The Pitt Season 2 is happening and for good reason. Every week, The Pitt gained more popularity. Word of mouth on Max’s newest medical drama was incredible, with each episode gaining more viewers than the last. By the time The Pitt Season 1 came to a close, one thing was abundantly clear — we’re all family inside The Pitt.

The Pitt Season 2 is already in production, with a return set for January 2026. The second season will take place ten months after the end of the first, during the Fourth of July weekend, and on Dr. Langdon’s first day back. With this incredible set-up, The Pitt Season 2 is already shaping up to be just as good as The Pitt Season 1.

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That, of course, means that we’re already thinking about what we’d like to see in The Pitt Season 2, all because we can’t wait to clock back in for our shifts.

Def need more of the Night Shift

This is certainly a credit to the writing but also to the performances from Shawn Hatosy, Ken Kirby, and Ayesha Harris, who all bring Dr. Abbot, Dr. Shen, and Dr. Ellis to life as the night shift. They started their shift in the middle of the mass shooting aftermath and immediately had a great rapport with all the characters that have been around all season.

They’re sharp and funny, and bring a different vibe to the ER. Dr. Shen’s calm, cool, and collected attitude was a nice contrast to Dr. Robby’s (Noah Wyle) deeply traumatized character, a very old-school versus new-school foil. Dr. Ellis immediately clicked with Dr. Santos and could joke around while delivering important and serious advice when it called for it. And Dr. Abbott’s cynical yet supportive presence provided another foil for Dr. Robby, but also livened up the dynamic between the attendings and residents.

Whether they get their own spin-off or not, The Pitt Season 2 cannot happen without the night shift’s general sense of “We’ve seen so much and can only laugh, otherwise we’d cry” vibe. Plus, considering some of the cases they were getting in The Pitt Episode 15, things can only get weirder with them around.

A bigger focus on the nurses

Nurses often don’t get the credit they deserve. While Dana (Katherine LaNasa) and Mateo (Jalen Thomas Brooks) got the most focus from the nurses in The Pitt Season 1, there were plenty of other nurses that we’d love to see get more screen time in the second season.

Jesse (Ned Brower) didn’t say much, but he worked the background and was featured in plenty of the main procedures, so it was difficult not to catch on to his “this guy seems cool” demeanor. His quiet competence is a must for The Pitt Season 2.

Princess (Kristin Villanueva) and Perlah (Amielynn Abellera) made a great dynamic duo, offering plenty of comedic asides and commentaries that broke the tension in much of the doctor drama. While all of that’s great, it would have been cool to get to know them better and learn their histories.

Donnie (Brandon Mendez Homer) is another nurse who was present throughout the first season, assisting in procedures and offering advice to the medical students. More focus on him would go a long way, too.

It was touched on a little bit in the first season, but revisiting the violence against nurses would be a good follow-up to Dana’s story. Considering she ended the season, not sure she wanted to return, what does it mean if she does return? Dr. Robby implored Gloria to get extra security for the nurses—has that happened, and does it change how the ER operates at all?

Checking in on Season 1’s Med Students

The reality of the medical students’ rotations means they might not be as present in The Pitt Season 2, but their presence is henceforth demanded. Though they started off on rocky ground with each other, Dr. King (Taylor Dearden), Dr. Whitaker (Gerran Howell), Dr. Javadi (Shabana Azeez), and Dr. Santos (Isa Briones) all found a rhythm with each other by the time they were dealing with the mass shooting fallout.

Even though they can’t all be on screen together again, some check-ins with them would go a long way. Especially Dr. Whitaker and Dr. Santos — that roommate situation is going to need an update. Are they best friends? Have they killed each other yet? Inquiring minds would like to know.

Santos confronting failure

Dr. Santos started The Pitt as the one to hate, but ended Season 1 as a sympathetic trauma survivor who cares a lot but still needs to work on her bedside manner. She also won a lot in Season 1. She was right about Dr. Langdon, and her instincts about patients are great.

While she definitely learned to tone down on her cockiness by the end of the shift, it would be cool to see how she deals with being wrong about something, potentially in a life or death situation. Perhaps those instincts falter, and she loses a patient. Or she becomes so focused on Dr. Langdon’s return, keeping an eye on him, that it gets in the way of her patient care.

Let’s see her fumble for real, and see her grow a little more into the incredible doctor she’s going to be. And if Dr. Garcia is around for that, well then, it’s an even bigger win.

Dr. Collins and Dr. Robby – Plausible Romance?

Dr. Collins (Tracy Ifeachor) missed the last few hours of the shift in The Pitt Season 1 since Robby sent her home after her miscarriage. But not before the two connected in the back of an ambulance about their past romantic history. There wasn’t a lot of time to dig any deeper into where they currently stand with each other, but if Dr. Robby’s long, stolen glances at Dr. Collins are anything to go by, there’s definitely something still there.

With ten months between The Pitt Season 1 and The Pitt Season 2, there’s ample opportunity for the characters to reconnect off-screen and then enter the second season on more solid romantic ground, at least enough to provide some good old-fashioned romantic workplace tension.

More political commentary in The Pitt Season 2!

The ER setting is a feeding ground for all kinds of political commentary, and The Pitt Season 1 tackled hot-button issues with a delicate hand that also tended to just slap the audience in the face with its views. From the transgender patient’s gender identity update in their computer system to Dr. Langdon’s sarcastic shaming approach to an anti-masker, The Pitt knew how to make a statement.

Fourth of July weekend during The Pitt Season 2 is an even better time to comment on even more topics. No doubt there will be plenty of patients with firework-related emergencies, but there’s also the opportunity to talk about guns. Plenty of gun-related tragedies and accidents happen during the Fourth of July; the ER is a perfect place to showcase the dangers of such a thing.

But whether they’re talking about gun control or something else, it’s nice to see a show just straight up say this is how it should be, and this is why these things are important.

Many other aspects made The Pitt great, like its use of its ensemble. The real-time format made it feel like we were right there with the action. Second seasons are a great time to expand or explore on the things that the first seasons didn’t. Though everything mentioned here is at the top of our priority list, there’s no doubt that whatever is in store for The Pitt Season 2, we’re already ready to clock in.

The Pitt Season 1 is available to stream on Max. The Pitt Season 2 returns in January 2026.