If you haven't seen HBO Max's The Pitt, we might ask, "Why not?" Perhaps you don't like medical dramas, and maybe you don't know much of the cast. Those a decent reasons for not tuning in, but you should. The Pitt is creative and consistently interesting.
For those lucky ones who have watched the first season, you know that part of the reward wasn't just the excellence of the writing, but how well we got to know the characters, and the actors who played them. Who cared, for instance, after watching all 15 episodes, if you didn't know the actors prior to starting the series? You knew you wanted to see more of them.
Unfortunately, one of the best characters is not going to return. Tracy Ifeachor, who played Dr. Heather Collins, will not be back for the second season, and, according to TVLine, the decision was not Ifeachor's but the creative team behind the series.
What makes the situation even stranger is that Dr. Collins was seemingly written out of the show after episode 11 of season 1. That was the last time viewers had gotten to see her as Dr. Michael Robinavitch (Noah Wyle) had told her to clock out, go home, turn her phone off, and relax. This came after some rather shocking news.
Before Collins went home, she had told Robinavitch that she had become pregnant and had an abortion during a time when she and Robinavitch were dating. Fans of the show likely picked up on the fact that the two doctors had been in a relationship previously, but we didn't know for sure until that moment.
In another odd turn, Ifeachor had posted on her Instagram page a day before the announcement that she wouldn't return to The Pitt about how much she enjoyed playing Dr. Collins. There was no indication she knew she was done on the show.
Ifeachor isn't the only character and actor change coming in season 2, though. There will be numerous additions, including Sepideh Moafi (who will play a not-yet-named doctor working in emergency medicine), Charles Baker, Irene Choi, Lucas Iverson, and Laëtitia Hollard.
Charles Baker might be the most recognizable face of the group. He played Skinny Pete and the groundbreaking series Breaking Bad.
Still, there is little doubt that a second season of The Pitt that doesn't have Dr. Collins will feel different, and hopefully, series creators know what they are doing by not including her. Perhaps she can return in future seasons, however, and will show up and say, "Sorry. I overslept." After all, the first 15 episodes of The Pitt all take place over just one day.
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