NBC’s Brilliant Minds got off to a modest start in its freshman season, being one of the last shows that the network renewed. However, the medical drama, based on the memoirs of real-life neurologist Oliver Sacks, is now gearing up for season 2, having won its spot on the roster. NBC certainly seems to think so, upping the episode order for Brilliant Minds season 2 to 20 episodes from season 1’s 13-episode count.
Brilliant Minds has more than earned its season 2 renewal, with strong reviews and a growing audience in the offseason giving it momentum. As it heads into its sophomore season, the show has upped the stakes. The Brilliant Minds season 2 trailer doesn’t hold back, teasing a tense season that edges closer to a psychological thriller than a medical drama.
ScreenRant recently had the chance to speak to stars Zachary Quinto (Dr. Oliver Wolf) and Teddy Sears (Dr. Josh Nichols), who started out on the wrong foot in season 1 before becoming respected colleagues and, eventually, lovers. However, revelations made at the end of season 1 upended both their blossoming relationship and Oliver’s hard-fought peace of mind.
Quinto and Sears opened up about how that fallout will impact their personal and professional relationship, not knowing where this season is going, and more.
Zachary Quinto & Teddy Sears Hope Oliver & Josh Will Handle Their Romantic Tension Maturely
“That Is The Guiding Light For Both Of These Guys”
Screen Rant: One thing that I really love about this show is that there aren’t any really communication problems when it comes to the romantic couples and entanglements. Everybody acts like adults, which is amazing. But at the end of the season, Oliver left Josh hanging. You stood him up. How do you see Josh and Oliver working through that this season?
Zachary Quinto: “Well, I think you partly answered your own question, which is that they are adults, and not only do they have to navigate the complexities of their relationship, but they also have to navigate the complexities of working together. And I think that, as much as maybe both of them would like to have the time and the wherewithal to focus on their interpersonal dynamics, I think things at Bronx General change in unexpected ways and force Josh and Oliver to navigate their working relationship primarily before they’re able to get to what might be underneath it.
And I think you’re right. I think they do what they can to navigate that uncharted path with as much equanimity as possible, sometimes more successfully than others. But there is something that I think is authentically reflective of the human experience in that dynamic. and both of their ability to at least try to do right by each other, and especially by their patients, right, because that is the guiding light for both of these guys.”
Teddy, what about you? How do you see Josh responding to this new, awkward dynamic between them this season? Or will there be an uncomfortable dynamic at all?
Teddy Sears: “Well, ZQ really nailed it, I think. The cases come at us so quickly that Zack’s right: While we would love to sort of halt everything and have a, I don’t know, maybe a summit to try and discuss or work through it, the realities of two working adults are when they can steal time here and there to get there. They do.
They go out for a drink and – listen, I just want to say that being stood up, I mean, if it were me in my own life being stood up, I think that [Oliver’s situation is] an explainable thing. It hurts, and it’s maybe embarrassing, but what’s going on? We can talk about this. There’s such a fallout after the arrival of Wolf’s dad. There’s a lifetime of things to process and unpack. So I also think that Josh is giving Oliver the space and the grace to work through things while also advocating for himself and letting him know that…
But then again, the cases keep coming, and these two have a very close, strong, respectful, professional relationship, which also informs, I think, their ability to be adults in the room personally and professionally. So listen, we’re only on episode seven. I don’t know what’s coming. I know what’s happened, and I know what you’ve seen, but I’m very excited to also see where we go from here. We have 20 episodes. It’s an old school order. It’s very exciting. There are a lot of possibilities for us.”
Zachary Quinto Explains How To Handle Oliver’s Breakdown With Dignity
“It’s A Real Balancing Act”
Screen Rant: Oliver is basically three traumas stacked in a trench coat and we saw the fractures starting toward the end of season 1. And then, of course, the season 2 teaser shows Oliver breaking down, and now you are the patient. The show has done a really good job of being compassionate in its portrayal of mental health and neurological issues. Now that it’s Oliver on the other side as the patient, do you find that there’s an extra duty of care to get that right and handle that with grace?
Zachary Quinto: “For me personally, I think that that storyline is still revealing itself. And as Teddy mentioned, we’re only on episode seven right now, and we just got the script for episode eight. So it’s not like we have a tremendous amount of runway to anticipate where the story is going to take us. So it’s a real balancing act, which is how do we invest in those situations with as much authenticity and verisimilitude as we can, while at the same time leaving room for the narrative to unfold as it might need to in order to satisfy the mandates of serialized narrative scriptwriting. So it’s a really interesting.
The Hudson Oaks sequences that we are exposed to in the first handful of episodes of the season are really just little glimpses into what’s going on there. And I think as the season unfolds, we’re going to get more of a complete picture of that story, both as an audience, but also as actors. This is the nature of this kind of storytelling, which is that we have to be invested but not rigidly attached to where the stories are going.
So I think I do everything that I can to bring my understanding of where the character’s been and what’s led him to this point, to every scene that I play. And then it’s Michael Grassi, our showrunner, and our writer’s jobs, to really kind of thread the needle in a sense that adds those stories up to something that’s satisfying for the audience and authentic. I think authenticity is a crucial cornerstone of the stories we try to tell.”
Teddy Sears Assures Us We’ll See More Josh This Season – Even If He’s Not Sure How
“We Have A Lot More Room To Do That Sort Of Thing.”
Screen Rant: Teddy, for you: Speaking of not knowing where things are going, can we expect to see more of Dr. Nichols’ backstory this season? We know you were in the military, so there’s obviously probably a lot in the background there, but you were a little bit of enigma in season 1. Can we expect to see more flashbacks with you and get more of your backstory in season 2?
Teddy Sears: “That’s a great question, and I actually don’t know the answer to that one. I would think so. Yeah, I would think so. With 20 episodes, we have a lot more room to do that sort of thing. I remember meeting with Michael Grassi before the season started, and he said, we have a great opportunity now with all these extra episodes to give Josh a problem. I mean, he was generalizing, but now we have room to incorporate all the doctors and all their stories in a much more, I don’t know, filled-out way, if you will.
My hope is that we do, and if it’s not an actual lived-in flashback, I would love to meet Josh’s parents. I would love to hear him tell them, or let his good friends – I mean, Wolf being one of them, and Carol Pierce is sort of the, I don’t know, the glue for the hospital, for the group of three of us. She’s someone that Josh also confides in and has a deep friendship with.
So the short answer is, I hope so. I’ve also asked them not to necessarily tell me what’s coming. I like to get the scripts and be surprised. I do hope we get there. You’ll see a whole lot more of me this season for a couple of different reasons, which will begin to reveal itself in episode 3. And then there are mentions of some past stuff that, again, I hope that we dive into, but there are lots of stories to service Josh. He’s like a spoke in the wheel at Bronx General. There’s a lot, and there are new doctors with new stories. We’ve got a few different new regulars this season.”
Brilliant Minds season 2 premieres Monday, September 22 at 10/9c on NBC.
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