Look, we love Dr. Robby (Noah Wyle), even with his flaws. But this latest episode of The Pitt has us urgently worried about our favorite ER doc, all because of a few little words that call back to some fan theories out of episode 1.

The hit show's complicated attending physician kicked the second season off with a controversial move that had tongues wagging. Now, with Season 2, episode 3, titled "9 A.M.," he's lying about it. What does this mean for Dr. Robby's Season 2 arc and beyond?

Let's dive into it.

What did Dr. Robby lie about in "The Pitt"?

Noah Wyle as Dr. Robby in "The Pitt." Credit: Warrick Page / HBO Max

He lied about his motorcycling habits. Here's how it went down:

In this episode, along with a grief-stricken burn victim, a kiddo with a "zebra" of a medical condition, and a mercurial patient with a mind-bending diagnosis, The Pitt also featured a squabbling married couple whose petty argument was interrupted by a motorcyclist colliding into their car.

While the episode followed the husband and wife through treatment and regrets over their fight, the motorcyclist was basically dead on arrival, with a shocking amount of his brain's gray matter on display. Usually stoic medical student Joy Kwon (Irene Choi) reacted in shock, asking, "No helmet?"

To this, the police officer in the room says, "Nope." While looking at the patient's ID, he notes, "He took the PennDOT motorcycle safety course." (PennDOT is short for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.)

Dr. Garcia (Alexandra Metz) quips, "Isn't that what you took, Robby?"

Dr. Robby responds sharply, saying, "Yes, but I still wear a helmet."

There's the lie.

The Season 2 opening sequence echoed the start of Season 1, following Dr. Robby into the emergency room of the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. But where in the first season he was on foot, in the second, he's riding a motorcycle across one of Pittsburgh's signature yellow bridges. And he's — say it with me — NOT WEARING A HELMET.

What does this helmet lie mean?

Noah Wyle as Dr. Robby in "The Pitt" doesn't wear a helmet while motorcycling in "The Pitt" Season 2. Credit: Screenshot: HBO Max

When fans of The Pitt first saw Dr. Robby riding without a helmet in the Season 2 sneak peak, many called this behavior out on social media. Some declared it "unrealistic" for an ER doctor to behave this way, while others suggested such recklessness is a sign of Robby having a death wish.

Season 1, we saw him going to the edge of the hospital's rooftop, potentially considering jumping. Now he's riding without a motorcycle helmet on July 4, a holiday notorious for a spike in Emergency Room visits.

However, Robby will tell anyone who listens — even his loathed, returning colleague Langdon (Patrick Ball) — how he's going on a three-month sabbatical to motorcycle his way to an aboriginal UNESCO World Heritage Site in Alberta. So maybe he's taking the advice of night shift attending physician Dr. Abbot (Shawn Hatosy) and finding a hobby to help him relieve the stress of working at "The Pitt." But there are some worrying signs about his trip already.

Consider all this: He's riding without a helmet on busy city streets, an act some fans have called "passively suicidal." Of all the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the world, he's headed to one with the name "Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump." Then there's a motorcyclist with his head smashed in right before Dr. Robby's very eyes. And instead of considering how he opened himself up to such an injury just two hours before, Robby lies to assuage the concerns of his co-workers.

Are all these clues suggesting that Robby going on this particular sabbatical could mean we won't see him in Season 3? Could that planned long ride be his last?

On the one hand, with a third season of The Pitt confirmed, it's unlikely that Wyle, who is also a writer, director, and producer on the series, will be written off. But remember, Wyle did come up on ER, which saw popular leads like George Clooney and Julianna Margulies leave long before the show wrapped. So we're not feeling totally confident about Dr. Robby's fate.

What has Noah Wyle said about Dr. Robby not wearing a helmet?

Asked about this on the Golden Globes red carpet, Wyle told the AP, "There's nothing arbitrary about the way we do the show. Everything is pretty specific. And that was a very specific decision that we made to have him riding with the helmet on his backpack but not on his head — telling everybody he wears one, but we all know he isn't."

On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Wyle spoke about the decision to have Robby ride without his helmet. Turns out it wasn't in the script, and it was his idea.

He told Kimmel, "The night before [we shot the scene], I had dinner with John Wells, who directed the [first] episode [of Season 2]...And I said, 'I don't know that Robby wears a helmet. I think he tells people he wears a helmet.'"

He then compared the motorcycle season opener to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory's iconic introduction to Willy Wonka. The Pitt star explained how the film's leading man, Gene Wilder, agreed to play Wonka "if he could make his character introduction, where he comes out with a cane and a limp and then he walks up to the gate and then he falls forward and comes up into this very elegant sort of bow. And they asked him why he wanted to do that, and he said, 'Because from that point forward they won't know if I'm telling the truth or not.'"

For Wyle, Wonka and Dr. Robby have this uneasy allure in common. He continued to Kimmel, "We're talking about a guy who's on a mental health journey, who's resistant to getting the help he probably should get. What better clue can we give the audience that he's playing a little fast and loose with his life than to let them in on this detail that he's not telling the people that he works with, that love him."

So, yeah. We've been worried since that no helmet scene first hit, and our concern is only growing.

The Pitt Season 2 is now streaming on HBO Max, with new episodes being released every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET.

If you want to talk to someone or are experiencing suicidal thoughts, text the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. For international resources, this list is a good place to start.