It’s all about celebrating the holidays in Rachael Ray’s new A&E series, Rachael Ray’s Holidays. The six-episode season premieres on December 8, 2024, with new episodes airing on Sundays at 10am ET/PT during the Home.Made.Nation programming block.
“Cooking and entertaining are both central parts of my life, but around the holidays it takes on an especially significant role for myself, my family and many others,” stated Ray. “It’s a time where we all gather to celebrate, and the joy of food and cooking is so unifying, so I’m especially excited to invite audiences into my home to share the familial traditions and recipes that make this time so meaningful.”
Rachael Ray, Brian Flanagan, Anthony Amoia, Sean Lee, Teri Kennedy, and Jordan Harman serve as executive producers. The series is produced by Free Food Studios for A&E Network.
“Rachael loves to cook and entertain, but especially during the holiday season when friends and family gather to celebrate. In each half-hour episode, Rachael Ray’s Holidays brings viewers into Rachael’s kitchen as she shares some of her favorite holiday dishes,” reads A&E’s synopsis. “From chestnut and sausage stuffing and roasted garlic and rosemary prime rib to beef and chorizo chili with queso and holiday lasagna, Rachael has every type of holiday recipe covered for any type of gathering and celebration.”
Episodes of Rachael Ray’s Rebuild will follow at 11am PT/ET.
Tom Hanks and Robin Wright in ‘Here’ (Photo Credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc)
Filmmaker Robert Zemeckis, Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, and much of the crew that made Forrest Gump reunite for Here, an ambitious undertaking telling a series of stories through time that take place in one specific patch of earth. For most of the film, that patch is the living room of a suburban home.
The film opens with an elderly man named Richard Young (Hanks) being allowed to visit his old home before it goes up for sale. The film then travels back to when dinosaurs roamed the earth and then whooshes through the ice age before taking another time jump to native Americans hunting. All of this occurs in the same spot where the house will eventually be.
Here is comprised of a series of short stories featuring different couples living in the home. In the early 1900s, Pauline Harter (Michelle Dockery) worries that her husband, John (Gwilym Lee), will die in a plane crash because of his obsession with flying. Another set in the late 1930s and early ‘40s shows an inventor and his wife working on what eventually will become known as The Lazy Boy.
The film’s primary focus, though, is on the Young family, Al and Rose (Paul Bettany and Kelly Reilly), who move into the house in the 1940s after World War II has ended. Al hesitates, but when Rose tells him she loves it and is pregnant, he agrees to buy her dream home. Al goes to work as a salesman and Rose becomes a homemaker and mother of three.
Another time jump shows Richard, now a teenager, bringing home his high school sweetheart Margaret (Wright) to meet his parents. He’s a talented artist who hopes to pursue his dreams until Margaret gets pregnant. He and Margaret, not being able to afford a place of their own, move into the house and live with his parents. To help provide for his new family, Richard takes a job selling insurance and gives up his dream of being an artist.
The Young family’s living room is the setting for their holiday celebrations, family conflicts, and tragedies as time passes.
Based on the graphic novel by Richard McGuire, Here’s experiment of telling multiple stories in a fixed-framed format and using computerized de-aging on the actors fails miserably. It’s a shallow, thinly scripted story with one-dimensional characters and no pacing. The constant jumping to different stories and eras in the film’s timeline makes it a jumbled mess.
The lack of character development makes it impossible for the audience to connect with or become invested in any of the characters. Paul Bettany’s Al Young is a World War II veteran who drinks too much to drown the memories of the horrors of war but works to support his family. That’s it. There’s nothing else. His character lacks any deeper or more intriguing aspects.
Kelly Reilly’s Rose is even more of a surface-level character, just an average supportive, loving wife and mother of the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s. Marion Ross as Marion Cunningham in the TV comedy series Happy Days had more depth and character development. It’s a waste of an extremely talented actress.
The computer de-aging process that makes the actors, primarily Hanks and Wright, appear younger/older doesn’t work at all. It looks like clay animation and is reminiscent of the same look the animated characters have in Zemeckis’ The Polar Express. It’s creepy.
