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Ophelia Mayer - Sweet Vicious (1x08)

I’ve seen some people say that they don’t like this duo because they ‘lack chemistry’ or something, and to that I have a few things I wanna touch on.

I wanna make a point that Trinity Santos at 7am at the start of that shift would have probably never asked Mel to go out to karaoke together. This dynamic arc is an intentional depiction of how Santos’ character thinks about other people, and it tells us a lot about her. We know Trinity is a very guarded person with tons of walls up, using sarcasm and some offhand meanness as a coping mechanism. To that you gotta ask, who is the one person in the ED that the sarcasm doesn’t work on? Like not even a little because she doesn’t recognize it as such? It’s Mel.

We see Trin using her usual sarcastic, biting commentary towards Mel a few times this season, and we see her reaction when it never really lands the way it normally does on others. In a small way in those moments, Trinity sees that the guarding she has up isn’t working, and even more so that it’s not even necessary here, because Mel isn’t the type of person to try and assess a deeper meaning behind Trinity’s actions.

(God love Dennis Whitaker, he was obviously not trying to upset Trinity when he was teasing her when she was ‘complaining’ about what it’s like being his roommate, but she clearly didn’t like someone being able to read past her emotional walls without her permission, ergo causing her to default to trying to insult him; cue her calling him a fuckleberry for a glorious second time) I don’t mean that Dennis being able to read Trinity isn’t good for her, I’m SO happy they have each other, but clearly he isn’t always going to be around to keep her company, and she’s not used to or ready to be vulnerable like that yet. She’s still taking things at her own pace and that’s ok for now, becauseee

By the end of this shift, when we clearly see how drained Trinity is particularly, as she’s falling in and out of sleep at the desk finishing the digital charting, it makes sense to assume that after 15 hours, she’s less weary of keeping those walls up, as anyone would be, and with those scenes with Mel where the snarky comments had failed, this very vulnerable side of her might well find some comfort seeking companionship in someone that she knows won’t judge her or read into all her defensive shit.

One of my big worries going into the finale was obviously Trinity’s wellbeing when we saw Whitaker being essentially confirmed to spend the night over on that farm and the GarSantos fireworks date being called off earlier in the season, so after seeing that day resurface some trauma for her, alongside her pocketing that scalpel, it would have been really shitty if the show had ended the season with her going home on her own or even leaving it up in the air.

Part of me had hoped that Langdon would ask Mel to go see the fireworks together after Becca ditched her, but I think this ending is actually way better. Mel obviously had a lot on her mind as well, with everything she’d learned that day about her sister and her own insecurities that those revelations brought with them. Add the fact that she has to go back to give another deposition; girlie needed a break. And with her ongoing struggle to connect with her coworkers on a more meaningful level aside from Frank, I’m sure hanging out with Trinity made her really happy, especially since it was Trinity’s idea that they go out.

In this way, Mentos are the perfect supports for each other in that moment. With all the things weighing on the both of them, some scream-therapy at karaoke after a few drinks sounds like a wholesome way for them to wind down after a day like that. Between Mel really just having Frank as her closest confidant and Trin having Dennis, I’m happy that my girls wound up finding comfort in each other and were able to kickstart a new much-needed friendship for both of them. Much-needed, because their previous situations could potentially have triggered some codependency if they both only had one person each to keep them company with what is already such a difficult job, especially when Frank and Dennis clearly have other people that they’re worrying about and spending time with.

It all comes back to what seems to be the most important message of the show, which is to emphasize the importance of community. Working in an ER is probably one of the most stressful jobs a person can have in our society, but no matter what profession we’re in, we all need companionship and moral support. We all need to feel seen from time to time, and it’s good to have someone beside us when we need to decompress and wind down after a stressful day. We all love the dynamics between Kingdon and Santos/Whitaker, but I’m so glad that now those aren’t the only people Mel and Trinity have to fall back on. It takes a village.