Mandy Patinkin as [Spoiler], What’s Next for Oliver and Josh in Season 2 (Exclusive)

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Brilliant Minds Season 1 Episodes 12 “The Doctor Whose World Collapsed” and 13 “The Man Who Can’t See Faces.”]

Brilliant Minds ends its first season with two episodes that are filled with action, heart, shocks, and so much more – and it leaves us needing the show to be renewed! (Considering how, well, brilliant it is, it seems a no-brainer to us.)

In Episode 12, Oliver (Zachary Quinto) and his boyfriend, Josh (Teddy Sears), head to the scene of the building collapse to help patients and find the intern who lived there, Ericka (Ashleigh LaThrop). Ericka survives, though not everyone in the elevator with her is so lucky (the woman who insists she go first to help her grandfather is still inside when it falls), and the finale sees her still dealing with the aftermath of that. Meanwhile, a doctor (Mandy Patinkin) helps out on the scene, and it’s not until the end of the penultimate episode that his identity is confirmed: Noah Wolf, Oliver’s father — whom he’d thought was dead!

The finale unpacks the truth: Because he felt he was a danger to his son (he’s bipolar), after he left him on that camping trip, Noah thought it would be best if Oliver thought he died. Muriel (Donna Murphy) was hesitant to go along with the story, at first. But now, despite a conversation with his ex-wife, Noah goes to Oliver’s and reveals who he is, and the truth comes out. But there’s more! Oliver skips out on a gala with Josh — who’s just told him he’s falling for him — to meet with Noah, who reveals he’s sick and here for Oliver’s help because no one can figure out what it is.

Below, showrunner Michael Grassi unpacks those key moments for Oliver with Noah, Muriel, and Josh, and teases what could be ahead in Season 2. (Stay tuned for Part 2.)

Once Mandy’s character didn’t give a name, I had a feeling who he was. Talk about casting Mandy as Oliver’s father and bringing him in like you did.

Michael Grassi: So when I first met with Zach for the very first time after he had read the script — he wasn’t signed onto the project yet — I got on a Zoom with him. He was in London doing a play and I pitched him sort of the season story for Wolf’s character and the show. And when I got to the end of Season 1, I’m like, and then your dad arrives, Mandy Patinkin. I sort of pitched it like, “Imagine Mandy Patinkin playing your dad.” And then we get to explore that story moving forward in the series and it was sort of a dream to actually get the opportunity to cast him and work with him when we finally got around to these episodes.

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I’m so excited to introduce the character. Obviously, Mandy has such a legacy with medical dramas already as is, which is really cool. But in real life, both of Oliver Sacks’ parents were doctors; his mom was a surgeon and his father was a GP, so it’s inspired by real-life Oliver Sacks and this situation. So I really wanted to meet Mandy’s character, Noah, as a doctor. He has seen that there’s a building collapse, he’s in there on the scene trying to help people, and I love that we meet him in the middle of action. I think that’s really important, and in success, I would love to explore who he was as a doctor; we get to see little glimpses of it and flashbacks, but I would love to continue that in the present.

Then there’s the scene in which Noah tells Oliver the truth, and then Muriel and Carol (Tamberla Perry) join in. Everyone was so good.

Okay, Meredith, I’ve been doing this a long time, making television and watching Mandy and Zach in that scene felt like a masterclass in acting, watching them find a place where it really felt real to them and they were living this was so special. Mandy coming into our show, everyone really wanted to just — he elevated all of our game. We all wanted to make this as special as possible. And I’ll never forget shooting that scene and I’ll never forget shooting the subsequent scene later when everybody walks in as well. It sort of felt like great drama, and I’m excited to do more of that.

But then there’s what that does to Oliver and Muriel’s relationship because just as it seemed to be getting a little better, it was like, oh no, let’s throw this wrench into it. It’s revealed that she’s been lying, although it was Noah who instigated the lie, but at the same time, it’s so complicated for Oliver right now to have to understand all of that. How is he feeling about his mother at the end of the season?

That’s such a good question. So I think a lot of their season journey was Wolf starting to see his mother’s perspective a little bit, why she did the things that she did. And by working at Bronx General and putting them in conflict together, I think he started to understand his mom more and more. And I think by the end of this season they come to a place where they’re finally working together and they’re getting along and he’s starting to see why she made the decisions she made, but then the rug is sort of pulled from under him and there’s a lot that they need to work out.

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It’s funny, I think a lot of the season, too, we were telling the story of what is it like to grow up with a parent who’s struggling with their mental health. I think by the end of the season we sort of tell the story through the parents’ eyes, through Muriel and through Noah, and we sort of start to ask the question, what is it like to be the parent when you’re struggling with mental health and what do you feel is best for your kid? And whether those decisions are right or wrong. One of my favorite conversations is between Wolf and his mother, and I think Muriel’s perspective is still that illness ruined their family and Wolf’s perspective is sort of the thesis for our entire series. It’s like, “No, mom, the lies did. We needed to talk about this, we need to communicate about it.” So it’s all about de-stigmatizing mental illness and getting it out there and not having to hide it or making it go away. And that’s really what the season and that story’s about.

