We’re back! Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 2 ‘The Contestant’ picks up directly from the end of the previous episode, as Oliver must deal with his father’s new escape and the future of his relationship with Nichols, while Carol must fight to get her job back. Ready?
Here we go!
The Right Moment…at the Wrong Time
In Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 2 ‘The Contestant,’ Oliver tries to convince everyone, including himself, that he’s fine after his father abandoned him again. In the end, it’s all good. Now he has time for the patients who truly need it, his mother no longer has to suffer, and he can go back to the way things were before his father returned and turned his life upside down, right? But it can’t be that easy.
Nothing can ever be the same again, no matter how hard Oliver tries. His father returned, Oliver discovered his entire life had been a lie, and now his father has abandoned him again. That’s not going to go away just because Oliver decides it should. He must face it. But he refuses to. On the contrary, he wants to pretend nothing has changed when everything has. That denial leads him to ask Nichols out on a date and kiss him. And, while part of us is screaming with joy, the other is with Nichols in this.
Josh was right to reject Oliver in Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 2 ‘The Contestant.’ He loves him, but Oliver hurt him. Nichols would be willing to move forward with Oliver from what happened if Oliver fought for them the same way he did, if Oliver decided to face everything that happened and break the vicious cycle, preventing anything that destabilizes him again from shutting Nichols out again, as happened after his father’s return. But Oliver isn’t at that point.
Oliver isn’t facing what happened, but rather avoiding doing just that at all costs. And it’s not fair to Nichols that Oliver is forcing him to be a part of that, not when he loves him and is willing to fight for them despite Oliver breaking his heart. So yes, it hurts us, but Nichols did the right thing by rejecting Oliver now because they can’t have a real future until Oliver faces what he feels. He will, we’re sure of that, and that will be the moment for him and Josh to start rebuilding their relationship. Our money is on the season finale for them.
MORE: Brilliant Minds Season 2, Episode 1 Review: ‘The Phantom Hook’
Start Over in Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 2 ‘The Contestant’
Carol’s position is in question in Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 2 ‘The Contestant.’ Given everything that happened, the medical board had to decide whether or not she would continue in her position. And we didn’t expect what happened. We mean, we understand why Carol came clean. She’s aware that she messed up treating Allison after she discovered who she was, but at the time, it felt like the right thing to do for the sake of her patient, despite herself. And that’s Carol. She cares, and her priority is her patients. She will help them, no matter what, even if it ends up destroying her.
And those people judging her… they had to know who they were dealing with. Carol had to tell them the truth. Now, was it the smartest thing to do? We think not. Carol had a safe way out right in front of her and decided to go all in on one card. Again, we get it—what Carol did was the right thing… but we don’t think we would have done the same, if we’re being completely honest. However, as we see in Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 2 ‘The Contestant,’ it was Muriel who bore the brunt of all this.
Muriel knows Carol belongs in the hospital, but more than anything, she knows Oliver needs her, even more than he needs her. Oliver can tell her he’s fine, but Muriel knows better. She knows he’s just trying to keep it together and move forward. Muriel knows Oliver isn’t allowing himself to fall apart, but if he ever does, it will be with Carol. They’re like family, they always have been. So Muriel is protecting her son. Of course, she’ll continue to care for Oliver and be there for him when he needs her, but now, protecting him means taking a step back.
And Oliver is grateful for that. He’s aware of what his mother is doing and is truly grateful. It wasn’t easy for her either, and now Oliver better understands what it was like for her to live with his father. Oliver always blamed his mother largely for what happened with his father, for trying to push him away, but in Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 2 ‘The Contestant,’ Oliver finally understands. Just as he understands why her mother lied and forgave her for it. His father hurt them both, but somehow his mother found a way to move on and not let what happened define her…and now it’s Oliver’s turn.
MORE: Everything We Know About Brilliant Minds Season 2
New Blood…
At the end of Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 2 ‘The Contestant,’ we meet Dr. Amelia Frederick, director of the mental health facility where Oliver will end up in six months. And there’s something about her that, like Oliver’s, we don’t like at all. Her smile and feigned kindness don’t fool us for a moment. After all, she was insisting that both Oliver’s patient and her sister sign their voluntary admission to her facility. Right away.
She was almost pressuring them and not giving them time to think. In fact, if Oliver and Carol hadn’t been there, they would have signed. And it’s good that patients have options. Sometimes, you just need more than seeing a psychologist a couple of times a week and some medication, but it didn’t seem like Amelia was giving them any other option; she was just trying to make them believe that she and her facility were the only option. And it made us suspicious.
The point is, as we see in Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 2 ‘The Contestant,’ Oliver ends up there in six months, and Amelia is nothing but kind. But what threw us off the most was Carol’s presence there, and her telling Oliver to sign the papers Amelia gave him. She would never do or say anything to Oliver that would go against him, but there’s something strange about Carol…like something that doesn’t quite add up, although we don’t know what it is yet. Could it be a vision of Oliver’s, and Carol isn’t really there? We need answers!
MORE: How Did Season 1 of Brilliant Minds End?
Other Stuff in Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 2 ‘The Contestant’
- Erika is going from bad to worse. We need her to get help. Charlie has caught up with her now, and we fear the most innocent thing he’ll do is not warn her of an emergency. It’s clear to us that he’s bottling this up to unleash it when it’s most convenient for him.
- We hate him with passion.
- Erika felt really guilty about falling asleep…but that’s just a warning that everything is starting to fall apart.
- Please take that ugly fanny pack away from Dana.
- We didn’t think Allison, of all people, would end up helping Carol.
- Carol and Nichols’ friendship was something we didn’t know we needed.
Brilliant Minds Season 2 airs on Mondays 10 pm ET on NBC.
