Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 2 recap. “The Contestant”

Cold open onto a new character! We’ve got a 30-something gal named Lauren Brooks (Molly Bernard), in a reality TV “confession” room. She’s chatting with a producer (or maybe another contestant?) via a sparkly pink mosaic-tile backsplash. Seriously, this thing looks like the Space Odyssey obelisk if it had been redecorated by HGTV in 2016.

The monolith asks Lauren why she’s here, and she explains that she’s looking for love and wants to start a family. The monolith begins to prod, and Lauren looks anxiously at the room full of cameras. “I want out,” she says, starting to panic. The monolith says it can’t unlock the doors, so she attacks it with a kitten-heeled pump, before collapsing on a glass table.

Opening credits! Mama Wolf looks at the letter Papa Wolf left Oliver and wipes a tear from her eye. “You have one ‘I told you so,’” Oliver says. Mama Wolf says that she’s sad, but also relieved that Oliver can go back to his life now that his dad has ghosted him once again.

Dr. Angela Pierce practices explaining why she saw her husband’s mistress, Allison, as a patient. At first, she didn’t know that Allison was anyone but a random stranger. But when she figured it out, she kept seeing Allison, notes her sparring partner, Dr. Josh Nichols. Pierce crumples.

Cut to the hospital hallway, where a frantic woman named Harper is looking for her sister, Lauren. Lauren is down the hall, calmly reapplying her makeup, and she tells Harper that she “isn’t supposed to be here.”

Drs. Kinney and Dang are chatting at their lockers, and the second Dang dashes off, Kinney takes some pills. Dr. Preppy I mean Dr. Porter (the new guy) appears out of nowhere, perhaps catching her.

Everyone convenes in the hall, where Lauren explains that she’s was trying to leave the reality show that she’s on, but they wouldn’t let her. Dr. Dang is intrigued and wants to know which show she’s on. Lauren starts to get paranoid and accuses the doctors of all being part of the show, too.

We get to see Lauren’s POV, which includes dramatic pink lighting and non-diegetic music, as well as fisheye views of hidden cameras.

Wolf calls “Cut!” and says “Lets put down all of our props…and let’s just take five.”

Well, this medical mystery didn’t last long! In the next scene, Wolf explains that Lauren is experiencing Truman Show syndrome. (This is a real delusion, one that’s been described in at least 100 patients — one of whom traveled to New York, to find out if the September 11th attacks had really happened, or if they were just a plot twist on his show.) Wolf explains that in the era before reality TV, people had other technology-focused paranoias — e.g. about radio waves controlling their thoughts.

“Is this what you do in neuro all day, historical storytime?” asks the ER doctor, Anthony Thorn — a new character who I believe I personally summoned by carping all last season about how detached Wolf and his interns are from the reality of a supposidly busy hospital.

Of course, the question is: Why is Lauren having these delusions. Top contenders include: Drugs, a psychotic break, or perhaps she really is on a reality show, one that is pushing her to the breaking point.

As the neurology team continues to question Lauren, she gets to dig in on a meaty cliche — the crazy truth teller.

“Do any of these people look real to you?” Lauren asks her sister. “They’re actors.”

“No, we aren’t actors,” says Dr. Kinney.

“Maybe not good ones,” retorts Lauren. “Remember the broody guy with the glasses from before? He’s a tortured genius who cares too much about his patients… The only person he can’t heal is himself.”

“And let me guess: You three are his proteges, the interns.” Lauren nods at Dr. Kinney and then looks at Dr. Dana Dang. “The Type A brainy one, the comic relief. (“Hurtful,” Dang says.) This guy (Dr. Porter) is way too hot to be a doctor.”

Lauren then wonders if Dr. Porter might become her love interest. “Forbidden romance with a patient. Spicy!”

Besties Pierce and Wolf catch up over dinner. Wolf says he’s fine with his dad ghosting him again. Pierce contemplates lying to the hospital board to get her job back.

Meanwhile, Lauren freaks out and ends up confined in a room that, ironically, actually does have cameras in it. The NYPD, ever so helpful, gives the Wolf pack a video of Lauren’s episode — and we discover that the conversation that kicked off the episode actually happened in a cab, not in a reality TV confession room.

Wolf wants to calm Lauren down without forcing meds on her, so he comes into the seclusion room with a bunch of painter’s tape and pretends to cover all the cameras. Wolf also covers the actual camera. (But not the actual actual camera) Now we are in Lauren’s pink-hued reality.

Wolf and Lauren have a heart to heart where Lauren asks him why he can’t find love. Wolf explains that he’s too committed to his patients. Then he says, “Can I let you in on a secret? I heard that everyone watching is rooting for you. You’re the fan favorite. Everyone wants to see you win but you have to keep playing the game. Even on this hospital set. Cooperate with the doctors, take your meds. Everyone wants to see you get better on your terms.”

Lauren agrees, and then tells Wolf once again that she knows he’s not a real doctor. “You’re right, I just play one on TV.” Oh the cleverness!

Wolf casually asks Nash if he wants to grab a drink tonight. Guess he really is feeling better!

Cut to Angela meeting with the hospital board. She tells the truth and then gives a compelling speech about how difficult it is to keep strict professional boundaries when you really care about your patients.

Lauren has another crisis — and this time it’s severe abdominal pain. Wolf has to ditch on his drink with Nash because Kinney doesn’t respond to her page (because she’s fast asleep, knocked out on anxiety meds.) Dr. Preppy discreetly suggests that she take it easy on the benzos.

Turns out, Lauren was doing IVF and her abdominal pain was a complication of her injections. The hormones probably helped trigger her psychotic break too, but her boyfriend leaving her and her long hours at work also contributed. She’s clearly a perfectionist over achiever who hates to be a burden on anyone and refuses to ask for help.

Lauren got three embryos from the IVF procedure, but she decides to discard them because she thinks she’s too crazy to be a mom.

Wolf chats with Harper in the hallway and explains that Lauren will get better with time and support. “We have to think of Lauren coming out of this like the sun rising out of a heavy rain. It will take some time for all the water to dry, but it will.”

Then the evil-looking lady from before shows up! The one from the “six months earlier” scene that opened season 2, where Wolf is in an inpatient mental facility. She introduces herself as Amelia Fredericks, the clinical director at Hudson Oaks. Then, she convinces Harper to commit her sister.

Dr. Pierce visits Mama Wolf and Mama explains that the board voted against her, but then Mama took the bullet for Pierce by claiming that she advised Pierce to keep seeing Allison. So Mama Wolf is retiring, and that is that.

Just as Lauren is about to commit herself, Wolf intercedes. He makes a speech about the importance of letting your loved ones help you. Back on the job already, Dr. Pierce tells Lauren that she’s not crazy, weak or flawed just because she had a psychotic break. She adds that “many times people who have struggled with mental illness make the fiercest protectors of their children — as long as they have support systems in place.” Lauren decides to put her embryos on ice and see Dr. Pierce twice a week instead of going to the impatient facility.

We end with a happy montage where Dr. Pierce fixes a broken AC by hitting it and Dr. Nash cheers her on. Then he tells her something shocking — that Allison testified on Dr. Pierce’s behalf! If that’s the case, then who ratter her out to the board?

Then, we are back at Hudson Acres, six month in the future, and Wolf is signing a form to commit himself — and Dr. Pierce is right behind him, saying it’s for the best. Eeek! I reckon that he’s not a-ok with being abandoned by his dad again. What do you think?