Prodigal Son (FOX) (1 Viewer)

[Adam Lenhardt]

I watched this because Chris Fedak created it, and I loved "Chuck" back in the day. The pilot is currently available for free on Vudu.

It's sort of like Silence of the Lambs, if Hannibal Lecter had been Clarice's estranged father.

There are basically two series here: a mildly quirky police procedural, and a really twisted family drama.

I found myself getting bored with the police procedural part, but sucked in by the family drama.

The main character is really smart. But more interestingly, his entire immediate family is really smart. Michael Sheen has the juiciest role, as the main character's serial killer father. But his mother (played by Bellamy Young) is also really sharp, even if she doesn't always want people to know it. And his journalist sister is also a talented investigator. The pilot's greatest pleasures came from watching the main character read his family members, and watching his family members read him.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Another series I wasn't planning on watching, but I did like the pilot episode so I'll stick a little longer with it.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Another series I wasn't planning on watching, but I did like the pilot episode so I'll stick a little longer with it.

Well, the second episode confirmed my early suspicion about his

Spoiler

Mother

. The procedural part of the episode was rather weak except the opening crime scene sequence.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

For my money, the Whitlys are the most interesting family on television.

Tom Payne's performance has improved significantly since the pilot, toning down the nervous tics so that the instability comes from a more internal place.

Bellamy Young is phenomenal as the family matriarch. Jessica Whitly is an incredibly complicated woman.

In some ways, I think Ainsley visiting the Surgeon is the most dangerous of the three of them; she's smart like the rest of the family, but she has certain narcissistic qualities that Martin has but her mother and brother don't.

The cases of the week are fine, but it's the family drama that keeps me coming back. Hopefully they don't drag this show out like "The Blacklist", where there's so many wrinkles and complications and misdirects that the whole thing becomes a muddled mess.

In other news, "Prodigal Son" Scores First Full-Season Pickup Of New Fall Season From Fox.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I have a hard time believing that the mother didn't know about her husband.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I have a hard time believing that the mother didn't know about her husband.

The show's explanation that she thought he was having affairs tracks for me, though if that's the case there had to be another reason she was so scared of him.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The show's explanation that she thought he was having affairs tracks for me, though if that's the case there had to be another reason she was so scared of him.

If it was just afraid of affairs then why that segment about the red dress as she searched for it then had that flashback moment?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

If it was just afraid of affairs then why that segment about the red dress as she searched for it then had that flashback moment?

If you re-watch the scene with her in the red dress and Martin in his tuxedo, it totally reads as being about an affair.

 

[Robert Crawford]

If you re-watch the scene with her in the red dress and Martin in his tuxedo, it totally reads as being about an affair.

Then why she called him a monster? Dudes having affairs are called names, but not that one.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Bold move to do an episode without the father, the show's most interesting character, this early into its run.

This show is, first and foremost, a family drama. And I think the point of this episode was to drive home that Gil's assembled a little work family of his own.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

This is proving to be my favorite of the fall's new shows.

We learned more about Martin tonight than we did in all of the episodes before. What made him snap, how he manipulated the situation, and the version of himself he wanted to present to both his daughter and the world as a result of that manipulation.

The bit with the old landline ringing, while ludicrous, was effectively creepy. It must be nice to be so rich that you can pay for an unused landline for decades without even realizing it.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The first episode without any present day Martin Whitly scenes whatsoever. The show does work without him physically present.

Is Jessica freaked because she's afraid that Junkyard Killer is going to come after her, or is she freaked by what the Junkyard Killer may reveal?

Ainsley's lack of empathy with her cameraman boyfriend was interesting. She made a couple of half-hearted attempts to go through the motions, but he was first and foremost a good story to her. Like Martin, Ainsley strives for perfection in her chosen work. There are a number of scripted shows airing currently that do a really lousy job of portraying journalism. This one gets a lot more right than most of them.

Nice to see Sheriff Brock Lotus from "Banshee" pop up as Father Leo. A pity about his hand.

I was glad that JT asked about the phone bill having been paid all these years for a line buried behind a wall. And the answer was pretty much what I predicted: Jessica is so rich that she paid for an unused landline for decades without even realizing it.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'm not sure I'll continue with this show beyond this season as I find that Whity family just an unlikable bunch. Right now, Ainsley is the one that I dislike the most after this latest episode.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The was a pretty decent cliffhanger to go into the midseason break on.

I can already tell I'm not going to like Meagan Good's character. It's the type of character we've seen plenty of times before: She's got an axe to grind against Malcolm, and that's going to cloud her judgment. Events will conspire to make her look right and Malcolm look wrong, and make those around Malcolm doubt him. But of course Malcolm won't be wrong because he's the protagonist of the show. But in the meantime, lots of contrived drama will ensue.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I have to admit that I laughed out loud a couple of times during the latest episode especially when it came to

Spoiler

psycho grandma

. I didn't realize that Aurora Perrineau is Harold's daughter. I like his recurring role on "The Rookie".

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I have to admit that I laughed out loud a couple of times during the latest episode especially when it came to

Spoiler

psycho grandma

.

The show definitely enjoys dipping its toes into horror tropes from time to time.

I didn't realize that Aurora Perrineau is Harold's daughter.

I didn't realize that she was only 25. Not because she looks older, but the character feels more mature than 25.

Her father Harold was great on Noah Hawley's short-lived ABC procedural "The Unusuals", as a detective who was extremely paranoid about his own untimely death. It only lasted one season, but's worth picking up on one of the VOD services.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The show definitely enjoys dipping its toes into horror tropes from time to time.


I didn't realize that she was only 25. Not because she looks older, but the character feels more mature than 25.

Her father Harold was great on Noah Hawley's short-lived ABC procedural "The Unusuals", as a detective who was extremely paranoid about his own untimely death. It only lasted one season, but's worth picking up on one of the VOD services.

I thought the same thing about her age.

 

[John Lee_275604]

I didn't realize that Aurora Perrineau is Harold's daughter. I like his recurring role on "The Rookie".

Besides her father's profile from Lost and Oz, she's a little higher on the media consciousness radar because she's the one who accused a scribe from 'Girls' of . . . impropriety [we won't repeat here], leading to the problematic responses from the 'Girls' creative team.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I didn't realize that Aurora Perrineau is Harold's daughter. I like his recurring role on "The Rookie".

Besides her father's profile from Lost and Oz, she's a little higher on the media consciousness radar because she's the one who accused a scribe from 'Girls' of . . . impropriety [we won't repeat here], leading to the problematic responses from the 'Girls' creative team.

I didn't want to mention that as I don't think that's pertinent to the current discussion about her and the fine job she's doing on this show. It's not like it's not there when you google her.

 

[John Lee_275604]

I didn't want to mention that as I don't think that's pertinent to the current discussion about her and the fine job she's doing on this show. It's not like it's not there when you google her.

So is her parentage, equally irrelevant.

No offense, but it seemed like you were opening a 'what's her story' discussion, as opposed to a 'doing a fine job on the show' discussion.

I was pretty scrupulous in keeping to the broadest of strokes, but if people were wondering 'where do I know her from' my post is as likely an answer as her father. MoF, it seems like a lot would remember her father's commentary on the matter as well.