- - The Pitt Season 2, Episode 1 Recap: Welcome Back

Emily BurackJanuary 9, 2026 at 4:00 AM

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The Pitt Season 2, Episode 1 Recap: Welcome Back Warrick Page

It’s a new year, and The Pitt is back. (Here’s where we left off for season one, as a recap.) Like last season, this new set of episodes will follow hour-by-hour the day shift at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center (PTMC).

There was around a ten month time jump between seasons one and two: It’s now the Fourth of July. In the hospital’s timeline, that means it’s a new year for residents and medical students. So, for example, Dennis Whitaker (Gerran Howell) is now Dr. Whitaker, while Dr. Samira Mohan (Supriya Ganesh) is a senior resident trying to decide where she wants to do her fellowship year.

While most of the cast is back for season two, a notable absence includes Dr. Heather Collins (Tracy Ifeachor, who departed the show). There are some new faces: attending Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi (Sepideh Moafi), who will be covering for Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle), who is set to take a three-month sabbatical at UNESCO World Heritage Site Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. Dr. Al-Hashimi comes from the Veteran’s Affairs Hospital, so has previously worked with Dr. Mohan and Dr. King a.k.a. Dr. Mel (Taylor Dearden). Two new medical students also join the crew, third-year Joy Kwon (Irene Choi) and fourth-year James Ogilvie (Lucas Iverson), as does a new nurse Emma (Laëtitia Hollard).

With all that out of the way, here’s a recap of what happens during hour one (7 a.m. to 8 a.m.) of the shift:

Night shift hand-off

Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) is back for another shift. Warrick Page

The season kicks off with Dr. Robby, sans helmet, driving to work on his motorcycle as “Better Off Without You” by the Clarks plays in the background. (Could Dr. Robby be better off without the PTMC? That’s the question of the season.)

The first line of the show goes to an unhoused man (Charles Baker, in a recurring role) who is covered in grime in the waiting room and says he needs his cast off. As Dr. Robby walks in, he reads a plaque commemorating PTMC staff for their service following the tragic mass shooting at PittFest last season. Dr. John Shen (Ken Kirby), Dunkin’ drink in hand, walks around the ER with Dr. Robby to give him updates on a few patients. Meanwhile, Dr. Ellis (Ayesha Harris), a night shift doctor, briefs some of the day shift residents—including a distracted Dr. Mel, Dr. Santos (Isa Briones), and Dr. McKay (Fiona Dourif).

Langdon’s apology tour starts

Langdon is back at work. Warrick Page

Dr. Langdon (Patrick Ball) is in the waiting room; he’s gone through rehab, and is returning to work. After being buzzed back into the ER, he tries his old locker before realizing he has a new one—which has an old, moldy meal at the bottom. Robby is clearly not over Langdon’s betrayal, and sends him to triage instead of assigning him any patients; Robby tells Langdon they’ve been covering him for months. Donnie (Brandon Mendez Homer), now a new dad and a Nurse Practitioner, is in triage with Langdon.

There, Langdon sees Louie (Ernest Harden Jr.), who has come in for a tooth infection. (Louie ended up in the ER twice last season.) Langdon sits down and apologizes to him: “Last time I saw you, about ten months ago, I treated you, and I took some of your medicine… I have an addiction to benzos, and I helped myself to some of the Librium I prescribed you for your withdrawal... It was not only wrong and utterly unprofessional, but it was a betrayal of my Hippocratic Oath, and it was a fucking crime. That’s where I’ve been—rehab and counseling. I’m sorry. I understand if you’d prefer a different doctor.”

Nurse Dana, nurse Emma

Hollard as Emma, left, a new nurse. Warrick Page

Also returning: nurse Dana (Katherine LaNasa), who quit at the end of season one. “Who else is going to get this place through the Fourth of July weekend?” she says, telling Langdon she took some time off. We also meet another new recurring character: Emma (Laëtitia Hollard), a nursing graduate from northern Michigan, who Dana quickly takes under her wing.

During the episode, Dana gives Emma a quick overview of working in the ER, telling the newbie to “be smart, be safe” and always focus on protecting herself and her fellow nurses. She also tells Emma that the ER’s safe word is “hula hoop,” explaining, “if there’s a threat, say ‘hula hoop’ and we’ll all respond.” (It’s inevitable that “hula hoop” will be used this season.) Emma’s first major task with Dana is to wash down the unhoused man, Mr. Digby.

