We’re back! In Brilliant Minds Season 1 Episode 8 ‘The Lovesick Widow’ Oliver and Nichols start a relationship and end up facing their first problems together when Muriel catches them red-handed. Ready?
Here we go!
First Times in Brilliant Minds Season 1 Episode 8 ‘The Lovesick Widow’
After the end of episode 7 with that incredible kiss between Oliver and Nichols, Brilliant Minds Season 1 Episode 8 ‘The Lovesick Widow’ takes care of showing us what happens next. Although we would have liked the episode to start where the previous one ended, we love seeing Nichols and Oliver letting themselves go with what they feel and not being able to keep their hands off each other, even in the office…or in the elevators.
The bad thing is that they have risked too much and Muriel has caught them red-handed. And her face…her face has spoken volumes about what she thinks of what she has seen. Or so it seemed because, in reality, the only thing Muriel has asked Nichols is not to hurt Oliver. After all, she doesn’t want to see her son suffer. Muriel knows that, although Oliver seems strong, he is emotionally very vulnerable, and she doesn’t want to see him with a broken heart again.
However, Muriel’s first reaction in Brilliant Minds Season 1 Episode 8 ‘The Lovesick Widow’ brings back bad memories for Oliver and changes absolutely everything. On the one hand, Oliver remembers Tom, that exchange student, his first love… and how it all ended when his mother caught them kissing. She made it very clear with her disapproving face and by sending Tom to London immediately that she didn’t accept Oliver as he is.
MORE: Here’re the reviews of Brilliant Minds episode 1, episode 2, and episode 3.
Silence Speaks Louder Than Words
If Oliver was already embarrassed about being caught in a compromising situation with Tom, when he woke up to find that his mother had dumped Tom overnight — preventing him from seeing him again and their newfound relationship from continuing — he felt rejected. Oliver felt like he had done something wrong like he was wrong. And that was another thing Oliver couldn’t help but hold a grudge against his mother for and why he walked away from her, without confronting her.
Now, after seeing his mother’s reaction to seeing him kiss Nichols in Brilliant Minds Season 1 Episode 8 ‘The Lovesick Widow,’ coupled with how Nichols broke up with him right after that, Oliver knows that his mother did the same thing. Muriel intervened in his life again and snatched away his happiness. But, this time, Oliver has the strength and courage to face her. So for the first time, they’re honest about what they both felt at that time and what guided their decisions.
And while we think part of what Muriel did was motivated by trying to protect Oliver, we think part of it was motivated by rejection. Luckily, Muriel is learning from her mistakes. Knowing how much she made Oliver suffer and how much it affected him to lose Tom in that way, feeling like he was the problem and a disappointment, is going to help Muriel learn to communicate with Oliver, to talk to him, before just making decisions for him without considering how Oliver might feel about it.
The truth is, whether Muriel was right to protect Oliver or not, he needed to feel that his mother loved him for who he is, and Muriel made him feel the opposite with her silence, her disapproving gestures, and her decisions. But we’re on the right path with them now.
MORE: Here’re the reviews of Brilliant Minds episode 4, episode 5, and episode 6.
Fight For What You Love
Now that we’ve looked at the complicated relationship between Oliver and his mother, it’s time to focus on why Nichols broke up with Oliver after talking to Muriel in Brilliant Minds Season 1 Episode 8 ‘The Lovesick Widow.’ This time, Muriel didn’t do anything to prevent that relationship, on the contrary, those words scare Nichols as if they were the worst threat and, in a way, they are. Nichols realizes that what he has with Oliver is not something casual, it’s something serious.
It may have all just started but the intensity of what they feel is something else. No matter how long they’ve been officially together, their relationship is serious, Nichols knows that. And suddenly, he’s very scared. What if something goes wrong? Their relationship has the potential to break both of their hearts…and they work together, which adds a new complication. So Nichols decides to try to back off and not take any risks.
Nichols doesn’t know what to expect from Oliver when he breaks up with him in Brilliant Minds Season 1 Episode 8 ‘The Lovesick Widow,’ but when Oliver is indifferent and accepts the breakup without a fight, Nichols breaks down. He’s disappointed. Part of him expected Oliver to fight for him, for them, and not let him go so easily, being so cold.
But when Oliver does exactly that, Nichols takes it as a sign that, to Oliver, what they had wasn’t as important as it was to him. Nichols is about to turn around, about to call Oliver out on his coldness and indifference…but he doesn’t — though we would have loved to see that scene, we’re sure it would have been explosive and hot.
The best part, though, comes at the end, when Oliver decides for the first time to fight for what he wants and that’s to be with Nichols. What he feels for Nichols doesn’t come from pain — he’s had feelings for him since he met him. Oliver knows that Nichols feels the same way, no matter what he wants him to believe now. And we love that last shared smile, when they decide to take a risk and try, when they decide to live what they feel, instead of thinking about everything that could go wrong.
MORE: Here’re the reviews of Brilliant Minds episode 7 and our in-deep interview with Alex Ozerov-Meyer about the episode.
Other Stuff in Brilliant Minds Season 1 Episode 8 ‘The Lovesick Widow’
- We don’t understand the love triangle between Markus, Ericka, and Jacob. The last thing we heard was that Ericka had feelings for Jacob and now, without any explanation, she sleeps with Markus and we are given to understand that that is all she wants? If they were going to take this turn, they should have explained it, otherwise, it’s all nonsense.
- Carol’s new patient…we don’t believe for a second that she doesn’t know exactly who Carol is.
- When I grow up I want to be like Oliver’s patient.
- I love Oliver and Nichols’ smiles.
- The moment when Oliver has gotten up to close the door and lower the blinds….HOT!
Brilliant Minds airs Tuesdays at 10 pm ET on NBC.
