What is going on with everyone at Bronx General? Tonight’s episode of Brilliant Minds taps into the Halloween spirit and brings us one of the creepiest episodes yet.
The episode kicks off with Charlie taking the team out to a haunted house as a sort of team building initiative. Ericka says she doesn’t like them because of the narrative that they imply when it comes to mental health. Honestly, I never thought of it like that but she has a point. Most haunted houses have people who have “gone mad” or are locked in padded rooms – which is meant to be scary, but like Ericka said, it makes it harder for people to come and ask for help.
“The Doctor’s Graveyard” – BRILLIANT MINDS, Pictured: Nabil Rajo as Sam Mapesbury, Ashleigh LaThrop as Dr. Ericka Kinney. Photo by: Pief Weyman/NBC © NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
While entering the haunted house, everyone got separated at one point and Ericka found herself in a room that resembled an elevator malfunctioning. This is probably the perfect place for it to happen because when she came out looking scared, Jacob didn’t really put it together why she was scared. She still isn’t over the events that happened at her old building.
Sam, a frequent flyer at the hospital, is back and Ericka, well, she just can’t help but want to be there for him. He’s hesitant at first but eventually warms up to her. As she’s talking to him, she convinces him to stay for a 48-hour hold just so he could get the help that he needs. They take the elevator to the psych floor and this scene quickly becomes chaotic. Sam doesn’t do well in closed spaces, he hears voices that tell him that he’s in danger (even though he’s not) and this causes him to spiral. On the other hand, Ericka is brought back to that day she was trapped in the elevator of her building after the collapse and she herself begins to spiral as well.
“The Doctor’s Graveyard” – BRILLIANT MINDS, Pictured: Al Calderon as Nico Silva, Aury Krebs as Dr. Dana Dang. Photo by: Pief Weyman/NBC © NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Once the whole ordeal was over, Jacob found her sitting in a corner. Enough was enough – she confided in Jacob about her fear since the building collapse and how she’s been self-medicating. She admits that she takes meds every day to get through the day and thinks she’s becoming an addict. In times like these, I feel like everyone in Ericka’s position needs a Jacob in their lives. He tells her from a doctor’s perspective, she should wean off the meds she’s taking, and as a friend, she should get some help.
I thought when she went to Carol, this was the start of her getting the help she needed, but no this was for Sam. Ericka introduces Sam to Carol and I think he may be getting closer to having a breakthrough. He’s letting Ericka and Carol help him. I’m sure Carol is happy to help Sam since that means she wouldn’t need to see that clown again. Imagine getting paged for a psych evaluation and there’s a man dressed as a creepy clown – absolutely not!
“The Doctor’s Graveyard” – BRILLIANT MINDS, Pictured: Tamberla Perry as Dr. Carol Pierce, Alex MacNicoll as Dr. Van Markus. Photo by: Pief Weyman/NBC © NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Cyrus and his assistant Thomas was an interesting case. Cyrus came in with no heartbeat, cold to the touch with EMTs ready to pronounce him dead. Jacob had them continue compressions and warm him up because of course, a body cannot be pronounced unless it’s a warm body. When Oliver comes in to advise, Cyrus wakes up. Yay! He’s alive, but how? He is… for lack of better terminology, out there when it comes to keeping healthy. He even transfuses Thomas’ blood to stay young and healthy.
When Oliver asks him why he’s doing all of this, Cyrus tells him that he was diagnosed with breast cancer, and when he was in remission he felt lost. With a second chance at life, he decided to live it as healthy as possible. What’s ironic is the way he went about being healthy is what was making him sick. Cyrus suffers another seizure which makes Oliver order scans. They showed a mass, but only a biopsy can determine what it is exactly and you guys, this man had a parasite in his brain from drinking “fountain of youth” water.
“The Doctor’s Graveyard” – BRILLIANT MINDS, Pictured: Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolf, Brian Altemus as Dr. Charlie Porter, Aury Krebs as Dr. Dana Dang. Photo by: Pief Weyman/NBC © NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
What was really trippy about this episode was the vision of a woman Oliver kept seeing. Whenever he went to try to make sense of it, it’s like he would snap back to reality and she’d be gone. The woman he’s seeing was from the time Oliver was a Junior Resident. This woman had a grade three tumor in her left frontal lobe and it wasn’t a matter of if but when she would die. The woman was determined to live and Oliver worked with her up until the end. He felt as though rather than helping her, he extended her death. Could this be why she’s haunting him? If so, why now? This isn’t even the creepy part of this; when Charlie was getting ready to head out, he saw the woman too! Coincidence? I think not.
Oliver and Carol leaving in Halloween costumes brought the biggest smile on my face, but what really sold it for me was Oliver wearing the Spock costume (fun fact: Zachary Quinto, who plays Oliver Wolf, played Spock in Star Trek)
The episode ends with Oliver back in confinement (a mystery we have yet to solve), but this time he gets a visitor– Charlie. Oliver looks less than pleased to see him and I need to know what’s happening.
Despite the creepiness, I thoroughly enjoyed tonight’s episode. Let me know your thoughts below or connect with me on X/Twitter @chenfordhugs