RECAP: ‘Brilliant Minds’ Season 2 Episode 12 — “The Rider”

Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 12, “The Rider,” showcases really significant moments between Ericka (Ashleigh LaThrop) and Dana (Aury Krebs), and introduces Sofia, the mystery person who should be able to provide answers about Noah. It’s a decent episode that quickly moves on from the events of the previous episode, for better or for worse.

Hints of why Wolf (Zachary Quinto) ends up at Hudson Oaks make an appearance in Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 12. However, it’s impossible to really tell because we still don’t understand why he’s there in a few months. Earlier episodes suggest some sort of undercover operation to rescue another patient. But even if it is an undercover situation, there might be some truth to Wolf needing to seek help.

Two times this episode, he takes substances to calm the edge he’s walking on. First, in the opening moments with Sofia, a woman who’s been looking after his dad’s plants, he takes her offer of some gummies. Second, discreetly in the middle of a case, by drinking hand sanitizer in a hospital supply closet.

Though he’s caught by Ericka, it’s a spur-of-the-moment decision, and suggests a more rash Wolf. This wasn’t taking MDMA to get into a patient’s mindspace. It feels more like an act of desperation.

Charlie feels cartoonishly evil in Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 12.

Not much else regarding Hudson Oaks happens in Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 12, though there is a cheeky Charlie (Brian Altemus) moment where he says he wants to lead a neuro department someday. He says he’s not out for revenge against Wolf anymore, but we also know he does end up leading the neuro department because Wolf is at Hudson.

Things with Charlie throughout Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 12 somehow still feel cartoonishly evil. It’s refreshing how up front Wolf is with Charlie now, and how they both came clean to Ericka and Dana about their situation so we don’t have to worry about convoluted secrets anymore. This leaves room for the episode to address the weirdness of Charlie’s motivations for working under Wolf in the first place, and why he’s still sticking around.

Admittedly, he does have some not-cartoonishly evil moments. He helps Dana with her application and interview for a mental health studies grant she’s applying for, which is a nice thing for him to do. In thanks, Dana offers some of her own advice: Stop trying to prove Wolf wrong and just focus on being a good doctor. By the end of Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 12, he seemingly does so, telling Wolf that he’s sticking around because Dana reminded him that he’s a good doctor and can do good work.

Wolf’s substance use stands out in Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 12.

The patient case in Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 12 revolves around Benson, a bull rider who collapses while bullriding. Once at Bronx General, he’s afflicted with hypothermia and hallucinations, but his girlfriend Grace Anne says those have been a recurring issue for a while.

This case features great moments that carry significant thematic elements for Wolf and for Carol (Tamberla Perry). Wolf’s substance use stands out in this episode not just because we haven’t seen him use them in a while, but also because he’s foiled against Benson, a lifelong alcoholic whose attempts to seek treatment haven’t worked.

Grace Anne plays a big role here, too. Despite how much Benson says they’re soulmates, Grace Anne’s ultimate decision not to follow through on treatment herself and walking away from Benson as he goes into brain surgery ties into Dr. Beau Pedrosa’s comment to Wolf: “Having good people in your life is everything.”

That particular quote holds a lot of weight coming from Dr. Pedrosa, too, since he also happens to be Josh’s (Teddy Sears) current boyfriend. He’s also a former employee of Bronx General, and the only solution to Benson’s condition.

Things between Josh and Wolf get intense.

Things between Josh and Wolf get intense this episode. Even while dating, the two handled professional disagreements well. But in Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 12, they argue quite badly. Wolf advocates for an experimental brain surgery that could help with Benson’s alcoholism, but Josh refuses to sign off on it. He also doesn’t mention Beau, who actually is an option in this case.

Not mentioning boyfriends and ex-boyfriends is a habit of Josh’s, it turns out. After Wolf and Beau work well together with Benson, Beau stops by Bronx General to pick Josh up, but it becomes clear rather quickly that Beau didn’t actually know who Wolf was to Josh. And to Beau, Josh tells him that he doesn’t know Wolf that well, either. Curious!

The way Benson and Grace Anne’s story intersects with Josh, Wolf, and Beau is done so beautifully. Wolf, refusing to accept help or to reach out to anyone and turning to substances instead, watches as Grace Anne walks away from the love of her life. Beau makes a comment about having good people around you, while he’s dating a guy who’s clearly not being upfront about things.

Dana and Ericka both go up for grants.

Both Dana and Ericka go up for the mental health studies grant in Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 12. It’s such a great story for them because they both have experience in this area. Dana’s been really vocal about her anxiety and the medication that helps her. Ericka’s journey this season has been all about accepting help in her own mental health journey, while also working tirelessly to get Sam the help he needs.

They both have family history with mental illness as well, which plays into their decision to apply for the grant. Here’s where their paths diverge a bit. Dana, on advice from Charlie to make the interview personal, tells the story of her sister’s suicide and how the system and her parents failed her. Ericka sticks to the facts on offhand, high-on-hand sanitizer advice from Wolf.

When Dana gets the grant, they both cheer and dance in their kitchen. Ericka admits that she thought about telling her mom’s story, but decided she actually wants to try to find her mom instead. It’s a beautiful moment between the two friends who have had a rocky relationship all season, but never so bad that they don’t fully support each other.

Dana’s telling of her sister’s story comes at a price, though. Carol, as head of psychiatry at Bronx General, is on the grant interview panel. And as Dana’s story unfolds, she can’t look Carol in the eye, which allows Carol to connect some dots. Carol goes to Josh with her suspicions and asks if it’s in Dana’s personal file, but Josh cuts her off.

Carol still agrees she did the wrong thing with Allison, but the rest of her worry lies with Wolf. Wolf loves his interns, but Carol is his best friend. If he finds out Dana turned Carol in, it won’t go down well. Josh and Carol decide to keep this secret from Wolf.

Ericka finds out who turned carol in.

It’s not the most interesting development in this episode. Dana turning Carol in is supposed to be a secret by nature of the sensitive circumstances. And it has been all season. Just because Carol has put two and two together and gone to Josh shouldn’t mean much has changed. This mostly feels like a way to drum up extra drama, maybe even loosely setting up Wolf’s breaking point.

But by making this situation about Wolf, it takes away from Carol’s story a bit. Earlier in the season, Ericka was hellbent on finding out who turned Carol in. Carol makes one mistake, and suddenly she’s suspended? Meanwhile, Wolf bends and breaks the rules all the time. As a Black woman in the hospital, Ericka is very aware of the bias in this scenario.

When she finds out it was Dana who turned Carol in, she backs off, since it’s clear that Dana has her reasons. And, in Dana’s telling of her sister’s suicide, it’s safe to assume that she probably viewed Carol’s handling of Allison similarly to how psychiatrists treated her sister. Carol thinks so, too. It’s a complicated and nuanced situation, though, and it would have been nice to see more of Carol’s reaction to it before it turned to being about Wolf.

The episode ends as it began: with Sofia. Wolf discovers that his father was treating Sofia for a mystery illness involving insomnia. Where he’s run off to is still a mystery, but Wolf offers to treat Sofia instead, and in payment, she tells Wolf everything about what his father’s been up to for the past 30 years.

Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 12 gets things back on track, mostly, by delivering a thematically rich episode.

Brilliant Minds Season 2 airs new episodes on Monday nights on NBC and is available to stream the next day on Peacock.

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