Santos & Langton: Cut from the same fabric
(WARNING! CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE PITT)
WITH season 2 of the medical HBO show, The Pitt, popularity has spurred after the success of season 1. With more traction from social media, comes the difference of opinions shared within the social media sphere. Each season of The Pitt focuses on the 12+ hour shift of the narrative rather than a multitude of days. Back during season 1, Senior Resident, Frank Langdon is revealed to not only be on drugs but stealing prescription drugs from patients within the hospital. It becomes a problem when one of the patients seize for longer than attended putting their life in danger. Second year-resident Trinity Santos is the only one on the medical team to catch Langdon and even report it.
From the beginning of the show, Santos is known for her brashness and brutal honesty among the medical team and is even called out for her attitude over the course of the season. Langdon is among one of the prominent members not afraid to call her out, even if it means publicly humiliating her in front of her colleagues or even other patients. It's assumed that Santos's reporting of Langdon stemmed from his verbal aggression toward her over the course of the episode that actually leads to Langdon being dismissed from his position. Even after completing almost a year of rehab, Langdon is back for season 2, but Santos still carries a grudge and shows no signs of forgiveness.
From the start, many fans don't take an easy liking toward Santos because of her aggressive behavior and ridicule her character, yet at the same time, are willing to almost pacify Langdon and not hold him accountable.
Yes, Santos is shown to be brash and not think through her actions, but the same can be said about Langdon, leaving me to believe the hatred toward Santos as character is due to misogyny and homophobia (Santos is canonically a lesbian). Both these characters are flawed, but complex. The format of The Pitt allows for us to see their complete humanity, their bad moments and their good moments. At their core, they are not written to be 100% bad or even 100% good.
It's frustrating watching fans bash on Santos, but again, pacify Langdon and undermine his actions, even if it serves to devalue his character. Season 2 has shown a softer side to Santos, but fans aren't letting up on her. It does a disservice to the writing overall to only view these characters from their flaws. Yes, Langdon is stealing drugs from patients, but the show still manages to show his regret and his care for his patients, especially upon returning back to the hospital. Yes, Santos may be brash, aggressive at times, and prickly, but there's a softer side, and a history of hurt you see through her actions.
Exactly this, I previously had the idea of speaking on this topic but didn't just because of the risk for spoilers so I instead did a brief overview of the show. I think the hate that Santos receives is extremely overdone, watchers acknowledge that the other healthcare workers make mistakes and can learn from them but fail to see that she also has grown as a person. Her character is so complex, and I feel a deep connection to her so seeing people toss her storyline to the side and chalk it up to her have an attitude with her superiors is hurtful. She's not allowed to have bad days while still being a good doctor and person at the core. People fail to see that she's struggling but still manages to defend and advocate for her patients during their worst days. I honestly do sympathize with Langdon, I feel like he is learning and growing from his addiction, but I agree he could be doing more to show this like Santos points out. I just feel like people should give the same treatment to both characters instead of choosing to have favoritism to one character for similar issues.
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