I’m Rooting for Santos’ Redemption Arc in ‘The Pitt’ Season 2, Actually

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of The Pitt.After 15 grueling, chaotic hours, The Pitt‘s day shift has finally clocked out for the night. It’s past time for the staff to treat their own wounds, whether that’s by watching movies with family, sharing beers in the park, or calling a therapist. The dramatic strengths propelling The Pitt‘s first season to widespread acclaim have never been clearer than in retrospect, especially those in charge of the series’ beating heart: an exceptional ensemble cast whose staggering vulnerability can, at times, feel like a sucker-punch. Led by a man who needs no introduction, Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch (Noah Wyle), each character rings true as an authentic, thoroughly lived-in individual with history and dimension. Some became instant favorites, like the magnificent Dr. Mel King (Taylor Dearden), the tremendous Dr. Heather Collins (Tracy Ifeachor), and Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa), the much-beloved charge nurse.

Other characters have taken longer to warm up to. When it comes to Dr. Trinity Santos (Isa Briones), let’s start by getting the elephant out of the room: yes, her first impression leaves much to be desired. Abrasive, breezily brash, and prone to fumbling her best intentions, Santos catches the ire of her superiors and some viewers alike. How The Pitt has quietly subverted those initial impressions is precisely why I’ve been laser-focused on Santos’ journey. The more I saw of this magnificently angry woman, the more I evolved into a staunch Santos defender — a minority position I’m happy to occupy. Character arcs can only go so far in one day’s time, but Santos was revealing subtle layers long before the finale coalesced those breadcrumbs into two delicate, bittersweet moments of closure that signal how profoundly we’ve underestimated the scope and scale of Trinity Santos’ inner character.

‘The Pitt’ Uses Santos To Deconstruct a Popular Character Archetype

Santos and I started off on the wrong foot for specific reasons beyond general dislike. Speaking as someone who’s been the Mel King in social situations for as long as I can remember — the butt of the joke because I didn’t understand the joke, having my boundaries disregarded — Santos grated my nerves like a cat with its fur brushed backward. Whenever she made a caustic, smirking joke at her coworkers’ expenses or left them hanging with a silent dismissal, I was as acutely reminded of my least favorite life experiences as if someone had jammed salt into a fresh paper cut. I wasn’t prepared to see a truthful depiction of the neurodivergent social experience nor to have a reaction that visceral, especially since the sarcastic characters are often my favorites — and not enough women get to embody that archetype.

The fact I embarked on my own arc of becoming a full-chested Santos apologist isn’t that surprising. I instinctively operate with a ride-or-die mentality for unpopular women characters — the misinterpreted ones deemed “unlikable” instead of being celebrated as compelling stereotype-breakers. In many ways, Santos is The Pitt’s answer to fan-favorite figures like Grey’s Anatomy‘s Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) or Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) — a smug, acerbic, hyper-skilled hot shot who holds the world at a distance and keeps her depths locked away behind a steel door. The Pitt values realism, and Santos is that archetype made real — a woman whose many grounded truths strike too close to home.

Santos Makes Emotional Strides in ‘The Pitt’s Season 1 Finale

Santos has plenty to learn before she becomes a trustworthy doctor and a responsible colleague, but that sentiment applies to each of The Pitt‘s younger characters; it’s a teaching hospital for a reason. In Santos’ case, the week-to-week difference was already superb before the finale’s last grace notes. After hours of awkwardly seeking advice about the Dr. Frank Langdon (Patrick Ball) situation, Robby has to confront Santos and drag her suspicions out of her. The aggressive and headstrong woman of, say, hour three, would never search high and low for an attending physician before diving into a forbidden and unsupervised operation. As for her bedside manner, its sourness evens out when it’s tested by the mass shooting incident. Santos takes precious seconds to provide patients with what little comfort she can.

And once she finds a defenseless person in dire need, Santos drops her shields and zeroes in to help with a bloodhound’s tenacity — as well as remarkable gentleness. She could have handed Max Wilcox (Aidan Laprete) over for the night shift and returned home, but her firsthand experience with trauma, assault, and suicide empowers her to notice telling details the other doctors can’t recognize. Max’s suicide attempt is a cry for help, and Santos establishes her first genuine connection with a patient by giving Max empathy, acceptance, and a quiet place to rest. If there’s any chance of healing a wounded stranger, no one else will pay attention to, sharing her bruised heart is worth it. Going out of her way to let Dennis Whitaker (Gerran Howell) room with her for free is a beautiful gesture of trust, a testament to her growth as a colleague willing to integrate with her peers, and a microcosm of her season-long progression. When Santos’ blunt facade lowers enough to offer kindness, it’s genuine and precious instead of hollow niceties.

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The doctors need all the help they can get.

Those instincts are likely why she noticed Langdon — a man taking advantage of his patients, even if Langdon’s intentions aren’t malicious and his drug addiction is a complex mental illness. Beyond the obvious reason, she and Landon clash because they’re cut from the same cloth: rebellious “ER cowboys” chasing after the mentally stimulating cases. Without sensationalism but with subversion (and to great effect), The Pitt mirrors a charming man whom people might automatically trust with an “off-putting” woman they might automatically condemn and dislike. A woman, no less, who carries profound trauma as a sexual assault survivor.

Through that lens, it’s painfully obvious Santos’ hostility is a self-defense mechanism. Because her trust was violated, she can’t risk being vulnerable. Physically, she knows Krav Maga; emotionally, she overcompensates and punches down as a trauma response. The fact she threatens the patient accused of molesting his daughter is objectively unprofessional — but Santos claiming the power her position grants her over an alleged abuser in the name of protecting a young girl makes her a fascinating, heart-wrenching character with crystal clear dimensionality.

Santos Has a Bright Future After ‘The Pitt’s Season Finale

The Pitt allows a woman like Santos to be ambitious, unapologetic about her competence, driven by hungry curiosity, and unsure and overeager enough to make mistakes that end with her falling face-first into the mud. It’s not far-fetched to presume that a show less adept would have humbled her, punitively forcing her into a softer, more palatable mold. Destroying a woman’s pride isn’t the answer. Like everyone in this hospital, what Santos truly needs is a support system, therapy, and a mentor who can nurture her strengths and recontextualize her bumpier attributes. The Pitt encapsulates nearly every dimension and shade of what makes us human — how arduous it can be to endure this world and why surviving is worth every session of blood, sweat, and tears. Trinity Santos is as human as we come. That’s why I’m already seated for Season 2, eager to see what the future holds for this angry, unlikable, and spectacular survivor.

All of Season 1 of The Pitt is available to stream on Max.

The Pitt

Release Date

January 9, 2025

Network

Max

Showrunner

R. Scott Gemmill

Directors

Amanda Marsalis

Writers

Joe Sachs, Cynthia Adarkwa

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  Noah Wyle

  Dr. Michael ‘Robby’ Robinavitch

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  Tracy Ifeachor

  Uncredited