Sadly, Here is merely a squandering of talented people, time, and money. Don’t waste your time and money on it.
GRADE: C-
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for thematic material, some suggestive material, brief strong language and smoking
Release Date: November 1, 2024
Running Time: 1 hour 44 minutes
Danny Trejo in ‘Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo’ (Photo Credit: The HISTORY Channel, Carlos Jaramillo)
Danny Trejo (Machete) handles hosting duties on The History Channel’s new nonfiction series Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo. The eight-episode series premieres on December 6, 2024, with new episodes airing on Fridays at 10pm ET/PT.
The new series, which dives into the history behind significant discoveries, is executive produced by Steve Ascher, Matthew Pearl, Mary E. Donahue, and Brooke Townsend. A+E Factual Studios™ group produces the series for The History Channel.
The History Channel offered this description of the series:
“Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo examines the fascinating stories surrounding buried artifacts and lost civilizations, shedding light, and offering new insight and information on various mysteries of the past and present. Anchored by Trejo’s affinity for history and his natural curiosity into exploring the unknown and coupled with captivating archival material, expert interviews, and compelling recreations, the series seeks to unearth what the human eye cannot easily detect, as objects, structures and creatures concealed under earth, ice and water are suddenly, and often accidentally, revealed.
From ancient animals uncovered as permafrost melts to excavations that make international headlines, each episode explains the significance of these discoveries and offers surprising context to these amazing finds. What exciting revelations can these preserved objects expose about our history and the legends and myths that surround them?”
Daniel Sunjata, Judy Reyes and Kaitlin Olson in ‘High Potential’ episode 6 (Disney/Carlos Lopez-Calleja)
ABC’s High Potential episode six opens with a young woman named Sam waking up in her boss’ office, hungover with no idea what happened the night before. It looks like the office has been trashed, but that’s not the worst of it. Nope, not by a long shot. Sam’s boss, Elaine, is lying dead on the floor in a pool of blood.
Morgan (Kaitlin Olson) is in the middle of a little spring cleaning when Detective Adam Karadec (Daniel Sunjata) calls requesting her presence at Metkair TechCorp. The company leases the entire floor, and last night they hosted a party celebrating the launch of a new product. The murder victim is Founder and CEO Elaine Barton who was killed with her Female Innovator of the Year Award. A video on a loop reveals Elaine seems to have modeled herself after Elizabeth Holmes/Steve Jobs.
We get another Apple reference when it’s revealed the assistant’s last name is Wozniak. Sam claims she doesn’t remember anything as she’s not much of a drinker and she’s on new meds. Elaine was Sam’s hero, and she says she liked working for her. However, Morgan notices her fake smile and Sam confesses Elaine wasn’t easy to work for recently. Elaine was getting increasingly paranoid as they approached the launch of their new product, Canary. “Every day was hell,” says Sam, and Adam reveals he thinks she’s the prime suspect.
Morgan looks through Sam’s laptop and sees her latest search was at 10:21pm for [gsd ;imhd. Morgan assumes the gibberish search means she was too drunk to type. Adam finds a notebook on Sam’s desk and inside is a drawing of Sam standing behind Elaine, holding a knife. Morgan, who has been on Sam’s side, admits that’s a little suspicious.
Adam interrogates Sam as Lt. Selena Soto (Judy Reyes) and Morgan discuss whether Elaine possibly pushed Sam too hard, even though Sam was totally committed to the company. Despite how it looks, Morgan still believes Sam is innocent.
Adam and Morgan break the news to Eric, Elaine’s husband. Eric praises his wife and reveals he was her first investor. They’d been getting along fine, and he stayed at the party until 10pm. Eric asks for details on his wife’s death and then confirms she had enemies among her employees.
Mayans M.C.’s JD Pardo shows up 10 minutes in, playing Tom, a janitor at LAPD. He accuses Morgan of leaving orange, cheesy smudges on the doors, but Morgan points out she’s not the only one with fingers. Tom chuckles and walks off.