And then you throw another wrench in at the very end with Noah revealing his health crisis, whatever he’s going through. What can you say about what’s going on with him and how Oliver is feeling about that? He has no time to really process that his father’s back and then he finds out he needs his help as a doctor.

That’s such a good question because I think that what we’re doing by telling the story is Oliver is about to take on his greatest medical mystery yet and potentially his most challenging patient yet. So I feel like him and his father have a lot to work out, and at the same time he is going to help him deal with something that nobody else has been able to help him deal with. So we’re sort of setting audiences up for an interesting storyline and a dynamic. I think there’s a lot going through Wolf’s mind right now. It’s like, my dad’s saying that, is it a way for him to get back into my life? Does he really need me? Is he here because he wants to restart a relationship? Is he just here because he needs help getting better? I think it’ll bring up a lot that we need to work through and unpack in a Season 2.

Oliver and Josh’s relationship is one of my favorites on TV this year.

Thank you.

What did you want to do with them in the second half of the season?

What was really important with Oliver and Nichols was to make sure that we grew their relationship in sort of a natural way that felt like they were still very much themselves and we were still keeping them in conflict. I think last time we talked they had just gotten together and now we’ve sort of put them in situations where they disagree about patients or they’re in crisis and a building collapse and Josh needs to do his thing and Wolf is still being Wolf and being like, the patient is asking for this and they have agency in their care, so I need to find whoever the patient’s asking for before we can perform the surgery. And Josh is like, this is crazy. So we’re putting them in situations where they disagree as they would because these are the characters that we’ve established.

What’s been really nice is seeing them work through all of this. And that’s really, really satisfying. And I think that’s why the finale is so heartbreaking because I think that Wolf, sort of everything that’s defined him is his dad and by learning that his dad is still alive, I think what that does to him psychologically, it’s like, what else in my life is a lie? He started working at Bronx General with his mom, and his mom has been lying to him. I think when there’s a really big shift in your life, you start to question everything. And I think the walls have gone back up for Wolf. A lot of his season was about the lone wolf finding his pack, and he really did with the interns, with Nichols, with Carol, even his mom, letting his mom in. I think the walls come back up and stronger than ever in that finale. And I think that’s really heartbreaking. We’ve been rooting for Wolf to let people in and now he’s sort of pushing them back away a little bit.

You had these really sweet moments: them holding each other at the end of Episode 12, then sharing breakfast and the gala invite in 13. But Oliver doesn’t tell Josh about his father — he does tell his team — or that he’s not going to the gala and he ignores his call. That all plays into that wall coming up, right?

Yeah, exactly. And I think for Wolf, he needs to get his house in order emotionally before he can let anybody in. I don’t think he’s ready to turn to Josh yet. And I think that’s what happens when we go through big life events. I think sometimes we let the people who are closest in and sometimes we push the people that are closest away, and Wolf in the situation is doing the latter, and I think we’re rooting for them to sort of find their way back together.

Why have Josh be the first to say he’s falling? Was it because Oliver made the first move?

Yeah, I think it feels like such a vulnerable, simple moment and Josh is putting himself out there in that moment, which is really satisfying to see because I wouldn’t have thought that he would. But that felt like the right time for him to sort of lay that out there in a very simple breakfast scene, which is a little homage to the end of Working Girl when Melanie Griffith and Harrison Ford are getting ready in the morning before work. It’s our gay version of that.

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How does Oliver feel about Josh? Why have him not say anything back when Josh says he’s falling for him? It was before learning about his father and his walls coming back up (which does explain his reaction when they talk in his office in Episode 13).

Great question. Wolf has strong feelings for Josh, but like everything he does, he’s not going to always show it in a conventional manner. I think not saying it back in that moment is not necessarily an indication that he doesn’t feel the same way. Remember, it’s been a while since Wolf’s been in a relationship and he’s only just finding his footing… I think that when Wolf does communicate his feelings, it’s going to be in his unique way.

What could be coming up next for them?

I think that in Season 2, they have a lot to unpack and work out. I think also by Wolf not showing up that event, it goes back to one of their earlier fights that they had, which is, I don’t think you see me as your equal. I think it brought up some of those feelings for Josh a little bit as well. This was really important to him. And it’s like, why isn’t Wolf just talking to him? Why are you pushing me away? What else is going on? So obviously they have a lot to work through, but that’s going to come with some complications and some surprises for sure.

What can you say about Season 2?

All I can say is that we love the show so much and we’re so happy that you’re enjoying it. And fingers are firmly, firmly crossed that we get to keep telling these stories and get to keep making the show.

What else can you share about what we could see in a second season?

I think more medical mystery, more drama, and I think more of what we saw this season, which was big events and continuing to explore all of our characters and continuing to explore the human mind, which is the final frontier of medicine. It’s still a mystery and there’s still so much more for us to unpack and to learn.

Do you know how much Mandy would be part of it? Would he become a regular, would it be a recurring role, would it be a full-reason arc?

Yeah, in success, we would want to continue telling that story. So we would hopefully have him back for more.

Brilliant Minds, Season 1, Streaming, Peacock