Brilliant Minds is returning to NBC in the 2025 TV schedule, after the wait of several months for confirmation that Zachary Quinto and Co. would be back for Season 2. The premiere on September 22 will see Dr. Oliver Wolf and his team on the case of an MMA fighter with mysterious symptoms, while Carol is considering a career outside of Bronx General after being suspended. Major questions concern Dr. Noah Wolf, played by Criminal Minds vet Mandy Patinkin in the final episodes of Season 1, and showrunner Michael Grassi opened up to CinemaBlend about what the future holds.
Much of Oliver’s story in the first season involved him dealing (or not dealing) with what he believed to be the death of his father, only for him to learn that not only has Noah been alive all this time, but his mother knew. Season 1 ended with Noah telling his son that he was sick with “something strange” beyond the bipolar disorder that he was already dealing with, and Oliver seemed semi-ready to focus on that.
While Mandy Patinkin has only been in two episodes of Brilliant Minds so far, they were enough to make the medical drama the first network TV show that he joined for a multi-episode arc since his time on CBS' Criminal Minds (He did work with Brilliant Minds’ Tamberla Perry on Hulu’s Death and Other Details.) So, when I had the chance to speak with showrunner Michael Grassi about the second season, I had to ask: will Patinkin be back for Season 2? Grassi previewed:
The story of Noah really does continue throughout the season. Whether or not we will see him again is a looping question mark, to be determined. But we love Mandy, and I don't want to spoil too much or get into it too much, but that story will continue in surprising ways.
Whether or not Patinkin is back opposite Zachary Quinto in the foreseeable future, the showrunner at least confirmed that Noah’s story isn’t going to be abandoned. You can revisit the story so far with Brilliant Minds streaming via a Peacock subscription now.
So, how did the Brilliant Minds team recruit the venerable Mandy Patinkin to his first multi-episode network TV role since the end of his time on Criminal Minds in 2007? According to Michael Grassi, casting the beloved star of The Princess Bride was a goal from the very beginning. He shared:
It's funny, when we first started talking about who's gonna play Oliver's dad, the first person that I mentioned way, way back when we were even developing the show, was Mandy Patinkin. We sent him a letter and materials and met with him, and we had a beautiful conversation that became this amazing collaboration and a dream come true for me as well working with Mandy, and I'm so fond of him, and he really is incredible.
Thanks to the lead character's face blindness, Brilliant Minds was able to show an early exchange between Zachary Quinto as Oliver and Mandy Patinkin as Noah without Oliver actually knowing that he was interacting with his long-lost dad. When Oliver did find out that his mother had kept a terrible secret from him for so many years… well, it was a pretty messy end to his story in the first season! Grassi went on:
[Mandy] plays a very complex character, and not just because of what he's struggling with, which is bipolar disorder, but also his character. Who he is, and the type of person that he is, and the fact that he chooses to run instead of face people head on is just an interesting dynamic and something that's been very hurtful and formative for his son, who spent a lot of his life and a lot of Season 1 even grieving him.
According to the showrunner, the time jump is “about three weeks between Season 1 and Season 2.” It seems like a safe bet that even Dr. Oliver Wolf himself couldn’t crack a grand medical mystery about his dad in the span of just a few weeks, but I can imagine it might have been enough time to tank his relationship with Nichols. Teddy Sears is in the trailer for Season 2, however, so fans don’t have to worry about whether or not Nichols will be back as a doctor. Take a look:
Brilliant Minds Season 2 premieres on Monday, September 22 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, following the Season 28 premiere of The Voice. The drama will continue about Noah Wolf in some form or other, regardless of whether fans see Mandy Patinkin opposite Zachary Quinto again this fall.
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