What is the limit between being a genius and being insane? Sometimes it’s pretty hard to tell, but some people are willing to push reality to the very limit in order to find out. That’s the case with Dr. Oliver Wolf (Zachary Quinto), a neurologist whose cases will be unveiled in thenew NBC seriesBrilliant Minds. In the medical series, the doctor will use unconventional methods to treat his patients and baffle everyone when they start to work. The series is set to premiere on September 23.
In the trailerunveiled by NBCthis week, we find out that Dr. Wolf is the kind of professional that gives medical directors and lawyers a headache. Just in the few scenes we see, the neurologist takes patients outside the hospital for a change of scene, invites old and fragile people toride his motorcycleand swims in the Hudson river. His reasoning is valid: he wants to change the way that the world sees his patients — from miserable individuals with memory problems to people who can resemble their past selves to friends and family.
The trailer forBrilliant Mindsalso reveals that Dr. Wolf has a condition called Prosopagnosia, which means that the man is unable to memorize or recognize faces. This is part of the reason why Wolf decides tomake a difference: since he’s not able to remember patients' facial emotions in the long term, he decided to search for ways to provide more permanent care that other doctors often ignore.
IsBrilliant MindsBased On a Real Story?
If the kind of stories that theBrilliant Mindstrailer reveals sound even vaguely familiar, it’s because Quinto’s Dr. Wolf is based on one of the most famous neurologists in the world.Dr. Oliver Sacksrevolutionized medicineby trying unconventional approaches to his patients. His methods were famously depicted in the Academy Award-winning movieAwakenings, which starredRobin WilliamsandRobert De Niro.
Unconventional treatments have been featured in practically all medical series, including famous andlong-running titles likeGrey’s Anatomy,ERand especiallyHouse, M.D.However, it’s not often that the treatment is the main thread of the show.Brilliant Mindsis written and created byMichael Grassi, who previously wrote forRiverdaleandSchitt’s Creek.
The cast ofBrilliant Mindsalso featuresTamberla Perry(They Cloned Tyrone),Ashleigh LaThrop(The Handmaid’s Tale),Alex MacNicoll(13 Reasons Why),Aury Krebs(Leverage: Redemption),Spence Moore II(All American),Teddy Sears(Chicago Fire),Gray Powell(Sort Of),Dorrett White(What We Do In the Shadows) andDonna Murphy(The Gilded Age).
NBC and Peacock premiereBrilliant Mindson September 23.
