Brilliant Minds

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.

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.

I guess it's a good thing that they didn't just reboot House, but this is the next worse thing.

The story is the same: brilliant, but flawed doctor uses unconventional methods to diagnose illnesses. Throw in some politically correct intersections (he's gay) that don't forward any plots and you have Brilliant Minds.

You could overlook that if, like House, they had some really unique illness to keep you interested, but so far the stories have been pedestrian and the plot plodding. Continuity is also an issue as we're told that the protagonist suffers from "Face Blindness", yet doesn't seem to have trouble recognizing people when he sees them.

So it's not terrible, but it's not really good, either. Yet?

I really like Brilliant Minds, but please don't pass on incorrect information. You cannot get a dishonorable discharge after you are discharged. And your activity after discharge cannot alter your discharge type. If your behavior is threatening or exposing military secrets that's criminal not impacting their military performance. And if they are being seen by the VA hospital then they are "veterans" which means out of the service. If they were still active than they are service members. The information should be as truthful as possible. I know this was just added to further the storyline, but it very harmful to any honorably discharged person!

The first episode kept me so interested!!! A lot of doctors truly don't see the person they sometimes see a helpless person with an illness to the brain. I love that this serious digs deep into who they are not what they're become. My uncle had a stroke the doctors were saying he won't understand speech, won't walk or talk. Truly discouraging it's been 3 months and he understands language, is trying to speak and stand. All n all it proves doctors aren't god they don't know everything. I really like how this series portrays this message. To not give up because of the patients condition. All n all I'm excited for this series. I hope we get a season 2.