The Pitt Season 3 Officially Confirms One Relationship Is Still Going Strong

Published Aug 22, 2026, 7:30 PM EDT Ben Sherlock is a Tomatometer-approved film and TV critic who runs the massively underrated YouTube channel I Got Touched at the Cinema. Before working at Screen Rant, Ben wrote for Game Rant, Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop. He's also an indie filmmaker, a standup comedian, and an alumnus of the School of Rock. Although it won’t be arriving on HBO Max until January, The Pitt season 3 has already dropped its first teaser trailer. Aside from simply advertising the show’s return and confirming that it’s business as usual in the titular emergency room, the trailer contains a few exciting setups for characters and storylines. According to the trailer, we’ll be kicking off this third season with the night shift, which is the next best thing to them getting their own show. Dr. Robby is finally back from his midlife crisis (I mean, sabbatical) and he’s ready to dive headfirst back into the chaos of the ER. A lot of fan-favorite familiar faces, from Dr. Javadi to Dr. Abbot to a still-employed Dana, pop up in The Pitt’s season 3 trailer. It’s been interesting to see how certain characters’ relationships have evolved over the past three shifts. Dr. Robby mostly avoided Dr. Langdon in season 2, because he felt betrayed by his addiction in season 1, but season 3 shows that they’re taking baby steps back towards a mutual respect. One of the most interesting relationships to track has been Dr. Santos and Dr. Whitaker. They started off at odds in the first season, but now, three years later, their uneasy bond is still evolving. The Pitt Season 3 Is Teasing Santos & Whitaker's Growing Bond The relationship between Drs. Santos and Whitaker started off contentious when The Pitt premiered. Santos looks at the world with a wry, ironic sense of humor, and uses sardonic insults as a defense mechanism. Whitaker is the exact opposite — he’s earnest and sincere, and he wears his heart on his sleeve — and Santos pounced on that in season 1. She called him “Huckleberry” as an insult all throughout the first season, but that mocking nickname eventually became a term of endearment. In the season 1 finale, when Santos realized Whitaker had been sleeping in an unused wing of the hospital because he didn’t have a home, she offered to let him live with her rent-free in exchange for keeping the place clean. When we catch up with them in season 2, after they’ve been living together for a while, they’ve become close friends. They’ve started to confide in each other, and they’re looking out for each other. Santos and Whitaker only appear briefly in The Pitt’s season 3 teaser, but their little interaction tells us everything we need to know: their dynamic is still evolving, and they’ve become even better friends since the last time we saw them. Early in the trailer, we see Santos and Whitaker standing at their lockers, getting ready to start their shift. As they share a fist bump, Santos tells Whitaker, “Try not to kill anyone today,” and he quips back, “Yeah, you too.” Santos & Whitaker's Friendship Was One Of The Pitt Season 2's Best Storylines After its stellar first season, The Pitt stumbled a bit in season 2. The actors still brought depth and pathos to every scene, the filmmakers still captured the intense realism and stress-inducing atmosphere that made season 1 so gripping, and the writers did a lot of great stuff with their best characters (including Santos and Whitaker). All the buildup to Mel’s deposition turned out to be much ado about nothing. There was lots and lots of screen time dedicated to Dr. Robby’s biker buddy, and not nearly enough screen time dedicated to more relevant storylines like Javadi’s internal struggle over where to take her career next, or Al-Hashimi’s internal struggle over her own deteriorating health. Not everything in The Pitt’s sophomore season worked, but Santos and Whitaker’s evolving friendship was always a joy to watch. Isa Briones and Gerran Howell share impeccable on-screen chemistry, and the writers have capitalized on that beautifully. The Pitt 8/10 Release Date January 9, 2025 Network Max Cast Dr. Michael 'Robby' Robinavitch Tracy Ifeachor Dr. Heather Collins Showrunner R. Scott Gemmill