‘Brilliant Minds’ Boss Michael Grassi Talks Season 2 Premiere and the ‘Roller Coaster’ in Store for Wolf Following Shocking Twist (Exclusive)

Spoilers ahead for the Season 2 premiere of Brilliant Minds.

Brilliant Minds Season 2 has premiered on NBC, and creator Michael Grassi spoke to PopCulture.com about what’s next following that surprising twist.

In “Phantom Hook,” which aired on Monday, “Dr. Wolf helps an MMA fighter with mysterious symptoms. Dr. Pierce considers a career outside of Bronx General.”

Additionally, the episode also touched on the aftermath of Wolf finding out that his dad, thought to be dead, was actually alive. Between that and Wolf having to deal with a new second-year resident and his mother, he’s dealing with a lot. As well as Tamberla Perry’s Dr. Carol Pierce, who is on a new path at the start of the season. But that’s surprisingly not all. There was a turn of events for Zachary Quinto’s attending neurologist that might just change the course of the series moving forward. Take a look at what Grassi had to say about it all. (Interview has been edited for length and clarity).

PopCulture: We meet a new second-year resident, Charlie [played by Brian Altemus], and Wolf is convinced that his mom hired him. Charlie later said he was right, but he really just wanted to learn from him. What can you tease about what Charlie will be bringing to the team? Already, he seems to be cocky, and the interns don’t seem to like him that much.

Michael Grassi: I love all of our interns so much. And last season, we sort of established this dynamic between them where they really bonded. They formed this surrogate family, and they sort of exposed their deepest darkest secrets to each other, and they would group hug. And they were this sort of strong unit. And I think Charlie comes in, and he was like, “What’s happening here? This isn’t normal.” Like, “Whatever, Wolf breeders, you guys in this Wolf pack. This isn’t how it is in the real world.” And he sort of takes what we set up as the status quo, and he sort of subverts it a little bit and challenges returns in interesting ways.

And you’re actually right, Megan. You tapped into a really important part of our premiere episode, which is Charlie pursued this position. He went to work with Dr. Wolf. And I think the big question is why.

PC: Also in the premiere, we find out what Pierce has been up to, and she’s on leave. But after talking to Wolf, she ends up trying to get her job back. What can you say about where that story will go and what this process will be like for her as she’s ready to tell her side of the story, as she put it?

Grassi: I love Carol’s story at the top of the season, where we find her, and I think sort of like our boxer in 201, I think she wants to fight. I think she wants to fight for her job. I think it means a lot to her. I think her patients, and I think the hospital, mean a lot to her, and the type of work that she gets to do at Bronx General. So we see her enter Muriel’s office at the end of 201 and say, “Bring the board together. I want my job back.” Which is really exciting, but complicated, and we’re gonna see her navigate how she approaches it in episode 202, which is an amazing story with more surprises.

PC: Not surprisingly, Wolf was struggling with having his dad back, but at the same time, he’s trying to work his case and see what’s wrong with him. But just as he’s ready to finally talk to him, Wolf gets home and finds a letter from his dad, and it’s assumed that it’s him saying goodbye or something on that length. How will this affect him moving forward, especially since he lost his dad, and now he has to go through this process of possibly losing him again?

Grassi: I think Wolf, when we see him in 201, is really committed to helping his dad and his health and trying to figure out what’s wrong. And it’s a mystery, and they can’t find anything wrong. And I think Wolf starts to doubt, is his dad even telling the truth? Is this just the ploy to get back into Wolf’s life? But I think the thing that was really hard for Wolf, I think the medical side of it, trying to figure out what was wrong with his dad, was the easy part. I think the hard part was having a relationship with him.

So we see that it’s sort of taken a toll on his sort of life, where he’s been avoiding sleeping at home because his dad is there. He’s been avoiding his relationship with Josh, and I think that having avoided going home to his dad may or may not be one of the reasons why his dad left again, because he didn’t get what he wanted. So I think that’s part of the story that we’re gonna be exploring this season is what his dad again means to him, and would it have been better for him to never have come back? And all of these things that are circling his mind. So, we’re gonna see him navigate it in a really interesting way, and that’s picked up right in 202. We see how Wolf is gonna be approaching this double loss in a weird way.

PC: Wolf seems to be going through a lot in the premiere episode because it started and ended with a pretty troubling sight, and that is him in a mental hospital, but as a patient, not a doctor, six months later. What’s going on with that?

Grassi: That’s such a good question. So we find Wolf in a psychiatric hospital six months from now. And I think, Megan, what we’re gonna be sort of thinking about as we enter each episode of this season is what’s going to be the thing that breaks Wolf? What’s gonna be the thing that sends him there or makes him seek that kind of help?

But we also see that Wolf is struggling in this facility, and he doesn’t wanna be there. So there are lots of questions and mysteries swirling around in the Hudson Oaks. And as we dig into the season, we’ll continue to develop that story and peel back the layers of that onion. And, also, it’s gonna be a bit of a roller coaster, but we will, within this season, learn why Wolf is at Hudson Oaks and what’s happening there.

New episodes of Brilliant Minds premiere on Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, streaming the next day on Peacock.