‘Prodigal Son’ Season 1, Episode 12 ‘Internal Affairs’ Review: Simon Says

Beware, even when unhinged, Malcolm freaking Bright does not lose mind games. Him being unhinged doesn’t come without him being brilliant. And this episode just proves that point so damn well! Seriously, when Prodigal Son starts playing the mind games, it’s hard to look away. And this week’s episode titled “Internal Affairs” might just be one of the shows best take on the game of minds. It’s not even the case or the suspect that’s interesting. It’s that slow but measured back and forth of two intelligent minds that make this episode of Prodigal Son gripping.

After putting the Junkyard killer to justice, Malcolm ends up being terribly disturbed. Who wouldn’t be after finding out that your serial father also tried to kill you as a kid? This leads to some very drastic events at work. And it finally lands Malcolm in a psych eval. But, of course, it’s Malcolm Bright we’re talking about here. You never know if he’s the one being evaluated or he’s the one doing the evaluation. And this episode tells more than that. Here’s what happened in tonight’s episode of Prodigal Son.

Profiler vs Psychiatrist

Prodigal Son opens with Gil (Lou Diamond Phillips) and Malcolm fighting. And it ends with a very upset Gil telling Malcolm to get out and slamming the door to his office. Upset himself, Malcolm storms over and locks himself in the interrogation room. Then, he powers up some kind of device which ends up causing a blackout in midtown. A few hours later, Malcolm comes back to the office as if nothing happened. But, there’s someone special waiting for him – a police psychiatrist.

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Apparently, the blackout incident was the final straw for internal affairs. So, they send up Dr. Simon Coppenrath (Scott Shepherd) to check if Malcolm’s still an asset or if he’s become a liability. To cross-check Malcolm’s behavior, Dr. Coppenrath interviews Dani (Aurora Perrineau), JT (Frank Harts), and Gil. And they all insinuate the same thing: Malcolm is losing it.

The man in question thinks otherwise. To prove his point, Malcolm recalls the events of the past few days leading up to the blackout. According to Malcolm, Gil welcomed him back to work with open arms. But, that was as far from the truth as it gets. So, Gil had Dani drive Malcolm home. There, Jessica (Bellamy Young) welcomes them with Malcolm’s new housekeeper/ bodyguard Ilsa. While Ilsa tries to put her new charge to bed, Dani receives a call about a case. And Malcolm hears just where it is. So, instead of sleeping off the day, Malcolm appears at the crime scene.

Undercover Hopes

Left with no choice, Gil allows Malcolm to work the case. Their new victim, Tristan Johnson, was found dumped in a graveyard. He was strangled to death and there were burn marks on his temples. Initially, Malcolm thought it was a paid murder. However, the MO of the killer didn’t match the usually quick and efficient methods of hitmen. After giving his profile, Malcolm wanders off. In another hole on the ground, he sees his dead 10-year-old self. And he hears his own voice saying, “He tried to kill us.” Of course, it was a hallucination. But, Malcolm wasn’t ready to admit that to anyone.

After digging up information on Johnson, Malcolm and the team find out that he was a member of Vosler, a self-help organization specializing in trauma. More than just dealing with self-help though, the organization is also known to be synonymous with a cult. When Gil and the others confront Vosler’s owner Quentin (Daniel Sunjata), the man clams up at the mention of Johnson.

Unbeknownst to the team, Malcolm has other plans for reaching Quentin. Malcolm signs himself up to Vosler and requests treatment for his traumas from Quentin himself. He talks over it with an attendant named Andi (Isabel Arraiza). But, when Malcolm mentions Johnson, Andi clams up as well. More than the case though, it seems that Malcolm signed himself up because a part of him was hoping Quentin could really help him.

Zapping the Trauma Away

As it turns out, Quentin used electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) to treat his more troubled patients. And that’s where the burn marks on Johnson’s temples came from. Despite that, Malcolm pushes through it and gets electroshock treatment himself. As he said with the utmost carelessness, “Oh, I let him shock me.”

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Unlike him though, Dr. Coppenrath was angry with Quentin for administering such treatments. He also hits on the jackpot when he realizes that Malcolm did it with half hopes it could also erase his pain. But, as Malcolm insists, it was all for the case. More than that, it was all for the victims he could save.

After the treatment, Malcolm wakes up and sees Andi patiently waiting for him to come to. Soon enough, he realizes that Andi has gone through the same treatment. In fact, she has gone through them 18 times. And although she indirectly admits that Quentin and his organization was very stifling, she couldn’t leave. She has nowhere else to go. As Malcolm works on Andi more, she finally admits that she knew Johnson. He actually recruited her. But, he left for the same reasons that Andi wanted to leave.

After her confession, Malcolm reveals his true intentions of entering Vosler. Then, he takes the ECT machine and convinces Andi to come with him. Just as Malcolm calls for backup though, Andi is kidnapped by a man in a black van.

