Brilliant Minds showrunner talks that heartbreaking death

Brilliant Minds Season 2 returned from its winter break with a heartbreaking episode. This was certainly one where a box of tissues came in handy.

Michael Grassi chatted with us about the episode, delving into the reasons that particular death had to happen and what it means for the characters moving forward.

With so much going on, it was difficult to focus on the death as well. After all, we’re losing interns, which raises questions about how Brilliant Minds can continue to capture the magic it had with the Core Four.

Please take a look at our interview with Grassi. Caution, there are spoilers!

I’ve cried every time I’ve watched this episode. Why did you decide to go the route of killing off Michelle after all that hope of her and Van getting back together?

Brilliant Minds tackles many challenging topics. From the very first week of our writers’ room this season, one of the topics we wanted to tackle was brain death and its complexity.

You have this body in front of you, and it has a pulse and is warm. It still looks like the person you love, but they are brain-dead, and that is absolute. It doesn’t make it easier on family members to accept that.

We explored various ways in which we wanted to tell the story.

But what we really felt important was making it feel personal to one of our own characters, so that you can really understand the depth of that emotion, and the depth of those feelings that you experience when you’re faced with something like that and having to accept something that feels really impossible to accept.

We wanted to tell it through a love story between Van and Michelle, which is completely heartbreaking — and I’m sorry — but it’s important, too.

I’m sure people have the same question as I did throughout, and Charlie brings it up. Van’s mirror-touch? He should have felt — or not felt — something. Why didn’t anyone else bring that up?

That’s an excellent question. Our doctors were being very sensitive to the situation. How can you ask somebody, ‘Well, you have this ability to feel. Do you feel anything?’

That is almost an inappropriate question to ask, but Charlie’s the one who has personal experience with seeing family members who were kept alive longer than he felt was appropriate.

He sensitively asks the question, but he’s overheard at the worst possible time, and he’s in the line of fire for Van. But Van is aware throughout the episode, but he’s not ready to face it himself. And our doctors know that the question is not necessarily their place to ask.

I feel like he realizes it in the ambulance as he’s going through the wish, the dream, but Charlie is sensitive. It’s hard because he’s been this antagonistic character, but there are so many layers that we’re just scratching the surface. Can you tease what’s to come for him?

Charlie really saw himself in Liam. He was Liam at some point, and I think seeing what Van is going through, and he lost his mom and then his dad, his advice to Van in that scene where he says, ‘Don’t let him lose both of you,’ is just really profound.

We’re just starting to peel back more layers on Charlie, and we’ll continue to do so. He is really complex, and he’s deeply wounded.

I think, considering what he has done, if we take a step back and look at what he has done this season, I think it’s going to become really clear that he is much more complex than meets the eye, than this cocky guy we met that walked into Bronx General.

I spoke with Brian [Altemus] a while back, and we chatted about revenge and what it’s like after you get the revenge you think you want. What does life look like after that so-called revenge? Can you tease anything about that for Charlie?

We’re talking a lot about the neuropsychology of revenge, and we’re reading up a lot about it. It’s very intense, exciting, and deep.

What I’ll say without spoiling too much is that his story is not what you think. It’s not what is presented at the beginning, and there are going to be some big surprises coming down the line for Charlie.

To move on to a lighter topic, Jacob got his dream job. Now, I will miss Jacob — he’s my favorite — but I’m so happy for him as a character. When did you know this was Jacob’s path, and no alternative would keep him at Bronx General?

I love Jacob. He came onto our show as somebody who had a whole other life and career as a football player. When he got injured and saw what it was like to be a patient, he decided to be a doctor. Then he met Dr. Wolf, and he saw that being a doctor was entirely different from his experience on the patient side.

Dr. Wolf inspired him, and his dream is to bring that level of care to his patients, to athletes who need it when they’re at their lowest. Being injured as an athlete, whether big or small, takes a significant toll on mental health.

I love Jacob and Spence. He’s such a talent and a force.

The last scene with Wolf, Jacob, and Van at the end of [Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 11]  is that Wolf says, ‘My door is always open.’ I hope that it’s not the last we’ve seen of Van or Jacob on Brilliant Minds.

I hope you’re right. Seeing him diagnose the patient and be the one who even considered it when everyone else was stumped just made it clear he’s needed. Why was Jacob the only one to figure out the diagnosis?

That’s Jacob’s superpower, right? We’ve seen it with so many patients over these two seasons. He has an incredible bedside manner. He can talk to someone and make them feel like they’re at home.

I think all of our doctors, when talking to the young man who was involved in the accident, kept him at arm’s length. Jacob walked in and totally cut through.

Wolf orchestrated it as the last attempt to show Jacob how talented he is and how valuable he is to the department and patients. He wanted to give Jacob a win in the hope that he would stay. Jacob will be missed in Neuro for sure.

We’re losing the Core Four that made Brilliant Minds stand out and drew us all in. So, where do you go when you’ve only got two left?

Good question. One of our big love stories on the show is between Dana and Ericka, and they’ve had a rough run this season. With them losing Van and Jacob, who they were also really close to, it’s going to bring them closer than ever, and it’s going to be really beautiful to see.

Wolf will feel the loss as well. When we met Wolf, he was a really isolated person. He really kept to himself, but when he came to Bronx General, his students changed him in many ways. They became his pack, and losing two of them is going to have an impact on him.

It’s going to shift the dynamic at Bronx General, but in surprising and interesting ways, and we’re going to see that as we approach our final run.

We’re really going to test our department and lean into Brilliant Minds’ emotional storytelling, and we’re going to bring characters back together for some big wins in exciting ways.

I want to end with a thank you for allowing Eric Dane to tell the story he wanted to tell.

Is there a chance we could see him again — should health and time allow — or if you could do that with other actors, such as Michael J. Fox, who is outspoken about the realities of Parkinson’s Disease?

First of all, I love Michael J. Fox and Eric Dane. Working with Eric was one of the best experiences of my career thus far, and any opportunity to work with him again, my door is always open.

Same with Michael J. Fox. I grew up on him and still love him. I loved him on The Good Wife. He’s excellent, and I would love the opportunity to work with him and tell stories.

Brilliant Minds is great for actors to show up, be themselves, and tell grounded, honest stories.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Brilliant Minds airs on Mondays at 10/9c on NBC.

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