Just halfway through the first episode of The Pitt, most fans had already made an easy diagnosis: Dr. Trinity Santos—an intern, recently tossed into the fast-paced trauma conveyor-belt that is the Pittsburgh Medical Center—was, in fact, the most unlikable character on TV. Over the course of 15 hours, that theory would be tested. Potential mass shooters, anti-vaxxers, incels, belligerent patients, and a psychiatric hold known simply as The Kraken, would pass through the emergency department doors. Residents would get screamed at, nurses physically assaulted, med students pissed on, and still, Trinity Santos (Isa Briones) would wind up on the top of our collective hit list.
She’s what’s known in medical circles as a “gunner.” Overly ambitious, unnecessarily competitive, ungovernable, and conceited. Santos was the antithesis of the show’s more timid, saccharine med students. They were overwhelmed, emotional, and constantly seeking approval. She was desperate to insert a chest tube. They were fainting at the sight of blood, getting sprayed by bodily fluids, and self-soothing to a lava lamp app. She was bullying people with insulting, uninspired nicknames and threading balloons into bleeding aortas. They gave out teddy bears. She gave a flirty surgical resident an open wound courtesy of an ill-timed scalpel pass.
