Some spoilers for The Pitt come into play in this article ahead of Season 2.
When it comes to character conflicts, one of the biggest developments in The Pitt Season 1 was the clash between Noah Wyle’s Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch and Patrick Ball’s Dr. Frank Langdon. The two men are close colleagues at the start of the former’s shift (a.k.a. in the pilot), but everything changes when Langdon’s secret addiction is exposed along with the fact that he is stealing medication from the hospital. Robby displays quite a lot of rage when he learns the truth about his fellow doctor, but according to Wyle, anger at Langdon’s actions isn’t really at the core of why he is so upset, and that ultimately plays bigly into their dynamic in Season 2.
The Pitt Season 2 is soon on the way, with the premiere for HBO Max subscribers set for early January 2026, and the series lead reflects on his character’s most complicated relationship in a recent interview with EW. In Season 1, Robby screams at Langdon and kicks him out of the hospital in the middle of his shift when his demons come to light, but while talking about where things are between the characters when we reconnect with them, Wyle says that Robby is more upset with himself than the outward target of his wrath. Said Wyle,
A larger part is that Robby feels that he failed Langdon, as a mentor and as an attending.
After being fired, Langdon returns to the hospital when news breaks of a local mass shooting, and he is back in The Pitt Season 2. The show picks up 10 months after Season 1, and audiences will witness the character’s first day back at work after going to rehab.
But will all things be forgiven by Robby? Per Noah Wyle, we shouldn’t expect him to fully embrace his protege at the start. It’s perhaps not because he is still angry, but because he is subconsciously resentful that Langdon took steps to improve himself and Robby is not yet ready for that move himself:
Langdon represents somebody who's actually gone off and done the work and faced their demons and done the therapeutic process and come back clear-headed and clear-hearted. And to somebody who has not begun that process, that feels a bit like kryptonite.
As you might expect, Langdon’s return doesn’t only stir up issues with Robby, as EW’s preview of the upcoming season also teases continued drama between the returning physician and Isa Briones’ Dr. Trinity Santos. You may recall that Santos and Langdon had some serious personality clashes when they met on her first day, and she was the one who got the ball rolling on the investigation that led to her rival’s firing.
It’s all drama that I’m very excited to watch (along with more extreme and bloody special effects), and the opportunity will be coming soon. Almost exactly one year after the show’s premiere, The Pitt Season 2 will debut on January 8 – and to learn more about everything coming to the small screen in the early months of next year, check out our 2026 TV Premiere Schedule.