Kaitlin Olson in ‘High Potential’ episode 6 (Disney/Carlos Lopez-Calleja)
The team, including Detectives Oz Osman (Deniz Akdeniz) and Daphne Forrester (Javicia Leslie), go over what they’ve learned. Sam’s toxicology report indicates a mix of Diazepam and alcohol that could trigger amnesia. Daphne reveals Elaine wrote a check last night for $45,623 to cash. And no one knows why “FOREVER” was written in large letters on Elaine’s office wall. Adam’s money is still on Sam being the murderer.
Party guests show up to answer questions, and while some describe it as nice, Amanda the receptionist said the vibe was weird. Elaine wasn’t in a great mood. Multiple people report hearing an argument in Elaine’s office and not checking on it. It wasn’t unusual for Elaine to cuss people out.
Morgan gets her hands on the karaoke playlist. The argument in Elaine’s office was heard while the entire sales team sang “Since You’ve Been Gone,” ending at 11:01pm. “Nothing Compares to You” was performed at 11:03pm, and no one heard anything from Elaine’s office during it. So, she must have been murdered between 10:58pm and 11:01pm.
Morgan works on getting more information out of Sam by being genuinely nice to her. Sam becomes emotional and admits she’s scared that she might have killed Elaine. Morgan assures her she didn’t, but they need to figure out what happened.
Sam discovers a strip of photos in her bra that includes one of her posing with a magazine cover of Elaine’s face made to look like a devil. The photos also show Sam with red lipstick that matches another employee named Denise. Adam questions her and Denise admits that her job is boring. After she signed everyone in on the invitation list, she left her post and went into the party. She’s always had a thing for Sam, and they kissed a little. Sam went into the restroom and Denise waited for her, but an unidentified woman came out. Denise hadn’t checked this woman in, and the woman rushed to the elevator and took off before Denise could catch up with her.
Denise recalls she had brown hair, an average build, and something square stuck to her arm. That rings a bell with Morgan who points out an ad photo. Denise confirms that’s the woman. Her name’s Carmen Jimenez and the square is an insulin pump.
Daphne informs Adam and Morgan that they couldn’t pull prints from the murder weapon.
Adam and Morgan visit the Jimenezes and Carmen reluctantly admits she was at the party but wasn’t invited. Carmen refuses to say anything else, so Morgan points out that she noticed they just moved into this house which they can’t afford. Mr. Jimenez tries to end the interview but not soon enough as Morgan notices that Carmen is hiding her hands. Morgan deliberately spills a glass and Carmen reacts by reaching for it, revealing the bruises and cuts on her knuckles. That’s enough to make Adam bring her in for questioning.
The interrogation begins with Adam describing what he thinks happened. Medkair paid her to fabricate a story about the product’s success, but then something went wrong. He’s got probable cause to arrest her but gives her a chance to come clean. Carmen remains silent.
Selena asks Daphne to look into who’s paying Carmen’s mortgage. As Daphne’s typing, Morgan realizes what she thought was gibberish in Sam’s web search wasn’t gibberish. Her hands were just shifted over. If they were in the right place, she would have typed “pfas lungs,” leading to a report on Forever Chemicals causing lung disease. And that’s why FOREVER was on Elaine’s office wall.
Morgan asks to speak with Carmen alone and asks if it’s true Medkair was buying her silence because their product was hurting kids, including her son. Morgan believes Carmen reached the limit of what she could ignore since it affected her son. Carmen admits that’s true. She just couldn’t live with herself and went to the party. She was angry that people were dancing and celebrating, and she went into Elaine’s office to wait for her. She admits to writing Forever on the wall and stabbing a stuffed bird, cutting her hand in the process. Elaine walked in and threatened to bury her in lawsuits if she said anything. Although Carmen wanted to hurt her, she chickened out. She punched the photo on the wall as she walked out.
“I swear, she was alive when I left,” says Carmen.
Carmen recalls “Californication” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers was being sung when she left. That would mean it was at 10:15pm. Carmen also recalls that she ran into Sam in the bathroom, and she can corroborate her story. When Carmen told her what happened, Sam got angry.
Although it’s not looking great for Sam, Morgan and Selena pick up on Carmen saying that Elaine’s husband, Eric, disagreed with paying her off. Maybe that led to an argument between Eric and Elaine since Eric was the money behind the company.
