Brilliant Minds – The Pusher – Review: Dana Drops a Major Bombshell… I Don't Know How She Recovers From This

I must say, tonight’s episode of Brilliant Minds left me a little conflicted with my thoughts – but we’ll get to that in a bit. 

At the start of the episode a woman, Gloria, is seemingly pushed onto the track while waiting for the train. The only other person on the platform was this man named Adam. Gloria is his caretaker which makes sense that he was there, but authorities believe he’s the one that pushed Gloria. The evidence against him was damning too. 

Michelle, Van’s child’s mother, brought the case to the team at Bronx General. Adam was assigned to her and she feels as though he needs more help than a social worker can give. Smart move on her part; the thing about Adam is he’s severely autistic and non-verbal. So, how do you help someone who can’t communicate with you? You learn to speak their unique language. 

“The Pusher” – BRILLIANT MINDS, Pictured: Alex MacNicoll as Dr. Van Markus, Stacey Farber as Michelle. Photo: Pief Weyman/NBC © 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Carol said something that I think beautifully describes how unique autism is. She said “there is a saying in the autistic community, ‘if you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism’”. It’s not a one size fits all situation, so what the team has to figure out here is how to get to know Adam. This is where Van’s Mirror-Touch Synesthesia (MTS) becomes extremely useful. They need to understand what Adam is feeling in order to better help him. While in the room trying to get a sense of what’s going on, Van concludes that Adam is, for lack of a better term, overstimulated. He’s feeling everything all at once and it’s causing him to lash out at anyone who tries to approach him; he even hurts himself sometimes with how overpowering it gets. Van puts some headphones on him and Adam’s world goes silent. This is what he needed. 

Now that Oliver is able to examine him, he learns that there’s no neurological abnormalities, which means it was okay to question him about the situation. When Carol asks him about what happened with Gloria on the platform he starts to say a name. The team couldn’t figure it out but they were determined to try. You know who wasn’t willing to try? The police officers who came and arrested him, assuming he was guilty. Now, like I said, the evidence was damning. But the aggressiveness was unnecessary– take a beat and listen to this man’s doctors maybe? 

“The Pusher” – BRILLIANT MINDS, Pictured: Brian Altemus as Dr. Charlie Porter, Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolf, Stacey Farber as Michelle, Ashleigh LaThrop as Dr. Ericka Kinney, Aury Krebs as Dr. Dana Dang, Alex MacNicoll as Dr. Van Markus. Photo: Pief Weyman/NBC © 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Thankfully, Gloria woke up in time to explain everything. Adam wasn’t saying a name he was repeating “say ‘ahh’”, which is what he heard the doctors say when he would go to Gloria’s appointments with her. When he drew a “butterfly” image that seemed like nothing, it was the shape of the rash (unique to people who have Lupus) Gloria would get and was a sign to Adam that she was getting sick. When she was on the platform waiting for the train, Adam didn’t push her, Adam saw she was about to faint and was running towards her to try and help her, but he wasn’t fast enough and she fell. It was a bad look for Adam, but again it’s all about perspective. I feel like the police saw what they wanted to and Adam was an easy target for them. Come on, a man who couldn’t speak up for himself, was a bit violent when he got overstimulated, and worst of all, ran away (not because he was guilty but because he was scared for Gloria) – easy arrest. I’m glad everything worked out for him and Gloria in the end. 

Speaking of Gloria’s fall, Katie, a badass EMT, jumped onto the tracks to save her knowing the electricity wasn’t turned off. Everyone celebrated her heroics except for Dana; she was having a hard time with her girlfriend taking unnecessary risks. Katie, however, reassures her that the reason she does whatever it takes to save someone is because she thinks “That could be someone’s Dana” and you guys that was the sweetest thing I ever heard. 

Now, back to why this episode made me feel a little conflicted. When Ericka was getting ready to confess that she’s been taking medication to help with her PTSD, Dana thought that she might’ve figured it out so she confessed that she was the one who reported Carol to the board. Excuse me?! It wasn’t even that, it was the fact that she said if given the opportunity, she would do it again. Excuse me?! It makes sense now why she wasn’t thrilled about helping Ericka on her mission to find out who did it. She also kept deflecting when Ericka brought it up. On one side, I couldn’t believe she would do that to Carol. On the other, it makes sense that she would. Carol was in the wrong and as someone in higher authority, she should be held accountable. But then again, Dana, how could you? See! This is why I’m conflicted. 

A new chief has been named and asks to speak to Oliver. I wish there was someone around to capture the look on my face when I saw Oliver walk into his mother’s old office and it was none other than Josh Nichols. What? No, wait, what does this mean for them? 

I’d like to hear your thoughts on this episode. Share them below or connect with me on X/Twitter @chenfordhugs