‘Prodigal Son’ recap “Silent Night”
Ainsley’s interview airs and Jessica throws her stiletto at the screen, preventing Malcolm from watching it.
Officer Turner, and a prostitute, Emily Hays are dead. Dani thinks murder-suicide, Malcolm does not. It was a double homicide- Turner was the target, Emily was collateral damage.
In the middle of their briefing, Colette (Malcolm’s old coworker) pops in and banishes Malcolm to file paperwork. While sifting through it, he comes across a photo that triggers a memory along with helping to solve the case. Detective Owen Shannon was Turner’s partner and interrogated Malcolm when he was younger.
Colette begins to smear Malcolm’s rep. She doesn’t trust him and thinks he’ll destroy everything he touches. That’s only kind of true. Eve isn’t returning Malcolm’s calls. But regardless, she seems to really have it out for him.
At Christmas dinner, Jessica and Ainsley get into a fight over the fact that Ainsley didn’t think about anyone’s feelings when she aired the interview. This gives Jessica the idea to “direct the narrative” to get rid of the paparazzi. Ainsley’s not the only one who breaks a story in the family.
It turns out that Turner was investigating the Junkyard Killer to try to clear Shannon’s name. Shannon and Malcolm compare suspect notes and find a John Watkins. They track him down as Malcolm informs Gil that they were working the same case this whole time. Colette is pissed.
At John’s house, John’s grandmother feeds them and tells them about his childhood. She shows them pictures but John’s face is scratched out of all of them. John did that to make sure no one can ID him. Malcolm investigates John’s room and when he comes back down, Shannon’s throat is slit. John’s at the house.
John AKA Paul knocks Malcolm out and drags his body away. Wait, we have to wait until January to find out what happens next!?!
So much was packed into this episode, it was wonderful. I really enjoyed this episode’s dialogue and I’m pretty sure I say this every week, but Tom Payne is perfect. Can we talk about how awful Collette is? Like seriously, I find her hatred of Malcolm unnecessary. Also, Sean Pertwee was a wonderful addition to this episode, and what kind of grandmother encourages murder? I can’t wait until January.
When Beth “grows up” she wants to see her creations appear on the screen and stage. In her free time, Beth blogs about her love of craft beer and writes screenplays. She received her bachelors in journalism from Youngstown State and received her masters in communication from The University of Akron. She is honored to be a part of the FanFest family.
