Prodigal Son 1.9: Pied-A-Terreby Wolfen MoondaughterReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Network
Credits Grade: 8 The team investigates a murder involving a sex club. This is actually after Malcolm dreams of a woman penetrating him with a sword -- which his therapist suggests is about repressed sexual desire, not his father's murders.I was a little perturbed at the revelation of the club being one for polyamourists who wanted sex with no strings -- the "amour" in polyamoury is about love, and being a polyamourist is about having multiple sexual partners that you love and who know about each other. Now, understand, I have no personal qualms against people being promiscuous or having sex without love (providing there are no lies involved). What I'm not thrilled about is when stories conflate polyamoury promiscuity and / or adultery, or treat polyamoury (or any kink that still involves consent, really) as some sort of degenerate / illicit behavior. Thankfully, the show ultimately treats the club with more nuance -- even a couple of very sweet, tender aspects that are a bit more in keeping with the spirit of polyamoury. And I appreciate the complex look at love and sex that this story ultimately becomes. Not to mention, the story allows for some really awkwardly amusing moments regarding Malcolm and sex, as well as some nice insights into Malcolm's view of himself! And the mystery aspect more or less plays out believably, if also a little over-complicatedly. I love that we actually get to see a character from a previous case again -- I hope we get more of that! I'm not thrilled with how Malcolm treated the person, though. Otherwise, I loved how self-aware Malcolm was in this episode, and up-front! Seriously, we need more stories that demonstrate people being frank about our mental state, in a way that's also accepting like that. But then, thus whole series has been good about learning to recognising when people need help, and then providing that help, rather than writing people off. Case in point, Malcolm (mild spoiler) is very humane towards the killer, helping them recognise how they've gotten onto a road that's taking them in a direction they don't actually want to go in, and helping them choose another path. I enjoyed the scenes between Malcolm and TJ -- especially the one involving TJ's wife and Eve. There was a very tender hurt-comfort moment involving (shockingly) Jessica! I appreciated seeing how both Malcolm's trauma and his career choice impacts his potential love-life. I loved seeing him have a Sherlock Holmes moment dissecting someone; it will be interesting seeing how certain things he saw might come up again later! I also look forward to seeing the long-term effect of one incident on his psyche. (Honestly, I think his therapist missed the mark.) And I love how, in a moment when he felt at peace, they showed him looking at his hand, subtly showing us how the tremor was gone. I loved a moment between Gil and Jessica; I'd already been considering that they might make a good match (especially as it would make Gil Malcolm's father), and I'm just about to the point of shipping them with this ep .... I'm a little bummed that we didn't get any Whitly this ep (aside from flashes), but it was a strong story regardless! Written: December 1, 2019
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