By: Calvin Westin

*Warning: This review contains minor spoilers

‘The Pitt’ is a medical drama TV show created by Scott Gemmill and starring Noah Wyle. Each season of the show is one whole day and follows the emergency department staff’s 15 hour work shift at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center; each episode is 1 hour of their work shift totaling 15 episodes.

Season 2 takes place on the 4th of July holiday, where Dr. Robby (played by Noah Wyle) starts his last shift before his 3 month break. Dr. Langdon returns from rehab, and a new character, Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi, is introduced to step in during high pressure.

I think that season 2 of ‘The Pitt’ so far has its pros and its cons. To start with the cons, I wish that Dr. McKay (played by Fiona Dourif) would get more screen time. I noticed that whenever she would come back into the scene, I had completely forgotten about her because the show would have long scenes without her. She also almost never interacts with other staff, which brings me to my next con. I don’t like the creative choices of not putting main actors into scenes together or making them avoid a relationship. I understand that this could happen in real life, but I want to see more doctors with each other, such as Dr. Samira and Javadi, who have a close relationship outside of the show but not inside the show, as they never share one scene.

My last con is how this season feels slower paced and repetitive. One reason I liked and continued to watch season 1 was because of the chaos and how everything was messy in a way, just like season 1 of the restaurant drama show ‘The Bear,’ but just like this show, the later seasons became slower. I understand why some shows do this to show the growing maturity, but one season is only one day, and I think if this show continues, they need to have the following seasons be as fast as the first one, and then they can slow it down when it comes to an end.

This season also seems to keep showing the main characters’ past problems, which already took up a substantial amount of time in the first season, which I don’t appreciate because characters like Samira (played by Supriya Ganesh) are either not getting a good plot or becoming less featured or both. One thing I really appreciated from the first season was how Dr. Samira advocated for more empathetic patient care; the way she focuses on healthcare inequality, race, and systemic barriers was very important because racism in healthcare is still very prevalent, and many people don’t know that. But now in season 2, they have given her less success in these barriers being fixed, and it feels to me they are trying to make her an annoying character.

Now to talk about the pros of this season. My first pro is that they keep up with the times, for example, Dr. Al-Hashimi introduced an AI system for the hospital, and other doctors were criticizing it just like people today. And what I like is that it’s not in a cringey way like how other shows mock Gen Z with the most stereotypical phrases, but instead in a more realistic way, which brings me to my second pro about this show, which is realism. One of the main things this show is known for is how realistic it is; even doctors and ER workers have said how accurate the protocols and procedures are. This is probably the biggest reason I like and continue watching this show because of the realness this show has vs. others like ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ which is famously known as the most inaccurate medical TV show.

Overall, I would give Season 2 of ‘The Pitt’ a rating of 8.1/10 and would recommend this show to many, but it is rated TV-MA and often shows open wounds, so watch at your own discretion. You can watch ‘The Pitt’ on HBO Max