Prodigal Son 1.7: Q&Aby Wolfen MoondaughterReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Network
Credits Grade: 8 Hoping to gain insight into lost memories from his childhood, Malcolm investigates a junkyard ... and ends up stumbling across his father's serial-killing protégé. Ainsley's interview with her father takes a disastrous turn when an inmate gets loose.It was exciting to see Whitly dealing with both of his children at once; I hope we get another such reunion, but next time with Jessica there as well! Surprisingly, there wasn't really a case-of-the-week, so much as preparation for next week, and a threat to the character's lives that involved knowing a bit of history about their attacker. There wasn't as much on the hurt-comfort front with Malcolm, either, but still at least a bit of yummy mental anguish. And in trade-off, we get to see him, his father, and Ainsley each be clever in turn. I also enjoyed Malcom's profiling chatter, and appreciated getting more of Whitly's guard, Mr. David. Spoiler-time now. Still with me? First, the aggravating: how did no one consider that, Tevin having killed a guard, he would have the guard's key-card? Also, Whitly had started to sayan alternate name of his cohort; why didn't Malcolm re-address that question before leaving? Edrisa getting nerdy about the pizza spatula -- and everyone else's reactions -- was priceless! So was Dani getting passionate about her home, the Bronx. People being passionate about what they love, makes me happy in turn! I appreciate that Malcolm was honest when Edrisa asked Malcolm if he was okay. I suspect that he's just an overtly honest person in general (except when dealing with killers), maybe in an effort to be as opposite from his father as possible, but maybe it's just that he feels comfortable enough with Edrisa to not shrug his problems off and pretend everything is fine, as people tend to do in general. I love the bait-and-switch Ainsley plays with the questions, how she's just gaming the system (even as I don't appreciate when reporters pull those kind of sensationalist shenanigans in real life). Really, she didn't do half bad with her actual questions! I also appreciate Jessica understanding how the wrong questions would give Whitly the opportunity to paint himself in a sympathetic light. Granted, Whitly was still savvy enough to turn her line of questioning on her, which in turn raised interesting philosophical question: how much does the good one does counterbalance the evil one commits? (Me, I'd say that, as far as society is concerned, a serial killer is still dangerous and in need of guarding / separation from society, regardless of how many lives they save as a doctor, etc. I think it's less a matter of good counterbalancing bad, and more important that someone stop doing evil at all, and do good instead, not in addition to evil. So long as a person still acts monstrously, they're still a monster -- especially if they only do good for the accolades, like Whitly seems to. I have no doubt at all that Whitly would kill again if he thought he could get away with it.) I applaud Ainsely for realising she was out of her depth and looking to her brother for help ... but that's soured by the fact that she used Malcolm for personal gain, despite clearly knowing how he had been affected by his father (That moment and in general). And then she gives him the attention he wants by filming his surgery? I assume because she figures it's a great story, but it's worrying that she seemed so grateful and impressed -- does she not understand that her father didn't save Jin out of kindness? Anyway, with the callous way Ainsley behaves at times for the sake of her career, one has to wonder if she's more like her father (ie, psychopathic to some degree) than she ought to be. At least we can more thoroughly admire Malcolm, with how he managed to trick and neutralise Tevin. It's chilling how Whitly managed to use Tevin, a fellow mental patient, to get the upper-hand with the interview by giving him an opportunity to play hero. I'm puzzled, though, why Malcolm would be so reluctant to give Whitly a knife to save a man's life. I mean, what did he think Whitly was going to do? Take a hostage? Escape? He's got a cushy gig in prison! Notoriety! Respect of his fellow inmates! If he were to escape, he'd have to go into hiding and never see his kids again, which wouldn't serve his narcissism at all. I do wonder about Whitly supposedly being in solitary -- could it be that he's actually being let out for a bit, to go on a killing spree, and thus will be able to return whenever he wants? I figure he must have some people helping him inside -- how else would he have been able to make plans with Tevin? At the very least, he's got enough of an in to have that nice cell and still do consulting work. Jessica's talk with Malcolm had a sweet moment -- and what they ended up finding is another example of how this show excels at cliffhangers! Written: November 17, 2019
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