Daniel Sunjata and Kaitlin Olson in ‘High Potential’ episode 6 (Disney/Mitch Hasseth)
Adam and Morgan barge into a board meeting and confront Eric about the payouts to Carmen and other families. Eric’s lawyer claims they’re not illegal, but Morgan points out the Securities Act “doesn’t look kindly on companies that have materially false statements in their investor prospectus.” Since that makes what they’ve done illegal, that could lead to a fight between a husband and wife.
Eric dismisses his lawyer and agrees to talk. He admits to providing hush money to Carmen’s family and others when health issues popped up. Elaine promised to fix the issues, and the FDA was never involved because Canary isn’t a medical device. He didn’t think they were ready for the launch, but Elaine disagreed. Eric tried to stop her, but she was full steam ahead. He claims he loved her but didn’t like who she’d become.
Morgan watches Elaine’s promo video again and doesn’t buy her act or her story about helping her niece. Thomas, the janitor, interrupts, asking to clean Morgan’s desk so he can take off for medical school, and Morgan promises to clean up after herself.
Before Thomas leaves, Morgan asks if he had a niece, wouldn’t he have photos of her. Thomas agrees he would and has tons of photos of his nephew. Morgan continues using Thomas as a sounding board, asking why Elaine suddenly switched to Chinese medicinal herbs for Canary when her background is in Western medicine. Between Thomas and Morgan, they come up with a new theory that Nina, her former assistant, is into Chinese medicine and has a daughter. Morgan believes Nina made the first prototype and shared it with Elaine, and Elaine was going to make millions off it.
Adam interrogates Nina and she confirms she came up with the idea, but Elaine paid her for it. She wasn’t angry and enjoyed a nice life. Plus, she believes Elaine genuinely wanted to help people. Morgan and Selena are observing, and Morgan’s convinced by Nina’s smile that she really loved Elaine.
After Nina describes it as horrific that Elaine was murdered with her own trophy, Adam asks how long she’s been sleeping with Eric. He’s the only one who knew how she died, so either she’s the murderer or she’s sleeping with Eric. Nina admits it looks bad, but they were both fighting for Canary and didn’t mean to fall in love.
It now seems the best suspect is Sam, but Morgan remains firmly on her side. When Sam’s brought in, Morgan reminds everyone they still haven’t figured out what the $45,623 check was for. Sam becomes physically ill and runs for the bathroom. After vomiting, she tells Morgan that’s the amount left on her student loans. Sam realizes this means she killed Elaine and that her life is over.
Morgan’s taking down the murder board when she suddenly remembers Sam saying that Elaine became paranoid and had eyes and ears everywhere. She and Adam return to Elaine’s office because it doesn’t make sense that Elaine hung a mirror behind her desk. Morgan’s suspicion is correct; it’s a two-way mirror with a camera behind it.
Morgan and Adam inform Sam that the video shows she told Elaine she was quitting and why. Elaine tried to bribe her, and when that didn’t work, Elaine attacked Sam. Sam fought her off, and Elaine wound up falling on her award, which killed her. Meanwhile, Sam hit her head and passed out. It was self-defense and Adam believes she won’t serve any time.
The day’s done and Selena asks Morgan to join them for drinks. At first, Morgan declines, but then she changes her mind. Before taking off, she uses chip dust to leave her phone number on the glass for Thomas the janitor.
Morgan thanks Selena for being a really great boss. This is one job she doesn’t want to run from.
RM of BTS is launching his first documentary film RM: Right People, Wrong Place in theaters on Thursday, December 5, 2024. Directed by Lee Seok-jun, the documentary focuses on the creation of Right Place, Wrong Person, RM’s second solo album.
According to HYBE, RM: Right People, Wrong Place “explores his reflections on how honest he can be as both RM and Kim Namjoon, as he navigates the gratitude for the attention he receives with the pressure and fear that come with his fame.” The film features RM, Sanyan, Junkyard, Jang Se-hoon, and Son Ji-min, and was produced by HYBE.
