There’s a lot going on for Wolf in Brilliant Minds season 2, episode 2. One of those is dealing with a patient who thinks she’s in a TV show.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS from Brilliant Minds season 2, episode 2.
At the end of the Brilliant Minds season 2 premiere in the present day, we saw Wolf return home, only to find out that his dad was no longer there. Noah did leave a letter, and it doesn’t take long to get into that in the new episode.
Meanwhile, Carol has a big career move to face. Now that she’s decided she wants to fight for her job, it’s time to face the board. Just how will things work out in Brilliant Minds season 2, episode 2?
We open with what seems to be a take on Love Is Blind, even with the gold cups! Lauren is talking to a potential match on the other side of the wall, when she suddenly takes a turn and screams to be let out of the room before she collapses.
Carol prepares for her board hearing in Brilliant Minds season 2, episode 2
As usual, we don’t jump straight into the medical treatment, though. We start with Oliver turning to his mom with the note that his dad had left him. Muriel had no idea about Noah leaving, and she does have sympathy for her son. Naturally, she worries about how he feels, as Oliver is clearly pushing his feelings down. He says that he doesn’t care, but we know that he has a history of not talking and then blowing up.
Meanwhile, Carol Pierce has her own issues as she faces the board. Well, she talks with Josh Nichols about who is helping her prepare for the board hearing the next day. Of course, the topic of Oliver comes up, as Carol can see that Josh still has feelings for Oliver.
Now it’s time to catch up with Lauren, with nobody believing that she escaped from a reality show. Oliver knows that there’s a patient in there.
Charlie Porter continues to keep an eye on everyone around him, clearly ready to use something against them. It’s not clear what he’s up to just yet, but Ericka is clearly worried that he caught her secretly taking her lorazepam.
Back at the ER, Lauren talks to the doctors about what’s going on, but Lauren suddenly sees Oliver in a TV show way, and she’s sure that she’s still caught in the entire reality show, even pointing out where all the hidden cameras are. Oliver decides that he’s going to play along with the situation, realizing that he needs to get to the bottom of this.
It’s hard to believe you’re in a delusion, right?
Oliver decides that Lauren is experiencing Truman Show Syndrome, which is rare for even him. He doesn’t think it’s drugs, but something linked to something environmental. There’s even a chance that she was on a reality show, noting that producers are often given bonuses for breaking contestants. While Thorne wants to push anti-psychotic drugs, Oliver, Ericka, and Dana want to get to the bottom of it.
Brilliant Minds season 2, episode 2 certainly gets meta. Lauren points out that Oliver is the lead doctor who cares for his patients and can solve everyone else’s problems but his own, while Ericka is the Type-A personality intern, and Dana is there for the comedic relief. She can’t figure out why Charlie is there, since he’s “too hot to be a doctor,” so he must be her love interest. Her whole life is a reality show.
We find out that Lauren broke up with her “tech bro boyfriend,” but she’s never experienced something like this. Her sister is genuinely worried. Fortunately, Charlie gets Lauren’s sister to leave and take care of herself before he refers to Lauren in a derogatory way. Ericka overreacts a little too much, considering she’s an intern and Charlie is a second-year resident, but Charlie does need putting in his place by someone.
Elsewhere, Oliver is meeting with Carol for food, where she’s able to find out how he’s feeling. Again, it’s clear that he’s hurting, but he’s refusing to talk about it. Oliver would prefer to discuss Carol’s trial, and she knows that Josh was right in the way he turned “full Army General.” Carol thinks that she needs to lie about the situation, but isn’t that playing with fire?
Lauren wasn’t in a reality show. It turns out that she was in a cab when she had the break from reality, and Thorne continues to believe that she needs anti-psychotic meds. As she breaks free from the hospital, maybe Thorne is right to at least get the treatment started. Lauren runs into a room where she’s On Air in some sort of show in her mind, and it is time for Thorne to follow protocol for everyone’s safety. This isn’t going to help Lauren, though, as she continues to believe that she’s in a reality show.
Thorne does the only thing he can, and that's to follow protocol, putting Lauren into a room by herself and waiting for Psyche to show up.
Oliver figures out how to treat his patient in Brilliant Minds
It turns out that Oliver agrees that Thorne has done the right thing for Lauren’s safety, but Carol’s psyche replacement isn’t going to be able to help her. As Dana shares that Lauren’s brain is on fire, Oliver suggests that they turn down the temperature to help her, and then he goes into the room covered in strips of tape, which he places all around the room.
This is his attempt to “cover the cameras,” helping to build trust with Lauren to get her to talk to him. We get to see the conversation from Lauren’s point of view, where she believes she’s still in the Love Is Blind room.
