The Pitt Season 2 Is Tackling A Major Cultural Issue Head-On

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for season 2 of "The Pitt." After the medical procedural — spearheaded by "ER" veterans R. Scott Gemmill, John Wells, and Noah Wyle, the last of whom also stars in the series — premiered in January 2025, it became a massive sensation with critics and audiences alike. Look no further than the 2025 Emmys ceremony, where Wyle, two of his co-stars — Katherine LaNasa and Shawn Hatosy — and the overall show cleaned up, winning acting awards for those three and the award for Outstanding Drama Series. Now, Entertainment Weekly has named the cast of "The Pitt" the Entertainers of the Year for 2025, and in the cover story, we learned that season 2 of "The Pitt" will tackle a major cultural issue: artificial intelligence.

Apparently, a new doctor — Sepideh Moafi's Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi — at the fictional Pittsburgh hospital is going to shake things up in a very big way by introducing AI to help doctors working in the busy emergency department. Wyle, who plays the series lead Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch, told EW that his character would definitely have an issue with this.

"Robby's innately suspicious of anything that could potentially allow a hospital to reduce its workforce because of the streamlining," Wyle told the outlet before continuing, addressing real-life issues caused by AI in the medical field:

"There are byproducts to employing this kind of technology. One of the unfortunate ones is layoffs, and we're already seeing staffing shortages. The practitioners and the doctors are being stretched pretty thin as it is. So the reward for working better sometimes is more work, not less work."

Something that "The Pitt" did wonderfully throughout its first season — spanning 15 episodes, all of which are presented as a "real time" hour — is putting a focus on the interpersonal relationships between the doctors, residents, and medical students without veering into "Grey's Anatomy" style melodrama. By way of example, when Supriya Ganesh's Dr. Samira Mohan first interacts with Dr. Robby, he firmly tells her that she's spending too long with individual patients and not getting enough done; Dr. Robby also butts heads with Fiona Dourif's Dr. Cassie McKay over a young man with potentially dangerous compulsions. My point is that "The Pitt" does an excellent job of showing how conflicts between busy doctors are dealt with and settled in the midst of literal life-and-death situations. Clearly, this will continue in season 2 with the brand-new Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi as far as Robby is concerned.

"I don't know that he would really be totally accepting of anybody that was moving into his role," Noah Wyle mused to Entertainment Weekly. "You know, he's very proprietary about the [emergency department], and he runs his shop in a very specific way."

As far as Sepideh Moafi is concerned, this is part of Dr. Al-Hashimi's day-to-day experiences, unfortunately. "Honestly, I think like any woman in any field, especially a successful woman in any field, you're used to coming up against resistance, especially from your male counterparts," Moafi told the outlet. "She's ready, she's equipped, she's prepared. And like most women, and especially women of color, you are overprepared for whatever challenges you might face. And so I don't think it throws her off."

Luckily for Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi, she has at least two allies at the Pittsburgh hospital: the aforementioned Dr. Samira Mohan, who began season 1 as a third-year resident and will presumably be in her fourth year in season 2, and Dr. Mel King (Taylor Dearden), a second-year resident who begins her time in the emergency room in the series premiere after working at a VA (veterans affairs) hospital. "As residents, as interns, you do different rotations, just to see where you might best fit," Ganesh said. "And the VA was one such rotation for Samira, and 'Dr. Al was an attending there."

As for Mel, Dearden — who has spoken about the importance of playing a character with ADHD as a neurodivergent person herself — spoke to the fact that having a mentor besides the now-disgraced Dr. Frank Langdon (Patrick Ball) is going to be enormous in season 2. "Another person in her corner is something, in between seasons, I was wishing for Mel to have — people who know her enough, that could be there for her," Dearden shared. "And Dr. Al is an attending, so having someone way higher up who is a mentor being able to give support is so, so important."

Mentorship is a huge part of "The Pitt," from the way Dr. Robby works with residents and medical students (especially Gerran Howell's lovable medical student Dennis Whitaker in season 1) to the bonds the doctors and nurses form with each other. It's exciting to see that it'll continue in season 2 ... and add some dramatic tension into the mix as Robby steels himself against the advent of AI.

"The Pitt" returns on January 8, 2026, on HBO Max.