Mentes brillantes

So in a number of ways "Brilliant Minds" is similar to "The Irrational." A super smart dude with weaknesses with super smart friends and a gaggle of smart but sort of clumsy interns goes around solving mysteries. In the former (Brilliant Minds") they are largely medical mysteries; in the latter it is... um... more of a detective series where a University professor solves murders and such.

One BIG difference is that in the former we have Zachary Quinto. He is a wonderful actor and he is really, really good in this. He plays a very interesting character who has "facial blindness". He's quite quirky and after a few episodes the show becomes less like "The Irrational" (which let's admit it, is kind of dumb) and much more like "House". The episodes leading up to the middle of this the first season have been really good.

I believe that the main character (which Quinto plays) is based on the late Dr. Oliver Sacks. Sacks wrote a (classic) book called "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" and some of his cases have been reimagined as episodes in this series. I find that very interesting.

I recommend this if you like medical dramas. I think you need to get past the first 4 or 5 episodes and that's only fair... Series like this often take a while to kick in and you need to be patient. It was at Episode 7 where I was really knocked over. It is excellent - the writing is fantastic and it and has an unexpected (at least for me) ending.

So my message to you is to ignore those people who wrote a review after watching just one episode. Sheesh.

There are for sure a few things that bug me about this series but my hope is by the end of the first season those will be ironed out.

I should admit I enjoy medical dramas and that I totally loved House. I think it may be one of the best network TV shows ever made in the U. S. So comparing this show to House is a compliment.

It's been a while since there's been a "rogue genius doctor" series on network, so it's about time.

Firstly, I think it's awesome they let Quinton's character be openly homosexual. Not sure how it's relivant to the story but we shall see.

The show itself is basically "House" just with a more focused specialty of neurology, face blindness instead of a limp, and not so much of a drug problem (so far).

You still have the strict Chief of Medicine, except this one is his mother instead of his "will they/wont they" romantic interest.

The thing I can do without are the SUPER CHEESY big speeches. They feel so absolutely fake and corny, and don't really further the plot. If the writers feel the need to include them, maybe write them into a small, one-on-one conversation instead of a big public speech.

I love the weird conditions the writers introduce us to, and the medical nerds out there will most certainly be blowing up Wikipedia (I did for Capgras Syndrome!) I think over time the show may truly find its feet and hopefully live to exist at least a few seasons, after all, NBC did renew the trash it brought us in 2023...

I just now realised after watching Awakenings for the first time, that the show is based heavily on real life doctor Oliver Wolf Stacks and some of the medical cases are based of real medical cases that doctor Sacks wrote about just like the amazing case that Awakenings is based on.

I went and searched the Internet and read about him and it gave me a whole now perspective on the show.

The biggest difference is that the show takes place today rather than in dr Sacks lifetime and in my opinion it would have been more interesting to keep the story in the 70s and 80s. Nevertheless the show worth watching.

Love that this show focuses on making a persons weakness their strength. Showing that what makes them different might be what gives them power. I look forward to the potential story lines and characters with this cast. It's refreshing to see a new idea when there are so many medical shows today. The fact that this show has decided to take risks and talk about subject matter that is potentially taboo is refreshing. I wish more shows would spend as much time developing the characters as the show put into the pilot. You truly understand where this is coming from and it is so important to him to fix the patient and not the diagnosis.

I remember seeing a TV Line post on watch it or skip it and it said that Brilliant Minds was nothing new in terms of medical dramas. I wholeheartedly disagree.

First: We have an interesting lead character who cares about patients. His team was not the most fleshed out in the first few episodes. But they're getting there and I really want to know everything about all of them.

The neurosurgeon is adorable, Dr. Wolf's best friend has a lot going on in her own life, and his conflict with his mom is also really interesting.

This is actually a refreshing medical drama because it manages to balance characters and their arcs and stories, and keep the case in each episode interesting, and unique. The solutions and ways they help patients is also really refreshing, without domineering, or acting like they know what's better for the patient. Its about internal conflicts, and external conflicts.

I do wish they would do something about the lighting in the show. But other than that, the characters are 3d and compelling, the cases are unique, and different from previous medical dramas as are the way they're treated. So if you love good characters and diversity, and LGBT stories, this is the show you want to be watching.