Tonight’s all new episode of Brilliant Minds takes us through the journey of a woman who believes she’s living in a reality show and is constantly being watched. It was giving some “Love is Blind” vibes at first, but then something just felt off.
Lauren, seemingly a contestant on a game show, is conversing with her potential match. While she’s answering his questions, out of nowhere, Lauren begins to panic and wants out. I thought it was because of the personal questions, you know, maybe she wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment. She starts screaming wanting to be let out of the room and ends up falling back and breaking a table. My jaw dropped; I could understand not being ready but to go to this extreme? Something else must be going on here.
“The Contestant” – BRILLIANT MINDS, Pictured: Molly Bernard as Lauren Brooks. Photo: Pief Weyman/NBC © 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
When Lauren is at the hospital after her incident, she believes she is still being filmed; Oliver and everyone in the hospital are actors, there are hidden cameras everywhere, and nothing is real. Of course this isn’t true, but Oliver plays along (him screaming “cut” made me chuckle – I’m sorry). Oliver believes she’s experiencing a phenomenon called the “Truman Show” syndrome (yes, like that one Jim Carrey movie). It’s a rare psychosis in which individuals believe their lives are secretly filmed and broadcast as a reality show (yes, I googled).
Oliver has a debrief with the team and as they’re discussing ways to possibly help, why was Dr. Thorne so dismissive? He’s going to be a problem isn’t he? I feel like he is. Something about a “treat ‘em and street ‘em” doctor irks my nerves. I could see him and Oliver butting heads down the road and I would be shocked if they didn’t. Oliver tasks his team with running tests to get to the underlying issue.
“The Contestant” – BRILLIANT MINDS, Pictured: Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolf, Teddy Sears as Dr. Josh Nichols. Photo: Pief Weyman/NBC © 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
I was expecting something to be off with Lauren’s situation. What I wasn’t expecting, however, was learning that she was never on a game show. NYPD sends over footage of the “reality show” Lauren was on, but she was really in the back of a taxi cab freaking out. Alright, alright – Dr. Thorne got it right this one time. When Lauren tries to escape the hospital, she is put in a seclusion room, which, unfortunately, is protocol. And it’s sick, she’s now literally in a room where she’s being watched.
Oliver continues to lean into her delusions; he tells her what he believes will help her – “I heard everyone watching is rooting for you”, “they want you to win”, “everyone wants to see you get better on your terms”. Such a beautiful mental redirect.
“The Contestant” – BRILLIANT MINDS, Pictured: Donna Murphy as Dr. Muriel Landon, Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolf. Photo: Pief Weyman/NBC © 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Lauren started to experience abdominal pain – and tests finally give us a little more information on how her psychosis happened. She was trying to have a baby on her own and was going through IVF. As we all know, IVF is costly, so Lauren has been billing a lot of work hours and barely sleeping which, of course, led to her mental break.
That soft spoken lady trying to get Lauren to enter her in an inpatient facility. I’ve got my eyes on this Amelia chick, because as we learned from the last episode, she’s there when Oliver ends up at Hudson Oaks. Why was she also so pushy? The way she kept shoving those forms in Lauren’s face like “here, sign right NOW!”
Carol came back just in time to put a stop to this. After her meeting to determine whether or not she would be getting her job back, she was made Head of Psychology. This of course is the result of Oliver’s mom stepping down. This was huge on her because she did what was best for Oliver, knowing he would need Carol around. Also, Muriel, you needed the break!
“The Contestant” – BRILLIANT MINDS, Pictured: Tamberla Perry as Dr. Carol Pierce. Photo: Pief Weyman/NBC © 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Carol speaks with Lauren and she decides against the inpatient facility (yay!). Josh welcomes her back and lets her in on something that came as a shock. Allison, Carol’s former patient, was believed to be the one who reported her to the board, but she wasn’t. She, in fact, put in a good word for her. So, if it wasn’t Allison, who was it?
I can’t have these episodes continue to end like this because I’m worried; what is going on with Oliver? And Carol is now involved? I have a feeling I know what’s happening, but still…
What did you think of tonight’s new episode of Brilliant Minds? Share your thoughts below or connect with me on X/Twitter @chenfordhugs
