WARNING - If you have not seen tonight’s new episode of Brilliant Minds and don’t want spoilers, look away!
You know, as cringey as it might be to think of, I absolutely loved the storyline with June Sullivan’s autonomy over her body. I wouldn’t expect a son to want to know that their mother is in her hypersexual era, but it seems as though they were going that extra mile to stop her from being herself. When June is being seen by Oliver, he describes her as having a “twinkle in her eye” and, though odd, it’s perfectly normal for a woman to want to explore her sexual desires – age be damned.
June has been asked to leave her assisted living home due to erratic behavior. She protested that this place wants her medicated and doesn’t allow her to be herself. Believing that her changed behavior could be due to something more serious, her sons ask Oliver for help. Could this be a sign of dementia or is she just a free spirit having a time of her life? Oliver orders cognitive tests to find out what’s going on.
"Chapter Eight: The Lovesick Widow" - BRILLIANT MINDS - Pictured: Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolf, Susan Nimoy as June Sullivan, Jim Watson as Patrick Sullivan, Kristopher Turner as Kevin Sullivan. Photo: Rafy/NBC © 2024 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
June’s lab results are normal, but at the same time Oliver reviews them with Dana and Ericka, there’s a distress call from her room. She’s speaking but not making any sense– turns out she had a transient ischemic attack (mini-stroke). This, as it turns out, was a symptom of her untreated “cupid’s disease” (or syphilis) , which was most likely passed to her by her late husband. June doesn’t want to get the treatment she needs because she’s afraid of losing her hypersexuality. Now, I could understand June’s decision here – Stella had to get her groove back too. What frustrated me was that the decision on what was best for her seemed to be solely based on her sons being uncomfortable with their mother’s want of a healthy sex life. It shouldn’t matter what they wanted – it wasn’t about them. When it looked like things weren’t going to go her way, June’s “twinkle” began to dim. Luckily, Oliver talked some sense into her sons and found a solution that would both treat June’s syphilis, but also keep her... well, at her true self.
"Chapter Eight: The Lovesick Widow" - BRILLIANT MINDS - Pictured: Julia Chan as Alison Zhang-Whitaker. Photo: Rafy/NBC © 2024 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
I am not one to call anyone crazy (the word leaves a bad taste in my mouth), however, Alison Zhang-Whitaker is something close to it. She goes to see Carol, in need of help to get over her ex who has decided to break things off. The man has set boundaries and she feels as though she should be able to contact him (Alison, let me hold your hands when I say this: let it go). While in this session, she lets it slip that she googled Carol prior to their sessions and knew a few facts about her. The red flag is instantly raised.
Feeling a bit uneasy when Alison goes MIA, Carol asks Dana for help to find her online. A google search showed that not only did Alison lie about being a PhD student at NYU, she knows Carol’s husband. My jaw dropped when it suddenly started to click – she’s been talking about Carol’s husband the entire time; the man she wants to contact, who she misses, who she wants closure from. Carol, putting the pieces together, tells Oliver what’s been going on. I like that he was playing devil’s advocate while also validating her feelings on the matter. Something is truly off with Alison: when she next meets with Carol, she wasn’t happy with Carol trying to stop their sessions. This isn’t a great idea, but Carol decides to continue to work with her. This should be interesting.
"Chapter Eight: The Lovesick Widow" - BRILLIANT MINDS - Pictured: Teddy Sears as Dr. Josh Nicols, Donna Murphy as Dr. Muriel Landon, Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolf. Photo: Rafy/NBC © 2024 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Staying on the subject of interest, Josh and Oilver are growing closer (and I am growing happier). When Josh enters Oliver’s office and is a babbling mess, I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of this once confident man exhibiting nervous behavior with Oliver. The shakiness of his voice, almost like there was some uncertainty he wanted answers to, and boy did Oliver answer. They shared a passionate kiss as if this would be the last time they ever got the chance and no they were not going to let this moment go to waste.
They share another moment together while in the elevator and, well, not much privacy this time. I mean, come on you two, there’s a time and place and trust me when I say the workplace, while on shift, isn’t one of them. When the elevator doors open and Oliver’s mom, Dr. Landon, witnesses their… connection, she walks away without a word. When Josh runs into her later and tries to explain, I was happy when she said she didn’t want to know and warned him not to hurt Oliver, but that quickly changed.
"Chapter Eight: The Lovesick Widow" - BRILLIANT MINDS - Pictured: Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver. Photo: Rafy/NBC © 2024 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Through flashbacks, we learn that Oliver’s mom caught him together with a boy who was staying with them at the time, and though she didn’t say anything to him directly, she made the boy leave. Now after an interaction with his mother (unknown to Oliver at the time), Josh tells Oliver that they should quit before anything really happens and it was just misplaced grief. I nearly screamed when Oliver agreed with him and tried to brush it off like this was nothing. This is not nothing. Oliver later confronted his mother about what happened in the past and how he felt that it was happening again – that she was the reason Josh decided to hit pause. She tries to excuse it by saying she didn’t know what to say to him because of what she was witnessing at the hospitals at the time and thought she was protecting him. Thankfully, Oliver confronts Josh as well and tells him that he wants to give them a try. He’s hesitant at first, but then agrees that they could give it a try.
Tonight’s episode of Brilliant Minds was a rollercoaster of emotions – what’d you think of the episode? Share your thoughts below or connect with me on X/Twitter @chenfordhugs
