The Pitt: What's Really Going On Between Robby And Al-Hashimi? Sepideh Moafi Explains
Something has shifted between Drs. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch and Baran Al-Hashimi on "The Pitt."
Audiences may have picked up on a certain vibe as early as Season 2, Episode 3, when Al-Hashimi suggested that they each take a lap and reconvene once their patient returned from CT. "Splitting up so soon?" Robby asked, playfully. "You're free to see other people, Dr. Robinavitch," she replied, just as lightly. "I'm looking for cooperation, not commitment."
That energy carries into Episode 4, when Robby asks Al-Hashimi if she's reconsidering her bet on the Westbridge situation fueling an influx of patients to PTMC. "I am just weighing my odds," she tells him. "Don't worry. I'll buy you a drink with my winnings."
It's the kind of exchange that invites interpretation — and one that naturally sends viewers back to Robby's dating history. As far as we know, his last significant relationship (no offense, Noel!) was with single mother Janie, whose teenage son Jake played a meaningful part in Robby's life during Season 1. And as night shift charge nurse Lena revealed during an exposition dump in the Season 2 opener, Al-Hashimi is also a single mom. The parallels are hard to ignore — but per series creator R. Scott Gemmill, what's unfolding between Robby and Al-Hashimi isn't romantic tension so much as a recalibration of power.
"We'll have to see," Gemmill tells TVLine of their dynamic. However, as of "10:00 A.M.," he sees Robby and Al-Hashimi as "two alpha dogs trying to figure out what their position is in the ED now that they have to work together, and figuring out just how that's going to play out."
Warrick Page/HBO Max
From Sepideh Moafi's perspective, the dynamic between Robby and Al-Hashimi is never about romance, but about friction, and how that friction shifts as two doctors with opposing philosophies are forced to work in close proximity.
"During the testing process, we read a few mock scenes — some variations that ended up in the scripts, and some that didn't," Moafi tells TVLine, referring to early chemistry reads with Noah Wyle. "They were really just seeing the range of the relationship.
"They're two people who come at medicine from totally diametrically opposed approaches," she continues. "She represents the modernization of medicine, and he's more of the old-school, traditional route. They don't always see eye to eye, but they do have a common goal" — and it's that which prevents all-out conflict.
"When she comes in, she introduces this new rhythm, this new cadence to the hospital," Moafi says. "There's some discord, some dissonance. At first, there's some judgment — especially from Dr. Robby. But then he starts leaning in... because she's really f–king good at what she does. And he's really f–king good at what he does.
"That's destabilizing," she adds. "She sees him as this wild cowboy — the banter, the way he talks to residents, it feels unprofessional, even disrespectful. But ultimately, it's all about the patients. It's all about delivering the best quality of care."
That shared priority is what keeps their professional relationship from devolving into something more adversarial.
"Throughout the season, you'll see them harmonize better, more seamlessly together," Moafi says. "But they're still totally different in how they approach things."