Here comes The Pitt

Just Friday I mentioned how I am waiting patiently for promo for The Pitt season two, and lo, a Christmas miracle occurred, as HBO dropped the first 90 seconds of the first episode of season two. Behold:

 

Dr. Robby! Put your helmet on! An emergency medicine physician riding a motorcycle without a helmet is giving “doctor who smokes cigarettes” energy. (And yes, I remember Dana’s smoke break in season one.) But it’s also consistent with Robby’s behavior from the season one opening, in which he walked into traffic with earbuds in. Robby’s a little, let’s say casual, about his personal safety. As someone who used to ride, I can’t imagine getting on a bike without a helmet, but then, I also stopped riding completely after a neighbor died in an accident. That sh-t is dangerous and the older I get, the less I believe I ever did it. What was I thinking? Also, Robby DOES have a helmet, he’s just choosing not to wear it.

 

I have three thoughts about this opening scene with Robby on a motorcycle:

1. I think we are supposed to take it as a character beat and make our own assumptions about his mental/emotional health based on this choice.

2. The writers of The Pitt, including Noah Wyle, are aware that the internet embraced Robby as an Online Daddy and they’re leaning in.

3. Noah Wyle can actually ride a motorcycle, and they decided to use that skill on camera.

There are some facts we can glean about season two from this opening scene, including that Hot Nurse Jesse is still around, and once again, we’re starting at 7 AM on a day shift, this time on July 4. That means the events of season two are happening about ten months after the events of season one. The pit is still overrun, and the song featured in the clip is “Better Off Without You” by Pittsburgh band The Clarks, in case you, like me, mostly discover new music through film and TV.

But wait, there’s more! There is also a proper teaser from three months ago. How did I miss it?! It came out in September, so I’m blaming TIFF.

 

“The prodigal son returns” implies Robby has been on a break. Also, we see returning residents, doctors Cassie McKay (Fiona Dourif), Samira Mohan (Supriya Ganesh), Mel King (Taylor Dearden), and Trinity Santos (Isa Briones), as well as med students Dennis Whitaker (Gerran Howell) and Victoria Javadi (Shabana Azeez), and I am interested to see how they explain those two being back in the ER. As med students, they wouldn’t necessarily repeat a rotation, so there will have to be some explanation for what they’re doing in the pit. Also, there is a shot of Frank Langdon (Patrick Ball) walking into the pit, on what is probably his first day back after completing rehab, and super chill Dunkin fan Dr. John Shen (Ken Kirby) is back, but there is no sign of Dr. Jack Abbot, though Shawn Hatosy has been confirmed for season two.

Finally, we get to see a little of Sepideh Moafi in action as a new attending physician in the pit. If Robby has been on some kind of sabbatical, is she filling in for him? They’re shown working side by side in the teaser. His absence could also explain why Shen is on the day shift, too. Bring in those night shift docs any way you can, OR you could just give us The Pitt: Night Shift and let me live my “Shen and Ellis talking sh-t all night” dream. 

Not returning in season two, though, is Tracy Ifeachor, who played senior resident Dr. Heather Collins in the first season. She had a past with Robby and was absent for the mass casualty event and now is not returning. Realistically, that makes sense, as she would complete her residency and move on to wherever she could find an attending position, there’s no guarantee she would be hired by Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center (yes, I had my cousin who is an ER nurse explain all this to me). 

However, Variety noted earlier this year that Ifeachor was “not leaving The Pitt of her own accord”. Noah Wyle countered, calling it a “story decision” and saying, “[…] we loved the actress. […] She’s gotten really big and we will miss her.”

First of all, not saying her name is weird. Tell me something is up without telling me something it up. Second of all, The Pitt is the biggest thing she’s done, and her next role is in Air Bud Returns, a movie that may or may not exist, per John Oliver, so I don’t know how “big” Tracy Ifeachor has actually gotten. Certainly, she works regularly. But The Pitt was her breakout role, and the stuff she’s booked since is arguably not on the same level (she also has a supporting role in M. Night Shyamalan’s next movie, which is not any kind of guarantee). So, yeah, I do think something interpersonal went down, it’s just a question of whether or not her involvement with an anti-queer church was part of the equation. 

But it looks like mostly the same crew returning for season two, with a few new faces sprinkled in. The question is, given that the shift is on July 4, how many gnarly fireworks injuries will we see?