Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 9 recap: Matthew's Diagnosis, the hunt for Sam's family

Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 9 focuses on two patients, Matthew and Sam. Eric Dane’s role as Matthew, an ALS patient, was revealed a month ago. Brilliant Minds Season 2 showrunner Michael Grassi revealed how he and Dane collaborated in an NBC Insider interview:

"There's no right or wrong way, there's no rulebook on how to do it. And, for the Thanksgiving episode, we just thought it would be interesting to see a family work through something that's not easy."

The synopsis for the episode reads:

"Dr. Wolf helps a firefighter and his family navigate a life-changing diagnosis on Thanksgiving."

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Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 9 recap

This is what happens in Brilliant Minds Season 2 Episode 9, "The Fire Fighter":

• Matthew's diagnosis

Matthew's storyline forms the heart of this Brilliant Minds Season 2 episode. Matthew's first scene in the episode finds him inside a burning house, where he hears his daughter, Gabbie, and ex-wife, Alisha. The scene is revealed to be a dream, but there is a reason behind this.

His family is unaware of his ALS diagnosis, and Matthew wants to keep it that way because he doesn’t want to burden them. Showrunner Grassi spoke about Matthew's storyline in the Deadline interview:

"So while this story is specific to ALS and Matthew’s condition, it’s also universal in many ways. So those are all sort of some of the big themes that we were excited to talk about. The last thing we were excited to explore was this idea of, on our show, we talk about adaptation a lot, and we talk about how people adapt. One of the things about ALS that is difficult for a lot of patients is the adaptation never stops. So if someone has, let’s say, a spine injury and they go through surgery, you adapt to that, and you can potentially move forward from there. But I think something like ALS, once you adapt, something changes again, and you’re adapting again and then adapting again and adapting again. That is not easy by any means, because you’re always doing something new. So those are all things that we talked about early on that we were interested in exploring in this episode."

• Ericka wants to help Sam

Meanwhile, Ericka asks Oliver for help with Sam's medical condition. If you remember, Sam is an unhoused man who needs a liver transplant. She even hands Sam her credit card for essential purchases. As that happens, she and Oliver visit Josh Nichols to talk about Sam's liver transplant.

• Nichols refuses the transplant

Nichols refuses to approve the liver transplant for Sam, citing the latter's inability to take medicines on time, as he has no support system. Despite this, Ericka tries her best to help her patient by trying to find out Sam's family. She manages to reach Sam's mother, Claire, who is informed of her son's condition. Her support gives Ericka hope that Sam will get the support he needs.

However, Carol later informs Oliver and Ericka that the transplant committee has not cleared Sam for the medical procedure.

• Matthew accepts help

Earlier in the episode, Oliver calls up Matthew and informs his family about the ALS diagnosis. Gabbie offers to take a break from her studies and take care of Matthew, but he refuses. But Matthew accepts that he needs help in the final act of this Brilliant Minds Season 2 episode. He reveals that he has arranged a stay in a facility, but Alisha insists that he move back home with her.

The next day, Matthew and Gabbie reconnect by visiting the art gallery.

• Sam's condition worsens

As one patient got a happy ending in this Brilliant Minds Season 2 episode, the other's condition worsened in the closing minutes. Sam falls unconscious and remains unresponsive as his family reaches the hospital. Ericka tries to get Sam on the list as the doctors try to keep him alive.

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Consisting of twenty-two episodes, Brilliant Minds Season 2, nine episodes of the series have aired on NBC. You can binge all eight episodes on Peacock.