A mother assures her two small children that a raging storm is nothing to be frightened of as NBC’s Brilliant Minds season two, episode 17, opens. The door to their bedroom slams shut on its own, and she takes a candle downstairs, calling out to anyone who might have entered the house. She panics as she hears demonic voices, returning to her children’s room and telling them to hide.
She believes there’s someone trying to enter their bedroom and screams, “Leave us alone!”
(The following is a recap of season two, episode 17, “Doctor, Interrupted,” and there are spoilers.)
Josh (Teddy Sears) has made a habit of visiting Oliver (Zachary Quinto) every morning at Hudson Oaks, bringing coffee and breakfast. They discuss patient files, play cards, and hang out – even going out for walks. Oliver playfully tosses snowballs at Josh, and it’s all very friendly and comforting. Their interactions confirm that Josh truly cares about Oliver, which wasn’t really in doubt since he just made keeping Oliver at the hospital a demand if the board wants him as chief of staff.
Oliver wakes when a patient screams out in the hallway. He finds Regan (Mamie Gummer), the woman from the opening scene, huddled against the wall. (Nice touch, naming her after Linda Blair’s The Exorcist character.) She tells him to stay away from “us.” A nurse warns Oliver to stand back as she and another nurse try and get Regan to calm down.
Regan becomes combative and they struggle to return her to her room. After she leaves, Oliver picks up pieces of a torn photo.
Meanwhile, Carol (Tamberla Perry) and Anthony (John Clarence Stewart) have a hot makeout session in the elevator at work. Although Carol wants to get together later, Anthony can’t … he has plans.
Josh’s boyfriend, Dr. Beau Pedrosa (Marco Pigossi), shows up at work to discuss the apartment they’re going to rent, even pointing out a potential nursery. Oliver’s mom, Dr. Muriel Landon (Donna Murphy), pops in, and after Beau leaves, Muriel admits she was surprised to see him. Josh confirms that Oliver knows about their relationship. Muriel cuts to the chase and asks about Charlie Porter. She’s adamant that Charlie can’t be there, but Josh says it’s up to the board. Since she hired Charlie, she’ll get rid of him on her own – if she needs to.
Oliver and Dr. Adler (John Getz) chat by the closed pool and Adler reminds him that reentry into society can be difficult. He advises him not to be afraid of jumping back into the deep end.
Anthony calls on Carol, Dana (Aury Krebs), and Ericka (Ashleigh LaThrop) for help with young honeymooners. The wife, Whitney, has a head injury but won’t say how she got it. He assumes it’s domestic violence; that’s why he’s brought the three women in to see her.
Whitney (Shannon Rose Connolly) has a black eye and her husband, Zeke, claims he hurt her. She denies it.
Carol and Whitney speak without Zeke, and Whitney confesses that they had sex for the first time on their wedding night. She was a virgin, it hurt, and she lost control of her body and freaked out. She thinks she ruined everything. Carol promises to help her figure it out.
Carol describes vaginismus as an involuntary contraction of her body during sex. Women from strong religious backgrounds often suffer shame, but it can be helped. Carol wants to refer her to a Utah doctor, but instead Whitney asks for her help. If a fancy NY doctor can’t help her, no one can.
Over at Hudson Oaks, Oliver asks the other patients about Regan. He’s advised not to point at her and learns she’s called the Howler of Hudson Oaks. She had facial palsy a few weeks ago and it disappeared. Oliver thinks that’s an intriguing symptom. Amelia (Bellamy Young) stops him before he can talk to Regan, and Oliver claims he wants to stay a few more days.
Oliver sits behind Regan and she turns and stares. She jumps when he says hi and settles down when he hands her the photo of her children he taped back together. Oliver asks what happened and she claims she was trying to protect her children from what lived in her house.
She felt something sinister lived in the house and that she absorbed it into herself to keep her children safe. For that reason, she believes she’s haunted.
Muriel and Oliver play a game of Scrabble, and Oliver thanks her for coming since she doesn’t like psychiatric treatment centers. She admits something in her has been healed by visiting him. Muriel thinks it’s good for him to stay a while longer.
Oliver is watching Regan and notices her now-teenage children are there, but she ignores them. (Helping her is the real reason he’s staying.) Oliver introduces himself to Lucy and Rex and asks what she was like before her psychosis. Rex doesn’t remember; Regan’s been getting treatment for 13 years. But Lucy remembers her mom when she was normal.
Oliver goes over the symptoms with Josh on his next visit, and he acknowledges they used to be signs of demonic possession. Now they know the root of the problem is neurological. Auto-immune encephalitis affects women more than men, and women are the ones most suspected of possession. Josh thinks he’s right and suggests that he keep digging.
Oliver reminds him he doesn’t need to be there. Josh insists he wants to be there.
Muriel hands Charlie (Brian Altemus) a letter about an open neurology resident spot at NYU. It’s his if he never shows his face at Bronx General again and stays away from Oliver. If he doesn’t leave in 24 hours, she’ll make sure he’s removed the “old-fashioned way.”
Oliver visits Regan in her room and asks her to draw a clock. She shoves all 12 hours onto one side of the drawing. Oliver suggests that her neurons are under siege and her brain’s on fire. He believes he can help her.
Josh is distracted looking at Oliver’s notes about Regan when Beau tries to get him to go home. He notices what Josh is working on and is shocked it’s a Hudson Oaks patient.
