‘Prodigal Son’ Season 1, Episode 14 ‘Eye Of The Needle’ Review: Carousel Killer

True to what Martin Whitly said in the episode, this week’s entry on Prodigal Son is indeed very exciting. For a change, the entirety of the Whitly household is under fire from the Carousel killer, a murderer with a personal vendetta against the family. And things get downright nervewracking, stressful, and thrilling even more than last week’s Monte Cristo based murder.

Firstly, the carousel killer just starts killing seemingly random people. Then, he calls up Ainsley (Halston Sage) and holds the Whitlys accountable for every other murder he does on live television. And let me tell you, I can feel Ainsley’s stress. To her credit though, she kicks ass this episode of Prodigal Son. This might be the only time she becomes one of my favorite characters in the show. More than that, this episode serves up quite the sick twist between Malcolm (Tom Payne) and his father. Remember Malcolm’s little grudge over his dad’s attempt to murder him? Well, someone certainly gets some kind of revenge. Here’s what happened in tonight’s episode of Prodigal Son.

The Carousel Killer

With some kind of miracle, Malcolm had a real vacation and two weeks of murder-free days. But, really, what’s Prodigal Son without murder? Just in time to thwart that record, Jessica (Bellamy Young) receives a call from her ‘girl in the box’ hotline. And the caller told her to meet him at a carousel park for info about the girl in the box. When Jessica gets there accompanied, of course, by her faithful prodigal son, the man doesn’t show. Instead, they get the carousel creepily turning on by its own and a dead man with his throat slit and his fingerprints burned strapped to one of the horses. It gives a whole new meaning to creepy theme park rides.

David Giesbrecht/FOX

The dead man fits the description of Jessica’s caller. But, as Edrisa (Keiko Agena) discovers, the man has been dead since the previous night. That’s when Malcolm realizes it’s the killer who called his mother and he intentionally put the body there for her to find. The only good thing to happen that day is Ainsley’s promotion from field to studio reporting.

Sadly, that good thing doesn’t last long for Ainsley as well. Right on her first day of the promotion, the carousel killer calls. He demands to speak only to her and be broadcast. Once he goes on air, he puts Jessica Whitly on the hot seat. And he demands he give her the one million dollar reward she was so willing to offer anyone who had info on the girl in the box or else more will die.

Given the man’s MO and demands, Malcolm thinks the man is a ransom killer with a personal vendetta against the Whitlys. So, he sends Gil (Lou Diamond Phillips) and JT (Frank Harts) going through the families of the Surgeon’s victims.

Killer on Killer: Live on the Ainsley Whitly Show

As Ainsley said, interviewing killers is her thing now. She wanted a show and well, she’s getting one, kind off. After seeing her carousel killer live broadcast, Dr. Whitly (Michael Sheen) decides to go air himself. This time though, Malcolm and the team are in the backroom guiding Ainsley.

Fortunately, Dr. Whitly does offer some helpful insight. He’s been doing quite a lot of that lately. He thinks that the killer isn’t after the money. Instead, he feels that the carousel killer is connected to one of his alleged victims and is seeking something more. But, that’s about what Dr. Whitly would say.

David Giesbrecht/FOX

Just after that, the carousel killer calls up next to give instructions to Jessica about the money. This time though, Ainsley doesn’t let him drive the conversation. She literally kicks ass with a “This is my show and I ask the questions!” line and probably stuns the killer well enough to let force him to reveal a clue. After Ainsley threatened to cut to commercial and prevent him from getting the money, the man reveals that the man he murdered was an accessory.

Meanwhile, Gil and JT track down Avi Lehrer (Saul Stein), the son of one of Dr. Whitly’s victims. Avi and his brother were convicted of their mother’s murder before the Surgeon was caught. At first, he acts all tough and uncaring about the Whitlys current situation but, Gil manages to get him to crack. Apparently, there was a man who came to their electronics shop a few weeks ago asking help to take revenge on the Whitlys. Avi told him to piss off. But, his brother Noah, seemed to have other ideas. Fearing for his brother, Avi tracks his phone down for the police.

Million Dollar Humiliation

On the other hand, Jessica refuses to sit still. Feeling guilty that a man died because of her, she takes it upon herself to get the money to the carousel killer. Malcolm predicts his mother’s moves, however, nothing can change her mind. As per the killer’s instructions, she heads to the place where she and Dr. Whitly first met, Stuyvescent Park. Luckily, Malcolm and the team also managed to track the killer’s phone. And Gil and JT have also been led to the same area by Avi’s tracking.

