Dr. Wolf’s wholesome adventures helping people in distress are slowly becoming my favorite half hour of the week. Just the fact that intricate, complex neurological cases are diagnosed with expert precision and Wolf and co. execute investigative research to come up with a compassionate yet clinically viable solution never ceases to amaze me. With its third episode, Brilliant Minds continues its trend of juggling multiple cases, drawing significant similarities with Dr. Wolf’s past, highlighting interesting connections between his team members, and establishing a very holistic approach to the entirety of it. What impresses me most is that despite having strong emotional undertones, the medical drama doesn’t give in to melodrama for once and focuses more on organic interrelationships between characters, situations, and relationships. The third episode of the series, “The Lost Biker,” presents two unique cases, which, like clockwork, present an earnest example of Dr. Wolf’s humanity.
Spoilers Ahead
Why was Wyatt experiencing tremors?
The episode begins with Dr. Wolf reminiscing about spending time with his father in the botanical garden during his younger days. The good doctor had inherited the hobby of taking care of ferns from his father, and at present, as he tends to his resurrection fern, Oliver is reminded of that. Moments later, Oliver is visited by a biker gang, as one of his acquaintances, a mechanic named Wyatt, has accidentally shot himself while experiencing tremors. While tending to his wounds, Oliver asks him to visit him at Bronx General so he can get a closer look at his recurring tremors, and despite initially refusing to do so, Wyatt eventually agrees after his wife, Rosie, implores him to do so. As Wyatt inexplicably ends up attacking Jacob while he tries to do a routine checkup, it is revealed that Wyatt experiences episodes where he loses memory of events. A series of preliminary tests reveal that a tumor is growing inside Wyatt’s brain, which is affecting the part of his brain that creates memories. Wyatt is presented with an impossible choice; if he undergoes surgery and gets his tumor removed, he will lose the ability to make new memories, but refusing to undergo surgery would be a death sentence. Wyatt is adamant to choose the latter, much to the dismay of Oliver.
The biggest regret of Wyatt’s life is not being able to reconcile with his estranged daughter, Hailey, whom he had abandoned since a young age following a nasty breakup with his ex-wife. If Wyatt undergoes the surgery, he will not only be unable to make new memories with Emily and lose any chance of reconciliation, he will also end up keeping only the estranged memories with her. Oliver, who is face-blind himself, can relate to a predicament like this, and after convincing Wyatt to undergo the surgery, he literally abducts him from the operation table to help him catch up with his daughter. However, Hailey has been hurt too badly to conjure forgiveness out of thin air, and her initial rejection results in Wyatt having a serious episode as he collapses.
Why Was Emily Experiencing Seizures?
The case of teenager Emily Madden moves parallel to Wyatt’s case, as it is revealed that she suffers from occassional blackouts and seizures, which prompts her parents to take their daughter to Bronx General frequently. The thing is, Wolf’s interns haven’t seen her having any such episode even once, which prompts Wolf to consider the possibility of a specific, personal trigger at home being the result of such episodes. After a series of attempts to induce a trigger reaction fail, Wolf decides to let Emily engage in the activity after which her seizure followed, which in this case turns out to be watching “Three Stooges.” It becomes clear soon after that, dishearteningly enough, laughter and excitement result in Emily’s suffering temporary heart blockages, and in order to stop it, the medics might have to use beta blockers, which could stop her laughter altogether.
Interestingly enough, right at the same time Emily suffers from a temporary heart stoppage, Intern Van faints as well—and it is not the first time he has experienced trouble while handling high pressure situations with patients. Van gets a bit ridiculed by his colleagues after gaining his senses, but Ericka defends him, sympathizing with his condition.
Was Doctor Wolf Able To Help Wyatt and Emily?
After Wyatt got taken away from the operating table by Oliver, Dr. Nichols became livid with Oliver for meddling in the patient’s personal affairs, which almost risked Wyatt’s life, and Nichols’ timely arrival saved Wyatt’s life on that occasion as he was taken directly to surgery, which turned out to be a success. Which means the fate Wyatt was trying to avoid so desperately ended up occurring anyway. But it was Wolf’s decision to take him to his daughter at the final moment, which prompts Hailey to feel pity for her father after seeing him collapse. As Wyatt recovers, both Rosie and Hailey stay by his side to help guide him through every step of his life through notes, suggestions, and plans—making every moment count even if they don’t turn into memories.
On the other hand, Marcus suggests a simple but effective strategy to deal with Emily’s case: instead of making the kid lose her innocence and her laughter, they can simply use a pacemaker to let her enjoy her life without ever experiencing seizures ever again. Dr. Wolf brings in Van for a discussion, and the intern fears that he is getting fired for incompetence, but on the contrary, Wolf seems amazed at Van’s condition, which is something close to being a super-empath. He can feel the experiences of people close to him in a more vivid and direct way, which can be a trouble at times, but an amazing advantage in this profession as well. Wolf is later seen tending to the catatonic John Doe who was introduced to the previous episode, and Wolf believes, like his favorite resurrection fern, the John Doe will be rejuvenated as well when the time is right. There is another subplot of Carol having a tough time dealing with the broken relationship with her husband, Morris, which presents a curious scenario as she herself is the chief of psychiatry in Bronx General.
The ending of Brilliant Minds episode 3 is the segment that truly emphasizes the palpable interrelation between memory and personal relationship. As Wolf accepts the invitation of Muriel, his mother/chief medical officer of Bronx General, to have a mother-son bonding time at the botanical garden, he realizes that it was his mother with whom he had shared the memory that he had cherished for so long—while his father, in his troubling mental state, was unable to leave the house. Oliver sheds a tear, regretting despising his mother so much when she only wanted her son to remember his father with a loving memory, even though it was a projection of what his mind desired.
