‘Black Box’ records a solid start to the series

“Black Box” has nothing to do with airplanes or rescue missions — at least not in the way you might imagine.

The title of this new ABC series refers to the human brain, which has earned the nickname “black box” by doctors entranced by its many mysteries.

It also (conveniently) refers to Dr. Catherine Black (Kelly Reilly), a brilliant neurologist (she’s been dubbed “the Marco Polo of the brain”) who works at a top-notch New York City neurological center — but whose work, and personal life, is often compromised because she’s secretly bipolar (manic-depressive), and doesn’t like to take her meds.

If Thursday night’s series premiere is any indication, Catherine will spend each episode dealing with her own condition while helping unravel difficult neurological cases — hence the “black box” motifs of airplanes (she flies emotionally high while manic) and rescue missions (helping patients). I think.

The series — parts of which were filmed at what appears to be Columbia University (ABC could not confirm this) — gets off to an absorbing start, complete with solid character development and an interesting twist.

Catherine knows she should take her meds, but she’s also enamored of the way she feels during the “freakin’ rocket ride” of her manic moods, which she describes to her no-nonsense psychiatrist, Dr. Hartramph (Vanessa Redgrave). Her upswings spur blizzards of creativity that always end, just as suddenly, when she crashes into a suicidal depression. Her mother was also bipolar — she was undiagnosed and committed suicide years earlier — but the affliction has spared Catherine’s older brother, Joshua (David Chisum). He’s married to supermom Regan (Laura Fraser, Lydia from “Breaking Bad”) and has a teenage daughter, Esme (Siobhan Williams), who idolizes Catherine.

Catherine also has a steady boyfriend, Will (David Ajala), who wants to get married but is unaware of Catherine’s condition, which triggers uninhibited behavior patterns for which she’s always sorry and ashamed — even more so now that her new co-worker is arrogant-yet-hunky neurosurgeon Dr. Ian Bickman (Ditch Davey).

The scenes in which Catherine has her manic episodes resonate strongly. The British-born Reilly, currently co-starring opposite “Rake” star Greg Kinnear in the movie “Heaven Is for Real,” is a fine actress, and the special effects here give the viewer some approximation of what it must be like when the brain misfires and reality explodes into a mixture of color and exhilaration that, sadly, is only transient.

It’s a solid start for a series that holds a lot of promise if given the chance to grow.