The Pitt's Isa Briones Says Santos Is Facing 'Another Form Of Addiction' — And Reveals The Hope Behind That Karaoke Scene

"The Pitt" Season 2 culminated in an unexpected (and cathartic) bit of "primal scream therapy."

Before HBO Max had the chance to minimize the credits and recommend that subscribers begin watching former "ER" star Noah Wyle in his previous medical drama, a familiar post-grunge anthem began to play — but it wasn't the studio recording. As it turned out, it was none other than Dr. Trinity Santos, joined by fellow Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center resident Dr. Mel King, dueting on "You Oughta Know," the Alanis Morissette banger that sent a chill down Dave Coulier's spine when it first topped the charts more than 30 years ago.

As series creator R. Scott Gemmill previously told TVLine, the decision to follow Santos and King out to karaoke after their shift "just seemed really fun... a nice Easter egg for the fans." And the song choice also came from Gemmill: "I was going to let them choose, but I thought the Alanis Morissette song was one they could really belt out and scream the day's bulls–t out of their system."

But for Isa Briones, who for two seasons has brought Santos to life, the moment was less about the release and more about the hope it represents. Though she continues to avoid PTMC's trauma counselor, and fears everyone she cares for most (Robby, Garcia, Whitaker) are all leaving her, the decision to extend an invite to Mel speaks to her willingness to reach for connection when she needs it most.

"I think it's a really special moment of hope," Isa Briones tells TVLine. "Maybe she'll be OK. She's got all the right tools, and you see she just wants connection. Even though everything she does is in direct opposition to that, that's usually how it is. You push away what you want the most."

In the video Q&A above — a transcript is provided below — Isa Briones goes deep on Santos' Season 2 journey, including her connection with Dr. Robby, her recently revealed history of self-harm, and yes, that karaoke scene that offers our first real glimpse of life outside the ED for PTMC's frontline heroes.

TVLINE | Santos is often the most perceptive person in the room. We've also seen her bond more with Robby this year. As we get closer to the end of the season, there's this growing concern about where Robby is mentally — and the self-destructive path he might be on as he heads off on this "grand ego-death spirit quest." Do you see Santos and Robby as two people cut from the same cloth?
I think there are similarities. The bigger thing is, I think she's latched on to him because he's one of the only other people who knows what happened with Langdon. When Langdon screamed at her, Robby stood up for her. When she told him what she knew, he believed her.

That is a big thing for her. As we've seen little tidbits of her past traumas, she's been through abuse, and she has had experiences of authority figures not believing her. Having an authority figure who believes her is kind of intoxicating. It's amazing. He feels like a safe space.

Also, he's kind of the renegade of the ED, where he can do whatever he wants, and I think she enjoys that because she also likes to do things her way. But in the last couple episodes, you see that looking up to him breaking a bit because she is seeing just how imperfect he is, and how similar their mental health struggles are.

It's easier to put your faith in someone when you see them as strong and that they're going to be fine. But as she sees, "Oh, he's not well," that makes her feel even more alone because she has less of a pillar to hold on to. Watching the cracks show in him reveals some more of her own to her, and that can be really scary amidst everything else that's going on. I think it's just the final straw.

TVLINE | We knew from Season 1 that Santos has a history of childhood trauma, and this season we learned she also has a history of self-harm. When did you first learn that was part of her story, and how did it inform the choices you made this season?
We talked a little bit about it when we had our first character talk before Season 1 even started filming, and they gave a broad overview of her background. They said she has these mental health struggles, she's had this past — we don't fully know what's going to be explored, but we've talked about maybe self-harm, an eating disorder, something like that — some version of self-harm being part of her history.

But then once Season 2 came around, when we were leading up to Episode 7, [series creator R.] Scott [Gemmill] emailed me and said, "We have this idea. We see her scars. How do you feel about that? Are you comfortable with that?" I was kind of nervous, just because sometimes you see misuse of self-harm storylines in media — where it can be used to prop someone else up, or as trauma porn, or romanticizing it, or even sexualizing it. It can be a slippery slope.

So I said, "This is a great conversation to have, but we need to make sure we do it right." I still don't fully know how it all lands, but since it's such a sensitive topic and something I care a lot about, I was really nervous about it, but also excited to get to represent that, because it is a really big thing for a lot of people, but also in medical professionals.

I think the whole show looks at mental health issues through every single character, just from different vantage points, and everyone copes in different ways. This is her way, and I was happy that we got to address it.

When I saw people's reactions to that scene where we see the scars, it was really heartwarming — to see people be like, "Oh my God, I've never actually seen this in mainstream media," seeing actual scars that really look like how they look, in a realistic place — it was emotional, but cathartic, to see it represented so truthfully. I was very, very happy about that.