“Emma helps her see why she got into nursing in the first place,” actress Katherine LaNasa said of their new dynamic. “I think, in a way, protecting Emma and teaching Emma about the importance of protecting herself in the workplace is kind of like a projection. It’s a way of protecting herself, and it’s a way of giving meaning to what happened to her.”

Al-Hashimi vs. Robby

Dr. Al-Hashimi has her own ideas on how to run an Emergency Room. Warrick Page

When Robby arrives for the day, he learns his replacement, Dr. Al-Hashimi, came in early, and he immediately gets annoyed that she’s called his replacement—he insists she’s merely covering for him while he goes on a three-month sabbatical. He’s soon annoyed even further by her when he finds out she is changing things (starting “Patient Passports,” for example). Viewers learn she’s a big AI fan and she starts the day with a training with the medical students—Victoria Javadi (Shabana Azeez), Joy, and Lucas. Meanwhile, Dr. Whitaker, now a first-year resident, is in charge of the students (whom Langdon calls his “ducklings”).

The crew soon gets their first trauma patient, a John Doe who got a kitchen knife to his chest. Dr. Robby and Dr. Al-Hashimi quickly clash over how to manage the residents and med students, speaking over each other and disagreeing. They continue to butt heads the rest of the episode; Dr. Al-Hashimi doesn’t want to call the emergency room the “Pitt” she thinks it “subconsciously effects those who work here.”

Robby and Al-Hashimi oversee a procedure. Warrick PageFirst cases of the day

Whitaker and the med students watch an elderly patient, Ethan, die, and Dr. Robby looks on proudly at Whitaker as he tells Joy and Lucas to take a moment of silence, saying: “One of the things we like to do here, when we have the time, is to take a moment of silence when we lose a patient to reflect their humanity. He was someone’s son, perhaps a father himself, a brother or a friend.” Later, Ethan’s wife, Evelyn, who has Alzheimer’s is brought in.

Dr. Santos and Perlah treat a 9-year-old girl, Kylie, with a lot of injuries, while Dr. Mel treats Liam, who fell off his bike and is trying to flirt with her. Dr. McKay treats a man who hit his head while falling and has a wrist fracture, but is dealing with memory loss. Dr. Mohan sees an elderly woman who has been self-medicating with marijuana edibles.

The most dramatic case of the first hour involves someone who left a newborn baby in the restroom; the doctors and nurses try to figure out how old the newborn is, because under 28 days is a “Safe Haven” drop off, but over 28 days is a crime of child abandonment. As Dr. Al-Hashimi treats the newborn, she disassociates, and that’s where the episode ends.

Patients to watch

Baby Jane Doe. Warrick Page

As we learned last season, many patients have multi episode arcs on the show. Here’s who we have our eyes on this season:

Troy Digby, the unhoused man with an itchy cast

Kylie, 9-year-old brought in by her dad’s girlfriend with a chin injury

Liam, a 26-year-old who fell off his bike

An elderly nun, Sister Grace, with an infected eye

Mr. Williams, who hit his head after falling and is dealing with memory loss

Louie, an alcoholic from season one

Harlow Graham, a Deaf woman in the waiting room

The newborn baby left in the ER waiting room’s restroom

Evelyn, an 81-year-old woman with Alzheimer’s

Odds & ends

Nurses Lena (Lesley Boone) and Dana. Warrick Page

A few references to personal lives give us glimpses of what is happening with them out of the ER, which will impact their day:

Samira is fighting with her mom (she committed to a partnership track position in New Jersey so she could be close to her mom, but now her mom is going on a year-long cruise around the world)

McKay is alone for the weekend and wants to get laid (we know from casting announcements that Lawrence Robinson is set to play Brian Hancock, “a sweet, charming, and kind-hearted patient who turns a soccer injury into a possible meet-cute with one of the doctors.” Could she be getting a meet cute?)

Mel is anxious about testifying in a malpractice lawsuit

Javadi is ignoring her mom’s calls and texts. She’s also turning 21 in a few days!

Santos is considering double boarding in surgery and emergency medicine

Dana is trying to quit smoking

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”