“In May of this year, RM released his second solo album, Right Place, Wrong Person, featuring themes of feeling like an outsider and captures the universal emotions that anyone might experience while searching for answers to those feelings. As the leader of BTS and a solo artist, RM reflects on the question, ‘What kind of person am I really?’ He channels the unfamiliar emotions and stories he has experienced during the creation of his album,” reads HYBE’s official synopsis. “RM: Right People, Wrong Place documents this journey, showcasing his dedication and introspection in an authentic light.”
The documentary had its premiere at the 29th BUSAN International Film Festival as part of the Open Cinema section.
Fox’s 9-1-1: Lone Star season five returns after a two-week break with an episode that finds Owen opening up about his brother’s death. Season five episode six, “Naked Truth,” will air on Monday, November 4, 2024 at 8pm ET/PT.
Rob Lowe leads the cast as Captain Owen Strand, Ronen Rubinstein stars as T.K., Gina Torres plays Paramedic Captain Tommy Vega, and Jim Parrack is Judd Ryder. Natacha Karam plays Marjan Marwani, Brian Michael Smith is Paul Strickland, Julian Works is Mateo Chavez, Rafael Silva plays Carlos Reyes, and Brianna Baker is Nancy Gillian. Sierra McClain did not return for the fifth season.
“Naked Truth” Plot: The 126 race to save a man crushed under a vending machine. While struggling to handle his aggressive foster horse, Owen finally faces the truth of his brother’s death. As Mateo and Nancy scramble to delete a nude photo of her accidentally sent to the 126, Tommy is concerned that Nancy may be facing a possible health scare.
9-1-1 Lone Star Season 5 Description, Courtesy of Fox:
9-1-1: Lone Star follows members of Austin’s 126 Fire Department led by Captain Owen Strand who, along with his adult son, T.K., moved to Texas to help rebuild the firehouse which had experienced a tragedy of its own. His team of diverse and qualified first responders include widowed Paramedic Captain Tommy Vega, Judd Ryder, who was the sole survivor of Austin’s original 126 house after a rescue call ended in tragedy; Marjan Marwani, an adrenaline junkie and badass firefighter who also is a devout Muslim; Paul Strickland, a transgender male firefighter, who bravely decided to transition on the job in Chicago and has a gift for observation worthy of Sherlock Holmes; and rookie firefighter Mateo Chavez.
Settling into his new home, T.K. caught the eye of police officer Carlos Reyes and the two began a romantic relationship eventually marrying in the season four finale. T.K hung up his firefighter helmet to become a full-time paramedic under Tommy’s guidance and works closely with fellow paramedic Nancy Gillian.
In the upcoming fifth season, Captains Strand and Vega, along with the 126 team, race into action when in a multi-episodic opening storyline, a catastrophic train derailment endangers several lives including some of their own. With Judd resigning from the 126 to take care of his recently handicapped son Wyatt (Jackson Pace), Owen must find a new lieutenant to replace Judd and has a difficult decision ahead of him when both Marjan and Paul apply for the promotion. Tommy is ready to take the next step in her relationship, but she finds the road to happiness is filled with obstacles.
On his 30th birthday, T.K. gets a surprise visit from someone from his past that could change his and Carlos’ lives forever. Now officially husband and husband, T.K. and Carlos’ marriage is put to the test when Carlos becomes obsessed with solving his father’s murder.
Series star Diane Farr steps behind the camera to direct Fire Country season three episode three, “Welcome to the Cult.” Written by Tia Napolitano and Barbara Kaye Friend, episode three is set to air on Friday, November 1, 2024 at 9pm ET/PT.
Max Thieriot stars as Bode, Billy Burke plays Vince, Kevin Alejandro is Manny, and Diane Farr is Sharon. Stephanie Arcila plays Gabriela, Jordan Calloway is Jake, Jules Latimer is Eve, and Rafael de la Fuente is Diego.
“Welcome to the Cult” Plot: Bode and Gabriela consider confessing a huge secret they have been hiding.
