Prodigal Son

• Title: Prodigal Son – The Professionals
• IMDb: link

Malcolm (Tom Payne) leads the team in investigating the death of Eve Blanchard (Molly Griggs) whose murder was framed to look like a suicide. The ensuing search for a hired killer leads to a scene FOX has been teasing for weeks with Malcolm appearing to stab a target in public in an attempt to flush out the would-be killer (Dagmara Dominczyk). While not the killer they are after, some sound advice and breadcrumbs will eventually lead Malcolm and the NYPD to the true killer just in time to save his father from a similar fate (and also offer the good doctor a bit more exercise than he’s normally used to).

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• Title: Prodigal Son – Stranger Beside You
• IMDb: link

More than the murder of the week, which involves the dead husband of a mommy blogger (Heather Lind), “Stranger Beside You” is notable for revealing the truth about Eve Blanchard (Molly Griggs) and her connection to the Whitly family. The episode identifies the woman in the box as Eve’s sister (Anna Eilinsfeld), concluding that she is both dead and the 24th victim of Dr. Martin Whitly (Michael Sheen). The reveal would have more impact if it hadn’t been proceeded by Eve’s creepy fascination with the box last week, but it does clear the air between her and Malcolm and open the door for more investigation into her sister’s murder (which the show has hinted forebodes bad consequences for poor Malcolm Bright).

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• Title: Prodigal Son – Designer Complicity
• IMDb: link

“Designer Complicity” sends Malcolm (Tom Payne) and the police after a stalker when a celebrity (Daniela Braga) tuns up dead, her body elaborately staged to recreate a famous media campaign. While initial suspects point to the woman’s boyfriend (Julian Elijah Martinez) and a creepy paparazzi, the truth turns out to be a bit more complicated. Sadly, both the search and the reveal of the killer are upstaged by the murder scene itself. And the murder of the week takes a backseat to Malcolm’s obsession about his mother (Bellamy Young) and whether or not she was complicit in his father’s (Michael Sheen) murders. The show chooses to show the audience the truth, while allowing the protagonist to accept the lie, leading to an unsatisfying ending for all concerned. At least Prodigal Son can stop teasing Ainsley’s (Halston Sage) interest in visiting her father as the reporter shows up for an unexpected visit to close out the episode (no doubt leading to more family drama).

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• Title: Prodigal Son – Fear Response
• IMDb: link

A bizarre murder where the victim was frightened to death before the brain was removed from the corpse leads Malcolm (Tom Payne) to a renown psychologist (Sakina Jaffrey) whose off-the-books experiments have come back to haunt her. Spending a bit of time with the doctor, and discussing fear (such as that which has ruled his life since his childhood) allows for Malcolm to make a breakthrough in the memory fragments of his nightmares (though this will likely only force new questions to be answered). Although Malcolm doesn’t visit his father, and refuses to discuss the case over the phone, his relationship with Martin (Michael Sheen) becomes the crux of the episode’s B-story as concern for Martin’s well-being (and perhaps her own) drives Jessica (Bellamy Young) to see her husband for the first time in decades. A question that has been looming since the series’ pilot is now at the forefront of Malcolm’s consciousness: just how much did his mother know about his father’s hobbies?

• Title: Prodigal Son – Pilot/Annihilator
• IMDb: link
• IMDb: link

Tom Payne stars as Malcolm Bright, a FBI profiler fired in the show’s pilot episode not for his inability to solve cases (which he excels at) but his inability to get along with others and concerns about his mental stability. Picking up a new job with the NYPD, Malcolm’s first case involves a serial killer who is a copycat of Malcom’s father (Michael Sheen) who killed more than 23 victims before Malcolm turned him in as a child. Still haunted from his own childhood, Malcolm’s nights involve restraints and night terrors stemming from discovering his father’s hobby years before and his days, while not investigating crimes, involve spending time with his ambitious sister (Halston Sage) and doing his best to avoid spending time with his overbearing mother (Bellamy Young).

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