In the seventh episode of the second season of The Pitt, an abandoned baby found a small moment of comfort through, among all things, a Visayan lullaby.

he Pitt is considered one of the best shows on TV and streaming right now, and for good reason. The award-winning medical drama is unique compared to others in the genre in that each season is set over the course of a single day, and each episode follows a single hour in a busy hospital. It may seem like you can’t do a lot with that short of a timeline, but The Pitt does and then some in how it captures the gripping stories of staff and patients at a hospital with striking accuracy. Anything can and probably will happen on The Pitt, and that includes a baby being comforted with a Visayan lullaby.

Sleep a While, Little One

Near the end of the show’s seventh episode of its second season, there is a scene where Dr. Trinity Santos, played by Filipino-American actress Isa Briones, hears a baby crying in the pediatric unit. That baby is referred to as Baby Jane Doe since it was left abandoned at the hospital at the start of the season. While initially hesitant to help, Dr. Santos moves to stop the baby’s crying so she can get some quiet to do her work. She succeeds, and does so by singing a verse from Ili Ili Tulog Anay, a Hiligaynon lullaby, which is a dialect from Iloilo province.

What makes the scene more impactful is the lyrics Dr. Santos sings, which are “Ili-ili, tulog anay. Wala diri imo nanay. Kadto tienda bakal papay. Ili-ili tulog anay.” That translates to “Sleep a while, little one. Your mother is not here. She went to the store to buy bread. Sleep a while, little one.” The line hits hard given how the baby was abandoned in a hospital bathroom, and gave baby Jane Doe a moment of Filipino-coded comfort and stillness in a hospital full of chaos.

A major Hollywood series using Tagalog and Filipino culture is already notable, but using a dialect from Visayas feels special. And the moment happened because Isa Briones called her father, actor Jon Jon Briones, to ask his opinion on what lullaby to use for the scene. Also, having Isa Briones deliver the lullaby was the cherry on top because, aside from her being Filipino, the scene also utilized her exceptional pipes in a show where singing isn’t a priority. In case you didn’t know, Isa isn’t just an actress, but also a Broadway star, having appeared in productions of Hamilton and Hadestown, making her a good candidate for the job.

The use of Ili Ili Tulog Anay is the latest in The Pitt’s featuring of Filipino representation. As part of its commitment to accuracy in the American healthcare system, The Pitt features a handful of Filipino actors playing Filipino characters. Aside from Dr. Santos, there are also the Filipino nurses, Princess and Perlah, played by Kristin Villanueva and Amielynn Abellera, respectively. The two often speak Tagalog to each other on the show, making chismis with each other in true Filipino fashion.The Pitt is a dramatic series, but it is also human, and it’s during these moments that we get more personal sides of the characters we love and can relate to.