‘Prodigal Son’ Season 1, Episode 6 ‘The Surgeon’ Review: Hunting Trips and Sadists

Happy Halloween indeed. Out of all Malcolm’s (Tom Payne) cases on Prodigal Son, this might just be my favorite given how it closely ties to his psyche. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that this episode makes quite the case for twisted killers. Aside from that, this episode aptly titled “The Surgeon” also sheds some light on another side of Michael Sheen’s Dr. Whitly. We’ve seen him be the doting and manipulative father to Malcolm. But, with Ainsley (Halston Sage), he shows a surprisingly emotional side to him. And it’s terrifyingly convincing that even I, as a viewer, don’t know what to believe. But, that’s exactly what makes Prodigal Son such a fascinating show. Anyway, here’s what went down this week.

A Hundred Stabs From A Budding Sadist

Adding another complicated spin to the Prodigal Son, Ainsley pushes through with asking her father for an interview. She is desperate but, maybe not solely for the career boost that this interview offers. When her father hesitates to agree to the interview, Ainsley pushes him. But, soon enough, Dr. Whitly turns the tables and corners Ainsley with the truth that maybe she isn’t really asking him the questions that she really wants answers from.

Fox

Meanwhile, Malcolm goes searching for the station wagon in the camping picture with his dad. But, he finds no luck locating the one with an anchor bracket in the back where a victim might’ve been chained. He confesses this to Dr. Le Deux (Charlayne Woodard). And while she allows them to discuss Malcolm’s dreams as something real for a minute, she’s afraid that digging his repressed memories might bring his psyche tumbling down like a castle built on sand. When worse comes to worst, Malcolm might become psychotic.

After his consultation with Dr. Le Deux, Malcolm dives back to work per usual with Gil (Lou Diamond Phillips). They found a man named Gavin Parker stabbed more than a hundred times in the woods. After analyzing the scene, Malcolm deems that what started as an opportunistic kill became a source of pleasure for the killer. Soon enough, it becomes clear they have a budding sadist on their hands.

Malcolm Comes Full Circle

Bright and Gil visit Gavin’s home where they find Crystal (Katie Kreisler), his supposedly soon to be ex-wife. And contrary to what you’d expect, she doesn’t seem to be grieving the slightest. Malcolm also meets Gavin’s son Isaac (Clark Furlong) who was tending to his pet rabbits. Surprisingly, he immediately develops a soft spot for the kid, seeing himself in the very situation Isaac is in now. Drawing on his own experience, Malcolm tells him it’s going to be okay. Then, he hands him a candy much like what Gil did when he was comforting little Malcolm.

Fox

Later that night, Malcolm joins Ainsley and Jessica (Bellamy Young) for a family dinner. Unfortunately, just when you thought they’d have at least one peaceful dinner, Ainsley drops the bomb that she’s doing the interview with Dr. Whitly. For the first time, Jessica and Malcolm take the same side thinking it’s the worst idea ever. However, nothing can deter Ainsley.

After dinner, Malcolm asks Jessica about the photo. But, she doesn’t know anything about it except that Dr. Whitly loved his camping trips. When she goes away to call Malcolm a ride, Malcolm suddenly sees Dr. Whitly standing by the doorway. The hallucination tells him that their little camping trip will only be a secret between them and mommy doesn’t need to know. And it takes Malcolm’s sleeve catching fire by a candle to snap him out of the trance.

The Wrong Profile or The Wrong Suspect

The next day, we see Dr. Whitly in the flesh for the first time in Prodigal Son outside his cell being psychoanalyzed. In the session, the psychiatrist asks why Dr. Whitly is hesitant to agree to Ainsley’s interview. And though he remains elusive at first, the truth comes out that Dr. Whitly is afraid to lose control of the situation by handing the control to Ainsley.