Fire Country stars Max Thieriot as Bode Leone, a young convict seeking redemption and a shortened prison sentence by joining a prison release firefighting program in Northern California, where he and other inmates are partnered with elite firefighters to extinguish massive, unpredictable wildfires across the region. It’s a high-risk, high-reward assignment, and the heat is turned up when Bode is assigned to the program in his rural hometown, where he was once a golden all-American son until his troubles began.
Years ago, Bode burned down everything in his life, leaving town with a big secret. Now he’s back, with the rap sheet of a criminal and the audacity to believe in a chance for redemption with Cal Fire.
Netflix has set a January 9, 2025 premiere date for American Primeval, a limited series created by Pete Berg. The series reunites Berg, who also directs and executive produces, with his Friday Night Lights star Taylor Kitsch.
The six-episode drama also stars Betty Gilpin as Sara Rowell, Dane DeHaan as Jacob Pratt, Saura Lightfoot-Leon as Abish Pratt, Derek Hinkey as Red Feather, and Joe Tippett as James Wolsey. Jai Courtney plays Virgil Cutter, Preston Mota is Devin Rowell, Shawnee Pourier is Two Moons, and Shea Whigham plays Jim Bridger.
Guest stars include Kim Coates as Brigham Young, Lucas Neff as Captain Dellinger, Kyle Davis as Tilly, Tokala Black Elk as Buffalo Run, Nick Hargrove as Cottrell, and Irene Bedard as Winter Bird. Nanabah Grace guest stars as Kuttaambo’i, Alex Breaux is Wild Bill Hickman, Dominic Bogart is Cook, Alex Fine is Gant, Kip Weeks is Pepper, and Jeremiah Bitsui is Grey Fox.
“This is America…1857. Up is down, pain is everywhere, innocence, and tranquility are losing the battle to hatred and fear. Peace is the shrinking minority, and very few possess grace — even fewer know compassion. There is no safe haven in these brutal lands, and only one goal matters: survival,” reads Netflix’s synopsis. “American Primeval is a fictionalized dramatization and examination of the violent collision of culture, religion, and community as men and women fight and die to keep or control this land.”
Writer Mark L. Smith executive produces, along with Eric Newman and Alex Gayner. Julie O’Keefe is involved as the Indigenous Cultural Consultant and Project Advisor.
A young princess must go on an invigorating quest to break a dark spell in Netflix’s Spellbound. The new trailer shows Ellian (voiced by Rachel Zegler, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes) is ready to do whatever it takes to rescue her mom and dad, and save her kingdom.
John Lithgow, Jenifer Lewis, Tituss Burgess, and Nathan Lane also lend their voices to the animated fairy tale. Being the Ricardos stars Javier Bardem and Nicole Kidman reunite to voice Ellian’s parents.
“Spellbound follows the adventures of Ellian, the tenacious young daughter of the rulers of Lumbria who must go on a daring quest to save her family and kingdom after a mysterious spell transforms her parents into monsters,” reads Netflix’s synopsis.
Spellbound premieres on Netflix on November 22, 2024.
“Mythology and fairytales have always been part of my life and upbringing. My father, the son of immigrant Romanian parents, was an aspiring writer and my mother, raised in Costa Rica by literary parents, taught us to love the arts and old family ghost stories. Storytelling runs deep in our families!” says director Vicky Jenson.
Jenson continues: “Spellbound is about what it is that really makes a family. Like any timeless myth or lasting fairytale, I believe the meaning reaches even further than the specifics of this family’s dynamic. It speaks to kids and their parents and the kinds of alienation that can happen between them as well as the steps we have to take toward each other, how we can weather it together, to come through to the other side with better understanding.”
Tamberla Perry as Dr. Carol Pierce and Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolf in ‘Brilliant Minds’ episode 6 (Photo by: Rafy/NBC)
NBC’s Brilliant Minds episode six begins with Dr. Oliver Wolf’s voiceover telling us, “The mind can push the body to great lengths in the name of survival. But at what cost?” And speaking of survival, Carol (Tamberla Perry) shows up at Oliver’s place in desperate need of coffee. She and Morris are splitting time at the house so that Maya can remain home while they work out their relationship moving forward.
