulse monitor. He casually approaches Louie Cloverfield’s (Ernest Harden Jr.) room, assuming he’s lost his “pulse ox,” or pulse oximeter “again.” He hasn’t. He’s passed out and crashing in real time.
Robby then enters the room with a can of beer he confiscated from another patient. The subtext is he intended to give it to Louie, a severe alcoholic, as a gift of grace. Robby immediately snaps into action, working alongside Langdon to try to revive one of the Pitt’s most beloved patients.
So The Pitt Season 2 Episode 5 ends with Robby and Langdon fighting to save Louie’s life all while Perlah (Amielynn Abellera) rushes to get a crash cart. Is Louie going to be okay? Does Louie die in The Pitt Season 2? Here’s what you need to know:
The Pitt Season 2 Episode 5 Ending Explained: Does Louie Die?
As of right now, we don’t know if Louie lives or dies, but his situation seems dire. The chronic alcoholic is a “frequent flier” in the ED, often coming in after passing out due to a bender or when he’s suffering from one of the many side effects of his addiction.
We first met Louie all the way back in the very first episode of The Pitt, which narratively made him the very first patient that characters like Whitaker (Gerran Howell) and Javadi (Shabana Azeez) met on their journey as interning med students.
“Yeah, he was our introduction [to The Pitt],” Gerran Howell told DECIDER when he visited our studio last week. “As actors and characters, he was kind of the first port of call in the ED. He was the first patient.”
Back then, Louie needed to be dried out, given some librium, and let go. The librium is important because Santos (Isa Briones) later figured out Langdon had stolen some of the prescription medication, under the presumption that Louie wouldn’t miss it.
Louie doesn’t just return to the ED by the end of The Pitt Season 1; he also returns for a hefty arc in Season 2. Langdon is finally able to apologize to his former patient for stealing his drugs. However, Louie doesn’t seem fazed.
Louie Cloverfield isn’t just beloved because he’s seemingly always in the ED on The Pitt. Actor Ernest Harden Jr. also radiates warmth in the role.
“Ernest is fantastic,” Howell said. “He’s been around for so long and he’s just a fountain of stories and knowledge.
Let’s hope Ernest — and Louie — stay around even longer.
The Pitt returns next Thursday, February 12 at 9 PM ET only on HBO Max.