The Pitt Season 2 Finale Ratings Prove The Show Is Bigger Than Ever (Despite Criticism)
"The Pitt" is a hit. According to a report in Variety, the Season 2 finale of the "real-time" medical drama set in a chaotic emergency department smashed the show's own viewership records.
The outlet reports that "9:00 P.M.," the season finale in question, drew in 9.7 million viewers throughout the weekend after it dropped on the streamer on April 16. Besides that, the overall show crossed 15 million viewers, which puts it in elite territory as far as HBO Max is concerned; other shows that have achieved this milestone include "Game of Thrones" spin-offs "House of the Dragon" and "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" as well as Mike White's buzzy sort-of anthology series "The White Lotus" and the Stephen King-inspired series "It: Welcome to Derry."
This ... shouldn't surprise anybody, if I'm being honest. "The Pitt" is a well-made show that harkens back to the golden era of medical procedurals (like "ER," where "The Pitt" showrunner R. Scott Gemmill, director John Wells, and star and executive producer Noah Wyle first linked up), and people really like it. (The lack of a U.K. distribution partner for "The Pitt" is, apparently, part of the reason behind the recent expansion of HBO Max into Ireland and the U.K., which certainly speaks to the demand for the series.) And yet, if you're hanging around certain corners of Al Gore's internet, you'll leave with the impression that "The Pitt" isn't just a bad show that sucks; it's actually evil, even!
I'm being flip, but the fact that "The Pitt" is appointment viewing in the same way that "Game of Thrones" once was is just a fact. So why is the show making some people mad?
Season 2 of The Pitt received plenty of criticism but was still a huge hit for HBO Max
My colleague at /Film, Danielle Ryan, wrote a pretty insightful piece about why she thinks Season 2 of "The Pitt" garnered so much criticism, especially from people who loved the show's debut season that aired back in early 2025. Frankly, I agree with her theory, which is that the series' commitment to "extreme realism" — and the different ways it commits to that across Seasons 1 and 2 — will inevitably disappoint audience members who want more "action," so to speak. Basically, because Season 1 occupied the back half of it season with a devastating mass shooting that kept the ER busy and frantic and took Noah Wyle's Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch out for a short time after he lost a patient with whom he had a personal connection, some people thought Season 2 was boring by comparison.
Yes, Season 2 doesn't have as much "action" as Season 1, to put it very simply. While there's a water-slide accident that leaves one episode on a cliffhanger, the ER only treats a few patients who were affected by said accident, which makes sense (after those few were injured, the water park probably stopped other people from using the slide!). Instead, the season devotes a lot of time and attention to Robby's mental state, which gets darker and darker throughout the 15 episodes until he admits, in the penultimate installment, that he's experiencing suicidal ideation. "The Pitt" is an intense show that does often depict a busy and hectic emergency department, but it is, first and foremost, a show about the healthcare workers themselves. Investigating Robby's mental struggles might not be as "exciting" as some viewers want, but it feels real — something "The Pitt" strives to be.
Despite a fandom that's running amok, it's clear that The Pitt will endure for years to come
Because "The Pitt" has become the biggest small-screen sensation in recent memory, it's also facing backlash, but it's coming from a relatively surprising source: its own "superfans." /Film's own Chris Evangelista wrote yet another phenomenal piece about how, unfortunately, "The Pitt" has proven that some people do actually manage to watch TV wrong, and he gets into the weeds on this. As a terminally online person, I've also noticed that the self-professed fandom of "The Pitt" has been extraordinarily loud about how much they hated Season 2 of the series, whether they were mad that Noah Wyle's protagonist was centered, mad that the season felt "slower" or "boring," or mad that Robby was really hard on several characters as his mental health deteriorated. (If Robby's unfortunately realistic and often abhorrent behavior in Season 2 turned you off, do not watch "ER." Paul McCrane's Dr. Robert Romano alone would send you running for the hills.)
Despite this frankly bizarre phenomenon of "The Pitt" superfans deciding their favorite show actually sucks, the fact of the matter is that a lot of people tuned into this show every week and are excited for it to come back. People who aren't terminally online probably don't even know how much discourse there's been about whether or not Robby was too harsh on a fellow physician who admitted that she had multiple breakthrough seizures during her shift, even though that situation is a legitimate cause for concern, and furthermore, they don't care, because they're enjoying the show. "The Pitt," which is set to return for Season 3, will endure despite online chatter and often loud criticism ... and you can stream it on HBO Max now.