Note: This story contains spoilers from “The Pitt” Season 2, Episode 4.
While most of “The Pitt” crew returned for the medical drama’s second season, fans were surprised to learn that Tracy Ifeachor’s Dr. Collins wouldn’t be clocking in for the Fourth of July shift.
News of Ifeachor’s departure broke ahead of the Season 2 debut, though details of Dr. Collins’ absence weren’t revealed until Episode 4, when Whitaker (Gerran Howell) explained to longtime patient Louie (Ethan Bostick) that she’s no longer working at the Pittsburgh hospital.
“Dr. Collins finished her residency [and] took up a job in Portland as an attending physician,” Whitaker explained. “[I] think that’s where she’s from … she’s adopting a baby [and] wanted to be closer to her family.”
Noah Wyle’s Dr. Robby, who had a romantic history with Dr. Collins, popped into the room while Whitaker talked to Louie, closing the door with a softened, reflective look.
The mention of adoption comes full circle with Season 1, when Dr. Collins endured an excruciating day in the ER after suffering a miscarriage during her shift. She eventually confided in Robby, and even revealed that while they were romantically involved, she got pregnant and got an abortion without his knowledge. After their conversation, Robby sent her home for the day and urged her to turn her phone off — prompting her to miss the mass casualty event that transpired later in the day.
Though some fans speculated about varying reasons for Ifeachor’s exit, executive producer John Wells emphasized that her departure reflects the reality of a teaching hospital, given she had completed her residency,
“People are going to continue to leave and and that’s part of what makes it, for the audience, real,” Wells told TheWrap. “As we go forward, these shifts are going to change in ways in which we do them.”
“People come and go and people come back … it’s a training hospital, and people are at different levels in their training,” Wells continued. “If we suddenly created it to [be], ‘Oh, it’s just one day and then the next day, and then the next day,’ So that everybody could be there forever, I don’t think the audience would go along with us in the same way.”
“The Pitt” Season 2 releases new episodes Thursdays 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on HBO Max.
