‘Prodigal Son’ Season 1, Episode 18 ‘Scheherazade’ Recap: Eve Meets The Surgeon

Holy moly, this girl in the box mystery is a whole web of mysteries on its own. And Prodigal Son is using its best tricks to keep us guessing. Up until the last few seconds of tonight’s episode titled ‘Scheherazade,’ I really couldn’t tell if Dr. Whitly (Michael Sheen) was lying or not. Kudos to Eve (Molly Griggs) though for being one badass woman. Her meeting with The Surgeon is really one for the books. Now, my dislike for her has actually turned around. But, that’s not all the thrill this episode packs.

We have a new character in Prodigal Son: Nicholas Endicott (Dermot Mulroney). And it seems that The Surgeon has found his real match in this man. Though initially introduced as Jessica’s (Bellamy Young) harmless potential lover, Nicholas quickly turns out to be a terrifying character at the end of the episode. And guess what? He’s connected to the girl in the box too. In an interview, Mulroney teased that the stakes are only going to get higher now with Nicholas around and we should all be worried for everyone in Prodigal Son. If that’s not one hell of a terrifying message, I don’t what is. With that, let’s dive into this week’s episode of Prodigal Son. 

A Dancer’s Fall

Although she’s quite blissfully unaware of it, it seems that Jessica has been attending quite a lot of soirees that end in murder. From a high-end wedding, she’s now attending a lavish fundraiser for ballet hosted by Nicholas Endicott. And surprisingly, she and Nicholas flirt it up which ends in Nicholas inviting Jessica over for lunch sometime. Afterward, the host is called on for the main event, a ballet performance by world-class dancers Javier Suarez and Fiona Vara.

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Right as the dance is building though, Javier loses his grip on Fiona. Then, suddenly, he vomits up blood and falls dead on the floor. Upon initial observation, Edrisa (Keiko Agena) finds that the man has been poisoned. While the team is busy picking up clues, Gil (Lou Diamond Phillips) interviews Nicholas. Upon finding him with Jessica though, Gil’s mood sours. And throughout the entire exchange, it was obvious that both men had a disliking for each other for reasons more than the investigation.

Eve Vs The Surgeon

The next morning, Malcolm (Tom Payne) fulfills his plan for Eve to meet The Surgeon. And though Martin is delighted to finally meet Eve, it all goes downhill quickly from there. Without even a hello, Eve stares down The Surgeon. Then, she gives him a big slap to the face. As she reveals her identity, she goes on a tirade that effectively riles up Martin. And though he can barely contain his rage, Martin manages to eke out a quick warning for Malcolm to leave the issue alone for his own sake before his son leaves.

As it turns out though, it was all just an act to get the ball rolling for their whole plan. After that, all they had to do is to ignore The Surgeon and let his narcissistic tendencies make him desperate for attention until he cracks. The mind tricks on Prodigal Son I tell you.

The Lioness

Back to the case, one interesting thing about Javier is that he’s a Cuban defector. Given that, JT ( Frank Harts) immediately heads for the assassination theory. Unfortunately, Malcolm’s profile puts that off the table. What they’re looking for is someone who stood to gain something from Javier’s death.

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Suspect number one is the man Javier replaced at his company, the danseur noble Joseph Craig. Unfortunately, although he’s upfront about not liking Javier, he shows no sign of being the killer. Meanwhile, Gil and JT were interviewing the female dancers. Suddenly, after one of the girls, Suzy puts on her contacts, she starts screaming. It was burning her eyes. Malcolm immediately rushes to the scene and treats the girl. Then, he finds out that the contact solution was laced with capsaicin.

This whole debacle leads them to Fiona, the prima or who Malcolm calls The Lioness. She rules the place and nobody can step up to her lest they ruin their career. Apparently, she wanted to scare Suzy but her cohort went overboard. This immediately puts her on the suspect list though. Unfortunately, she’s just as innocent. She does reveal that Javier was planning to leave because he upset some powerful people who helped him defect. And that is no one else but Nicholas.

Running From The Past

Ending up again at Nicholas’ doorstep, what Malcolm and Gil get is, of course, denial. But, more than that, they get another suspect, Ivan Castillo. According to Nicholas, Javier was recruited for the Ballet Cultural de Cuba when he was nine under the leadership of Castillo. Unfortunately, Castillo was arrested for embezzlement. Before his arrest though, he has killed six of his dancers. And according to the Cuban government, he died when he tried to escape.

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As for the rest of the story, Gil and Malcolm get it from Fiona. According to her, after Castillo’s arrest, Javier took over as principal. And he worked himself to the bone on the job. When he arrived in New York, he worked just as hard to find himself a new family in the company. And she fell in love with him. Around two weeks ago, however, she noticed a change in his sexual performance then came the news that he wanted to move.

Mulling over all that information, Malcolm suddenly realizes that Javier might’ve been spooked by someone from his past. And that’s when it clicks. Despite what the Cuban government, Castillo is alive. And Javier ran into him. Out of fear of discovery, Castillo killed him. Given the time frame of Javier’s moves, Malcolm also realizes that Castillo might still be in the theatre building.

Malcolm’s Ballet Past Saves The Day

Gil immediately has Dani and JT evacuate the building. Suddenly, Malcolm realizes the stage speakers were on the whole time and Castillo heard every word they said, At that exact moment, the overhead lights come crashing towards them. But, Gil tackles Malcolm on time. That’s when they see Castillo making a run for it.

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Just as they’re catching up on him though, Castillo runs into Fiona and holds her hostage. Malcolm immediately does the talking and pretends that they’re working in cooperation with the Cuban government. He convinces Castillo to look back outside then he quickly commands Fiona to do a Détourné. As she spins out of his grasp, Gil shoots him.

As it turns out, Malcolm knew all these things about ballet not because his mother took him to a lot of ballets as he had initially explained. Jessica actually made the prodigal son take classes. It lasted for five years even. And Malcolm says he showed great promise. Seriously, what has Malcolm not done in his whole life yet?

The Girl in the Box’s Story

Now that all that is done, Malcolm shifts his focus back to the girl in the box or as her real name is, Sophie Sanders. And as it seems, Malcolm’s plan has worked. Martin was desperate for attention and with that, he was more willing, to tell the truth about what happened to Sophie. And here comes another surprise turn.

According to Martin, Sophie’s alive or at least that’s how he left her. Apparently, he did take her up to the cabin on that camping trip. But, before he could start slicing into her, Sophie managed to convince him to listen to her story. She was running from something. And from how she describes it, it’s as juicy as it is terrifying. And after listening to it, Martin decides to let her go.

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Eve refuses to believe it. But, Malcolm does. Before he leaves Martin’s room, Martin once again warns him to leave the search alone. He claims to be protecting Malcolm. And he warns him to do the same for Eve if he truly loves her.

Apparently, Martin isn’t only concerned for his son. He’s concerned for Jessica too. Why? The man that had rattled him, the man that Sophie was running from, the man in her story is no one but Nicholas Endicott.

This might’ve been one of the juiciest episodes of Prodigal Son. Who knew that there was still so much lying underneath the Whitly’s that they’ve failed to uncover yet? And for some reason, Nicholas seems more terrifying than Paul Lazar ever was. If he rattled The Surgeon, it’s your best bet he might be the Whitly’s biggest adversary yet. And I’m terribly excited to see what he puts out.

Prodigal Son continues Monday, April 20th, with “Out To Get You” at 9/8c on Fox.