Prodigal Son 1.8: Family Friendby Wolfen MoondaughterReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Network
Credits Grade: 9 After getting in verbal contact with Paul, Whitly's protégé, Malcolm races against the clock to save Paul's victims -- and ties to meet the man face-to-face. Could Paul's claims be true -- could Malcolm really be just like his father?In some respects, despite a lack of present-day interaction with Whitly, this is the best episode of the series so far! It offers a break of sorts from the killer-of-the-week formula, in that this week's killer is part of an over-arching, season-long plot, one far more personal than the weekly monster. It also involves a crime that isn't entirely solved, ending with the killer still on the loose. And with every episode, the investigative team members and Malcolm have gotten more and more of a feel for each other, working more with a team / family dynamic, and this somewhat different crime showcases that fact nicely. Moreover, Malcom's profiler speeches are really fascinating here, even more than usual! I appreciate a distinction made that turned one character into a nice red herring. And for us hurt-comfort fiends, there's a mental moment that leads to a physical one that involves even more mental anguish -- triple-score! Spoiler time. Still with me? Okay. To elaborate on that point, I really loved seeing Malcolm start to deteriorate! Even though his perseverance with the Winnebago paid off, it all could have gone so very wrong, even taking into account his sound logic -- Gil was still right to be worried. I feel like Malcolm's suicidal tendency was at play here. He was doing so well with that phone conversation with Paul, until Paul talked about the girl in the trunk, triggering Malcolm's tremor. I loved how Gil grew alarmed, and how Malcolm stumbled outside for air, overwhelmed by flashbacks. I loved Gill following and apologizing for not having believed Malcolm about the girl before, giving him some lovely emotional support (I enjoyed how Gil looked after Jessica this ep, too). But of course after Gil leaves, Malcolm then put himself in physical danger by following after Paul, getting nearly crushed in a turnstile, which led Gil to worry even more! Delicious! I loved Malcolm's crestfallen look and subsequent perking up when he thought Gil was taking him of the case but then revealed he would let Malcolm go through with his plan. Ultimately, I don't think that Malcolm actually believes that he's like his father -- I believe him when he says that he was just telling Paul what he wanted to hear in order to win his trust -- but I do think he's still afraid, on some level, that the potential is there for him to go evil. Malcolm's being shirtless in front of Eve (his mother's associate) was a little weird, in that he seemed to want to hide his injuries by scrambling to put away the medical supplies ... and then seemed to forget that he didn't want her to see, finishing dressing in front of her instead of making her wait. If he wanted to show off, why not just leave his shirt off altogether? All I can figure was, maybe at first he didn't want his mother to find out, but then realised he had an excuse for this beautiful woman to ogle him. Poor Eve -- going to report that Jessica was doing badly enough to be drunkenly waving around a gun, only to find that Jessica's son is arguably even worse off! As for Ainsley, I don't blame Jin in the slightest for breaking things off after learning that she filmed his surgery. I mean, yes, she did show signs of worrying for him, so she's not a total psychopath, like her dad, but still, it's unsettling how far she will go for a story, to the point of exploiting her boyfriend's near-death experience! No to mention, were I in her shoes, I would be too distraught about Jin to even think of filming in the first place! And really, I thought she was smart enough to head her mother's words, and see how her father wasn't being a hero, just taking advantage of the situation to make himself look good - why would she want to help him feed his ego? And she was rather callous about the serial killer, seeming to care more about getting a story than the fact that people were hurt or killed, or about letting her brother do his job (yet had the nerve to gripe about him cramping her ability to do hers -- ever mind that she'd found his attendance at the interview useful). I can't deny that she's got chutzpah and knows her way around the ins and outs of law enforcement, though! And being trapped with Paul was certainly terrifying -- I felt for her there. But I also hope she gets a rude awakening after that careless news report of hers. I enjoyed the informative conversation between Malcolm and Jessica at the end -- I had foolishly assumed the house had been Whitly's, so it's interesting to learn that it was actually Jessica's, making his secret activities in the basement even more of a violation towards her. And I enjoyed Malcolm's caring revelation of how he'd had a guard placed on her all along. The hand: gruesome, yet the conversations around it were hilarious! I'm bummed about victim Kyle's fate, though. (Also, I can’t believe who is playing Paul: Michael Raymond-James, the guy who played Neal on Once Upon a Time!) I look forward to the next time we see Paul -- especially given the new complication in that the team have been taken off the case! Written: November 24, 2019
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