Talking Trauma to Trauma

At the precinct, Malcolm tries to convince Gil to arrest Quentin using the ECT machine as evidence. But, Gil refuses. He needs more than just Malcolm’s assumptions. Then, Quentin arrives. Malcolm jumps up from his seat and almost tackles the man to the ground if it wasn’t for JT holding him back. But, apparently, Quentin’s there also looking for Andi. According to him, she was taken by deprogrammers. These people save cult victims and reunite them with their families. And usually, they serve wealthy families like the one Andi came from.

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At the mention of his aggressive outburst, Malcolm also turns a little sour towards Dr. Coppenrath. Then, he becomes defensive and indirectly accuses the psychologist of knowing nothing about trauma. Unfortunately, Dr. Coppenrath knows what it feels like firsthand as well. He lost his daughter in a car crash where he was behind the wheel. And he dealt with that trauma by accepting his role in the crash. As he tries to use this to get Malcolm to face what’s really bothering him though, Malcolm pulls back. And he turns the flow of the conversation back to the case.

Following their deprogrammer lead, Malcolm avails the help of his mother. And her connections lead them to Curtis Marsh. After a little interview, they figure out that Marsh was supposed to use Johnson to get to Andi. But, in the midst of the torture, Marsh lost control. His boot prints also matched the ones found in the crime scene. However, Malcolm still couldn’t let it go. He thinks that Marsh was just the muscle, not the brains of this whole thing. This is what led to that argument at the beginning between him and Gil.

The Prodigal Son’s Confession

Gil thinks Malcolm’s not yet ready to get back into work. That’s because he becomes this obsessive and compulsive being who doesn’t know when to let go. At that, Malcolm explodes. His exact words towards Gil are “I’m like “this” because of Martin Whitly, because of John Watkins, because of you!” Stunned, Gil reels back, but Malcolm just keeps going. “You asked for my help. You knew I couldn’t say no. And you brought them all back into my life. You did that! You started this!” he says.

Stung by those words, Gil retreats into his office. Malcolm tries to take it all back. But, it’s too late. Then, his hallucinations start again. And this is what sets him off to lock himself with the ECT machine. Plugging it in, he kicks it up to quite a high level and prepares to electrocute himself. Then, the blackout.

At this point in Malcolm’s retelling, Dr. Coppenrath corners him. And finally, Malcolm gives. He tells him what Watkins told him in the bunker. And by his own admission, Malcolm tells the psychiatrist that he understands Dr. Whitly’s intentions. But, he still hoped for something else. “The child in me thought he cared, loved me even,” he said. “Now, I can’t see that anymore. All I can see is me, age 10, dead.” By then, Malcolm couldn’t deny the hallucinations. The ECT cleared his head the first time. And he hoped it would again. With everything out in the open, Dr. Coppenrath makes the verdict. Malcolm is mentally unstable.

Tables Turned

Before Dr. Coppenrath could leave, Malcolm brings up Andi again. And this is where things get really interesting in this week’s episode of Prodigal Son. See, Malcolm never told the psychiatrist that Andi was a girl. And yet, he assumed so, as if he already knew. More than that, Malcolm also noticed other signs that Dr. Coppenrath was lying.

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Finally, Malcolm accuses Dr. Coppenrath of being the real deprogrammer. As proof, Malcolm brings Marsh’s empty bottle of anti-anxiety pills. And it had Dr. Coppenrath’s name on it as the prescribing doctor. As it turns out, Malcolm didn’t electrocute himself. Just before he could, he remembered Marsh taking some pills during their interview and throwing the bottle away. He digs it out and finds the connection.

Just as Malcolm has Dr. Coppenrath cornered through, the psychiatrist whips out a gun. Undeterred, Malcolm keeps going in hopes of locating Andi. Now, Malcolm turns the tables and psychoanalyzes the doctor. Apparently, his daughter didn’t die in a car crash. She died in a cult and Dr. Coppenrath became a deprogrammer because of that. And he has taken Andi because of her likeness to his daughter. Later on, they do find Andi in the cabin where Dr. Coppenrath and his daughter last stayed before she died.

Forced Vacation

After the case, Gil and Malcolm finally have a serious talk about Malcolm’s mental health. And for the first time, Malcolm admits that he’s not fine, out loud. He also admits that he would’ve gone through electrocuting himself if it wasn’t for that pill bottle. And though that’s not ok, it’s enough for Gil. Malcolm’s admission is progress after all. When Malcolm apologizes for his words earlier, Gil just smiles like the father he is and says, “I know kid, I know.”

Later on, when he’s finally alone, Malcolm’s hallucination reappears. And Malcolm comes to terms with the fact that his dad tried to kill him. Instead of egging him on it though, his hallucination replies, “But, he didn’t.”

Prodigal Son continues Monday, February 3rd, with “Wait & Hope” at 9/8c on Fox.