TV Romance
Why ‘Brilliant Minds’ Oliver Wolf & Josh Nichols Is the Best New Romance This TV Season
“Do I ever have to talk to him again?” Dr. Oliver Wolf (Zachary Quinto) asked after meeting Dr. Josh Nichols (Teddy Sears) in the Brilliant Minds series premiere. Oh, we love a good enemies-to-lovers romance (though maybe we should call this one colleagues-in-opposition-to-lovers).
Once it was revealed in Episode 3 that Josh is also gay, it seemed like a romance between him and Oliver was not only possible but inevitable. But given the way that TV shows work, it also felt like it could have easily been a slow burn. To our surprise, it wasn’t that slow! Rather, just about halfway through the first season, the two shared their first kiss and then, while their relationship wasn’t without its obstacles, actually communicated as things came up (sometimes unheard of for a TV romance!) — at least, until the finale. But even the way that’s handled is something to celebrate.
And so below, we’re taking a look at just why Brilliant Minds (which better be renewed for a second season — it’s too good to end now!) has given us our favorite new romance of the 2024-2025 season.
Brilliant Minds, Season 1, Streaming Now, Peacock
Representation
Not only does this mean there’s another LGBTQ+ romance onscreen to root for (and one definitely worth doing so), but it’s also no big deal that it is one. Yes, it’s a surprising moment when Oliver hears the voicemail left by Josh’s night-before hookup (in the middle of them helping a patient), but that’s it. (The drama and conflict instead comes from how Oliver’s mother, played by Donna Murphy, handled her son’s sexuality when he was younger.)
Zachary Quinto and Teddy Sears' chemistry
We already knew that Quinto and Sears were great as scene partners from the first season of American Horror Story (a very different romantic relationship), but Brilliant Minds has highlighted it both with their earlier interactions before they got together — their conversations about Oliver’s face blindness and Josh’s “freakishly large hands,” for example — and after as a couple. And speaking of …
It's a mature relationship with healthy communication
It didn’t take long for the two to encounter their first obstacle: Oliver’s mom catching them kissing in the elevator, then telling Josh not to break her son’s heart. Josh then tried to write off what had happened as just grief talking, but rather than let that be it (and drag on the slow burn), Oliver argued against it, and the two moved forward together.
That continued with how they handled disagreements about patients after getting together. It actually led to one of our favorite moments: Josh thought that Oliver’s reaction to him helping a patient meant he didn’t think they were equals, but the neurologist assured him that he did (otherwise he wouldn’t bother arguing with him).
Wolf putting his walls up makes sense — and doesn't mean the end of their relationship
While we might not like where the first season left the couple (especially since the show has yet to be renewed), it does make sense that, upon learning that his father is actually alive after 30 years, Oliver’s questioning everything in his life and putting up walls, particularly with Josh — just after the neurosurgeon told him he’s falling for him. How they’ve handled conflict in the first season gives us hope that this is something they’ll be able to get through without spending too much (if any) time apart.
“For Wolf, he needs to get his house in order emotionally before he can let anybody in. I don’t think he’s ready to turn to Josh yet,” showrunner Michael Grassi explained to us. “And I think that’s what happens when we go through big life events. I think sometimes we let the people who are closest in and sometimes we push the people that are closest away, and Wolf in the situation is doing the latter, and I think we’re rooting for them to sort of find their way back together.”
Plus, as Sears told us in the middle of the season, after seeing them enter “a healthy, steady, dare I say, monogamous relationship” at the end of Episode 8, “I’m really excited to see, especially if we can get another season, how that can strengthen or not. I’m very hopeful it can strengthen because it would be nice to see healthy couples on TV. We usually see some, they’re healthy for a second, then maybe they get acrimonious or something, or drama happens. It would be lovely to have these two be each other’s rocks, if you will. Hopefully, we’ll get to tell that story.”
Oliver and Josh are both adorable and passionate together
It’s hard to decide what we enjoy more, too! The kisses in Oliver’s office and the elevator? Or the cute smiles in the early days of their relationship, Oliver’s kiss to the top of Josh’s head, holding hands after a disagreement, and sharing breakfast? Their romance has it all, and it’s seeing the different sides — which also include taking a moment to be there together after working the building collapse in the penultimate episode — that makes it feel real.
There's a great build-up but not a season(s)-long slow burn
Listen, we love a slow burn as much as the next person, but we also love to see the romance onscreen for longer than a few episodes (looking at you, West Wing!), and it can get frustrating to watch one in limbo for years (SVU). Brilliant Minds found the right balance with Oliver and Josh, taking them from two doctors who could not agree on patient care to finding common ground to a relationship, with just the right amount of others noticing (Roman, a.k.a. John Doe, comments on it) and tease of the possibility. The show has proven already with just a handful of episodes of them together that there are still plenty of stories to tell with their relationship without having to hold off on them actually being (and staying) together.
“When we first met Oliver Wolf this season, he had a lot of walls up, and I think in sort of spending time with Josh and having so much conflict with him and them working through all the John Doe stuff and then being inspired by this patient who was sort of unable to live this life and Wolf seizing that moment, those final moments that you saw in 107 felt like the perfect time for him to take this leap that he’s been avoiding taking for a very long time,” Grassi told us of having the first kiss when it is.
It hits all the tropes
Just to name a few: enemies to lovers, meet cute (ugly), workplace romance, caught in the act …
