The Pitt Season 2 Review: The Medical Drama Continues To Turn Empathy And Competency Into Great TV

There are many reasons why "The Pitt" captured so many viewers during its premiere season. The most obvious is that it's a damn good show, loaded with memorable characters played by talented actors doing great work. But that wasn't all. There was also the fact that "The Pitt" felt like a bit of a throwback, presenting itself as a bit of an old school TV drama. The episodes came to us weekly rather than all at once, and while the first season was telling one long story stretched across a single day, with each episode covering about an hour of time (a concept once popularized by Fox's jingoistic "war on terror" hit "24"), it was still, well, episodic. In other words, it was a TV show that felt like a TV show, rather than one long, poorly paced movie — a problem that plagues so many modern shows in the streaming era.

But if I had to narrow it down and get even more specific, what made the first season of "The Pitt" so dang great was a solid mix of hyper competency and radical empathy. Without getting too lost in the weeds here, I think it's fair to say that our current timeline is a bit bleak. Somehow, the meanest, dumbest people are running things, and compassion and expertise are seen as weaknesses. "The Pitt" season 1 didn't shy away from these harsh realities, but it also strove to remind us that even in the midst of all this mess, there are still decent people out there fighting like hell to do what's right. Since these characters are human, they are inherently flawed, and their flaws often come to the surface and trip them up. But they're trying, damn it! And that has to count for something, especially these days.

R. Scott Gemmill's medical drama continues this trend with "The Pitt" season 2, which adopts the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach to continuing the story of the dogged staff of the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center's emergency room. This second season isn't repeating itself or treading the same ground, exactly, but Gemmill and his team are smart enough to realize that since the first season worked so well, there's no good reason to stray too far from what that first season established. In other words, if you loved "The Pitt" season 1, you're going to love "The Pitt" season 2.

Once again, "The Pitt" drops us into one long, hectic shift in the ER as the staff struggle to save lives and deal with their own unique dramas. To up the ante, season 2 unfolds during the extra-busy July 4th weekend (will a patient show up with a fireworks injury to their hand? What do you think, dear reader?). Noah Wyle's determined-but-haunted Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch is our fearless leader once more, although he seems slightly less haunted than he did in season 1. That first season had Robby grappling with the death of his mentor and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, months later with summer in full swing, Robby is about to take a long sabbatical. This will be his last day for a while, and he rolls into work on a motorcycle — a flashy, dangerous new ride that several of his friends and co-workers think suggests Robby could be going through a midlife crisis. Making the whole scenario extra-uneasy is the fact that Robby rides his bike without a helmet. 

Practically the entire cast of the first season is back again (with the notable exception of Tracy Ifeachor's Dr. Heather Collins, whose absence is eventually explained with a tossed-off bit of dialogue). There's Isa Briones' no-nonsense, kind-of-rude Dr. Trinity Santos, who continues to give people crude nicknames while having absolute faith in herself. And there's hard-working, wholly empathetic Dr. Cassie McKay, played by Fiona Dourif, who thankfully doesn't have to worry about an ankle-monitor this season. My personal favorite character, Taylor Dearden's neurodivergent Dr. Mel King, finds herself dealing with anxiety over a legal matter, while nervous, brilliant and extremely young med student Victoria Javadi (Shabana Azeez) continues to work under the shadow of her parents, who are both respected doctors at the hospital. Katherine LaNasa's no-nonsense charge nurse Dana Evans is also back, even though she indicated she might be quitting as season 1 drew to a close. Gerran Howell's aw-shucks Dennis Whitaker is no longer a med student but a full-fledged doctor now, and Supriya Ganesh's Dr. Samira Mohan keeps popping in and out of scenes to read certain characters the riot act.

The returning character who gets perhaps the most attention after Robby and Dana is Patrick Ball's Dr. Frank Langdon, a doctor with great hair and a drug problem. Langdon's addictions came to light early in season 1, but he's spent the last few months in rehab and returns to work a chastened man. However, Robby, who once treated Langdon as his second-in-command, gives the recovering addict a cold shoulder that shows no signs of thawing. It's a credit to Ball's sympathetic performance that we continue to hope for the best for Langdon, even though he royally screwed up last season and could (and perhaps should) have lost his job.

There are new faces, too, like Laëtitia Hollard as Emma, a kind, green nurse Dana takes under her wing, Irene Choi as Joy, an amusing med student with a photographic memory, and Lucas Iverson as James, a know-it-all med student who clashes with Javadi. And then there's Sepideh Moafi as Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi, the resident who will be taking over for Robby once he rides off into the sunset on his bike. Dr. Al-Hashimi, who seems to have a secret or two, is more rigid and by-the-book than Robby, which leads them to butt heads on several occasions. She also is fond of AI-enhanced software to assist doctors, a thorny issue that becomes a running theme as the day ticks on.

"The Pitt" season 2 wastes no time dropping us into the action, starting at 7:00 AM and barreling forward through one patient after another as a series of unique problems present themselves (I've seen 9 of season 2's 15 episodes). Again and again, "The Pitt" remains so compulsively watchable because it's genuinely thrilling to see these characters try to solve problems with their medical know-how. And again, empathy is a key ingredient. It's not that "The Pitt" is overly schmaltzy or treacly. It's more that empathy and kindness are in such short supply these days that watching a group of characters struggle to do their best to help people who are suffering feels downright radical.

Life can be cruel and full of pain, the show says to us. But there are still good, skilled people out there trying to make things right. There's a certain comfort in that that's hard to resist. We want to keep watching this show because we want these characters to succeed; we want them to fix things — even though sometimes all they can do is stand by, helpless, as the inevitability of death takes hold.

"The Pitt" writers do a great job of giving virtually every episode a big cliffhanger; a moment meant to make us lean forward excitedly with surprise and anticipation for what comes next. Like season 1, season 2 will be releasing on a weekly basis, forcing viewers to pace themselves rather than quickly binge through all the drama.

While we've been conditioned to binge, this classic weekly format forces us to take our time and absorb it all — you know, like in the old days of TV. It's also worth noting that the second season of the show is arriving so quickly after season 1. And by "quickly" I mean almost exactly a year later, a concept that used to be standard practice on TV until the streaming era started giving us multiple years off between seasons.

Fast-paced, emotional, and full of plenty of bloody moments that will make you wince, "The Pitt" season 2 proves the first season was no fluke. TV medical procedurals are old hat, and yet by taking a simple-but-effective approach, blending TV drama with intelligence and kindness, "The Pitt" reminds us why we fell in love with the show in the first place. This is still one of the best shows on TV.

/Film Rating: 9 out of 10

"The Pitt" season 2 premieres January 8, 2026 on HBO Max.