Prodigal Son: "Designer Complicity" Recap
Gil turtleneck count: 2
“Call me dad” count: 1
Spoilers ahead for episode 4.
So another #MyBoyMonday has come and gone, and with it, we get another episode of Prodigal Son in which Dr. Whitly staunchly refuses to call Malcolm “My boy” even once. It looks like the tables are turning on this father-son relationship.
(But let’s not forget about Ainsley.)
Our episode opens with another woman-in-the-box flashback, with Bright replaying in his mind what his mother said to him that night again and again. Talking to his child psychiatrist, he throws down a bunch of theories that I already discredited last week. It’s a bunch of blame-mommy misogyny I don’t have time for. Bright gets so wound up accusing his mother of being an accomplice to a serial killer that he smashes a glass in his hand and gets blood all over the place. I know his thing isn’t “calm guy” but let’s chill out a bit, dude.
“…That’s because EVERYTHING looks good on me, Martin.”
Gil calls. There’s been another high-profile murder. An Instagram model and influencer, TT (or, Titi? Probably Titi.) has been killed in her studio apartment. The twist? She’s covered in blue paint and sequins… just like the last ad campaign she did for a designer named Axel X.
Did I mention this is the funniest episode of the season so far? I mean, besides the dead woman. My main girl, Medical Examiner MISS MISS MISS TENAKA shows up, and Malcom greets her with a polite, “Doctor.” And she says (I swear she says), “If you’re lucky.” And all of us who lack a filter feel seen.
Gil’s swaggering around the crime scene in a turtleneck looking fine as hell, while Axel is outside with his manager and demanding to come in to see TiTi (TT?). Malcolm informs him that her corpse was posed like she was in his last ad campaign and he gets weird about it (hi, who wouldn’t?) and Malcolm is all, “Oh did you see how he acted he’s totally the killer.”
Bath bombs are terrible for you.
Afterwards, Malcolm asks Gil for his mother’s interview tapes from the night his father was arrested because he’s convinced he can find something in the tapes that will point to her guilt. I said it last week and I’ll say it again, leave Jessica alone.
Back at his place (with a hilariously boarded up window), mom’s there. She tells Bright his father took him off the visitors list, and they have a blowout when Malcolm accuses her of being The Surgeon’s accomplice. And Jessica, because she’s the best character on this show, slams back, “Your father’s a serial killer yet after all these years I’m still the monster.” BOOM. Roasted. Fuck you, Malcolm.
Bright rushes to daddy, as you do when mommy tells you “no” but you’re not happy with “no”, and Martin fucks with him like the two-door riddle fucked with Sarah in LABYRINTH. Truth or lie, Malcolm won’t believe what his father says. So get out of here, he tells his son, and go figure out your issues with mommy. Surprisingly good advice from a cold-blooded killer.
Enter: Innocent Ainsley. Everyone’s favourite totally-not-a-psycho crime reporter. She finds out Malcolm and mum have been visiting “dad” (straight up she’s the only character who regularly calls him “dad”) and feels left out. Sad.
At Titi’s memorial, JT and Bright have another terrific bonding moment (I like their banter more and more) where JT asks him not to, “touch him with your shaky bandage hand.” For real, JT that’s nasty. They spot a photographer in the crowd who is totally the killer, right? Nah. Just turns out he’s a weird stalker named Roger who definitely saw something unsavoury go down between Axel and Titi—but, like a good, stalker, refuses to give it up because he doesn’t want to get arrested for breaking his restraining order. I mean, smart.
To distract us from this boring case, we get another Jessica flashback from the same evening as Malcolm’s woman-in-the-box flashback. She’s confronting her husband, begging him to stop doing what he’s doing for the sake of their family, calling him a monster. Martin’s all, “Look, we have a sweet life. You keep my secrets, and you get to keep that sweet life.” Leave Jessica alone, guys.
Back to the case. Bright corners Roger, and as he runs, the dude gets hit by a car. In the hospital, Bright lies and tells him he has internal bleeding:
“You’re going to die, Roger.”
”I can’t die. I’ve got a cat.”
Genius.
Roger finally comes clean about what he witnessed. It turns out Titi was leaving Axel for another designer. And Axel didn’t like that very much. Before he leaves, Roger (uncaring that he’s on his deathbed, or thinks he is) asks Bright if he can take care of his cat. Being obsessed with someone who will never love you back and caring more about your cat than yourself is some relatable shit in 2019.
At home, Jessica is wasted. She’s bummed. And you would be too if your son accused you of horrible things that people have been whispering about for 20 years.
The face of an angel, the liver of an old sailor <3
Ainsley shows up. We all know Halston Sage didn’t leave The Orville to screw around as some supporting character on a crime drama, and when she confronts her mother, some more light is shed on the character she really here to play. That is, AS I’VE BEEN SAYING ALL ALONG, her father’s accomplice. She is jealous of the attention her brother has gotten from their dad. She says, “I’m starting to think I’m the only one in this family who could handle visiting him.” And then waxes on about how an exclusive with The Surgeon could really help her career. Sure. Her career as a murderer.
She thinks her dad doesn’t even know she exists, and when Jessica tells her that he’s actually her biggest fan, her face goes all Laura Linney cheering on the other side of the wall in LOVE, ACTUALLY.
She tries to talk to Malcolm about her idea to interview their father, but he blows her off to finish the case. These people are pushing her right into daddy’s arms. My girl. It just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
Back to the case: How does the murder this week line up with the Whitly family drama? “Family always knows,” Bright says, and it turns out someone close to Axel killed Titi. Someone who left her as a gift, like a cat would leave a dead mouse (dark metaphor alert). And Axel knows exactly who it is but he’s too frightened to come forward. Bright tells him, “You can still be scared of family.” He’d know. Anyway, spoiler: It’s Joey, Axel’s manager. They catch him and Gil wears his second turtleneck of the episode and we all get a bit thirsty.
Does anyone have a glass of water?
Bright pushes Gil to give him his mother’s interview tape again, and when Gil hands it over, he somehow takes this huge-ass VHS tape out of the back of his pants in maybe the most confusing moment of the episode. In the second most confusing moment of the episode, it turns out Bright actually has a VHS player at his apartment.
Bright watches the tape, and *gasp* Jessica admits to knowing who her husband was all along. Except she called him a monster because she thought he was having affairs; seeing other women, not murdering 23 of them. She cries, expresses guilt and regret over the lives her husband took, and her only concern is for the well-being of her children. Because she’s a goddamn saint. Fuck you, Malcolm.
Bright goes to see her outside of the women’s shelter she anonymously funds (see, saint). They lament that Martin is chained to the wall and happy, while they’re “out here miserable,” and promise never to let The Surgeon come between them again.
Smash cut: Tight shot of Martin’s chains. We didn’t get one of these ominous, foreshadowy shots last episode so it’s nice to see again.
Ainsley strolls into his cell all, “Hello, Dr. Whitly.” And bam, he paints his fake-ass smile back on and says, “Please. Call me dad.” And we can all cheer because murder family.
Is Ainsley as manipulatable as I think she is? Are daddy issues sexist if both sons and daughters have them? Can Jessica be my mom, too? The only way to find out is by watching PRODIGAL SON Mondays at 9/8c on FOX.