There is a bit of a therapy session in there, as Lauren shares that she hopes he finds love too. We all know that Oliver and Josh should be together, and maybe it’s time for Oliver to let love in. In fact, as he leaves the room, he passes Josh and invites him for a drink.
Back with Carol, she is now facing the board hearing. She decides to tell the truth about how she didn’t end treatment after finding out who her patient was, in an attempt to change the way everyone looks at a psychiatrist.
While out for drinks, Oliver and Josh kiss, but Josh can’t really just go back to what they were. He wants to make sure Oliver is okay, and he’s sure that Oliver isn’t okay. Right now, Josh needs to be a friend, because he “doesn’t deserve to be jerked around,” and he’s right. Oliver may think he needs things to go back to normal, but he needs to deal with the pain of his dad walking out.
Their conversation is cut short when Oliver is paged back to the hospital. Lauren is in real pain, and Charlie (who looks to sabotage Ericka as she sleeps through pages) shares that it looks like internal bleeding. As Lauren is rushed to treatment, Charlie points out to a now-awake Ericka that she should probably ease up on the meds. Uh oh!
Amelia Fredricks enters the chat
What’s happened to Lauren? There’s something about her ovaries.
At the same time, Ericka wants Oliver to treat a patient in the ED who has been diagnosed as a schizophrenic, but she thinks that they need to start from the beginning with him. This man doesn’t want treatment, and Oliver makes it clear that they can’t treat someone who doesn’t want treatment.
One thing that Oliver does learn is that Lauren was going through IVF, but she didn’t tell anyone. To afford it, she was putting in more billable hours, and that led to her mental break. When Lauren thinks she sees something, her sister questions why she’s not better yet. This is something that takes time to develop, as while the mental delusions weren’t real, they were to Lauren.
In some good news, the egg retrieval process was a success, with three successful embryos. There is hope that she can have the family that she wants, but Lauren worries about her psychosis and what it means.
As Lauren’s sister tries to figure out how to help her, Amelia Fredricks shows up, sharing that she is the director at Hudson Oaks, which is an inpatient facility. She’s somehow heard about Lauren, but Oliver wants to know who told her. While she says that she was doing her rounds at Bronx General to help, it’s clear that there is something bigger at play.
Amelia is pushing for Harper to make a decision, but Oliver doesn’t want that. He decides that he and Harper should talk in private.
As all that goes on, the board votes on what to do about Carol. They’re split 50/50 between reinstating Carol and dismissing her.
Muriel figures out a way to help Carol in Brilliant Minds
Muriel comes up with a way to help Carol. She decides to step down as the head of the hospital, sharing that she was the one who encouraged Carol to keep treating her patient. That would allow Carol to return as the Head of Psyche, as she knows that the hospital and Oliver need Carol more than they both need her. Of course, Carol doesn’t want this to happen, but Muriel has made up her decision, and it’s not like it’s something new for Muriel. She’s been contemplating retirement for some time, and she’s ready for it. With that, Dr. Pierce is back at the hospital.
Back with Lauren’s sister with Lauren, as Lauren believes that going to Hudson Oaks is the best so that she’s not a burden on other people, but Oliver isn’t happy with this at all. He wants to make sure that Lauren is sure about Hudson Oaks, and as Carol walks into the hallway, Oliver suggests a second opinion.
Between Carol and Oliver, they’re able to explain that the psychotic break isn’t something that means inpatient care is needed. There are options out there to help with treatment and return to a normal life. It’s exactly what her sister really wants to happen, and there’s even the hope of freezing her embryos so that she can have a family in the future.
Of course, this is sure to set up some sort of rivalry between Oliver and Amelia. I’m still on the side that Charlie called Amelia, and that he’s working on getting Oliver fired.
It turns out that Alison also helped Carol get her job back, sharing with the board about how much Carol saved her. Carol had always thought that Alison was the one who reported her, but I have never believed that. I’m still sure it was her ex-husband in an act of revenge.
We end the present day with Oliver helping Muriel pack up her office, but he also has a chance to see that Muriel did what she could to help his dad. Oliver and Muriel are able to have a moment together as they remember the devastation of Noah’s illness and how it hurt him as well as the family.
Brilliant Minds season 2, episode 2 ends six months in the future, with Oliver back at Hudson Oaks. It looks like it’s his checking-in session, and maybe he’s even chosen to go himself as he starts to suffer a mental break. In fact, Carol is the one there encouraging him to sign in for inpatient care. What is going on?
Brilliant Minds airs Mondays at 10/9c on NBC.