Critic’s Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
4.5
Brilliant Minds featured a solid series premiere to get viewers interested in Dr. Oliver Wolf, his techniques, and his interns. Still, thankfully, this installment kicked the drama and character development into high gear.
During Brilliant Minds Season 1 Episode 2, Dr. Wolf, Van, and Jacob handled the lead case of Jessie Williams, who experienced symptoms of proprioception disorder. Ericka and Dana dealt with a patient who hallucinated seeing a dragon with Dr. Wolf and Dr. Pierce’s help.
Oliver’s mother, Dr. Muriel Landron, also meddled in his affairs, which made working at Bronx Hospital challenging.
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Dr. Wolf and the Guys Get Attached to Jessie
Jessie Williams, a local WNBA star, originally came in for gallbladder surgery but started having disturbing dreams. It was fascinating seeing Dr. Pierce so excited about meeting a basketball star.
Part of the issue was that she needed someone to listen to her and not brush off her complaints. That’s one of Dr. Wolf’s specialties: listening.
He understood that she felt like she had no control over her body and didn’t understand why she couldn’t control her hands or her balance.
He was the only one who recognized that her condition was worsening when he realized the signature on her consent forms didn’t match the ball she had autographed for Carol a few hours before.
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For professional sports players, being unable to dribble or shoot a basket would be torture. It was worse that she couldn’t walk a few steps towards Jacob without stumbling.
Van learned a difficult lesson: he shouldn’t scare a terrified patient more when he panicked. He seemed as terrified of needles as Dr. Wolf was as a child, but Van must overcome that.
At least Van let Dr. Wolf experiment on him, and they learned Jessie had a proprioception disorder, where any muscles out of sight were dead to her.
Jessie was so beloved by her girls’ basketball team, her brother, and the entire community that she had plenty of reasons to fight. It was easy to understand why Wolf and his interns were determined to fight for her and horrified his mom might not.
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While other communities gather, sports communities truly celebrate when one of their own overcomes injury. We’ve seen it on Friday Night Lights and All American.
Jessie worked hard to walk to her brother and team and earn that group hug. Within months, she was playing back on that court with Dr. Wolf and the interns in the audience.
Ericka and Dana Lead Their First Case
The interns were enthused when Dr. Wolf brought a man to the hospital to the hospital, who hallucinated dragons.
The interns could relate to Hallucinations and fraternity guys, but Ericka and Dana quickly learned they couldn’t let their preconceived notions affect them.
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This episode included many callbacks to other television shows, and I especially enjoyed Jacob asking if it was similar to Pokeman or a Game of Thrones dragon.
As the lead on the case, Ericka strived to figure out what type of dragon Pete saw, but he was too hungover to help much.
Since Ericka was often seen as the leader, seeing her confused and learning from Dr. Pierce was refreshing.
She was certain she could pass on his case to psychology if he suffered from a psychotic break, but the fierce Dr. Pierce set Ericka straight.
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Once Dr. Pierce learned that Pete still saw the dragon even though he was sober, but he knew the dragon wasn’t real, the doctors realized it was a neurological issue.
It wasn’t until Ericka dismissed Pete as some dumb frat guy and examined the problem that she looked at his MRI again. She noticed a lesion on his brain, which caused visual disturbances or hallucinations of a dragon outside his window.
The Interns Discover Their Weaknesses and Bond
The interns realized how these cases could get to them.
This was Spence Moore II‘s episode to shine. Jacob bonded with Coach Jessie since they both retired from sports and wanted to assure her she’d coach again.
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It crushed him when she went into a coma, and his theory of her B6 levels being too high failed.
He seemed to relate the most to Dr. Wolf’s speech about taking out Jessie’s breathing tube, starting small, and believing in her.
Jacob: He gives locker room speeches now.
Dana: Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t breathe
Dr. Wolf has become like a coach, and the interns formed a camaraderie by the end.
Dana seemed the most easy-going and probably did party in college. She made it her mission to loosen Ericka up, and it was a fun scene watching her, Ericka, and Jacob drink beer and celebrate their cases.
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Hopefully, Van will join them next time and learn to relax. He’s a lot like Dr. Wolf, a mini-perfectionist who hates needles.
Dr. Wolf’s Mommy Issues
Working with family is often challenging, especially when it’s someone like Dr. Muriel Landon (Donna Murphy).
I suspect that’s why Dr. Wolf didn’t want to work at Bronx Hospital initially, but as his mom mentioned, he was running out of hospitals willing to accommodate his unorthodox plans.
His risky plans often save his patients, though. He’s his father’s son, who has learned to focus on one small thing at a time and believe in hope. He’s also taught those valuable lessons to his interns.
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Mother-son relationships are complicated.
She still saw him as her son, not an adult, and embarrassed him by calling him her pet nickname in front of his interns. She still remembered her son as the kid who faltered at dissecting frogs.
However, her worst mistake was consulting Dr. Pierce about transferring Jessie to long-term care instead of her son. That felt like a betrayal to him, like giving up on someone who needed them.
Their medical core values seem at odds, so hopefully, this will work out.
I’m relieved that Dr. Pierce has stayed impartial and refused to spy on her friend so far. A life-long friendship is too important to break.
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What did you think of this drama-packed Brilliant Minds episode, TV Fanatics? Did you appreciate learning more about the interns?
What do you think Dr. Landon is hiding about her son, and will it affect the hospital dynamics?
We love to hear your thoughts, so let us know in the comments.
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