Meanwhile, at the precinct, suspicion falls on Crystal. She has an abusive history with Gavin but, Malcolm doesn’t believe she fits the profile. He suspects she has Jocasta complex given her absolute devotion to her son and this usually doesn’t entail sadism. So, they move on to Jake (Charlie Semine), Crystal’s martial arts trainer/ boyfriend. He also has a history of violence. But, to truly find out if he’s the suspect, they have to confirm if he’s a sadist first.

Fox

To do that, Malcolm pretends to be an interested student in Jake’s sport, Krav maga. And when they get onto the demonstrations, Malcolm confirms Jake’s a sadist by the symptoms he exhibited when he put Malcolm in pain. At the same time, Dani (Aurora Perrineau) and JT (Frank Harts) also follow Crystal. They find her heading straight to the crime scene where she unearths a bloodied sweatshirt. Sensing that she was followed, Crystal attacks Dani from behind but, Dani uses her pepper spray to disable her.

At the precinct, it doesn’t take long for Crystal to confess to the crime. As it turns out, Gavin threatened to take full custody of Isaac so she killed him. Despite this, Malcolm refuses to believe that she doesn’t fit the profile. And he’s also guilt-ridden that he told Isaac that everything’s going to be fine when now he’s losing both his parents.

When You Just Want to See the Best in People, a Killer Might Escape

Meanwhile, Jessica barges in on her daughter’s day off to announce that she has ensured that her interview with Dr. Whitly isn’t going to happen by talking to her boss. Unfortunately for her, her contact is soon going to be displaced and her efforts are all for naught. More than that, Jessica realizes that Ainsley has completely fallen for her father’s words. As it turns out, when the father and daughter met, Dr. Whitly was the perfect loving and remorseful father. He was utterly convincing and he was the perfect father that Ainsley longed to have. And it seems that she’s not letting that go.

Fox

On the other hand, Malcolm took to Dr. De Leux to vent out his frustrations about the case. When Dr. De Leux makes him realize that he wanted to see the best in Isaac contrary to other people, Malcolm realizes he was blindsided. Heading back to the Parkers residence, Malcolm inspects the backyard. And there, he finds missing rabbits and a burial area.

Malcolm rushes back to the precinct just in time to stop Crystal from signing her confession. In his hands, he had a plastic bag full of rabbit carcass which did the trick to make Crystal tell the whole twisted truth. As it turns out, Isaac was a different kid. When they took him to the doctor, they found out he had childhood nonpsychotic disorder. And on the day Gavin died, he found Isaac suffocating one of his rabbits. So, he tried to take him to a psychiatric hospital. And Isaac thought he had to kill him.

Halloween Becomes Too Real

With the new information, Malcolm and Gil rush to Isaac’s home before he hurts anybody else. At that moment, Jake was taking care of Isaac just until the social workers get there. When he sees Isaac come down the stairs in a costume seeking to go trick or treating, he forbids the kid to go and tells him to get packing instead. And it obviously sets something off in the kid.

Malcolm calls Jake. But, before he could warn him of Isaac, the kid slashes Jake’s ankle from under the table. Isaac then picks up Jake’s phone and somehow, Malcolm manages to convince him to leave Jake and hide upstairs. When they arrive at the house, they find Jake unconscious on the floor but alive. Soon enough, backup arrives and sets up a position to apprehend Isaac. But, Malcolm begs Gil to let him talk to the kid and hold off the backup.

Fox

Drawing on his own experience, Malcolm convinces Isaac that he does understand him. He tells him that he still has time to change and that he won’t remain broken for life. Somehow, he persuades Isaac to seek help and he promises him that his mom will always love him and be there for him. This time, the promise works and Isaac surrenders himself to help. In the end, Isaac was put in a psychiatric facility with Malcolm in his permanent visitor’s list.

Now that that case is over, Malcolm can finally get back to dealing with his own demons. With a bit of help from Dani, he locates his dad’s station wagon in a scrapyard. Fortunately, it’s in pristine condition. Opening the trunk, Malcolm finds the anchor brackets. And when he runs his ultraviolet light over the carpet, it lights up painted with blood.

Prodigal Son continues Monday, November 4th, with “Q&A” at 9/8c on Fox.