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All of this would be worthy of celebration. But the final moments of the first half revealed that Mandy Patinkin is actually playing Oliver's father, Noah, who faked his own death when Oliver was 14 because his schizophrenia made him incapable of raising the young boy. Muriel (Donna Murphy) begged Noah to give her some time to figure out how to tell Oliver the truth. But apparently, impatience runs in the family. Noah decided to pop in on Oliver and just reveal that he's alive without consulting anyone.
Brilliant Minds is still waiting for a Season 2 renewal, but Parade caught up with Mandy Patinkin and showrunner Michael Grassi to break down the two-part finale and tease what could be ahead in the sophomore season.
When did you know that you wanted Mandy Patinkin to play this vital role in the series?Michael Grassi: Zach had read the script, and he and I met on Zoom. I pitched him what the season storyline would be, and then I said, “Towards the end of the season, dad comes back. Imagine Mandy Patinkin.” At that point, that was sort of very, very, top of the wishlist, if it was even in the realm of possibility. I’ve always dreamed of working with Mandy.
Mandy Patinkin: I was sitting right at this table, just over there in my cozy little rocking leanback chair, which I live in. Michael called, and I had him on speaker phone, and my wife Catherine sat right next to me. He started talking about it, and my wife kept looking at me with her eyebrows up. She thought this sounded good. This sounded like this would be a good thing for me to think about. We all have children. It’s always an interesting journey with the parents and children, and there are issues. Certainly this one has an exaggerated issue that, without a doubt, would take in everybody beyond imagination, literally and figuratively.
We don’t get to learn too much about Noah’s past because Oliver doesn’t want to hear it. But what do you think he’s been up to for the past 30 years since Oliver last saw him? Grassi: Noah has been overseas. He’s been practicing as a doctor. He’s not been in the States. He’s been working remotely, whether it be Doctors Without Borders, or whether it be in small hospitals or facilities. He’s been working on himself and helping others during this time. We might learn some of the other things. That’s part of what the mystery is going to be in Season 2 as Wolf is learning more about where his dad has been all this time.
I want to talk about the scene where Noah first meets Oliver, because, as an actor, you know all of the layers in that scene even if the audience doesn’t know it yet. How did you approach that, Mandy? Patinkin: Underneath it all, I am praying that he’ll know who I am and he’ll say, “Dad,” and that’s how I went into it. He’ll recognize me, and he’ll hear my voice. But this prosopagnosia—face blindness—is very real. Oliver Sacks had it. It is part of our story as well. And I’ve had it happen to me in real life. I’ll tell you a quick story. My wife and I went on a publicity tour in Australia to promote a string of concerts I was doing, and my son Gideon had gone on this fishing expedition. We had to do publicity over several days, and there was this publicity assistant, who was a bit annoying. He’s asking really absurd questions, being intrusive, and very difficult. At the end of the second day, he starts playing this song like he wants to sell it to me to sing in the concerts. It was so inappropriate. But then he started singing, “It’s me. It’s me. It’s me,” and my jaw dropped. He had blonde hair and a blonde mustache, blonde eyebrows, and blue eyes. It was my son. It was my son Gideon, and he had pulled one over on his parents. It’s a whole complicated journey but I went through this for real. He was there for two days, but we didn’t notice.
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Courtesy of NBC
Mandy, what was it like for you to film that? Patinkin: Michael had explained to me the journey and the flashbacks with Noah, younger Noah and younger [Oliver]. I knew that to be successful in this rebirth of connection, we had to keep a little calm and try to have joy and really put on the table the possibility of forgiveness and kindness and joy and vulnerability. That, “I need you to be my son right now. Maybe if you can find it within yourself after you take a run and a motorcycle ride, maybe you can find the moment to go, ‘Can I have something that I never even thought was possible anymore?’" It couldn’t have been more loaded. Everyone in that room had a parent, and everyone in that room, I’m talking about the crew and the writers and the actors, everyone in that room was also children. We all had histories. You could feel it.
Patinkin: Might I add a little something, too? I’ve unfortunately had a lesson in my life, a profound lesson, that when you’re lied to, you are damaged forever. It doesn’t just go away. The task is similar to breaking a bone in your body. Your job then is to build new tissue, new musculature around the infrastructure of your soul to carry on. Some can do it, and some must let go. Because to lie, to not tell the truth, is a cancer, in my humble opinion, beyond any known cancer. It kills you while you’re alive.
Noah’s case will obviously carry over to Season 2. Is that investigation based on one of Oliver’s real cases, or is it something that will be new for Brilliant Minds?Grassi: Oliver Sacks’ parents were both doctors in real life. His mother was a surgeon, and his dad was a general practitioner, a very beloved GP who made house calls and was very, very loved in the community. Oliver Sacks learned a lot from his dad in how he became a doctor as well, in terms of going above and beyond. In Season 2, yes, there’s going to be a big medical mystery. What is wrong with Noah? How is Wolf going to find him more time or save him? At the same time, we are going to see Noah practice and be a doctor as well, which is inspired by the real Oliver Sacks. Like all of our cases, whether it’s directly pulled from one of Oliver Sacks’ cases or not, Wolf will sort of treat it as he does all of his cases, which is to try to step into the patient’s shoes. This is the most challenging patient yet because it is his own father. Wolf has his work cut out for him, for many reasons.
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