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How Does the Real-Life Dr. Sacks Inspire Dr. Wolf in Brilliant Minds?
The Brilliant Minds advisor, and former friend of Dr. Oliver Sacks, reveals Easter eggs to look for in the show.
When a series or film is even loosely based on actual people or true events, sometimes the process of adaptation ends up shedding a lot of real life details. However, NBC's medical drama Brilliant Minds, which is loosely based on the writings and life of famed neurologist Dr. Oliver Wolf Sacks, has included quite a lot from not only his case studies, but also from his actual life too.
In the series, Zachary Quinto plays Dr. Oliver Wolf, an unorthodox neurology specialist who has recently returned to Bronx General Hospital to serve as the Attending for the Neurology department. He works under his long-time colleague Dr. Carol Pierce (Tamberla Perry) and Bronx's chief medical officer, Dr. Muriel Landon (Donna Murphy)...who also happens to be his mom.
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As with all adaptations, some details get heightened to accentuate the drama of it all, but in the case of Brilliant Minds, Kate Edgar, current director of The Oliver Sacks Foundation, corroborated to NBC Insider that quite a lot of what showrunner Michael Grassi and Quinto have baked into the series and character has its origins in the real life of Dr. Sacks.
Why Brilliants Minds takes place today instead of Sacks' lifetime
If you know of Dr. Oliver Sacks' work in neurology, or his non fiction writing about his work in the neurology field, then you might be aware that he died from cancer in 2015. During his career, Sacks' case studies and research work was vital in improving the knowledge base in his specialization in part due to his extensive writings, lectures and speaking engagements, which assisted in humanizing the patient experience as they navigated living with rare brain disorders.
Because so much has improved in the field, Grassi and his writers decided to place the series in current times and transplant some of Sacks' case studies into the now, featuring updated science and research to make them more pertinent to current medical practices.
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Edgar said that was an aspect of Brilliant Minds that she supported from the very first script.
"That really gave [the series] a lot of freedom to explore so many topics that Oliver couldn't really get up to until the end of his own life," she explained. "The medical world had advanced since then. For things like brain imaging, which now we all take for granted, that was only something that came along in the 1980s. So, when Michael made that choice to zoom this [series] into the present day, I thought it was brilliant. And also bringing his mother into the cast as a character, was also really intriguing to me."
While Dr. Landon was never Dr. Sacks' boss in real life, Dr. Muriel Elsie Landau was one of the first female surgeons in England. She practiced in her field until her death in 1972.
Dr. Oliver Sacks Easter Eggs in Brilliant Minds
Throughout any given Brilliant Minds episode, Edgar said there are many ties to the life of Dr. Sacks that she knows will please his fans and colleagues.
"I'm personally thrilled that there are so many great queer characters and complicated queer relationships," she said of the LGBTQ storylines that reflect Sacks' own life, as well as actor Zachary Quinto's. "We can see that Oliver Wolf is a person who falls in love, just like the rest of us. And he's got his issues with his mom, and who doesn't?"
She said to also keep an eye on Wolf's love of ferns which was one of Sack's true loves.
"He really would walk around with ferns and take care of them like they were babies," she shared.
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Also, Wolf's quirk regarding his dislike of cell phones is connected to Sacks too.
"The fact that Zach's character doesn't have a cell phone is hilarious, because Oliver, in real life, never had a computer. He would not touch a computer. He finally did have a cell phone, but it was one with old tech.
"And in the opener of the pilot, it's a wedding and there's a piano being played," she pointed out. "And by God, that piano is a Beckstein piano, which is exactly what Oliver had. So I'm seeing all these little Easter eggs, which are, to me, little Valentines to Oliver. I love that. And I think his fans will will appreciate that too."
Brilliant Minds airs new episodes on Mondays on NBC at 10/9c.
