Note: The following story contains spoilers from “Brilliant Minds” Season 1, Episode 13.

NBC’s “Brilliant Minds” ended its first season with a shocking twist that left Dr. Zachary Quinto’s Oliver Wolf makes you “question everything.”

After learning how his father’s death traumatized Oliver during his youth, the penultimate episode of “Brilliant Minds” revealed that Oliver’s father Noah (played by Mandy Patinkin) was actually alive and well. In a dramatic confrontation between Oliver, Noah and Muriel (Donna Murphy), Oliver not only learns that his father is still alive, but also that his mother knew and lied to him.

“When Wolf finds out this big secret, I think he starts to question everything in his life,” showrunner Michael Grassi told TheWrap. “Everything he believed to be true is no longer true, and what defined him, namely his father, is no longer what he believed.”

Grassi added that while Wolf takes care of his family, he may need a moment before letting people back in, especially Josh (Teddy Sears), whom he abandons at the end of the finale to reunite with his father who sincerely asks him for Oliver’s help as a neurologist after he had unsuccessfully sought help for his unknown illness.

“All season long we’ve been telling the story of what it’s like to grow up with a parent who struggles with mental illness, and I think in the last two episodes we’re turning around and looking at the parents and looking at ourselves Look at the story from their perspective… what it’s like to be a parent struggling with mental health and the decisions you make, even if they’re extreme ones, that you think at the time are best for your child. said Grassi.

Below, Grassi tells TheWrap why he always saw Patinkin as Oliver’s father, discusses the interns’ various romances and shares his hopes for Season 2.

TheWrap: In the last two episodes, Mandy Patinkin appeared as Oliver’s father. Why was he the right choice for the role and what did he bring to the table?

Grassi: When I first met Zach, before Zach signed on for the show… I pitched Zach his storyline for the season and then I was like, “At the end of the season, your dad is coming,” and I was like, “Imagine Mandy Patinkin before,” and that was before Mandy Patinkin had signed. In the writers’ room every day we just said, “Well, it’s Mandy Patinkin.” He was… the only person we saw playing Zach’s father, and then when it became a reality, it was a dream come true and a ” Meet Your Heroes moment because it was an incredible collaboration and truly incredible to have. He has this fatherly quality and this complexity and this honesty in every role he plays. We couldn’t imagine anyone else playing Zach’s father in this role.

At the end of the episode, Noah asks Oliver for help. What’s going through Oliver’s mind at this point?

Oliver’s Achilles’ heel – the path to him – happens in the pilot, where Carol says, “Come to work at Bronx General,” and he says, “No way,” and she says, “Well, I have a really rare, exciting case.” “And then you see him sit up – that’s what gets him. When his father says, “I’m struggling with something that no one else can figure out,” I think the doctor in Wolf takes notice. We are pleased that Dr. Where was dad? What’s wrong, what’s wrong with him? Seeing their dynamic and figuring out who they are in the present is going to be really fun and really interesting and exciting, I think.

During all this with his father, Oliver misses Josh’s gala. Is this a limit for Josh?

Yeah, they had a couple of conversations where Josh was like, “I don’t think you appreciate what I do as a surgeon.” The way Oliver approaches medicine is very different from the way , how Josh approaches medicine, and I think Josh has felt disrespected by Wolf at times, and I think he has some good reasons for that, because Wolf, for his part, is so passionate that it might seem dismissive at times. I find Wolf not showing up to this gala and Wolf not reaching out to him hurtful, and I think it will definitely mess up their relationship in the future.

Throughout the season we’ve seen a love triangle between Ericka, Van and Jacob, but now it looks like there’s a glimmer of hope for Erika and Jacob. Where does Ericka stand, especially after her traumatizing accident?

Ericka follows the rules and is Type A and she’s a little bit like Wolf in that way where she’s put up some walls and is just really committed to her job. Throughout the season, we hear her say, “Okay, what if I lived a little and what if I did a few things for myself?” And we’ve seen it get messy and a Love triangle arose between two men that she really cares about and works with, and she likes both of them, but at the end of the day, when she goes through that really intense and traumatic incident in the elevator, we kind of think, “Who will she go to.” turn, Jacob or Van?” And really, I think the love story that we’ve been telling all season is a friendship love story, and that’s with Dana – you see her fall into Dana’s arms, and we understand that the two of them will grow closer as friends, what is really exciting. Jacob hasn’t been able to tell Ericka directly all season that he has feelings for her, even though he has feelings for her, so I think in this moment at the end he really admits his missteps, and I think, that it may give them a path forward, but I think they still have a long way to go.

We also see Erika taking one of Dana’s pills after she says she doesn’t need a crutch. Is she afraid of stigmatization?

This scene between Ericka and Dana is one of my favorite scenes in this final episode. I think a lot of us can relate to both sides – a lot of people feel like they don’t need medication, a lot of people feel like there’s still a lot of stigma around whether it’s personal or judgmental for other people, whether it’s self-judgment or judgment about others when it comes to taking medication to treat anxiety or mental illness. That’s why I think it’s an important conversation to bring these two into conflict that’s happening in real time. When I spoke to Ashleigh (LaThrop) about this, we talked about how sometimes it’s really shameful to take medication and it’s a really interesting story to explore and I love that she gets in the elevator and says, “I’m fine. I’m just working through it,” and then we reveal that she’s secretly taking Dana’s medication because she hasn’t fully accepted for herself that it’s okay to do it. She will embark on their own journey to to find out what is best for them in the future.

We also see Dana making some progress with Katie (Mishel Prada). Why was she initially hesitant to take this step?

Dana is so confident, she’s so vocal about herself and her mental health and her journey and all that stuff, but I think she also really protects her heart, and that’s because of the things she’s dealt with in the past had to do, and the loss of her sister and other things make her afraid to let anyone in. We see her vulnerable and we see her struggle with love issues toward the end of the season, and I’m excited to explore that relationship further. They are very different people and there will be a lot to clarify.

We also saw Carol taken on leave because she was treating a patient who she knew was dating her husband. Does Carol regret treating her?

I don’t know if Carol is someone to be sorry for. She’s been through a lot, and I think this moment is so distressing because Carol was so supportive of Muriel – she was drawn into the family drama. She brought Wolf in, she was in the middle of this mess, and then for Muriel to turn to her and put her on leave feels like a huge blow. I think we’ll see Carol struggle, and we’ll see her also try to find out who turned her in. Was it Morris? Was it possibly someone else? There’s also a little secret for us to explore in Season 2.

Have you heard anything about a possible second season?

Not yet, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed. We all love the show so much and we love doing the show and we just think it’s such an important message and conversation that we should continue to spread and continue the destigmatization of mental illness, which Oliver Sacks, from which the show is inspired by. dedicated his life. It’s a show that’s also grounded in a lot of hope in some ways, and we want to continue to share those stories.

What would you look forward to in a potential second season?

There’s so much to reveal – of course there’s Wolf and Papa, but there’s so much more, and I would say a lot more medical mystery and excitement and a lot more of Oliver’s unique approach to medicine that really sets us apart .

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

“Brilliant Minds” Season 1 is now streaming on Peacock. Episodes 12 and 13 begin airing on Tuesday.

The post ‘Brilliant Minds’ Boss Resolves Larger-than-Life Finale Twist: Oliver ‘Starts to Question Everything’ appeared first on TheWrap.