Prodigal Son Episode 3: Fear Response
Following the exciting news that Prodigal Son has been picked up for a full season at FOX, tonight’s episode seems extra special. Malcolm, as we last saw, is still struggling with what happened to him in his childhood, and this next case seems to strike more than just fear into the profiler. Let’s get started.
Opening Scene
The first thing we see this week is a flashback. Jessica Whitly visits Martin in prison, and he assures her everything will be alright. Jessica is much timider than we see in the present-day, but she tells him neither she or the kids will ever revisit him. Well, that’s not true.
One Hell of an Entrance
Cut to the present day, and we see Jessica Whitly leave her car, buzzing the door of what looks to be Malcolm’s apartment. He doesn’t let her in, but that’s partly because he’s in a seemingly gruesome night terror. Jessica, annoyed because he changed the locks, yells from outside at him. As he grows more and more restless, we see the restraints he sleeps in, giving on one side. In a fit of terror, Malcolm nearly flies out of the window, dangling from the other restraint.
His mother, always so self-absorbed, asks if he’s alright before demanding to be buzzed in. She couldn’t care less if you ask me. Nothing about her line of questioning seems to garner real concern, even once inside. Jessica seems more annoyed that he’s visited with his father, but not for his real mental state. I don’t trust this woman; I think she has other motives for why she’s so invested in his care.
Malcolm goes to visit with his long-time counselor, who also instructs him to stop seeing his father. Of course, Malcolm doesn’t hear a word she says and excuses himself early into the session because of a new case.
The Case
This week’s murder victim is Professor Holten, found in a park with two particularly strange traits to his death. The first is his pure white eyes, which Edrisa explains usually comes from damage to the optic nerve. Low and behold, things get weirder fast because his brain is also missing! This isn’t what killed him; he went into cardiac arrest. Malcolm makes an initial profile at the scene, saying our killer probably is suffering from a severe mental illness, perhaps having a recent psychiatric break. He is a visionary killer and may be trying to please a higher power.
They find a letter underneath the Professor’s shirt. It has many words scribbled on it, but the others can’t understand what it means. Malcolm thinks it must mean something to the murderer that they don’t understand. Regardless, taking the brain met some need for the murderer as well.
Familiar Call
At the precinct, as they discuss the case, Malcolm gets a call from his father (unaware that Gil is watching from beyond the glass). As usual, Malcolm tells his father he has no intention of returning, and Martin reminds him how he runs from fear, represses it as we see by his hand tremors.
Why You Sleep at Night
Jessica, still on her mission to make sure Malcolm doesn’t see his father, confronts Ainsley about lying to her. Much to her surprise, Ainsley is frustrated that she never got to know Martin Whitly. She wants to make her own decision based on what he did. Jessica seems betrayed, asking her if she sleeps at night. Confused, she says yes, and Jessica says she sleeps because she protected her.
Fan Boy
Malcolm and the others head to the college where Dr. Holten worked. They interview one of Malcolm’s heroes, Elaine Brown, who says nothing suspicious has happened that could lead to his murder. They do admit one student committed suicide recently, Alice Downey. This affected Holten. Malcolm, back at the precinct, thinks Brown is lying and is disappointed in meeting one of his idols. JT and Dani find out that someone made an anonymous complaint to the psych department after the student committed suicide, saying that the department did experiments on the students, getting them high on LSD.
Another letter is found, the same as the one found by the Professor.
A Lead
Carl Mitchell, another Professor who worked with Holten and Dr. Brown, calls back. He says he wants to tell them the truth about what goes on there. Soon, they realize he’s acting strange and that he’s been drugged with LSD. Quickly, they head over to the college and find him tied up on the roof. Dani and JT pursue the murderer, who was up there as well, and Malcolm unties Mitchell. He is in the midst of a mental health crisis because of the LSD.
He takes Malcolm hostage and goes to the edge of the building, holding him there with a knife. Dani arrives just in time to see Malcolm kick him off, and it looks like he falls to his death… but he lands on a patio type area below. Malcolm claims he knows it was there, but Dani doesn’t seem convinced. I’m not so sure either, but I wouldn’t blame him in this instance for self-preservation if he did it purposely.
