Guys, Brilliant Minds Season 2 might have peaked already. It was always going to be a tall order for Episode 12 to compete with one of the better outings in the show's history, but "The Rider" feels like a bit of a regressive step all the same. It lacks the raw emotional sentiment of its immediate predecessor and a lot of the compelling overarching storytelling that has been threaded throughout the season.
In fact, it seems like Wolf's relationship with Charlie Porter may be heading in a completely different direction than anyone expected, supporting my theory that, perhaps, he's not the one who ultimately gets Wolf committed to Hudson Oaks. It could all be a diversion, of course, but I think not – the show seems to have different plans for this dynamic. There's very little Hudson Oaks build-up in this chapter either way. Instead, it's bookended by brief scenes shared between Wolf and the mysterious woman who confronted him at the end of the previous episode, so we may as well start there.
The word "confronted" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there, I'll admit. Sofia isn't a threat or anything. As it turns out, she lives upstairs but had an "arrangement" with Noah that included watering his plants and some other things that come to light at the end. In simple terms, Sofia suffers from what seems like sleep paralysis but is probably going to end up being a more complex neurological issue, and Noah had offered to treat her pro bono. Not one to take something for nothing, though, she had asked him to share his life story with her, which by all accounts he did, including his abandonment of Oliver.
Wolf spies an opportunity here and offers to continue treating Sofia in exchange for her relaying to him what Noah told her, hopefully filling in the large gaps provided by three decades of his absence. Ideally, if Wolf can figure out what his father was up to during that time, he has a better chance of understanding him enough to reach him again. This will presumably give Wolf something extracurricular to focus on for the next few episodes.
Not that he doesn't have plenty going on at work. The A-plot of *Brilliant Minds* Season 2, Episode 12 revolves around a bull rider named Benson, who, despite not having anything wrong with his brain on paper, is nonetheless experiencing a variety of symptoms, including nerve damage in his arms and legs, hallucinations, and, weirdly enough, hypothermia. This mandates a field trip to the rodeo to figure out what may be making him sick, but the problem turns out not to be environmental after all.
Benson, an alcoholic, was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and has a tumultuous relationship with substances ever since. His symptoms are exacerbated by long-term alcohol abuse and withdrawal during his hospital stay, which was even cured by his bad influence girlfriend drinking hand sanitizer. Despite multiple attempts to get sober, nothing has worked, leading Wolf to propose a radical and experimental surgical procedure that Porter is skeptical about and requires approval from Nichols.
Porter, now working in the neurology department, is a central figure in the hospital's dynamics. Wolf even gathers the interns to introduce them to him, causing surprisingly little friction among the usual gang, now missing Van and Jacob. This creates a strange dynamic between Wolf and Porter, who oscillate between respectful colleagues and bitter rivals. Regardless, Porter seems to be sticking around for the foreseeable future, though his revenge mission seems complete as he had expected Wolf to fire him at the fundraising gala and had no further plans.
Nichols denies Benson the surgery, prompting Wolf to circumvent him. Through Carol, Wolf learns that the former head of Bronx General's neurology department would perform the surgery with one caveat: this guy is Josh's current boyfriend. This isn't as awkward as one might think, but it later transpires that Nichols hasn't been open about his former relationship with Wolf. This is probably something he should have mentioned, but I expect we'll return to it later in the season. In any case, Benson gets the surgery, but his girlfriend decides not to stick around since she's not ready to give up drinking.
There's unusually little going on elsewhere. Carol has a few scenes with a patient named Betsy who has been hoarding cats, but it exists rather nakedly for Carol to have the epiphany that she needs to get back on the horse and get on with her life. Otherwise, the main focus is a mental health grant that both Ericka and Dana are competing for. Ericka, briefly coached by Wolf, takes the more prepared and logical route, while Dana, advised by Porter, goes emotional. In talking about her sister's suicide, she inadvertently tips off Carol, who's on the board, that she was the one who reported her in Season 1. This revelation is hidden from Wolf since he'd consider it too much of a betrayal to continue mentoring Dana. I thought we were done with all this, honestly.
Dana gets the grant, proving Porter right, but the experience also causes Ericka to decide that she wants to look for her birth mother. She was going to use that angle in her pitch but decided against it. Now it's time for her to confront her emotions. Since therapy seems to have magically cured her Benzo addiction, she might as well pursue this new path.