When Carol asks about Oliver’s non-existent dating life, Oliver (Zachary Quinto) immediately starts talking about John Doe. He hopes to enroll John in a special trial involving neurotech that can translate his thoughts in real-time. Oliver teases Carol when she reveals she knows Simon, the guy in charge of the trial, and offers to help. (Oliver and Carol’s friendship is one of my favorite things in Brilliant Minds.)
Over at the hospital, interns Dana, Jacob, and Ericka are testing Van to see if he really does have mirror-touch synesthesia. Van admits he doesn’t watch scary movies since he feels all the punches and stabs. He also admits he was great at med school tests but horrible at the practicum. Oliver joins them and suggests Van try meditation, find an emotional anchor, or use positive self-talk as a coping mechanism.
Oliver leaves them to the testing as he joins Carol to examine Sarah, a high school senior who showed up for an ultrasound, convinced she’s pregnant. She’s ecstatic and can’t wait to hold her baby girl, and even snaps photos of the ultrasound results. However, she’s not pregnant and only imagines the ultrasound shows a fetus.
The OB doctor explains outside of Sarah’s presence that Sarah looks to be in her second trimester, has started to lactate, and has reported fetal movement. Carol diagnoses it as a classic case of pseudocyesis (a false pregnancy). And that’s why the OB doc is handing the case to Oliver since Carol will be busy trying to get John Doe into a neurotech trial. Sarah will need support once she’s informed she’s not pregnant, but Oliver believes they should hold off telling her until they run more tests.
Four of Sarah’s high school friends show up, all giddy with excitement over her ultrasound. In a weird twist, all the girls think they’re pregnant. Oliver wants to test each of them. “The only thing weirder than if they’re all pregnant is if they’re not,” says Oliver.
Oliver gathers his interns for a brief history lesson on uncontrollable dancing, biting, and tics that spread to large groups. Since all the girls’ tests were negative, he believes this is mass psychogenic illness (aka mass hysteria). It’s a once-in-a-lifetime case, with Sarah as an outlier since she has pseudocyesis. Van wonders how they’ll treat it, and Oliver explains there’s an “index patient” among the group with an untreated underlying condition. They have to pinpoint that person to treat the group. They also need to discover if the five girls have a shared loss.
Van suggests a field trip to the high school, while Dana would prefer to run tests in the hospital. Oliver admits as a nerdy gay kid, he hated high school, but a field trip is the best option.
Oliver meets with Principal Owens and concerned parents, and the principal confirms they’re testing for any possible environmental issues like asbestos and mold. The parents sigh with relief when Oliver announces that none of the girls are pregnant. However, the girls haven’t been told that yet. Oliver and his team will be shadowing the girls first to find out why they’re experiencing this mass psychogenic illness. The parents are an intense group, and Principal Owens pulls Oliver aside and suggests he and his team get to work. Owens will put himself in the hot seat and answer all their questions.
Ericka, Van, Jacob, and Dana question the girls, which leads to awkward generation gap moments. Oliver has a private chat with Sarah, and she admits high school is brutal but becoming a mother has put her life in perspective.
Meanwhile, Carol speaks with Simon about John Doe’s condition. Although John seems like an ideal candidate, the fact that Oliver Wolf is his attending physician is a huge negative. Oliver’s not a team player which doesn’t fit well with this test. Carol doesn’t disagree but says Oliver clings to hope more than any doctor she knows.
Simon promises to think about it.
While Dana’s with one of the girls she has a panic attack, starts crying, and rushes off to take her medication. Being in the school’s library is triggering, and she’s forced to calm herself down. The student finds her and offers chocolate to help, and Dana apologizes. She reveals she had her first panic attack in high school.
Ashleigh LaThrop as Ericka Kinney, Spence Moore II as Jacob Nash, Alex MacNicoll as Dr. Van Markus, Aury Krebs as Dr. Dana Dang, and Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolf in ‘Brilliant Minds’ episode 6 (Photo by: Rafy/NBC)
Suddenly, Sarah starts screaming and claims she can’t see anything. She’s rushed to the hospital, and Van and Ericka can’t determine what’s wrong from preliminary tests. Carol, Oliver, and the interns meet to review what they’ve found – which is basically nothing. Carol confirms they’ve admitted the girls for overnight observation.
