Isa Briones from ‘The Pitt’ Discusses Dr. Santos’s Embarrassing Mishap with Chest Tube, Starting a Lesson in Humility

Episode 6 of The Pitt titled “12 PM” showcases the eager intern, Dr. Trinity Santos (played by Isa Briones), seizing the opportunity to perform a chest tube. Driven and daring, Santos approaches her newfound friend and mentor, Dr. Yolanda Garcia (portrayed by Alexandra Metz), almost pleading to be allowed to carry out the procedure. It resembles a child asking for permission to ride an amusement park attraction. Dr. Garcia agrees to supervise Santos, who confidently wields the scalpel to make the incision but ends up clumsily dropping it. The scalpel lands on Dr. Garcia’s foot, piercing through her shoe and causing significant embarrassment for the young doctor.

Isa Briones, star of The Pitt, humorously acknowledged the incident during a recent Zoom interview with DECIDER. Reflecting on the mishap, Briones commented, “I think that Santos kind of had it coming. She’s been a bit too overconfident lately.”

Santos’ overconfidence is evident in her behavior, which includes teasing fellow medical students Victoria Javadi (played by Shabana Azeez) and Dennis Whitaker (portrayed by Gerran Howell) by giving them playful nicknames like “Crash” and “Huckleberry.” Additionally, Santos has been taking matters into her own hands by disregarding the residents’ authority while treating patients, leading to tension between her and Dr. Langdon (Patrick Ball). She also imposes her own coping mechanisms on a young patient, much to the disapproval of Dr. Mohan (Supriya Ganesh).

All of which is to say that viewers of The Pitt might have been waiting for Dr. Santos to eat a huge serving of humble pie.

“Fom an actor point of view, it’s a fun moment for this character because it, in my opinion, really kind of begins her humbling and her kind of emotional growth,” Briones told DECIDER, teasing more stumbles for Santos ahead.

“Keep in mind, this is Episode 6. We are entering the sixth hour of a shift — and there’s fifteen episodes — it’s just going to keep on getting longer,” she said. “When you’re working in the ED, like you are being weighed down with the hours, with the standing on your feet all day, with the horrible cases that are coming in. It just keeps on getting more and more tiring.”

“I think the walls that Santos has built up are, of course, just naturally, like any human, going to start to break down in a fifteen hour shift.”

It’s potentially ironic that the person on the receiving end of Santos’s mistake was already the one person who could pierce through those walls. Dr. Garcia is a surgeon in the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital and she’s often on tap to tackle the trickier cases that come into the ER. From the moment Santos and Garcia meet, the older surgeon takes a shine to the younger trainee.

Briones was quick to reiterate that Season 1 of The Pitt takes place over just one day, and “there’s not so much that can happen” during someone’s first day. Still, she admitted that there’s already a “connection” between the two doctors thanks to their similar personalities.

“Like, obviously off the bat, people are not super in love with Santos, with the way that she operates, and it’s clear when Garcia comes in, too, that people have the same reaction to her,” Briones said. “[Garcia] pokes at people and she is making jabs and stuff. So I think we have a similar energy.”

Briones also copped to the fact that there’s “a bit of a flirtation” between the two, “that kind of tension and connection,” but that for Santos, Garcia is more of a much-needed ally than anything else.

“She’s not out here to make friends. She’s just here to get ahead. But she sees someone who is taking an interest in her and it’s like, “‘ll right, well, that’s an ally. That’s kind of a friend that I have here. There’s someone that I can be like, “Hey, can I do this?” And she’ll let me,’” Briones said.

Which is leads us back to how Santos wound up stabbing her one ally in the first place; Garcia let her.

“It was a really fun scene to do,” Briones said, noting that the situation was also karma of a different kind for Gerran Howell’s Whitaker.

“He’s someone that I’m always like picking on and dressing down. All of a sudden, I make a mistake and he was there for it,” she said, recollecting Howell’s larger than life “Oh My God!” reaction with a grin. “Yeah, it was really fun, and I think it’s a great beginning to kind of her growth as a character.“

The Pitt returns to MAX next Thursday, February 13.