The Pitt fans have declared war on newcomer James Ogilvie, a fourth-year med student played by Lucas Iverson.
Introduced in the second season, Ogilvie is training under Dennis Whitaker, a fan-favorite from season 1, leading to heated comparisons between the two. Many viewers admitted they couldn't stomach Ogilvie’s smug vibe, branding him insufferable due to his over-the-top personality.
Highlights
- A brash new med student in The Pitt season 2 has sparked instant outrage among fans who are already counting down his exit.
- Comparisons to a beloved season 1 favorite only made the backlash louder as fans found the new addition “annoying” and “smug.”
- Despite the backlash, one cast member defended the newcomer and addressed the possibility of a romance between their characters.
Hints of a potential romance between him and another beloved doctor were also met with backlash, quickly making him one of the most hated characters in the show currently.
“Tall Whitaker, your days are numbered,” one seething fan wrote on X.
The Pitt fans are comparing James Ogilvie to Dennis Whitaker from season 1
Image credits: HBO Max
Fans have compared Oglive to Whitaker, mostly because both are med students who join the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center's emergency room as trainees, leading to fans christening the new character “evil Whitaker,” “tall Whitaker,” and “temu Whitaker.”
While Whitaker was initially underconfident and had to rise through the ranks, the newcomer comes off as brash and arrogant, which did not go down well with some viewers. Some felt offended by the comparison between Ogilvie and Whitaker.
Image credits: chypreish
“Everyone (is) calling James tall Whitaker. No, he’s evil. He is not kind-hearted and pure like Dennis. He is the devil,” a fan commented on X.
Another wrote, “Dennis Whitaker would be so offended if he found out everyone was calling Ogilvie ‘tall Whitaker’ or ‘evil Whitaker’ on here.”
Instead, fans felt that the character was more akin to Rainn Wilson’s Dwight Schrute in The Office, who is known for his overbearing personality.
Viewers are unimpressed with James Ogilvie’s addition in The Pitt season 2
Image credits: HBO Max
Initially, some viewers were willing to give Ogilvie the benefit of the doubt, but were repulsed by the character speaking out of turn, undermining other characters, and constantly mansplaining to female doctors.
One fan blasted the character for his attitude towards other doctors, mainly Whitaker and Javadi.
They wrote, “I was trying to give tall Whitaker the benefit of the doubt, but he’s proven himself to be genuinely insufferable because why is he trying to throw Dennis under the bus and humiliate Victoria? He’s for sure getting a patient killed.”
“He’s so smug it’s sooo annoying,” another person said.
Image credits: femmenyra
Ogilvie, competing with Javadi in the second episode and attempting to speak Farsi to impress Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi, also didn’t go down well with fans.
“He pisses me off so bad,” one wrote.
Fans also noticed how other characters, especially the female doctors such as Javadi, Cassie McKay, and Samira Mohan, were repulsed by Ogilvie’s know-it-all attitude.
One user reshared a clip of Mohan’s reaction to Ogilvie smiling at her, garnering more than 250k views on X.
“She just got the ick so bad. Never look at her again, Tall Whitaker,” they commented.
Shabana Azeez addressed Dr. Victoria Javadi's potential romance with James Ogilvie
Image credits: HBO Max
Despite the strong backlash to Iverson’s character, actress Shabana Azeez, who plays Javadi, asked fans to direct their hatred toward Ogilvie and not the actor.
“Be nice to Lucas, be mean to Ogilvie 2026,” she commented in an Instagram post, highlighting Javadi's ongoing rivalry with the newcomer.
In an interview with Decider, Azeez also addressed whether Javadi's competitive relationship with Ogilvie was borderline flirtatious.
Although she did not confirm or deny the possibility of a romance between the two characters, she hinted that hatred is “a type of chemistry.”
Image credits: HBO Max
Azeez added that even Javadi found Ogilvie insufferable, and despite her desperate attempts to be socially adept, felt the need to tell him exactly how she felt.
“To have somebody be so f*cking irritating and insufferable by her — specifically to her — it gives her a freedom to just be like, ‘Actually, I’m going to tell you exactly what I f*cking know,'” she said.
The Pitt season 2 drops new episodes every Thursday on HBO Max.