TVLINE | When I spoke with Scott earlier this season, he mentioned that some of those scars were meant to look recent. Then in Episode 12 — following the implosion of her situationship with Garcia, her confrontation with Langdon, and finding out that she may lose a roommate in Whitaker — we see her take a scalpel from the suture cart. Given all that precedes it, what do you think that moment reveals about what she's carrying right now, and what she's trying to avoid?
[At the end of Season 1] she opens up about a friend who took her own life, and we can surmise that all the people she's gotten close to in her life have either hurt her or left her. I think that has informed a lot of who she is and why she can be such a prickly person. She puts up this wall because she's been hurt so many times and doesn't want to be the victim again. That's why she punches outward.

Seeing this day, it's kind of a day from hell... Langdon coming back, the person who screamed at her that she doesn't belong here... Robby, a safe space, leaving... Whitaker, leaving... Even though she might not have the full story yet, it's triggering everything. "Of course, I knew it. Everyone's going to leave me. Why get close to anyone?" Grabbing the scalpel is the height of the struggle against that feeling of, "Everyone is going to leave or hurt me, so why don't I just hurt myself?" It's a very upsetting impulse, but it comes from such a real place.

There's that panic of, "Everything is going wrong." In her brain, it feels so big. It's like, "This is a horribly public place to do this. Why are you grabbing this now?" But it's that panic of, "What do I do?" And it's addiction. We talk about addiction with Langdon. This is another form of addiction. It's needing that thing that is going to make you feel better for a second in whatever twisted way that is.

I loved seeing fans picking up on her making that comment of, "until he relapses," and then she goes and grabs the scalpel. She's talking about herself. That's what she hates the most about him — she sees herself. And that's what he hates the most about her — he sees himself.

TVLINE | We have to talk about the finale — specifically that karaoke scene. It's such a departure from everything we've seen, not just for Santos and Mel, but for the show. Were you surprised when you first read it? And what do you think it was meant to represent as that final button to the season?
At face value, what I think this show does very well is it will show some of the most traumatic things you've ever seen, and then a funny moment will happen. That is the ER. That is working in a hospital. That is gallows humor. That is how people survive doing a job like this. So it feels in line with that kind of vibe of, you're going to watch 15 hours of people having the worst day of their lives... and then let's end it on something a little silly.

But once I sat with it for a while, I was happy that it shows some hope. At least from my [point of] view of Santos, it shows hope that she will reach out and lean on people and make friends. Because she's the one who brings it up — it's so surprising. She's the one who's like, "Do you want to go out?"

I think it's a really special moment of hope. Maybe she'll be OK. She's got all the right [tools], and you see she just wants connection. Even though everything she does is [in direct opposition to that], that's usually how it is. You push away what you want the most. She wants friends. She's just been scared to have them because she's lost them. I think this is hope that she will start to reach out and start to lean on other people.

TVLINE | That moment where Santos takes it upon herself to let Mel's hair down — was that scripted, or something you and Taylor found in the moment?
We were having fun with it. It came from a conversation we were having about what we were going to look like at the end of this, since we're showing we've gone somewhere else. I was like, "I should be in a different outfit." She thought she was going out with Garcia later, so she's going to put on a cute outfit. And also, last season people loved when I took my hair down, so I was, like, "Let's take it down again."

[Executive producer] John Wells was very specific about, "It can't look good. Your hair shouldn't look good because you worked a 15-hour shift." And we were playing with how Mel didn't know she was going to be going here, so she looks exactly as herself. We were, like, "How fun would it be if she took her hair down, too?" And I said, "I should do it for her, because she wouldn't do that." 

I think it's a moment of silly, goofy fun — but also, Trinity can be good at having friends. She just has to let herself.

TVLINE | Santos refers to karaoke as "primal scream therapy," which suggests she knows she needs an outlet, even if she's been avoiding seeing the trauma counselor. What does that tell you about where she is in terms of actually facing what she's dealing with — and where do you hope we find her when we pick back up in Season 3?
She's probably pretty resistant to therapy. I'm Filipino, she's Filipino — karaoke is big for Filipinos, and mental health talk is not always super present in Asian communities, especially with immigrant parents. So I think that's something she has always avoided, but karaoke has always been a part of her life. That's where she goes to put it all in. We've also seen she sings — she has a real Filipino healthcare professional energy.

It shows that she knows what she needs. She just pushes it away. That's the hope that lingers — there are outlets for her. There are things for her. There is fun in her future. Hopefully she's not always going to be sad and angry. Hope is out there. Just take some karaoke and a friend.