We’re back at Bronx General Hospital with an all new episode of Brilliant Minds. It picks up a little after where we left off last season, with Oliver trying to figure out what’s going on with his father’s health, while also coming to terms with the fact that his father, who he believed was dead, is actually alive.
The episode starts off a little bizarre; Oliver, looking a bit disheveled, swipes a nurse’s keys, and attempts to make an escape. It’s later confirmed he’s the patient. I was so confused until “SIX MONTHS EARLIER” came across the screen. Thanks, now I will be focused on everything that could possibly be the reason Oliver gets to that point.
“The Phantom Hook” – BRILLIANT MINDS, Pictured: Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolf. Photo: Pief Weyman/NBC © 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
We’re introduced to two new faces; Dr. Anthony Thorne and second year resident, Dr. Charlie Porter. I don’t know how I feel about Dr. Thorne yet, but I know I don’t trust Dr. Porter. He’s new to Oliver’s team, hired by his mother, to be his second in command so to speak (I laughed at Oliver blatantly calling him his mother’s mole). There’s something about someone who joins an established team and acts like a know-it-all rubs me the wrong way. He tells Oliver he asked for the job on his team because he believes he’s the best and wants to learn from the best. Despite his rookie mistake all day, Oliver decides to give him a chance. Did you see the look on Charlie’s face when he turned and walked away though? Suspicious. Let this be a misdirect please (though I doubt that it is). Dr. Thorne has some history with Carol Pierce and I can’t wait to see more of them. She’s technically single now, right?
Speaking of Dr. Pierce, after being suspended from Bronx General, she rented a new space to continue practicing. It’s fancier, and the clientele is… something. When Oliver visits, she tries to make it seem like she loves everything about her new cadence, but she’s not fooling him one bit. The moment Oliver tells her about a case he’d like her to consult on, it didn’t take much convincing to get her to meet with him. I am glad by the end of the episode Carol decides to fight for her position back at Bronx General because watching her and Oliver work together brings me joy.
“The Phantom Hook” – BRILLIANT MINDS, Pictured: Spence Moore II as Dr. Jacob Nash, Ashleigh LaThrop as Dr. Ericka Kinney. Photo: Pief Weyman/NBC © 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
She meets with Oliver’s patient, Tommy; a fighter who is having violent impulses. He was brought in after beating himself senseless while sparring. When Carol witnesses one of his violent impulses, she notices that it was his right arm that had all the power. She tells Oliver, and they both conclude that it’s possible what’s happening to him is neurological.
To test this theory, Oliver decides to spar with Tommy. While teaching him a combo, Tommy struggled to move his right arm (yes, same right arm that broke Carol’s wall). He says his right arm gets these spasms as if he’s not the one in control of it. Oliver calls it “alien hand syndrome” (I googled, it’s a real thing). Since “alien hand syndrome” is the symptom of something bigger, it’s up to the team to figure out what.
-Tommy comes in after experiencing, for lack of better term, freezing spells. Oliver orders more tests to get to the bottom of what’s happening to him. Tests reveal that he’s been taking high levels of meds meant to treat Parkinson’s Disease. Turns out he’s suffering from corticobasal degeneration (yeah, I had to google that too), which is a rare progressive neurological disorder that affects the brain’s cortex and basal ganglia; hence why Tommy is experiencing involuntary arm movements.
“The Phantom Hook” – BRILLIANT MINDS, Pictured: Ashleigh LaThrop as Dr. Ericka Kinney, Aury Krebs as Dr. Dana Dang, Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolf, John Clarence Stewart as Dr. Anthony Thorne, Duke Davis Roberts as Tommy. Photo: Pief Weyman/NBC © 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Here’s the sick part; Tommy’s father knew about it and didn’t tell him. Since he was the one monitoring his supplements, Tommy had no idea he was sick. He just wanted his son to continue fighting; no regard for his health whatsoever.
Tommy knows he doesn’t have much longer in this career path, so he decides on one last fight. Oliver offers to help him get through it with a mirror exercise that trains his brain to believe he’s fully in control of his right arm. What stuck out to me and what I love so much about this show is how unconventional Oliver is with his patients. When Tommy asks if he learned this technique in medical school, he said no he likes to think out of the box.
Taking in everything Oliver taught him, Tommy successfully beats his opponent in his final match.
-Ericka is back from vacation and is slowly starting to feel at home after moving in with Dana. You know, after her apartment collapsed and everything. She seems to be fine, but if you remember, after saying she doesn’t want to be one of those people who rely on medication, she started to take medication to manage her ptsd. Though the vacation seemingly made her feel better, she still has anxiety meds.
“The Phantom Hook” – BRILLIANT MINDS, Pictured: Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolf, Aury Krebs as Dr. Dana Dang, Ashleigh Lathrop as Dr. Ericka Kinney, Alex MacNicoll as Dr. Van Markus, Brian Altemus as Dr. Charlie Porter. Photo: Pief Weyman/NBC © 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Oliver gets home, finally willing to face his father only to find out that he’s gone again. This time, at least, he left a letter. Now, we don’t know what this letter says just yet, but I wonder if this is how Oliver finds himself in a behavioral health facility.
The only negative thing I could say about this episode is that Josh and Oliver are still not back together after all this time, but it’s okay we have an entire season to work on this.
What did you think of the season premiere of Brilliant Minds? Share your thoughts below or connect with me on X/Twitter @chenfordhugs