When I sat down with Briones to unpack Season 2, Episode 3, I asked whether Santos, beyond her relief, is reckoning with how much her own trauma continues to cast a shadow over her clinical judgment in moments like this.
“Yeah, I think it’s complicated,” Briones says. “There’s no world where she was hoping that that was the case. But unfortunately, it does happen — it comes into the ED — and it’s not out of the realm of possibility.”
From Santos’ perspective, she’s doing what the job demands.
“As a doctor who is caring for this child, you have to rule out the worst possible things,” Briones continues. “For her, it was trying to be a good doctor, trying to make sure that this wasn’t happening, and really addressing that first.”
At the same time, Briones acknowledges that Santos’ past inevitably shapes how quickly her mind goes there.
“I do think she can sometimes go to some dark places and assume some dark things of people because of where she’s come from, what she’s been through,” she says. “And I think, in that moment, it can feel like a weakness — like, ‘Oh, I got it wrong.’ But it’s not necessarily that she got it wrong. It’s more like, ‘Thank God that’s not happening.'”
It’s also why cases like this are never handled in isolation, she explains, adding: “That’s why multiple doctors work on one case. Everyone has a different point of view. Maybe another person wouldn’t have immediately thought [abuse]. But what if that was what was happening?
“Everyone comes from different walks of life and brings that to work, for better or worse,” Briones says. “There are always pros and cons. But it makes sense that she would immediately think of that — because she’s seen some of the worst of humanity. That conclusion comes from experience.”