Brilliant Minds’ Series Finale Was Full of Callbacks and Powerful Stories, Making Its End Even More Frustrating

Critic’s Rating: 3 / 5.0

3

In some ways, Brilliant Minds’ series finale was perfect, but it was obvious it wasn’t written to be a series-ending episode.

This final story wrapped up a lot of things — including an unnecessary character death — and had a brilliant callback to the series premiere.

But then the last five minutes ruined everything.

(Pief Weyman/NBC)

Ed Begley Jr’s Guest Appearance Was A Strong Callback to the Series Premiere

Long-time Brilliant Minds fans might remember that the series began with Wolf getting fired from his old hospital after he sneaked a patient with dementia out to a wedding in order to stimulate brain development.

For that reason, the idea of ending with the story of Wolf supporting Nichols through his father’s cognitive decline was nearly perfect.

I don’t know if it was purposeful or not, but it was a great mirror of that premiere episode.

This time, Wolf wasn’t going rogue and getting himself in trouble. He had to convince Nichols — and win over Nichols’ skeptical and annoying sister — before doing anything.

( Pief Weyman/NBC)

He also wasn’t alone. Instead of feeling forced to sneak around with his patient because nobody understood his methods or cared to listen to him, he was able to work in partnership with his team to get Duke Nichols the unorthodox help he needed.

I’m skeptical myself of how well it worked. I’m not sure it was realistic that Duke became completely lucid and was able to have the heartwarming conversation Nichols had needed for years after playing a baseball game.

But as a bookend and part of solidifying Wolf and Nichols forever, it worked.

Dementia stories are always emotional, too, and if you leave out the baseball game, this one was pretty spot-on.

Duke’s wild swings from semi-lucid to completely confused to aggressive were extremely realistic, and so was the family’s grief and confusion about what to do about it.

( Pief Weyman/NBC)

Nichols and Wolf being a solid couple was on my wishlist for the end of Brilliant Minds Season 2 (and the series), so I’m thrilled with that aspect of the finale.

I wish I could say the same about the other front-burner storyline during Brilliant Minds’ series finale.

Thorne’s Ethical Quagmire Fizzled Out… And Then Ended Weirdly

I was excited by the first half of the Carol/Thorne storyline. It reminded me of the ethical lines that Chicago Med‘s Dean Archer crossed in the past, and I had high hopes that this version would take the problem more seriously.

Unfortunately, I was wrong about that.

(Pief Weyman/NBC)

Carol was angry when Thorne found another doctor willing to override the patient’s right to decide for himself what treatment he wanted, but it didn’t go where it should have gone.

Although Brilliant Minds Season 1 ended with Carol herself facing an ethics board, this time the show chose to treat a major ethical misstep as an obstacle to romance rather than the serious breach of professional standards it should have been.

And to add insult to injury, when the cops showed up (creating a cliffhanger that will never be resolved now, too!), it wasn’t because Thorne was accused of breaking laws against treating patients without valid consent.

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Instead, it was because his patient was the criminal, and he and Carol were now implicated. Blah.

Not only does that ignore the real issue this story should have addressed, but it also leaves Thorpe in legal jeopardy forever, since the series is not returning.

(Pief Weyman/NBC)

I HATE when a series disappears without resolving cliffhangers. It’s one of my pet peeves and has been for 20+ years, since Under Suspicion was canceled after a cliffhanger in which the main character was shot.

I still am mad that I don’t know whether she lived or died all these years later, and now I have to say the same thing about Brilliant Minds’ series finale.

What the heck was that last scene? It felt like it was meant to be a season-ending cliffhanger, not a series finale, and thus was probably filmed before Brilliant Minds was canceled.

There are only two possible interpretations of that final scene.

The more charitable view is that Wolf, Nichols, and Carol are about to solve a huge medical mystery and save many lives at that resort. I’d prefer to think that.

(Pief Weyman/NBC)

Unfortunately, there’s a darker idea that fits the end of the series: the three doctors just realized that they were exposed to whatever toxin befell these other people and are soon going to die.

I hate that idea with a passion — a series ending with everyone dead is almost as bad as those damn cliffhangers that don’t have a resolution. But it is, sadly, one possible way to explain why Brilliant Minds’ series finale ended on such a ridiculous note.

In any case, I’m also angry that Brilliant Minds decided to end the series by killing off Noah for no good reason.

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The Season 1 cliffhanger was so exciting. I couldn’t wait to find out more about what was wrong with Noah and how Wolf was going to help him — and, of course, more of the amazing Mandy Patinkin.

But then Brilliant Minds Season 2 totally threw away that setup, pushed Noah off-screen… and then gave Wolf a half-sister who looks just like his hallucination so she could report Noah’s death in an accident that had nothing to do with his mysterious illness.

(Pief Weyman/NBC)

I would have much rather had more of Noah than all of those flash-forwards in the first half of the season, and I think the character deserved better than that off-screen death.

What about you, Brilliant Minds fanatics?

This is the last opportunity for us to chat about a brand-new episode, so let’s hear your thoughts! Throw them in the comments, and don’t forget to share this article with your friends, so they can join the conversation!

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If you enjoyed this article, check out our recent thoughts about Wolf and Nichols’ reunion.

Brilliant Minds has ended, but you can stream all 33 episodes on Peacock.

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• Brilliant Minds’ series finale was a home run in many ways, but we’re crying foul on some of the final choices. Our review!

• In this exclusive clip of Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 20, Muriel and Oliver have a heart-to-heart while going thru Noah’s files.

• Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 19 wrapped up one story while opening a new thread… but there’s only one episode left. Our review!

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