before the finale airs i would like to clarify that the mel and santos friendship hasn’t “come out of nowhere” and actually there have been crumbs sprinkled through the first season and this season and makes sense for both of the characters if you’re actually watching the show with an open mind and heart!!!
in this season alone, santos was the first person who checked in on mel and asked her about herself and becca, proceeded to explained mel’s stress over the deposition to dr. al-hashimi because mel was obviously exhausted by talking about it, listened to mel’s advice about using dictation for charting, listened when mel taught her, and held in her overstimulation outburst when mel was talking to her and took it out on whitaker instead. similarly, mel has tried to validate and ease santos’ stress about her R2 year, taught her and helped her in a gentle and non-condescending way (which rarely anyone does with santos), specifically went to santos to gossip about the patient flirting with her, and has tried to be near her and engage with her and be friendly to her in a time when trinity is obviously feeling alone and unloved. they like each-other and they both have made their attempts at connecting and those attempts still matter even if they failed!
i find it sad that fans of mel usually have neutral-negative opinion on santos and fans of santos often have a neutral-negative opinion on mel (if not negative, just total lack of regard) and find it even sadder that these stances have blinded a lot of people to their interactions and developing relationship on screen. (not even mentioning that the reason fans of either feel negatively towards the other is literally because of a man lmfao gag meeeeee)
Yes santos is sarcastic and quippy with mel, but that’s how she is with everyone. if she were to treat mel with baby gloves and not be herself, would that not be infantilizing? i also keep seeing people say like “oh santos is rolling her eyes or making a face at mel speaking” and despite there probably not being a single person in that ED that santos hasn’t made a face at, i do think trinity’s reactions to mel are something more than “oh she’s annoyed/weirded out”. What is noticeably different about their interactions is how when Santos gets defensive and sarcastic or tries to play things off with humor with other people like whitaker or javadi or even frank, those people tense up and get defensive or sarcastic back, and Santos’ defensive shield remains intact. Mel, on the other hand, is impervious to trinity’s sarcasm and defensiveness. she takes Santos seriously and wants to connect with her in a way that freaks Santos out, throws her off her normal defenses, and i think, leaves space for vulnerability to grow. Yes they communicate differently and see the world differently so they bump up against each but they do have similarities! they both have control freak tendencies! they both have big hearts that tend towards caring for others! they both are blunt and say what they mean! they both want a family out of that mess of an ED even if mel is the only one willing to say it out loud.
mel has obviously grown up as an autistic glass child who never got to figure out who she was, figure out what she likes, or really learn much about herself as we were told explicitly this season. who possibly on earth could be a better friend for her than a girl who couldn’t possible be anything other than her truthful authentic self even when it gets her in trouble, causes people to dislike her, and causes strife in her personal relationships? santos obviously has a problem with regulating her emotions, holding anyone (or anyone really) in a positive regard, lacking defensiveness. who is a better friend for her than a girl who is really just excited to be there, who pries the soft side out of the cocky smartass R4, who has carried herself through an extremely hard life but knows how to care for and regulate herself and remain steady in the world?
they are both so so so lonely, and for obvious reasons are the kind of girls who have trouble making friends in general but especially making friends with other girls. i genuinely think their friendship could be a place where they both heal, where they get to be teenage girls again, where they get to laugh and have fun and learn from each other. i love these two characters so so so much and their friendship already means everything to me and im very passionate about everyone understanding them better and becoming mentospilled!!!!