Prodigal Son 1.4: Designer Complicityby Wolfen MoondaughterReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Network
Credits Grade: 8 Bright and company investigate the murder of a model /social media personality. Malcolm also confronts his mother with a burning question: did she know Whitly was a murderer before Bright had called the police.Not a lot of specific hurt / comfort towards Malcolm this ep, so much as just general worry. That would be fine, except he hurt his hand in the first scene badly enough for it to be wrapped in bandages, and yet no one commented on it (except JT, who was disgusted at the idea of being touched by that had), even though they noticed that same hand having a tremor! As usual, the psychology of the crime is questionable and plot-convenient, but I continue to be impressed with the psychological studies of the regular characters. The murder was well used to highlight the turmoil in Malcolm's own life. And surprisingly (as I thought the focus of this ep would be entirely on Jessica), Malcolm's sister, Ainsley, has begun a story arc of her own! Also, JT gets some more focus as well; while there's still friction, he and Malcolm worked pretty well together when dealing with Roger, multiple times! I don't normally talk about technical details of TV shows, but I want to praise some really beautiful and clever blocking in this ep! Before I say more, it's spolier time! Still here? Okay! One scene I was visually stricken by was in an alley, where two characters are backlit by windows, with a dark gap between them. The other is when Bright's watching footage of his mother, the way we see both his face and hers at the same time at one point, and at another, he's overlapping her image on the screen in such a way that she's still visible, but the connection between them is palpable. Now, let's get the case issues out of the way before I get to the rest of the praise. They make a point of telling us that Tatiana was in the USO when JT was in the military. But she's spoken of as a model and a social media influencer, not as a performer (even though they could have easily added singer to her repertoire, or called her a singer who models on the side); why would she have been in the USO? There's too much of a disconnect between the crime and the killer. We're ultimately told the killer is a stalker who killed Tatiana in an homage to Axel ... but in the face-off, Joey reads as a mobster-style thug. He even concedes that he cleans things up for Axel -- but a cleaner does his best to wipe the world of evidence, not shout what happened from the rooftop! And there's no suggestion of artistry in Joey, especially given how he tried to kill Roger with a car, and was going to shoot Bright in the face! Besides, if he wanted to protect Axel, why do it in a way that implicated him? And if he really can't stand to be away from Axel, why would he choose to stage Tatiana's death in a manner that had to have taken a great deal of time (what with adding a bunch of sequins with tweezers)? Then there's the matter of the police finding Bright, even thought it was Axel who chose where they went to. It looked like Bright was wearing a wire -- was it actually a GPS? If not, the scene would have worked better if Bright had told Axel to come with him, rather than the other way around. I had wondered at first how Malcolm had even gotten into what seemed a private event (if it was public, you'd think Axel would be surrounded by security), but the fact that he had been there with police blessing after all (despite, last we knew, Gil saying no) suggests the police got him in ... in which case, you’d think Axel and Joey both would have been alerted by the doorman. On the upside, I did like how there were nods to Malcolm's personal life in his conversations with people about the case -- like how you can love family and still be afraid of them. I have mixed feelings about Ainsley. I know that her portrayer, Halston Sage, isn't a teenager (she's 26, in fact!) ... but she reads like one to me. She just seems a tad too young to be doing any serious reporting in a big city; it keeps jarring me out of the narrative. Hopefully I'll get used to her and thus get past that issue, as this new arc promises to be interesting. Despite not having really grown up with Whitly, she shows signs of being self-centric, even potentially narcissistic -- like Jessica, really. But then again, this new arc, her attitude (being so keen on a doing a top story, she's throwing caution to the wind, and perks up at the idea of her dad being her fan, like she's attention-starved) reinforces the feeling that she's a teen. As for Jessica, they really do a wonderful job, both in the flashbacks and in the present day, of keeping her on this line where it could easily go either way regarding whether or not she knew about Whitly's murders! She's both sympathetic and maddening, without it being contradictory. She deflects (a sign of hiding something). Even knowing now that she simply thought Whitly was having an affair doesn't mean she's not manipulative or narcissistic -- she's still obsessed with appearances, and doesn't act naturally affectionate with her children. While I don't question now that she does love her children on some level -- she's not a psychopath like Whitly, pretending to love but not truly knowing how -- I still get the feeling that her concern for her kids is at least partially a matter of wanting them to reflect well on her, as if they're show dogs. And her drama-queen persona when Ainsley came to visit -- yikes! And Gil's past assurance, Malcom's later praise of her and sympathy towards what she went through, and her turning out to be secretly doing charity work, all come off as a bit of a heavy-handed attempt to redeem her. All I could think of, when Gil said her children would be fine because of her, was that Malcom is far from fine! So instead of the show succeeding in saying she's a good mother after all, that line seemed to highlight her not being one, even as we know Whitly is the one who really messed Malcolm up. The way she simply patted Malcom's arm just before she walked away, rather than hugging her son after their heart-to-heart, also suggests she has trouble showing motherly affection. (Gill is a far better parental figure all around!) As for the flashbacks with Whitly, they once again do an exceptional job demonstrating a narcissist's capacity for manipulation, especially gas-lighting, with how he put his family's future happiness of Jessica's shoulders, her ability to look past his flaws. There's also a really great interaction in that regard between him and Malcolm in the present day, the way Whitly chided him for coming to visit, as if he really did have any reason to fear his wife, and wasn't desperate to see Malcolm. I think he's very delighted to have a chance to see what he can do with Ainsely, too. (I doubt they will go in quite this direction, but I kind of hope he convinces her to start staging things to report on, and slowly directs her onto a path that could lead to her becoming a killer as well. I could see Jessica and Malcolm being her targets!) Even Malcolm shows signs of being hella manipulative, the way he tricks Roger. This is the kind of trickster scenario I love, the trickster doing trickery for a good cause -- but even so, he's kind of mean about it. Then again, I can't entirely blame him, given the guy's occupation as a paparazzi, and the fact that Roger's reluctance to talk was allowing a killer to roam free. But it it's also another example of him being oddly cruel to a victim -- and seeming to take a perverse pleasure in it. Even after Roger was hurt by the car, Bright didn't get down to check on the man, just stood over him! I appreciate getting to know JT better, but I miss Dani -- she's kind of taken a back seat for the past two eps. At least we got a couple of little moments between her and Bright still. I particularly enjoyed their interaction after the arrest; I think she's still suspicious of his tendency to put himself in harm's way. I'm glad Gil's conflicted handling of Malcolm is still showcased; I can understand why he would be hesitant to let Malcolm see that footage of his mother, but I appreciate that he ultimately put his trust in Malcolm's knowledges of psychology, and gave Malcolm the opportunity after all. Malcolm's tears while he watched the footage, and the shift from worry to relief, was a thing of beauty! And so was his apology to Jessica, and her return apology. We'll see if she stays on this side of the angels, or if there's another twist in her cards ahead. Written: October 15, 2019
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