Noah Wyle in The Pitt Season 2 Episode 7Image via HBO
By
Kelcie Mattson
Published Feb 20, 2026, 9:26 PM EST
Kelcie Mattson is a Senior Features author at Collider. Based in the Midwest, she also contributes Lists, reviews, and television recaps. A lifelong fan of niche sci-fi, epic fantasy, Final Girl horror, elaborate action, and witty detective fiction, becoming a pop culture devotee was inevitable once the Disney Renaissance, Turner Classic Movies, BBC period dramas, and her local library piqued her imagination.
Rarely seen without a book in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, Kelcie explores media history (especially older, foreign, and independent films) as much as possible. In her spare time, she enjoys RPG video games, amateur photography, nerding out over music, and attending fan conventions with her Trekkie family.
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Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for The Pitt Season 2 Episode 7 and includes discussion of sexual assault.
The Pitt has baked certain principles into its modus operandi from the start: depicting realistic operations, highlighting rare conditions and overlooked organizations, and confronting for-profit healthcare's systemic failures. If the series didn't keenly understand that characters must carry a story's themes, not the other way around, then its efforts would likely fall short of its daunting agenda.
This week, Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa) and a new patient, Ilana Miller (Tina Ivlev), are the vehicles through which Season 2's seventh episode broaches sexual assault. The series has delicately touched upon human trafficking and suspected child abuse before, but Ilana's case exemplifies The Pitt's "form follows function" style at its most profoundly, searingly humane — detailing a medical procedure, assisting an overlooked patient, and confronting pervasive cultural harm with the sensitivity, integrity, and urgency it requires.
'The Pitt' Season 2 Avoids Stereotypes With the Series' First Sexual Assault Patient
Before filming The Pitt Season 2, LaNasa studied at both the Rape Treatment Center and the Stuart House. She told US Weekly, "It’s the place that I would want to go or bring my loved one if something like that were to happen to them. [...] I’m asking every way to do something so that it looks accurate. But the response makes me realize how much thought and care go into every single aspect of the exam, of the interview, of all of it. They even gave me feedback on the dialogue."
LaNasa's preparation suggests she grasped the ferocious moral responsibility at hand, as does episode director Uta Briesewitz and co-writers Kirsten Pierre-Geyfman and R. Scott Gemmill's painstakingly precise construction. Dana's tenderness, while professional, isn't condescending or performative. She takes her time explaining every step of the extensive program for Ilana's sake; she considers her patient's well-being and strives to alleviate as much fear and intimidation as humanly possible, not protract Ilana's dehumanizing torment.
Where many less adept series have diminished the aftermath of a rape into a plot device with a swift resolution, Episode 7's exacting care legitimizes Ilana's visceral trauma. And in a disarmingly effective choice, Pierre-Geyfman and Gemmill switch to another scene before Ilana describes the circumstances in any detail beyond the location. Most of the intimate forensic gathering also occurs offscreen, while the narrative context and camera blocking ensure Ilana's brief nudity reads as non-sexualized as the series' standard approach to graphic anatomy. The Pitt regards a fictional survivor's humanity with the highest esteem. Choosing respectful restraint over graphic exploitation means both the societal indictment and the interpersonal empathy the series strives to convey leave a far more eviscerating impact.
Dana Guides 'The Pitt's Realistic and Compassionate Approach to Sexual Violence
The one chilling detail that does emerge wordlessly confronts the patriarchal structures that continually enable and perpetuate rape culture. Ilana once considered her drunken attacker a friend; both of them attended the Fourth of July barbecue alongside their wider social circle. Male acquaintances and family members constitute the majority of documented real-world perpetrators. Almost as many individuals and institutions choose to protect violent abusers, citing alcohol impairment as some blameless excuse for actively chosen cruelty. Viewed from a macro lens, the survivors don't matter.
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The two also explain Whitaker's newfound confidence and what Santos' polarizing personality is really rooted in.
Posts By Carly LaneBut they matter to Dana. Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi (Sepideh Moafi) and Emma Nolan (Laëtitia Hollard) help form a crucial support network, but it's the tough-as-nails charge nurse with astounding compassion who operates as Ilana's focal point. There's never a moment where her experience as a certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner becomes a disaffected routine. She reassures Ilana of her safety and her power over the situation, requests her consent at every turn, and provides every possible resource. One woman reaches across an invisible emotional gulf to comfort another, palpably anguished woman.
Subscribe for deeper coverage of TV's handling of assault
Consider subscribing to the newsletter to get thoughtful, context-rich coverage of TV's portrayals of sexual assault, medical response, and systemic healthcare issues — coverage that helps you parse representation with care. Subscribe By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.Unsurprisingly, Dana's tireless advocacy and protective instincts keep guiding Emma by example. Last week, Emma asked Dana why she remains in this profession despite the cost to her spirit. Patients like Ilana answer the younger nurse's question. To that end, the moment Dana grants her white-knuckled composure a private reprieve is a staggering example of LaNasa's understated brilliance. Make no mistake, though, because Episode 7 couldn't prevail without Ivlev's remarkable work. Her tremulous, defensive physicality actualizes Ilana as an achingly vulnerable human who happens to represent a diverse community. The Pitt Season 2 has eight episodes left, yet this week immediately cements itself as something haunting and unspeakably necessary.
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The Pitt
TV-MA
Drama
Release Date
January 9, 2025
Network
Max
Showrunner
R. Scott Gemmill
Directors
Amanda Marsalis
Cast
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Noah Wyle
Dr. Michael 'Robby' Robinavitch
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Tracy Ifeachor
Dr. Heather Collins
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The Pitt
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HBO Max
Subscribe for deeper coverage of TV's handling of assault
Consider subscribing to the newsletter to get thoughtful, context-rich coverage of TV's portrayals of sexual assault, medical response, and systemic healthcare issues — coverage that helps you parse representation with care. Subscribe By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.What To Watch
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