Another good episode of Brilliant Minds tonight. We are so close to figuring out what got Oliver sent to that inpatient facility, Hudson Oaks, but still a way to go.
Tonight’s episode focuses on Elle Palmer; a pilot who miraculously landed a plane in the Hudson River while her vision was inverted. Landing a plane in the Hudson alone is impressive, but to do it with NYC upside down? Wow! This woman should’ve been celebrated, but was investigated instead. Her co-pilot didn’t make things any better for her either. He called her out in front of everyone in the emergency room and told everyone she was out partying, which yes is true, but it isn’t what caused this.
When she tried to address the crowded emergency room to explain what happened, Elle’s speech became incomprehensible. All of her tests were negative for a stroke, so this had to be something else. What I wasn’t expecting was all of this being caused by a rare basilar migraine. This is a rare type of migraine (also called brain-stem aura) characterized by aura symptoms like vertigo, dizziness, slurred speech, and double vision (I googled this) and in Elle’s case, inverted vision. If you’ve ever suffered a migraine before, you know how intense they can be. At times, most people can’t even open their eyes due to light sensitivity which, again, makes what Elle did beyond impressive.
“The Upside Down” – BRILLIANT MINDS, Pictured: Tamberla Perry as Dr. Carol Pierce, T.V. Carpio as Elle Palmer, Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolf. Photo by: Pief Weyman/NBC © 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
The reason Oliver was able to diagnose this is when he had Elle write a sentence on a chalkboard, she wrote it upside down. Coupled with seeing black spots before landing the plane, it was her mind warning her of an oncoming migraine. The course of action could be medication, but Oliver suggests she speaks with Carol to get to the root cause of her trigger. Elle has been holding on to trauma from her past for such a long time. Her co-pilot, trying to hit on her, brought her back to a time when her mother chose a man she didn’t feel comfortable around over her. What Carol told her is so true, our bodies will hold on to trauma that we don’t even remember and if we don’t deal with it, it’ll find its way to force us to deal.
Oliver and Carol speak on Elle’s behalf; she was deemed not at fault. “I landed a plane while my vision was inverted with zero severe injuries” – I know that’s right Elle! During the investigation, it was discovered that the cause of the emergency was a drone flying in restricted air space, but Elle handled it. It was also discovered that she was left alone in the cockpit and that should’ve never happened. Thankfully her pervy co-pilot was suspended and she wasn’t.
“The Upside Down” – BRILLIANT MINDS, Pictured: Brian Altemus as Dr. Charlie Porter. Photo by: Pief Weyman/NBC © 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Let’s shift gears and talk about Oliver’s problem child, Charlie, for a bit. He always finds a way to irritate me, but this time? He crossed a line. Charlie always has “main character” energy complex and this time, he went to one of Oliver’s patient’s, Jorge (he’s been in a coma since the fall), mother and made a recommendation (no one asked him to) that if Jorge doesn’t get better after the antibiotics for his current fever, the hospital will no longer recommend medication and will allow Jorge to pass away. This contradicts what Oliver has been telling her that Jorge could make a recovery any day and they will do everything in their power to keep him alive. What blows my mind is how nonchalantly he tells Oliver that he spoke with Jorge’s mother and came up with a new plan. As if informing Oliver of this was nothing major. Casual convo between two equals except no, Charlie, you are not Oliver’s equal.
Thankfully Oliver intervened, explaining to her that Jorge is in the best hands and they should stick to the current plan. I am so glad she decided to listen to Oliver and not Charlie, because Jorge started to move. He’s slowly starting to wake up.
Oliver loses it on Charlie, something he’s never done before to anyone who has worked under him. Now, I don’t agree with how Oliver handled this, but remember I said that Charlie has a “main character” energy complex right? He didn’t think anything he did was wrong. I beg your pardon, Charlie? I want to see some character development from him, but I feel as though I’ll be left disappointed. He even made me like Dr. Thorne in this episode and I haven’t liked that man yet (okay, he’s gotten some points from me, but still – not a fan).
“The Upside Down” – BRILLIANT MINDS, Pictured: Ashleigh LaThrop as Dr. Ericka Kinney, Al Calderon as Nurse Nico Silva. Photo by: Pief Weyman/NBC © 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
My favorite part of this episode was Ericka’s breakthrough. When Silva requests urine samples for a mandatory drug test, Ericka gets nervous that her results won’t come back clean since she’s been self medicating with unprescribed benzos. She spent the entire shift trying to figure out how to get around it and I couldn’t help but scream “girl just tell someone please!”. I am so glad Van could be the voice of reason for her at this moment; she was spiraling. When she approached Silva to come clean, I was not expecting his response. He comes off as someone who is a stickler for the rules and never once did I think he’d give her a pass on this one. Well, not really a pass, but another opportunity to handle things the right way. He gave her an additional two weeks to get herself together. This was the break she needed; confessing this to Silva could’ve been the end of her career. I can’t lie, when she went to Carol for a referral and said “I need help” I started to tear up. That could not have been easy for her, but I’m so happy she took that first step.
What’d you think of tonight’s episode? Share your thoughts below or connect with me on X/Twitter @chenfordhugs