warn -This review will be full of spoilers. If you haven’t seen tonight’s new episode of Brilliant Minds, I recommend you watch it and come back.
Tonight’s episode smart mind As we delve deeper into the mind of Anonymous, we learn more about him. First, we can finally stop calling him “John Doe” because his name is Roman. With the help of a translator, Oliver and Josh explained to Roman how the BCI works. A microchip will be implanted in his brain. This would allow Roman to communicate even though he has locked-in syndrome. It’s experimental, although Josh warns about possible complications (bleeding, stroke, and infection) Roman agreed to the procedure.
Once the device is implanted, they put it through a test run. Oliver talks to Roman, and after a while, it seems to be unsuccessful, but then words come out of the machine and Roman speaks, and his first words are very important: “Scratch my nose.” ”. This made the atmosphere in the room much lighter.
“Chapter 7: The People of Grozny” – BRILLIANT MINDS – Pictured: Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolfe. Photo: Rafy/NBC202 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. all rights reserved.
Oliver spends time talking to Roman, and as I mentioned before, we get to learn more about him. Why is he here, how did he get here, and most importantly, what happened to him. The interception of this episode is beautiful; the way we see everyone talking to Roman – like they’re talking directly to him, no pipes, no machines – is indicative of how well this device works.
While in the room with Jacob, Roman expressed his desire to no longer live in his current state. This forced the team to discuss next steps, but they were divided. Will they continue to do whatever it takes to keep Roman alive? Or will they heed his wishes and end his suffering? There’s talk of Simon’s experimental trial and whether Roman’s death will affect it. The purpose of the implant is to enable communication, and it does that, so we can check if this trial run was successful.
“Chapter 7: The Man from Grozny” – BRILLIANT MINDS – Pictured: Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolfe and Alex Ozeroff-Meyer as Roman (Jane Doe). Photo: Rafy/NBC202 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. all rights reserved.
Oliver wants to work with Roman longer – and if he gives Roman a reason to want to live, then maybe he’ll change his mind. As the episode continues, we’ll definitely learn more about Roman and most importantly, at least to me, how he got into this situation. Roman was hit by a car while riding his bike and was unable to get to the hospital because he had no papers. Extending his care at that moment would clearly lead to his downfall.
Dana continued to ask him why he left Chechnya, but he deftly avoided the question. He finally answered her and said that he left for love. After a quick search, they found Roman’s boyfriend Alex. It turns out homosexuality is illegal in Chechnya, so they plan to escape and find a new life together, but that never happens. Alex looks for Roman but can’t find him. Unfortunately, Roman was busy being transferred from one hospital to another because he didn’t have a name and no doctor was paying him enough attention. Fortunately, he and Oliver Wolfe were admitted to the same hospital.
“Chapter 7: The Man from Grozny” – BRILLIANT MINDS – Pictured: Ashley Lathrop as Erica Kinney, Spence Moore II as Jacob Nash, Teddy West Earls plays Dr. Josh Nichols, Alex McNichol plays Dr. Van Marcus, Brendan Hines plays Dr. Simon Gadson, Aury Krebs plays Dr. Dana Dang, Tamberla Perry Plays Dr. Carol Pierce and Zachary Quinto plays Dr. Oliver Wolf. Photo: Rafy/NBC202 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. all rights reserved.
Oliver talks to Alex and lets him know how much work it takes to take care of Roman. Despite the challenges, Alex is up for the task, saying, “I always planned to take care of Roman, but things look different now.” Wow, talk about someone who loves you in sickness and in health (Obviously, they weren’t married, but it still works here). Oliver excitedly shared this with Roman, thinking it was enough for Roman to continue his fight, but he still stood by his decision. He didn’t want to live in this state.
By now, it’s becoming increasingly clear that this isn’t entirely about Roman, but the reason Oliver is pushing so hard may be because of what he wishes he could have done for his father. It reminded me of that moment with his father when he asked Roman “Why did you ask me not to leave you if you knew you wanted to go?” Was it because he couldn’t save his father that he felt a strong need to save Roman?
In a final attempt, Oliver asks Carol to talk to him. One thing I admire about Carol is that she always keeps it real with Oliver. She asks him why he’s trying so hard to get Roman to make a sound, if he’s just trying to ignore it? She talks to Roman and the answer is still the same. He has the mental capacity to make this decision for himself.
“Chapter 7: The Grozny Man” – BRILLIANT MINDS – Pictured: Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolfe and Teddy Sears as Dr. Josh Nichols. Photo: Rafy/NBC202 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. Reservation.
Roman’s only request was that he didn’t want to die in the hospital. To do this, Oliver opens his home to him, Alex, and basically everyone else. Clearly still struggling to get over Roman, he expressed those feelings to Josh. Josh assured him that what he was doing was admirable. How he gets his patients to see the world the way they want to see it, respecting their identity and choices, even if he doesn’t agree with it.
Something interesting happened in the final moments of the episode, and to be honest, I kept seeing it throughout the episode. As Oliver and Josh talk about his struggle to let Roman go, Josh touches his shoulder lightly. When Jacob asks Oliver if anyone is allowed in, the camera pans directly to Josh (I know this is intentional). If that wasn’t enough, in his final moments with Oliver and Roman, he told Oliver that he and Josh “make a good team.” Oliver denies it of course, but something has changed. When he saw Josh again it was like you could see Oliver’s mind screaming “what the hell” and then he walked over to him and they shared a kiss (I screamed and apologized to my neighbor). Why does the plot end here? What does this mean for the two of them now?
What do you think of tonight’s new episode? smart mind? Share your thoughts below or connect with me on X/Twitter @chenfordhugs.
