The Pitt was the breakthrough series of 2025 for many reasons, chief among them that it felt like old-fashioned television; with 15 episodes that aired on a weekly basis, The Pitt gradually built an audience due to strong word-of-mouth. While on face value a straightforward medical procedure would seem less ambitious than some of HBO’s bigger shows, such as The White Lotus and The Last of Us, The Pitt triumphed over both at the Primetime Emmy Awards because it incorporated thought-provoking contemporary ideas within a familiar package. With a single season that consisted of fifteen episodes, each corresponding with an hour of a laborious shift, The Pitt was a complete statement, and not an introductory precipice to what could become a more interesting story down the line. Too many television recommendations are given with the caveat that it takes a few episodes to “get good;” with The Pitt, no disclaimers were required.
The challenge that The Pitt faced with its second season is the question of whether it had more on its mind that just being observational; the strong praise the series received from the medical community, whilst successful in granting in legitimacy, also created expectations that the show had its parameters defined by plausibility. The first season notably took place amidst an active shooter situation that gave the new hires of a Pittsburgh trauma center an extreme first exposure to their new profession, and revealed the devastating ramifications faced by understaffed medical institutions in a post-Covid era. To heighten the stakes for the sake of more tension would’ve been a rookie mistake for showrunner R. Scott Gemmill, and a betrayal of the show’s low barrier to entry. Thankfully, The Pitt’s second season isn’t about a seismic event that would drive a trauma center into a furor, but a series of systematic cracks that threaten to escalate.
Although The Pitt is compared to other medical dramas, most notably ER (with which it shares a producer, John Wells), the series was smart to use individual characters as a means to explore different complications faced by staffers. A typical procedural may have spent a single episode centered on the dangers presented by violent patients, but The Pitt developed the character of the charge nurse Dana Evans (Catherine LaNasa) into the moral compass of the facility before she was subjected to a physical assault. Similarly, an addiction to analgesics, which is common in hospitals where painkillers are readily available, cost Dr. Frank Langdon (Patrick Ball) the respect of his peers, and resulted in a nine-month stint in rehab. These were thought-provoking storylines in the first season, but their effectiveness was dependent on the insinuation of consequences, which the new season puts into effect. Evans is now a mentor to the junior nursing school graduate Emma Nolan (Laëtitia Hollard), whose eagerness has made her naive to the hostility of undiagnosed patients, and a humbled Langdon must make amends with those who questioned his previously erratic behavior.
The most distinct adjustment in between seasons is the depiction of the show’s core protagonist, Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch, portrayed by Noah Wyle in a performance that’s reminiscent of his role on ER (which itself became the subject of a lawsuit). The familiarity that audience had with seeing Wyle as an even-keeled, emotionally astute physician allowed The Pitt to suggest flaws within Robby’s demeanor without shattering perceptions of the character’s professionalism. Robby’s robust experience, skill in attending to patients, perceptive eye, and aptitude for managing multiple tasks at once made him feel like the type of doctor anyone would want at their bedside; however, Robby’s example isn’t one that’s easily attainable, and a hospital can’t function when everyone on staff has his cavalier approach.
Although the first season featured a particularly memorable breakdown moment for Robby, the new episodes of The Pitt have strengthened the character’s frankness. Between abandoned children, a potentially abusive parent, and a patient with a DNR request, Robby has many situations in which his personal ethics come into conflict with his professional obligations. The first season made the case that bending the rules was almost necessary for any medical professional to be entirely ethical because those that put rules into writing rarely have any in-hospital experience. However, Robby’s instincts have become trends that set dangerous precedents, especially when he’s the de facto mentor for underlings that lack his experience. The Pitt hasn’t turned Robby into an anti–hero, but its willingness to manipulate Wyle’s intrinsic charisma is a bold choice that paid off.
The Pitt’s stream of new treatments has given it an opportunity to provide both sides of divisive issues, which the show generally doesn’t have to come down on because most patients don’t have their affairs settled after a single appointment. The open-mindedness is refreshing, but the second season is bolder in its defense of a clinician's legal rights. The previous season featured Dr. Mel King (Taylor Dearden) at the wrath of a pushy parent whose anti-intellectualism caused a debate about vaccines; with King now at the mercy of a lawsuit, her deposition has cast a shadow that looms over all of her subsequent activities.
The flaws with the new season of The Pitt come from increased ambition. Even if AI has been more hotly contested in the year since the first season was released, the introduction of the new, pro-AI attending physician Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi (Sepideh Moafi) is a path to give the series a true villain. An objective assessment of the show may spark similarities with the evaluation of the actual medical community; insurmountable gratitude doesn’t provide an exemption from criticism.