When Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) clocks back in for another shift in The Pitt second season teaser, he’s greeted as “the prodigal son.” But that designation seems more accurate for Langdon (Patrick Ball), who will be back at the ER for the first time after a stint in rehab when the show returns to HBO Max in January 2026. Wyle recently revealed that a primary tension of the season will be the two men forced to work together again because of a scheduling mix-up. And despite the fact that Langdon has done the work to get better, “there’s a personal betrayal that Robby feels that is going to be even harder for him to get up and over on the other side of,” Wyle shared.
The doctors’ conflict adds to the anticipation for the return of The Pitt, but if you didn’t know the context, it would be hard to tell that the second season teaser takes place on a new day. It’s been several months since we last saw the docs (season two takes place over Fourth of July weekend), but Robby is still wearing his same hoodie; Dana (Katherine LaNasa) is still at the nurses’ station; the interns still look quite young and fresh-faced, and trauma patients are still being admitted. When a new hire incredulously asks, “You guys do this every day?” Santos (Isa Briones) replies with trademark snark: “If we’re lucky.”
There are, of course, some changes on The Pitt. New characters will be introduced, and old ones—like Tracy Ifeachor’s Dr. Collins—won’t return. Speaking with Vanity Fair, Wyle said this adds to the series’ realism. “I feel the absence of any character that we’ve become invested in no longer being with us…that’s certainly true of Tracy, and that’s certainly true of any character that’s going to rotate through here to keep this place looking like a place where people rotate through,” he explained. “Someone said today, ‘I hope this show goes 10 years.’ I said, ‘Well, then I’m going to have to retire!'” Let’s just get through this shift first, Dr. Robby.
