Brilliant Minds Season 1 Episode 9 Review: The Colorblind Painter

Critic’s Rating: 4.3 / 5.0

4.3

Emotion influences how we see the world, from passionate red to envious green to depressed blue.

The main stories in Brilliant Minds Season 1 Episode 9 demonstrated that, beginning with Gabriel Ferguson, a colorblind painter with an upcoming exhibition.

He lost a vital part of himself without communicating through his artwork, so he’s become bitter, angry, and depressed unless Wolf and the interns help him.

Besides that, both Dr. Perce and Ericka dealt with their romantic entanglements. Alison made things more complicated for Dr. Pierce, making several people uncomfortable.

Wolf Makes House Calls Now

Teddy Sears‘ wife, Milissa, guest starred as an art dealer, Angelika, who approached Wolf about one of her clients.

Zachary Quinto must have some pull when casting the guest stars since he, Teddy, and Milissa have been friends for years.

Seeing them in scenes was interesting since Angelika needed Wolf’s help because her client, Gabriel Ferguson, wouldn’t leave his house, and she believed Wolf could help him.

Gabriel was similar to Wolf and didn’t like many people inside his place near his personal space.

However, unlike many of Wolf’s previous patients, he resented Wolf’s attempts to relate to him when Wolf mentioned his face blindness, which he rarely mentions.

Wolf realized that Gabriel had color blindness reasonably quickly, but it was severe since he didn’t just mix blues and reds. He only saw in shades of grey, a lonely palette for artists and life.

Gabriel’s Story Hits Too Close to Home

Watching Dr. Wolf, Van, and Jacob realize that Gabriel lost his wife in that car accident hit too close to home.

Way too many people have lost their loved ones in horrific car accidents but survived themselves and struggled with survivor guilt.

That accident took everything Gabriel cherished—his true love and ability to express emotion through his artwork. It made sense why he was bitter and wanted to give up.

Since artists name and sign their finished work, Gabriel felt that diagnosing his problem meant he was finished, whereas Wolf felt they had options.

Cerebral achromatopsia or acquired color blindness couldn’t be reversed, so Gabriel’s anger seemed warranted.

Dr. Wolf Uses His Past to Help Gabriel

Whenever I think Dr. Wolf has his riskiest idea, he has a new one. After remembering using psychedelics as a teenager, he suggested them to help Gabriel have peace of mind and see color.

These are not legal, so naturally, Wolf invented his experimental trial with Gabriel as a test subject. I wish Nichols were around to give his thoughts on this one.

As Gabriel relaxed, flashbacks of teen Oliver played, and we saw why this was so important to Wolf. The editing was excellent, from black and white to full-color hallucinations of seeing his dad.

Ted Sutherland (Rise) excelled in these scenes as teen Oliver comes out to his dad, and his dad doesn’t miss a beat and asks if he likes anyone special as they catch up.

He finally got the peace he needed with his dad’s death, so he wanted to give that to Gabriel about his wife’s death.

He finally saw her in color for the first time and talked about his regret that he lived and she didn’t. It wasn’t easy because he thought he was starting to forget how she looked.

Wolf has become skilled at talking patients off the ledge by reminding them of what their loved ones would want for them.

He also discovered that Gabriel could see different wavelengths of black, white, and grey, which others couldn’t, so they had to narrow their focus.

With new goals and his glasses, his latest artwork was stunning. Sometimes you need to adapt.

Carol’s Family Drama Affects Her Career

Did Carol feel sorry for Allison, or was she digging for info on the affair because these scenes were uncomfortable to watch?

It’s difficult to know if Allison was that unstable or if she knew who Carol was and wanted to hurt her by telling her that Morris took her away but then kept her his dirty little secret.

This came at the worst time because Morris wanted to save his marriage, and Carol was softening, but now she was more confused than ever. Was this woman playing a game, or was it a long-term affair?

Allison made things worse by throwing a tantrum in the hospital, and while Dana and Ericka tried to help, they ultimately made things worse.

Dana never should have told Allison that Carol looked her up because that gave Allison the upper hand.

Luckily, Carol realized that counseling Allison was affecting many people and set her free, but will this return to haunt her again?

Ericka and Van Try to Keep Things Private

When Wolf talked about excitement making the world brighter, Ericka and Van were in bed. Part of me thinks that’s all it was.

Ericka wanted something fun, exciting, and uncomplicated, and Van liked her. Neither wanted to tell the others.

Ericka: If there’s one thing that spreads faster than a virus in a hospital, it’s gossip.

While adorable, they didn’t glow like Wolf and Nichols did. They were more concerned about the aftermath. Van nearly jumped whenever Jacob approached him, even if it was the usual teasing.

Did anyone guess that Van talked to his young son on that secretive call? I thought his mom or sister and that Jacob misunderstood things.

Having a son would put another wrench in a relationship with Ericka, who doesn’t want anything serious yet. I loved that he trusted Jacob enough to share this information. Hopefully, we’ll meet him at some point.

While Nichols was not in this episode, his presence was felt through the one-sided phone calls and the thoughtful gift he left Wolf.

Over to you, Brilliant Mind Fanatics. What was your favorite part of “The Colorblind Painter?”

Were you shocked by those cliffhangers? Did you miss Dr. Nichols this week?

Let us know in the comments.

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