Before the meeting breaks up, the group hears the girls singing in harmony. Oliver says group singing is behind the girls’ group-think because it releases oxytocin. “It biochemically primes the brain for mass hysteria to take root and spread,” says Oliver.
Oliver believes they need to enter the group, not just observe it. They’re participating in the group’s tarot card reading when Lily starts seizing. A short while later, Dana informs her it was likely caused by stress. Lily wonders if they’re being punished, and Dana warns her that to help her she needs to know everything. Lily winds up spilling the beans.
Apparently, the girls are in a coven and believe they’re witches. They cast a spell to get pregnant together without having sex. Dana shows them the coven’s TikTok videos and says Lily admitted they tried a new spell tonight that backfired. Lily believes they’ll get sicker by the minute.
Later that night, Oliver’s looking sharp when Carol spots him in his office. He’s about to go see Principal Owens and Carol wonders if it’s a date. Oliver denies any interest in the high school principal but confesses Owens is good-looking. (There were definitely sparks flying when they met.)
All the environmental tests are negative, and Oliver’s adorable when he stumbles while talking about an outbreak of mono. Oliver wonders if there was any recent death that could have affected the girls, and Principal Owens says a girl withdrew recently to be homeschooled. That could have had an emotional impact on the girls since they were good friends.
At that moment, the homeschooled girl – Samantha Lee – is at the hospital with the other girls who think they’re pregnant. However, Samantha is actually pregnant and in labor! Van takes charge of the delivery and has the other girls support their friend.
Alex MacNicoll as Dr. Van Markus, Aury Krebs as Dr. Dana Dang, Zachary Quinto as Dr. Oliver Wolf, Spence Moore II as Jacob Nash, and Ashleigh LaThrop as Ericka Kinney in ‘Brilliant Minds’ episode 6 (Photo by: Rafy/NBC)
The following day, Oliver connects all the dots, saying Samantha’s parents pulled her from school when she got pregnant, and that set off an extraordinary chain reaction. One month ago, the other girls snuck out and conjured pregnancies of their own so Sam would feel less alone. Since Sarah was Sam’s best friend, her grief was deeper, which is why she suffers from pseudocyesis.
“This illness was empathy in its deepest form,” says Carol.
Simon delivers the good news that John Doe can join the study. However, if Oliver deviates from the program, both Oliver and John Doe will be booted from the program.
Oliver and Carol gently break the news to the girls that they aren’t pregnant. Afterward, the girls write down the loss their feeling and then toss their notes into a fire. According to Oliver, this trauma will be easier to deal with because they have a pack to share it with.
Principal Owens drops by Oliver’s office with bagels, confirming the school’s returning to normal. However, Principal Owens isn’t just there out of professional courtesy. He introduces himself as Mark and wonders if they can get to know each other better. Mark asks him to accompany him to a bar, but Oliver declines. Oliver awkwardly claims he’s unavailable but clarifies that he’s not in a relationship. He asks about a raincheck and Mark agrees, but it’s obvious he doesn’t think Oliver will ever reach out for a date.
The interns relax with pizza and beer, and Van tells Ericka he didn’t freak out while delivering the baby because she was his calm and steady anchor. Dana opens up and reveals her panic attack origin story. She was a senior in high school when her sister, Olivia, died, and the principal told her when she was in the school’s library. A group hug follows, and Ericka assures Dana they’re her coven now.
Carol pops the champagne while informing Oliver that John Doe is in the study. She warns Oliver that he has to toe the line since her reputation is at stake. Carol also reveals they once shared a drunk med school kiss.
Oliver admits the girls’ case reminded him that he was about their age when he last saw his dad. They were camping when his dad took off. A ranger found Oliver and took him home. Oliver blames himself for not understanding how his dad felt, and Carol believes Oliver’s blocked himself from connecting with anyone. He uses his books and plants to distance himself from the world. The pain is trapped with him in this cocoon, and Carol reminds Oliver that she’s there to help him break free whenever he’s ready.
“You’re my cocoon,” says Oliver, which is so corny it causes them to start laughing.
