The Pitt Season 2 is already a massive hit among critics, but audiences are expressing a slightly different opinion. At the time of writing, The Pitt Season 2 sits at a 99% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes — as close to perfect as you can get without actually earning 100%. However, the show is currently resting at only 80% on the audience-driven Popcornmeter. This is even below Season 1’s 87% from audiences, despite the critics’ rating improving from 95%. This comes from only 50 verified reviews, so it is subject to change as more reviews come in.

Even though The Pitt’s reception has been somewhat lukewarm from fans so far, the show is already dominating streaming. Even in the weeks ahead of its release, The Pitt Season 1 saw a surge back into the HBO Max top 10, months after its finale, paving the way for Season 2 to comfortably take the top spot. It’s currently sitting at #1, completely unchallenged on HBO Max global charts, though it has a few close competitors in Primal and Industry. Even Task, which went off the air a few months ago, has surged back into HBO Max’s global top 10.

The Pitt Season 2 picked up several months after Season 1 on The Fourth of July, and Episode 1 featured only the first hour of what is sure to be a long shift at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle) is preparing to leave for a while, and he’s showing his temporary replacement, Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi (Sepideh Moafi), the ropes. The crew also found a mysterious baby in the waiting room bathroom, but it’s unclear who it belongs to.

The Future of ‘The Pitt’ Has Already Been Decided

Dr. Robby wearing a stethoscope Shabana Azeez as Victoria Javadi in an elevator in 'The Pitt' Season 1.Dr. Langdon (Patrick Ball) wearing a hat and looking nervous in 'The Pitt'Baran Al-Hashimi (Sepideh Moafi) on 'The Pitt'Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa) smiles next to a colleague as they look in the same direction in 'The Pitt'.

A few days before The Pitt Season 2 released its first episode, HBO announced that the show had been renewed for Season 3. Leading star Noah Wyle has been open about wanting the show to stick around for a long time, and HBO is echoing his sentiment thus far by giving The Pitt a chance to continue. While not officially announced, The Pitt Season 3 is expected to begin production in the next few months and will likely be released sometime next year.

Check out the first episode of The Pitt Season 2 on HBO Max and stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of the show.