‘Prodigal Son’ Season 1, Episode 19 ‘The Professionals’ Recap: Repercussions

And so it begins. Nicholas Endicott (Dermot Mulroney) has begun to collect what is due to him on Prodigal Son. And to even come close to facing this man in his game, the Whitlys need to put together everything they’ve got.

I honestly didn’t expect this face-off to come this early. But, Endicott is one swift and brutal man. Nobody even knew he was already making his moves until Eve (Molly Griggs), oh poor Eve, ended up on the autopsy table. And that’s not even the cherry on top. He’s taking the Whitlys down one by one.

Endicott is by far the most dangerous man to grace Prodigal Son. No wonder even The Surgeon cowered at the sound of his name. You gotta appreciate the villainy though. He perfects that blend of terrifying, cunning, and brutal. The question now is will the Whitlys be able to catch up? And will they even come close to bringing him down? With that, let’s dive into this week’s episode of Prodigal Son.

Eve’s Fate

From the beginning, it was obvious Eve wasn’t meant to last long. Still, her death in this episode comes as a blow especially right after her breakup with Malcolm (Tom Payne). It does tie up all the leading events to this final battle with Nicholas quite nicely though.

Eve’s death if being chalked up as a suicide. But, Malcolm knows better especially with the warning his father left him. As he comes home to deliver the news to Jessica (Bellamy Young) though, he finds his main suspect right by his mother’s side, offering false condolences. As Nicholas leaves the premises, Malcolm reveals what Martin (Michael Sheen) warned him about. With that, the mother and son head to Clairmont to get the truth out of The Surgeon.

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Surprisingly, when they get there, they find Ainsley (Halston Sage) with her father. For the first time in Prodigal Son, all the Whitlys are in the same room. And surprise surprise, their reunion bears more fruit than any investigation. For her part, Ainsley uncovers that Sophie Sanders worked for Nicholas. After a little bit of threatening, Martin confirms it. As part of the deal for her life, Sophie admitted that she was forced to do Nicholas’ dirty work. And it seems that Nicholas had a penchant for leaving her the more cruel tasks. As Martin put it, “It takes a special kind of monster to turn someone else into one.”

As it seems, Eve has gotten too close. And despite Martin’s pleas to leave it be, the whole family comes ready charging after Nicholas.

Goose Chase

Edrisa’s (Keiko Agena) findings backups Malcolm’s claim that Eve was murdered. But, even with the information Martin provided, Malcolm can’t directly go after Nicholas. After all, the man doesn’t do his dirty work himself. So, they go after the killer. Through one of Gil’s (Lou Diamond Phillips) connections, they find that the assassin running New York was a woman called The Nightingale (Dagmara Dominczyk).

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To find her, Malcolm, JT (Frank Harts), and Dani (Aurora Perrineau) track down her next target. But, after realizing that The Nightingale is too good at blending in, Malcolm decides to draw her out. As he busies himself with causing a commotion, Malcolm tells JT and Dani to single out the woman who remains calm amidst it all. It takes no longer than a minute for them to spot her. But, she manages to run. Dani stays close on her heel. And after some kickass hand to hand combat between the two, Dani manages to pin down the assassin. Did I mention how awesome Dani is? Unfortunately, The Nightingale isn’t the killer they’re looking for.

Ainsley’s Move

Meanwhile, Ainsley is making her own moves from her corner. Despite her mother’s objection, the young reporter decides to go after Nicholas. She tries to spy on him first. But, the man is too smart not to notice. And Ainsley ends up getting cornered.

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Fortunately for her, Nicholas seems to be in the mood for more cunning games. He first assumes that Ainsley has come to spy on him as a daughter simply watching out for her mother. He then proceeds to soothe her claiming that he’s truly falling for Jessica. But, in the end, he doesn’t let her get away with just that. So, Ainsley plays it off and admits she wants to do a primetime segment on him and Endicott pharmaceuticals. Who knows if Nicholas took the bait though. As cunning Ainsley is in her own right, she’s no match for a Nicholas just yet.

Rekindling

On the other hand, Gil has taken it upon himself to check on Jessica. As expected, she’s rattled. Who wouldn’t be after finding out you’ve been dating killers? The good thing is the circumstances manage to bring Gil and Jessica closer. After mourning her choice in men, Jessica admits that she closed the door on the one good man in her life. And Gil agrees that they’ve passed that window.

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But, later on, before Gil could walk out her doors again, Jessica wonders out loud if they’ve really missed it. She admits that before, she made Gil believe that he’s not good enough for her. And that’s not because they live in completely different worlds, no. It’s because Jessica didn’t think she was good enough for him. With this confession out in the open, their emotions come tumbling out as well. Gil assures Jessica that she’ll always be enough then proceeds to kiss her. Seriously, that’s one moment I didn’t know I was waiting for all this time on Prodigal Son. Gil and Jessica truly deserve happiness. And I think they’d find that in each other.

A Killer for the Killer

Back to Eve’s killer, the team is back to square one. But, they didn’t have to wait long. After finding bugs in Eve’s apartment, JT and Malcolm discover that the murderer had been hovering around Eve for a while now. And after looking through security footage from Eve’s apartment building, Malcolm figures out the killer’s identity. The thing is, it seems that he has already set sights on a new target.

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See, Dr. Whitly has a new prison guard named Eddie since his old buddy has come down with something. What’s noticeable about Eddie is his cauliflower ears. It’s that exact same feature that has Malcolm figuring out who he was from the security footage. Just as they’ve made the discovery though, Eddie sets out to kill Martin, orders of Nicholas.

Malcolm and the others get to Clairmont in time to see him strangling Martin. But, when The Surgeon hears his son’s voice, strength returns to him. And he manages to turn the situation around. Malcolm, Dani, and JT manage to get into the cell just in time to prevent Martin from fully crushing the man’s eyes.

Malcolm’s Arrest

No matter what people tell him though, Malcolm knows that Eddie’s arrest isn’t enough. So, he sets out to interrogate him in the hospital. That is his first mistake. Later that night, as Malcolm wallows with the ghost of Eve haunting his conscience, the NYPD breaks through his doors. And he is taken under arrest for the murder of Eddie. Apparently, someone killed him and smeared Malcolm’s DNA all over the body as solid evidence.

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While his family is being taken down one by one, Martin reflects on his deal with Nicholas. Nicholas got him the plea of a lifetime along with many other luxuries. But, in exchange, he had to tell absolutely no soul about Sophie Sanders. Nicholas was pretty adamant about that. More specifically, his threat goes like this: “If you tell anyone about Sophie Sanders, I will do more than destroy you. I will destroy your entire family.” Going into more detail, Nicholas threatens, “I will bankrupt your estate, ruin your children, and make love to your beautiful wife.” It seems that he’s already crossing off a lot on that list. Will the Whitly’s catch up before they’re all doomed?

Prodigal Son continues Monday, April 27th, with “Like Father…” at 9/8c on Fox.