warn – If you haven’t seen tonight’s new episode of Brilliant Minds and don’t want spoilers, look away!
You know, even though it may be a little embarrassing to think about, I absolutely love the storyline of Joan Sullivan’s autonomy over her own body. I don’t think sons would want to know that their mother is in her sexual prime, but it seems like they are going the extra mile to stop her from being herself. When Oliver sees Joan, he describes her as having “a twinkle in her eye,” and while it’s weird, it’s completely normal for a woman to want to explore her sexuality—age be damned.
Due to erratic behavior, Joan was asked to leave her assisted living home. She protested that the place wanted her to be medicated and wouldn’t allow her to be herself. Believing that her change in behavior might be due to something more serious, her sons sought help from Oliver. Could this be a sign of dementia, or is she just a free person having the time of her life? Oliver ordered cognitive tests to find out what was going on.
“Chapter 8: The Lovesick Widow” – BRILLIANT MINDS – Pictured: Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolfe, Susan Nimoy as Joan Sullivan, Jim Watson as Patrick Sullivan , Christopher Turner stars as Kevin Sullivan. Photo: Rafy/NBC © 2024 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. all rights reserved.
Joan’s lab results are normal, but as Oliver checks the results with Dana and Erica, a distress call comes from her room. She was talking, but it didn’t make any sense – it turned out she was having a transient ischemic attack (mini-stroke). It turned out that this was a symptom of her untreated “cupid disease” (or syphilis), which was likely passed to her by her late husband. Joan didn’t want to get the treatment she needed because she was afraid of losing her feelings of hypersexuality. Now, I can understand Joan’s decision – Stella must also return to normal. It frustrates me that the decision for what’s best for her seems to be based solely on her sons being uncomfortable with their mother wanting a healthy sex life. It doesn’t matter what they want – it’s not about them. When things don’t look like she thought they would, Joan’s “light” begins to dim. Luckily, Oliver talks some sense into her sons and finds a solution that both cures Joan’s syphilis and allows her to…well, stay true to herself.
“Chapter 8: The Lovesick Widow” – BRILLIANT MINDS – Pictured: Julia Chen as Alison Chang-Whitaker. Photo: Rafy/NBC © 2024 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. all rights reserved.
I wouldn’t call anyone crazy (that word leaves a bad taste in my mouth), however, Alison Chang-Whitaker borders on crazy. She goes to see Carol and needs help getting over her ex who she decided to break up with. The man has set boundaries and she feels like she should be able to contact him (Alison, let me hold your hand as I say this: Let it go.). During this meeting, she accidentally revealed that she had Googled Carol before the meeting and learned some facts about her. The red flag immediately went up.
When Allison goes missing, Carol feels a little uneasy and asks Dana to help find her online. A Google search revealed that Allison not only lied about being a doctoral student at New York University, but also knew Carol’s husband. My jaw dropped as I suddenly started thinking – she had been talking about Carol’s husband; The one she wanted to connect with, the one she missed, the one she wanted to end with. Carol puts the pieces together and tells Oliver what happened. I love that he plays devil’s advocate while also validating her feelings on the matter. Something is definitely wrong with Alison: the next time she sees Carol, she’s unhappy with Carol’s attempts to stop their therapy. It wasn’t a good idea, but Carol decided to continue working with her. This should be fun.
“Chapter 8: The Lovesick Widow” – BRILLIANT MINDS – Pictured: Teddy Sears as Dr. Josh Nichols, Donna Murphy as Dr. Muriel Langdon, Zachary Queen Pictured as Dr. Oliver Wolfe. Photo: Rafy/NBC © 2024 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. all rights reserved.
Continuing to follow the topics of interest, Josh and Oliver grew closer (and I grew happier). When Josh walked into Oliver’s office talking nonsense, I couldn’t help but laugh at the nervous behavior this once confident man displayed towards Oliver. His voice wavered, almost like he wanted some uncertain answer, and Oliver did answer. They exchanged a passionate kiss as if this was the last chance they had, and no, they weren’t going to let this moment go to waste.
They spent some time together in the elevator again, well, not much privacy this time. I mean, come on you two, there is a time and a place, and trust me when I say the workplace is not one of those places. As the elevator doors open, Oliver’s mother, Dr. Langdon, witnesses their…connection and walks away without saying a word. When Josh later met her and tried to explain, I was happy but quickly changed when she said she didn’t want to know and warned him not to hurt Oliver.
“Chapter 8: 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 mother found him with a boy who was living with them at the time, and while she didn’t say anything directly to him, she told the boy to leave. Now after interacting with his mother (Oliver didn’t know it at the time), Josh tells Oliver that they should quit before anything really happens and that it’s just the wrong kind of sadness. I almost screamed when Oliver agreed with him and tried to brush it off like it was nothing. This is nothing. Oliver later questions his mother about what happened in the past and how he feels like it’s happening again – she was the reason Josh decided to take a break. She tried to argue that she didn’t know what to say to him because she had witnessed everything in the hospital and thought she was protecting him. Thankfully, Oliver also confronts Josh and tells him he wants to try. He was hesitant at first, but then agreed they could try.
Tonight’s episode smart mind It’s an emotional roller coaster ride – what did you think of this episode? Share your thoughts below or connect with me on X/Twitter @chenfordhugs