Bright was Right!
Elaine Brown confirms the experiments and finds a former student who fits Malcolm’s profile. His name is Dominic, and he’s a former Ph.D. student who left because of, you guessed it, mental health issues. Malcolm and JT head to keep an eye on Elaine Brown’s house, to make sure the student doesn’t show up there.
This is one of my favorite scenes. We see Malcolm and JT begin to understand each other. Malcolm wants to know JT’s full name, and it turns into a conversation about respect. JT thinks that Malcolm doesn’t respect him when that’s further from the truth. Malcolm tells him he respects officers and badges more than he can realize, especially since Gil rescued him as a child. I think this may be the first scene where they finally see each other eye to eye and not as rivals.
Malcolm tells JT he has one more question to ask her and heads inside, asking about repressed memories and how to access them. She explains to him your subconscious blocks them, but familiar smells can access most. But then…
Don’t Drink the Tea!
As they discuss the various masks in Dr. Elaine Brown’s living room, Malcolm puts together the multiple letters they received from the murderer, noticing the words paint a picture similar to one of the masks. She’s his last victim. Elaine admits she doesn’t feel well, and the tea is the culprit; she’s high on LSD too! Malcolm tells her to stay in the room while he pursues Dominic, being attacked by him up the stairs.
They struggle, Dominic, getting the upper hand. It looks all over for our profiler when Elaine appears with a shotgun, killing her former student. With JT finally arriving, Malcolm talks an emotional Elaine down from killing him too.
Meanwhile…
Something is strange. Jessica has now stopped to talk to Gil about Malcolm. For the first time, we see a cold Gil, and its aimed at Jessica. She tells him he’s not his father and has no right to lead him in any direction. Gil says he is always going to be there for Malcolm and that he’ll do whatever he wants to do, neither of them could stop them. What is her deal anyway? Why is she so set on making sure he doesn’t get more information?
Another flashback between Martin and Jessica is particularly eye-opening. Jessica is upset in it, trying to understand how this could have happened to them. He tells her he has certain tendencies and needs (gross). He goes as far as to say that she knew what he was.
“Way to Kill a Mood.”
Jessica visits Martin in the present-day, which comes as a bit of a shock. She’s so cold to him, much more secure than what we see in the flashbacks. She doesn’t easily slide into his charm or take his bait until he begins to compliment her on the “job” she’s done raising their children. It seems that she has almost fallen into his spell until he reaches to touch her, and she recoils like it burns. She backs up, telling him how she has killed him in her mind so that she can move on. Overall, it’s a powerful scene between the two, and Bellamy Young and Michael Sheen do a phenomenal job bouncing off each other. This is the first time I have real sympathy for her as a character.
Smell
The episode ends with Malcolm going to bed, using chloroform to do so. He quickly goes into his memories. We see as the audience it is not his father who finds him when he opened the chest in his father’s study; it is his mother. She seemingly knows what he’s been doing to these women, but that’s all we see thus far. I suspect she knows way more than this terror tells him.
Things I’m Enjoying
The characters’ relationships are one of the best parts of this show. While others may be “shipping” Malcolm and various females, I love watching his relationship develop as a friend with Dani. She’s a tough girl, someone we don’t know too much about, but she holds a soft spot in her heart for Malcolm. I think he needs someone in his life unrelated to his father’s murders and his family, and she’s just that person. There is absolutely no reason to complicate that with a relationship; let’s give this guy some stability for once in his life, yeah?
Maybe it says something about me, but I love the gruesome parts of this show. The cases thus far have been creative and different, making me squirm and cringe at the various details. The team working together, albeit sometimes reluctantly, makes this all the more fun. I’m down for any scene with Malcolm and JT throwing words at each other.
I have to give credit to Bellamy Young here, as well. Because my God, do I ever hate her character. I don’t trust her; I feel like she’s slimy and just as dangerous as his father. Jessica comes off as dismissive and falsely caring, and I’m waiting for that moment on screen that proves she’s up to no good. Sure, we see her at the end of the episode, but I think she’s more involved than that. Only time will tell. Malcolm needs to steer clear of her.
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