David Giesbrecht/FOX

On one particular bench, Jessica settles down. Then, a phone taped to the bottom of it starts ringing. Jessica picks it up and the killer leads her to the east side of the park. There, he instructs her to look up at the corner building and she sees two men standing on the edge of the building, one threatening to plunge the other down to his death. To prevent this, the killer then tells Jessica to dump her million dollars on the pavement. And without hesitation, Jessica does as told. But, in the end, the killer pushes down his companion without remorse.

Gil gets to Jessica just in time as people start swarming her spilled money. JT rushes to the fallen man and discovers its Avi’s brother, Noah. After sending his mother on her way home, Malcolm realizes that the killer’s been playing with them. He humiliated Jessica by flaunting his disregard for her wealth and he embarrassed Ainsley on national television. But, nothing matches him with any of the family members of Dr. Whitly’s victims. So, the prodigal son decides to go to the source of it all, his father.

A Wrongful Blame

Meanwhile, in the car, Jessica finds the purse she dropped when they found the body at the carousel. It now contains a phone, a picture of a woman tied and bound, and a ceramic needle. When the carousel killer calls, he tells Jessica that they’re in the last part of his test. If she does exactly as she’s told and tells no one about it within 30 minutes, she’ll be able to save the woman in the picture. Her task? Kill the Surgeon.

David Giesbrecht/FOX

Thankfully, Malcolm gets to Dr. Whitly before his mom. He shows his dad the picture of the first victim but, the image doesn’t jug any memories with Dr. Whitly. Then, Jessica arrives. Right from the get-go, Malcolm notices her stress reactions. And the more he notices, the more Jessica’s resolve falters until she finally reveals what the killer told her. When she brings out the picture of the woman, Dr. Whitly instantly recognizes her as Cathy, one of the OR nurses he worked with. With that, he now recognizes the other victim as another doctor he also worked with.

Piecing it all together, Malcolm asks if anyone died under their care at the operating table. And there’s only one: Emilia Wheaton. She suffered from a congenital heart defect and there was nothing they could do to save her. And it seems that the killer blames every single one of them for it.

The Prodigal Son’s Revenge

When the debate of is it right to let the bad man live and a good woman die comes up, Malcolm’s most recent grievance with his father is also revealed to Jessica. And finally, Dr. Whitly admits to it. He did take Malcolm up to the cabin to kill him. He just couldn’t bring himself to do it. The disappointment, pain, and shock in Malcolm’s face says everything.  But, there’s a more pressing matter at hand.

They’ve run out of time. So, Dr. Whitly lowers himself on the chopping block like a martyr. Looking straight at Malcolm, he says, “Remember old Jeb Waller? What would he do?” With that, Malcolm doesn’t hesitate. He takes the needle, positions it over his father’s heart, and plunges in deep. Trust me, at this point, I wished it was a hallucination. But, Malcolm drove that needle in deep with a vengeance.

David Giesbrecht/FOX

Dr. Whitly is immediately taken to a hospital and operated on. As Malcolm watches from the balcony, one of the men in scrubs catches his attention. As the fake nurse steps out, Malcolm follows. And before the man could run, JT and Gil corner him. As it turns out, it was Emilia Wheaton’s husband Cory (Jeremy Holm). He was there to check if Jessica really carried out his last task.

With JT and Gil pinning him to a wall, Cory blubbers that he couldn’t take the fact that the Whitlys were happily living their lives when his wife was dead. He blames them. And when Ainsley’s interview with her dad came out, it set him off. It’s not right but, he does and says everything to justify what he’s done. Finally having enough of it, Malcolm explodes and screams Noah’s name. He was innocent and yet Cory pushed him over the building. This seems to bring back some conscience into Cory. And he finally reveals where he kept Cathy.

The Eye of the Needle

After finally catching the culprit, Gil takes Malcolm aside to talk about what happened with Dr. Whitly. As it turns out, Dr. Whitly isn’t really in any danger if Malcolm did the right thing. See, Dr. Whitly’s question to his son before Malcolm stabbed him was a clue.

David Giesbrecht/FOX

The case of Jeb Waller involved Jeb stabbing an officer in just the right spot in the heart that didn’t disrupt any arteries. In effect, anyone can be stabbed at just that right spot and walk out fine. But, the margin of error is magnanimous. A millimeter off the mark means death. And that’s what Malcolm took a chance on.

As their story goes, however, it was Jessica that stabbed Dr. Whitly. When Gil asks Malcolm to tell him the truth, Malcolm only answers, “It was the only way.”

Prodigal Son continues Monday, February 17th, with “Death’s Door” at 9/8c on Fox.