HBO’s wildly popular medical drama, The Pitt, will replace one of its main characters heading into its highly anticipated third season.
Supriya Ganesh, who plays senior resident Dr. Samira Mohan, will leave the show at the conclusion of Season 2, according to a report by Variety. She will be replaced by Ayesha Harris, who plays senior night shift resident Dr. Parker Ellis.
The call to remove Ganesh, 28, who has been a mainstay of the show since its premiere last year, was entirely a “story-driven decision,“ a source told Variety.
Dr. Mohan’s departure will not be a complete shock to fans, as she has spent much of the second season figuring out her next move after her residency at the Pittsburgh hospital draws to a close. The resident’s indecision, after her post-Pennsylvania plans were thrown off in the season’s premiere, led directly to her panic attack in Episode 10.
The Pitt is set in the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center, a teaching hospital that rotates residents alongside its roster of permanent attending physicians—paging Dr. Robby. Ganesh is the second resident to leave the show after Tracy Ifeachor left the Pennsylvania hospital for Portland at the conclusion of her residency in Season 1.
Harris, who will step up to fill in the gap left by Ganesh, has been a rotational figure on the show—appearing in just two episodes in each of the show’s two seasons. She has been promoted to a series regular and will appear much more frequently, if not in every episode.
The Pitt quickly became revered by fans and doctors alike for its highly accurate portrayal of a trauma center, and for its unabashed political plotlines—with episodes involving anti-vaccination sentiments, ICE, and Medicaid cuts.
In its first season alone, the show earned 13 Emmy nominations, winning five. It has become HBO Max’s most-viewed current show and is consistently one of the top five most-viewed shows across all streamers.
The show follows medical workers over the course of a single shift, with Season 2 focusing on a busy—and bloody—Fourth of July weekend.
The season will wrap up with a finale episode on HBO Max on April 16. Die-hard fans of the show, however, can see the season’s conclusion early at Alamo Drafthouse movie theaters, which will screen the episode three days early.
