We’re back! Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 12 ‘The Rider,’ confronts Charlie with the choice of leaving the past behind or delving deeper into it, while a job interview tests Dana and Erika’s friendship, and Carol finally discovers who betrayed her. Ready?
Here we go!
The Spiral of the Past
We really appreciated Oliver’s honesty with Dana and Erika about Charlie in Brilliant MindsSeason 2 Episode 12 ‘The Rider.’ It was something they needed to know because they can’t work together as a united team if there are secrets between them. But now that everyone knows Charlie’s true identity, what will happen? What does Charlie want? He’s already gotten close to Oliver, met him, and discovered why he does what he does. However, that didn’t help him, nor did it make the pain and anger disappear. On the contrary, it intensified.
So we’re worried about what Charlie will do now. He twisted Dana’s advice to fit his personal vendetta. Dana was trying to tell him the exact opposite of what he’d done. She wanted Charlie to stop letting his past define him. He’s so focused on what happened back then, so blinded by rage, that he’s lost sight of everything else. And that’s the same advice Oliver gives him.
They can’t change the past. Oliver knows he was wrong and lives with that remorse every day. Charlie wasting his life being addicted to his own pain, to his anger, isn’t going to bring his mother back or change anything. But as Grace demonstrated in Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 12 ‘The Rider,’ no one can help an addict if they don’t want to help themselves.
Grace and Benson are addicted to alcohol, and Charlie is addicted to his pain and rage. While Benson wanted to get better, Grace and Charlie chose the opposite path. They chose to fall deeper into the spiral, down the rabbit hole. And that has the potential to destroy them. While we don’t expect to see Grace again, we will see Charlie. It’s now clear that his goal is to take Oliver’s place, to take away everything he holds dear. And the worst part is, we know he’ll succeed. We’re already on the edge of our seats.
MORE: Brilliant Minds Season 2, Episode 11 Review: ‘10 Minutes’
Friendly Competition…
That said, Charlie isn’t just a problem for Oliver in Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 12 ‘The Rider,’ she’s also a problem for Dana and Erika. It didn’t escape our notice that Charlie tried to sow discord between them. Playing devil’s advocate here, Charlie was right in what he told Dana. She deserved to go for that opportunity just as much as Erika, and it wasn’t fair to let her pass. Dana just had to be honest with Erika. But the way Charlie said it…it gave us the feeling that she wanted to turn Dana against Erika.
Luckily, Dana and Erika knew better, and they both supported each other during their respective interviews. They both knew that the other deserved the position, and we liked seeing Erika in such healthy competition. The competition and dealing with the feeling that she has to be the best, and that if she isn’t, she’s a failure, is a breaking point for her. So we’re glad that therapy is helping Erika understand that she doesn’t have to be perfect and that not achieving something doesn’t make her any less worthy.
The interviews for the position in Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 12 ‘The Rider,’ gave Carol some unexpected answers. She had already decided not to dwell on who had betrayed her. But when Dana spoke about her sister, the way she said it, how she behaved… Carol knew. And she has mixed feelings. Carol knows she was wrong and accepted that her actions deserved consequences, but a part of her is hurt that it was someone as close as Dana. And we understand because we feel the same way. But above all, Carol wants to protect Oliver.
He may pretend he doesn’t, but his interns matter to him, and knowing that Dana betrayed his best friend… Oliver will feel it as a betrayal. That will hurt him, and he won’t be able to forgive Dana so easily. Something we understand, because we’re in the same boat. So we think Carol and Josh made the right decision by keeping this from Oliver. We’re sure it’ll backfire on them later, though.
MORE: 5 Things We Want to See in Brilliant Minds Season 2 Next Episodes
Other Stuff in Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 12 ‘The Rider’
- Beau is fantastic…in every way (wink, wink). We’d love to be mad at him for being Josh’s boyfriend, but we can’t.
- However, we didn’t miss the fact that Josh avoided talking to Beau about Oliver. It still hurts him too much…because he’s still in love with him.
- Is it just us, or are Oliver and Josh’s fights hot?
- We don’t understand why Oliver doesn’t tell Josh about Charlie.
- We don’t like that Grace ran away. But that’s the worst part about addiction. You can’t help an addict if they don’t want help.
- The advice Charlie and Oliver give Dana and Erika about their interviews shows how opposite they are.
- We liked that heart won out over facts.
- We love Silva.
- We noticed Erika falter when Dana mentioned Sam…
- This dynamic between Sofia and Oliver is interesting. We can’t wait to see how things develop between them and what Oliver discovers about his father.
- We love how Carol always helps her patients.
- And her friendship with Josh is the best!
Brilliant Minds Season 2 airs on Mondays at 10 pm ET on NBC.
