Spoilers ahead for Episode 3 of Brilliant Minds Season 1 on NBC.
Zachary Quinto's streak of emotional episodes of new medical drama Brilliant Minds in the 2024 TV schedule continued with the third installment, called "The Lost Biker." Guest starring Steve Howey of CBS' short-lived True Lies TV show, Quinto's Dr. Oliver Wolf was once again able to find a solution to the mysterious neurological case of the week... but the ending for the patient was bittersweet at best. Throw in a powerful realization about his own parents, and this was a wild ride of emotions. In fact, it reminded me of my conversation with Quinto about Brilliant Minds drawing some tears.
First things first! The main patient of the week was Wyatt, a biker friend of Wolf's who was used to trading medical treatments for motorcycle repairs. He required more than just stitches this time around, as Wolf realized that he needed brain surgery ASAP to save his own life, with the catch that the surgery would likely put an end to his ability to form any new memories. Wyatt just wanted one good memory with his estranged daughter Hailey before the loss, so Wolf decided to take Wyatt for a visit with Hailey to give him just that.
It was a move that honestly reminded me of how Brilliant Minds started its very first episode, with Dr. Wolf taking dementia patient Harold (Broadway's Andre De Shields) to his granddaughter's wedding, jogging his memory with music, and giving the family one very happy moment before his memories faded again. Unfortunately, the daring move that worked beautifully in the medical drama's series premiere backfired in "The Lost Biker," and it was a close call before Wyatt was able to pull through his surgery and start his life all over again... every single day, due to the amnesia from the surgery.
Between the bittersweetness of the ending for Wyatt and Wolf realizing that his mother was letting him remember events from his childhood the way he needs to, I found "The Lost Biker" to be the most emotional that Brilliant Minds has gotten since the first five minutes of the pilot. (You can rewatch that opening with a Peacock subscription now.) When Zachary Quinto spoke with CinemaBlend about his new show, I admitted to the Star Trek actor that those first five minutes of the premiere left me crying. The star laughed and responded:
That's good! I take that as a compliment. Thank you. It's moving, and that's part of what excites me about it, actually. Hopefully reflecting back at audiences experiences that they've had that can be cathartic or generate some conversations. I just think we live in a time where seeing ourselves in stories is very comforting, and we're a show that aims to do that. So if you were moved and drawn into it and you had an emotional reaction, then I think that means we're doing our job. Which is great.
Quinto also shared that playing a character based on real-life neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks was a major appeal in bringing Brilliant Minds to television, as he gets to play a character "who is much more rooted in a sense of compassion and faith in humanity" than those he's portrayed on shows like American Horror Story and the original run of Heroes. Is it any wonder that he could see the compliment in me tearing up at the emotional first five minutes of his new show?
Of course, I'd completely meant it as a compliment, although I do have to wonder if I would have been choked up if Zachary Quinto's scene partner wasn't Andre De Shields. The Tony Award-winner from Hadestown singing "God Only Knows" as not only the opening scene, but also the introduction to Dr. Wolf packed a punch. Quinto commented on De Shields joining the show for that sequence, saying:
Come on, you can't get better than Andre De Shields. That was such an honor to have him for our pilot, because that's obviously before we got picked up. He really came along for the ride, literally and figuratively. But it was so great to have him, and he really does bring such an added depth, and I think emotional connection to that sequence in the pilot.
While it seems unlikely that Andre De Shields will make another appearance as Harold, Brilliant Minds does have another Broadway alum (and Criminal Minds vet) on the way with Mandy Patinkin set to recur. The full first season filmed before the premiere on NBC, and the next episode seems to be the one that was heavily hyped in early promos with Wolf taking a patient's drugs. Take a look:
Keep tuning in to NBC on Mondays at 10 p.m. ET for new episodes of Brilliant Minds, which also stars Tamberla Perry. The actress landed her role as Dr. Carol Pierce after an unconventional chemistry read with Zachary Quinto, and each episode has shed a bit more light on her character as well. If you want to catch up on the medical drama, you can find the earlier episodes streaming on Peacock.
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