SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Brilliant Minds Season 2, Episode 2.

Brilliant Minds Season 2, Episode 2 isn’t afraid to leave what is broken within the NBC show. “The Contestant” pivots from a tongue-in-cheek meta story to a quiet indictment of prejudging mental health conditions. And it also contains a connection to Chicago Med that makes it even better.

That connection is actor Molly Bernard, who recurred as Dr. Elsa Curry across Chicago Med Season 4 and Season 5. In Brilliant Minds she portrays the patient, Lauren, who is convinced that she’s on a reality show in a case of “Truman Show Syndrome.” That diagnosis enables Brilliant Minds to have some fun at its own expense. Some of the episode’s early scenes lean into a meta angle, such as Dr. Oliver Wolf telling Lauren that he plays a doctor on TV and Lauren accurately describing everyone else’s characters. The writers honestly could have done the whole episode in this self-deprecating way and been successful, but they deserve kudos for knowing when to conclude the bit.

Lauren’s story is semi-efficiently revealed to have a more serious cause: a breakup with her boyfriend, coupled with the challenge of in vitro fertilization and general life stress. Wolf cautions her and her sister Harper that recovery will be an ongoing process, as she becomes the touchpoint for a greater discussion about how mental health patients are treated. Emergency room boss Thorne rubs the group the wrong way when he has Lauren confined in the psychiatric unit, but Wolf tells them that Thorne is correctly following protocol since she tried to escape the hospital. Later on, Hudson Oaks director Amelia Fredericks makes her second appearance, trying to persuade Lauren to agree to inpatient care.

Wolf, speaking from his own experience, delivers a mini-monologue about how Lauren’s care is her decision and convinces her to meet with Dr. Carol Pierce. Carol, in turn, talks to Lauren and Harper about how Lauren can go home and live her life—including the IVF. This is the only acceptable outcome given Brilliant Minds‘ own mental health subplot. It would be immensely hypocritical for a series that has so thoroughly explored Wolf’s mental health to have an episode that ended with Lauren being sent away like a defective computer. Not to mention that Wolf advocating for Lauren only adds to the impact of seeing him sign himself into Hudson Oaks in the next flashforward, especially with Carol watching him do it.

That’s where “The Contestant” shines, for the most part. Things are allowed to be “wrong” or out of order. The relationship between Wolf and Dr. Josh Nichols remains broken, even though Wolf kisses Nichols at a bar, while Nichols points out that Wolf wanted time to get his house in order and it very much isn’t. Nichols doesn’t want to be used as a crutch and the show doesn’t make him one, despite that romance being a big part of what made Brilliant Minds a hit last season. The episode opts for what makes sense for the characters and not what would be easiest or best for the show.

The only quibble is with Carol’s subplot as she faces the hospital board to try and get her job back. There’s a big deus ex machina element, because Dr. Muriel Landon lies to the board and steps down as hospital CMO in order to reinstate Carol. Muriel’s argument is that the hospital and Wolf need Carol more than they need her, and her comment that she’s been contemplating retirement for a while feels like the writers trying to justify the twist to the audience. It’s great to have Carol back, but not at Muriel’s expense.

Maybe Brilliant Minds felt like it had gotten enough mileage out of the whole “Wolf’s mother is also his boss” idea, and therefore this was a way to solve two concerns in one subplot. But in the long term, phasing out both of Wolf’s parents (since his father disappeared again in the Season 2 premiere) takes away one of the other aspects that helped the series. And Carol isn’t even wholly out of the woods, as Nichols reveals to her that her ex-patient Alison was not the person who reported her to the hospital board. This makes Muriel’s departure feel a little bit less impactful, since Carol may have her job back but the overall problem persists.

Brilliant Minds Season 2, Episode 2 earns an incredible amount of points for being willing to let characters and stories be flawed. Aside from the Carol and Muriel story, nothing feels smoothed over “because TV,” even when there are opportunities to drum up more excitement. Molly Bernard gives a strong performance that allows any Chicago Med fans to see her in a different light. And the point that “The Contestant” makes feels like it’s the point of the entire show: that mental health is health, and those who are struggling with it shouldn’t be seen differently.

Brilliant Minds airs Mondays at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Photo Credit: Courtesy of NBC.

Article content is (c)2020-2025 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.