Oliver barges into Amelia’s office and wants Regan taken to a hospital for a workup. He believes her condition is neurological and is worsening. Amelia thinks it sends the wrong message to the other patients, suggesting that all the doctors have been wrong and that she can miraculously be fixed. He asks her to prescribe steroids to see if they temporarily fix Regan’s condition. Amelia believes steroids will make her psychiatric condition worse. She refuses.
Oliver enlists his buddies to help collect steroids from the patients. They willingly hand them over and Oliver smuggles them to Regan. He’s collected 600 mg of prednisone, which will make her feel less confused. However, if he’s wrong, it could make her sicker. She chooses to take the drugs.
Whitney tells Carol that her plan isn’t working and that she’s feeling like there isn’t any hope. Carol reminds her she needs to be patient and that this isn’t her fault. Whitney disagrees and confesses she’s not a virgin and had fun having sex but then felt horribly guilty afterward. She thinks God is punishing her. Zeke doesn’t know.
Whitney realizes the only way to handle this is to be honest with him.
Carol’s acting a little off in bed and Anthony wonders what’s up. Carol reveals she’s only been with him and her ex since she was 21. She can’t be with Anthony if he’s with other women. Anthony insists he doesn’t intend to be with anyone but her. “You are out of my league, Dr. Pierce,” says Anthony, admitting he never thought she’d date him.
Regan’s up at night in the hallway again, struggling to walk. She collapses in a seizure, and Oliver yells for help. Amelia realizes Oliver gave her something.
Josh, Ericka, and Dana look over Regan’s scans at Bronx General with Oliver on the phone. There’s nothing unusual on the scans. Oliver confesses that she didn’t actually have a seizure. She was lucid after taking the steroid and he showed her how to fake one so that she’d be forced to go to Bronx General.
Oliver has lunch with Dr. Adler and admits that he feels the best when he’s with Josh. Josh sees him, and that’s when Oliver feels most himself. Dr. Adler suggests that he move toward what feels good.
Whitney and Zeke show up at Carol’s office, and she’s grateful Carol encouraged her to open up. Things are better now, thanks to Carol’s advice.
Josh delivers the best possible news to Regan. She’s suffering from neurosarcoidosis, and it’s treatable. It affected her brain and because it’s incredibly rare, that explains why she was misdiagnosed for 13 years. Regan understands that none of the night terrors or demons were ever real. It’ll take a while, but she should make a full recovery.
She’s okay to go home but cries when Ericka asks who they can call to come get her. “I dragged the people that I love through hell. There’s no going home,” says Regan.
Oliver walks with his two best Hudson Oaks friends through the halls late at night. He leads them to the pool and suggests they just jump. They have a blast until the nurses find them.
Amelia reprimands Oliver for being incredibly reckless and she thinks he’s regressed. Oliver believes Hudson Oaks is a good place with good staff, but she’s the problem. She fights back by telling him he’s been approved to stay longer.
Charlie shows up for a visit and tells Oliver that he wins. He’s leaving Bronx General for NYU, and Oliver realizes it was arranged by his mom. Oliver doesn’t think Charlie really wants to leave and tells him not to take the job. Charlie confesses that he never wanted this to happen, and Oliver insists Charlie didn’t do this to him. He forgives Charlie and even thinks Charlie reminds him of himself.
Oliver insists it’s true and describes both to a T. He thinks they’re doing their best to hold themselves together. Charlie cries and they hug.
Regan visits Oliver and thanks him for saving her life. She hasn’t seen Lucy or Rex yet, because of everything she did to them. She’s battling different demons now, and Oliver assures her that her brain will adapt now that she has control again. None of this was her fault.
Regan wants to see her kids but isn’t sure they want to see her. Speaking from personal experience, he assures her they want to see her more than anything.
Beau’s waiting in Josh’s office when Josh walks in with dinner. Josh breaks the news that they didn’t get the apartment, and Beau’s disappointed. He wants a life with Josh, complete with a nursery and preschool decisions. However, he realizes that while he’s certain about Josh, Josh doesn’t know who he wants to spend his future with.
Amelia discusses Oliver with Muriel and suggests that Oliver stay for another month. Muriel confesses it took her a while to know when Oliver’s dad needed treatment or needed to be at home. With Oliver, she already knows he’s ready to be released.
Regan’s packing her room when Lucy and Zeke show up. She pulls them in for a hug and holds them tight.
Muriel walks out of the hospital with her son and Carol’s waiting outside with his motorcycle. He jokes about not knowing who he’s more excited to see, and then they also hug. (So much hugging this episode…not that that’s a bad thing!) She momentarily freaks out when he mentions needing to save Sofia but then laughs when he admits he’s joking.
What he really wants to do is live his life – and get Josh back.
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- Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 2 “The Contestant” Recap
- Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 3 “The Pusher” Recap
- Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 4 “Lady Liberty” Recap
- Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 5 “Once Upon a Time in America” Recap
- Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 6 “The Doctor’s Graveyard” Recap
- Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 7 “The One That Got Away” Recap
- Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 8 “The Upside Down” Recap
- Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 9 “Fire Fighter” Recap
- Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 10 “The Resident” Recap
- Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 11 “The Boy Who Feels Everything” Recap
- Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 12 “The Rider” Recap
- Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 13 “The Rabbit Hole” Recap
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- Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 15 “The Missing Person” Recap
- Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 16 “Senses” Recap
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