Upamanyu Biswas
NBC’s ‘Brilliant Minds’ follows the exploits of Oliver Wolf, an eccentric neurologist who solves his patients’ complicated cases through his ingenuity, compassion, and help from his trusted interns. After losing his job due to his questionable methods, Wolf is recruited by his friend Carol Pierce, a fellow doctor, to start working at the Bronx General Hospital, where he handles a wide assortment of brain-related ailments. With each passing case, Wolf demonstrates his wily, out-of-the-box thinking and his love for the field of neuroscience while also juggling personal issues.
The medical drama show was created by Michael Grassi, who dives into a slick procedural narrative about complex neurological disorders and their effect on a person’s psyche. Part of Wolf’s challenge is to diagnose his patients correctly with the aid of his interns and find the most humane solution to their issues. It adds a sense of mystery and realism to the show that dives into the ethics of medical practices through a smart and well-intentioned protagonist. Therefore, digging into the genesis of Oliver Wolf and ‘Brilliant Minds’ provides clues into their inspirations and their basis in reality.
Brilliant Minds is Inspired By the Works of a Real-Life Neurologist
‘Brilliant Minds’ is a fictional story drawn from the works of real-life neurologist Oliver Sacks. The show’s creator, Michael Grassi, was handed the idea of adapting the series through Sacks’ two books, ‘The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat’ and ‘An Anthropologist on Mars.’ Upon reading through them, Grassi decided to use them as the source material for his retelling of Sacks’ life and career through a contemporary tale. The show is drafted by Grassi and fellow co-writer Alex Berger and examines the peculiar cases undertaken by the renowned neurologist during his many years in the field. Although it is primarily focused on the medical themes, there is a greater focus on the humanitarian effort employed by Sacks and his team.
In an interview with NBC, Grassi explained, “There are so many incredible cases that we take from these books and then we set them in present day and have conversations that feel urgent and pressing with Oliver Sacks’ incredible material. The source material has been incredibly informative for what we’re doing on the show.” Each episode of the show features an individual case that allows the protagonist and his young intern team to flex their investigative skills and figure out the affliction of their patients. As such, Grassi insisted that the heart of the narrative is built around people and not their condition.
“What Oliver Sacks did so well, is that he told incredible stories about people,” the creator stated. “And that’s the same thing we’re doing on our show as patients come in and they’re suffering from these strange, mysterious illnesses. But it’s about them, and how do they move forward as a person? And it’s about our doctors getting to know them. It’s not just about the condition, it’s about the person.” Inspirations for the show came to Grassi through other shows, specifically ‘This is Us’ for its emotional storytelling and ‘Will & Grace’ for its groundbreaking nature. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he described ‘Brilliant Minds’ as “This is Us: Medical.”
As ‘Brilliant Minds’ is set during modern times, the advancements in medicine and societal attitudes had to be reflected accurately. According to Grassi, it was pivotal in crafting a show that feels “refreshed and contemporary.” Furthermore, he also visited the Oliver Sacks Foundation for consultation on Sacks’ methodology in order to maintain the authenticity of the narrative. “The woman who runs the estate is Kate Edgar, who was Oliver Sacks’ longtime friend, ghostwriter, and editor,” he said. “She reads all of the scripts and we email each other. She’s a huge fan of what we’re doing. Having her endorsement and blessing has been so important to me because I really do want this to be a love letter to Oliver Sacks. I want to make him proud.”
The Warmth, Compassion, and Curiosity of Oliver Sacks
While ‘Brilliant Minds’ may be a dramatization of real-life events, the show’s roots are clearly evident, specifically in relation to the protagonist. The show’s central character, Oliver Wolf is actually a semi-fictionalized version of Oliver Sacks, a British neurologist famous for penning several non-fiction books about the neurological conditions and disorders he encountered in his practice. Sacks moved to the States in 1961 after receiving his medical degree from The Queen’s College, Oxford, in 1958. He subsequently completed his residency in neurology and neuropathology at UCLA before serving as a neurologist in the Bronx. Over the years, he held positions in various prestigious institutes, contributing massively to the field of medicine.
However, Sacks’ real prominence came from the numerous books he penned detailing his patients’ maladies, conditions, and curious cases. He was touted as “one of the great clinical writers of the 20th century” by The New York Times. His books were not just an examination of medical curiosities but also stories about human beings, combining the two elements to create something that resonated with his readers. The curiosity that drove him to understand people’s emotions and their feelings, in addition to their issues, made him a widely respected member of the medical fraternity. Sacks passed away on August 30, 2015, from cancer. He was at his home in Manhattan at the time.
In the show, creator Michael Grassi weaves Sacks’ warmth and compassionate personality into his fictionalized counterpart, offering a glimpse into the real person. Even many of his quirks are layered into the character’s depiction. Grassi elaborated on it further by saying, “Oliver Sacks really did swim every day, which was a big part of what he did to keep himself focused and escape himself. It was such a big part of his life. Anecdotally, he was swimming in the Hudson River when he got out at City Island. He was just walking in his bathing suit and found what later became his clapboard home on City Island where he spent so much of his life.” Therefore, the character resembles the real-life figure in more than one way despite being set against the backdrop of a contemporary story.
