Romance

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 2 “The Contestant.”]

Brilliant Minds isn’t about to say goodbye to Donna Murphy, right?! Especially not so soon after Wolf’s (Zachary Quinto) father left? Muriel does step down as CMO in the latest episode, but she and Wolf also discuss that now she’ll just be his mom, not his boss. That should make for some good television since those two are so great in scenes together.

Also in “The Contestant,” Carol (Tamberla Perry) successfully fights for her job, helped by Muriel, saying she told her to keep treating Alison, the woman with whom her husband was having the affair. Plus, it looks like Wolf and Josh (Teddy Sears) will be getting back on track when they go out for drinks, but then the latter pulls away when the former kisses him. He can be his friend, but that’s it, for now. And a new flashforward reveals that Carol is at Wolf’s side when he signs himself into Amelia’s (Bellamy Young) Hudson Oaks psychiatric facility.

Below, showrunner Michael Grassi breaks down this episode, reveals if Donna Murphy is going anywhere, talks Wolf and Josh’s moment, offers more information about the flashforwards, and much more.

Muriel steps down as CMO. Is Donna still a series regular?

Michael Grassi: Donna is still very much a part of the show, and we’ll be seeing more of her very soon.

I feel like that means we’ll be getting a lot more of the mother-son relationship. But can she step away from the hospital when her son works there as much as she should?

Good question. So, we’ll definitely be seeing more of Muriel in the first half of the season and even later, but I think that relationship is going to shift a little. But I think we’ve seen so much growth in the Wolf-Muriel relationship, and I love Zach and Donna on screen together so much. Some of my favorite scenes are them. We’ve seen them grow, and we’ve seen Wolf appreciate everything his mother did and even though it might’ve been hard for him growing up the way his mother was, sometimes I think he sees that she was really trying to protect him and that it wasn’t even that she wanted to keep what dad did a secret, but it was what dad wanted and she was just trying to protect him in so many ways. And I think Wolf really sees that for the first time, and we see their relationship evolve, and you’re so right that post 202, we’re going to see a bit of a shift. It’s like, what does it look like when Muriel isn’t at Bronx General and when she catches up with her son? That new dynamic of just mother and not boss is something we haven’t gotten to see yet really on the show since he was a kid in the flashback. So, it’s going to be really fun.

When you said seeing the growth, I just thought about when he checked on her after hearing the end of her phone conversation. A moment like that at the beginning of the series almost would’ve been impossible to imagine.

Yeah, and I have to say, too, I love Tamberla and Donna together as well. That’s one of my favorite scenes in 202. I love it. It is just so good, and I love the mutual respect they have, and they have so much in common, but also, Wolf is their main thing in common. They also just love him so much, and he’s such a big part of their lives, so it’s just nice to see that connective tissue between them.

Yeah, then Muriel has that line that Wolf is going to need Carol, and the flashforward in this episode shows he does, with Carol by his side. So, are the flash forwards going to be a bit disjointed like that, where that one clearly took place before the premieres? Should we expect that, and then it’s going to be piecing it all together?

 Correct. I think it’s going to be a bit of a puzzle that the audience is going to be putting together for sure. We’re going to see different parts of what those flashforwards are, jumping in time a little bit.

With these first two episodes, it’s easier to tell, but will there be moments where it’s questionable when something took place?

I don’t want to spoil it too much. You’ll see.

What can you say about the new CMO and that person’s dynamic with Oliver? He’s adjusting to someone who’s going to be his boss, who’s not his mom?

Yeah, I would say stay tuned.

The good news is Carol is back. First of all, thank you so much for the Carol and Josh scenes in this episode. They were great,

They’re so good together.

But there is now the question of who reported her, since it appears it wasn’t Alison. Can you confirm it wasn’t Alison? Because she could have reported her and still decided to speak up on her behalf.

I can confirm it wasn’t Alison. She went in and she told them that Carol saved her life and she meant it.

How is Carol going to go about trying to get that answer?

I think Carol’s going to be torn about the ethics of getting that answer. And is it something that she even should do because whoever reported her, was it their right to report her? So, I think we’re going to see Carol be tested a little bit throughout the season, and that question will loom and it will weigh on her. She has to be at work, and somebody around her reported her for this. We’re going to see how Dr. Carol Pierce navigates something like that as a psychiatrist, which is going to be great.

Is she going to be changing her approach to work at all because of what she just went through?

That’s something we’re going to continue to explore in Episode 203, which I’m so excited for you to see.

Oliver kisses Josh, trying to just get things back to where they were before Noah showed up. But I can’t help but think about Oliver not returning his “I’m falling for you” and you telling me that he would in his own unique way, which he hasn’t yet. So, does that play into where Oliver is when it comes to being ready to resume that relationship?

I think when Wolf kisses Josh in 202, it’s a bit of a moment where he’s trying to reset, but it’s also that he’s doing it in the wrong way because it’s like, “We haven’t even had the conversation, and you’re kissing me at drinks.” And Josh literally thought, “Oh, he’s asking me to drinks to be like, ‘Hey, I have to talk to you. My dad left again. It’s messed up.’” It’s just a little bit cart before the horse, and I think it’s just part of Wolf trying to cope with what happened, and it’s Josh being like, “Oh, this is messy.” And I think it further complicates things to be honest.

Josh says he can be his friend. Why did you want to slow them down, and what can you say about any hope for their romance after 202?

I think they had a bit of a quick start. I think they shot out of the can a little bit. I think they had that amazing kiss in Episode 107 last season, but it might’ve been premature. And I think ever since that kiss, they’ve been trying to navigate, “Who are we to each other? We clearly have feelings for each other. We also work together and disagree in a lot of stuff. And that’s really complicated.” And then Wolf did what he did in 113 because he was dealing with personal stuff and I think they have a lot to figure out and it’s going to be a ride between them. But I really do think that there’s love there and mutual respect, and I think we see that on screen between the two of them. I think Zach and Teddy are so good, and those are some of my favorite scenes. Their dynamic is going to shift in a big way very soon.

Pief Weyman/NBC

I might be getting a bit dark with this question, but Ericka (Ashleigh LaThrop) sleeps through her phone going off about the patient and Charlie (Brian Altemus) has that comment about taking it easy on the benzos. Did he dose her or is it just that he knows that she’s taking pills?

He knows that she’s taking pills. He saw her take pills.

So it was just that, we shouldn’t be wondering how far this guy’s going to go?

No, no, no, no, no. I love that you asked that though. That’s a whole other show. Maybe Season 3, maybe Season 3.

Are there any episodes coming up like the building collapse from Season 1?

We have some really dramatic cases this season. I’ll tease Episode 203 has an opening sequence that is one of my worst nightmares, and I think a lot of people’s worst nightmares. So I’m excited for people to see that. And we will have some bigger episodes this season for sure. And some unexpected events happen.

Brilliant Minds, Mondays, 10/9c, NBC