Santos Reynoso in Ugly Betty is killed off at the end of Season 1. He is shot during a convenience store robbery in the finale, and Season 2 reveals that the brief “he’s alive” hope is just Hilda’s grief-driven fantasy before she accepts that he died.

What happened

  • Santos proposes to Hilda before the shooting.
  • He is shot in the Season 1 finale, “East Side Story.”
  • The Season 2 premiere initially makes it seem like he survived, but that turns out to be a dream/denial sequence.

Why it hits hard

The show uses Santos’s death as a major emotional turning point for the Suarez family, especially Hilda, whose grief is central to the Season 2 premiere.

If you want, I can also explain why the show wrote him out or give you a season-by-season recap of Santos’s story.