Editor’s Note: This article contains spoilers for the show’s eighth episode of Season 2.

Each episode of “The Pitt” takes on new angles of the health care profession and introduces new maladies. In “2:00 P.M.,” the latter include margarita burn, eye strokes and a particularly gruesome tongue laceration.

“This is turning into quite the day,” Noah Wyle’s Dr. Robby quips at one point. The episode certainly feels like Murphy’s Law in action for the staff of Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center.

Part of this HBO Max series’ magic is the push and pull between patients and hospital staff. Their illnesses and injuries reveal what these physicians and nurses are made of.

In Season 1, there was also the storyline of dysfunction with the hospital itself (and by extension, America’s health care system).

This eighth episode of Season 2 sees that level of dysfunction reach a fever pitch.

As a backdrop, the emergency room’s computer systems were shut down as a precaution against a cyberattack.

The episode gracefully brings the storyline of sexual assault survivor Alana to its conclusion — only to reveal the inherent challenges in getting law enforcement to process rape kits in a timely way. One main plot element in “2 pm” centers on caring for obese patient, which Dr. Robby, Dr. Cassie McKay and basically everyone except young upstart Dr. James Ogilvie (Lucas Iverson) handle with respect.

At multiple points, we feel these characters’ vulnerability, even their mortality, from both sides of the exam table.

There are also a few more local references sprinkled in, including a reference to lawn bowling at Frick Park. This, along with the drunken antics of Jackie and Jaqi, bring a little levity to the episode.

The cyberattack subplot and compromised technology introduced at the end of “1:00 P.M.” is the real centerpiece here. Older viewers will likely get a kick out of hospital staff breaking out the old fax machine and young clerks Larry and Antoine’s failure to use a ballpoint pen on carbon-copy paper. By going analog, “2:00 P.M.” raises the stakes for everyone — except, it seems, Dr. Joy Kwon (Irene Choi), who rises to the occasion with her photographic memory.

It seems likely that clipboards and dry-erase markers will feature heavily in the next few episodes. But even with a convenient plot device like this, “The Pitt” keeps both feet planted in reality. With little reveals like Dr. McKay’s sobriety, there are also countless threads for fans to pull in forums.

And pull they will: Redditors and others have already been speculating about characters such as Deaf patient Harlow Graham or fuming about what they see as Dr. Robby’s heel turn. Those worried about Baby Jane Doe will come away more concerned too.

And after all that, we barely even see the crowded waiting room throughout, which is “standing room only.” Mid-afternoon is going to be rough for Dr. Robby, Dr. Al-Hashimi, Dana and their team.

As Dr. Abbott says to kick off “2:00 P.M.,” “this is gonna be fun.”