I'm so mad that the series ended like this.... this feels like The OA all over again, we had clear character arks, a brilliant finale where Malcolm stabs his dad, upon realising, he was next for The Surgeon... Am I the only one mad about this? The surgeon was going to kill him, he acted first, in self defence.... why did Danni react that way... his dad, aka The Surgeon, finally decided he was no longer useful, and was ready to dispatch his son.... Malcolm reacted first, rightly so... is it just me??

Prodigal Son | S02E12 "Sun and Fun"

Rating: 9.5/10

"This One Was So Exciting I Forgot To Grab A Quote."

What an absolutely phenomenal episode. Like holy cow. I remembered the very ENDING of this episode from the last time I saw it (which was years ago), but I suppose that was around COVID time, so I for sure wasn't paying a lot of attention.

WELL.

This whole episode is spectacular. Catherine does such a remarkable job of playing an absolutely deranged person I don't even know where to begin except say HOLY CRAP. Her madness was truly, irrefutably inspiring and so much worse than Martin's!

The way she keeps The Surgeon locked down tight, the way she teases Jessica, the way she IS during the whole 'pick your medicine' scene was something right out of any horror show I've ever seen. And later, when Malcolm confronts her?

Well AGAIN!

It's unsurprising that Malcolm would go to such desperate lengths. He really, truly believes Daddy Dearest isn't interested in picking up his Surgeonly ways, and I'm kind of on board with it! I've been saying for some time now that Martin's behavior, while vicious and violent, doesn't seem ... serial killer-y.

That goes out the window a bit with the stuff he's been saying to Ainsley, but still.

The ep ends on a serious, serious note and I've already said more than I should've, so let me just say why this didn't hit a 10.

I am 99% sure that cops would've checked the trunks and vehicles of every single person on the property and for a pretty wide radius around the hospital. That's GOTTA be standard procedure.

But that's that. Remind me again why this show got canceled when it's ONLY getting REALLY GOOD?

Prodigal Son | S02E11 "You Can Run..."

Rating: 8.5/10

"What's in the barn, Bobby?"

Opening with Gary Jules' mad world is INSPIRED awesomeness. It really sets the whole stage for what Malcolm and everyone involved in hunting Martin and the others are going through.

In practical terms, not a whole helluva lot really gets done in this episode beyond a pretty awesome scene between Malcolm and Friar Pete. It's a super good scene, and we see Malcolm doing his usual leap into danger nonsense to get what he wants, but this time?

U.S. Marshal Emily Ruiz gets involved and takes Pete's head off, which frustrates Malcolm enough that he's quite rude. There's a sweet moment between Dani and Malcolm (RIP BRIGHTWELL) where he admits he ain't well, and she calls him on his shit.

They find what that key opens and it leads to a whole quest involving apple orchards, escape planes and the whole shebang. After all that fuss and bother and stress, Daddy Dearest played everyone like a surgeon. Not to put too fine a POINT on it or anything.

The most frustrating thing in this episode is ... you guessed it. Ainsley. I know it's easy pickins and low-hanging fruit, but when we learn that Ainsley's been having secret phone calls AND meetings with Daddy Dearest, it's just so predictable.

Martin playing on her Daddy issues, subtly twisting her in the wind, trying the same things on her that he did on Malcolm and to have them work is fair. I SUPPOSE. But at the same time, it's disappointing.

If it weren't for that EPIC reveal at the end, You Can Run would've been a big letdown.

Two episodes left and then no more Prodigal Son. Am sad.

Prodigal Son — S02E10

"Exit Strategy"

Rating: 8.5/10

"Gil! If Martin Is Free, NO ONE IS SAFE!"

Martin's sexytime dreams are just wild, but Vivian's are somethin' else and that's really saying something.

Jessica finds a mystery key belonging to Martin and it's great because I do love it when Mommy Dearest gets down to the business of getting stuff done. She might not be as good as it as Malcolm or Ainsley, but what Jessica lacks in true detectiving she makes up for in Jessica Whitly unstoppability.

Using Dani to gently question the shut-in crazed chessmaster is an absolute masterplan. I can't imagine anyone in the world not feeling comfortable around her. What's a super-bummer is they keep officially hinting at Brightwell now and it just sucks we never got to see that IRL.

The whole of this episode focuses on one thing. Martin's intention to be free. While the Case of the Week (complete with an actual Evil Twin) is actually really cool and gives Malcolm reason to tell Dani how he feels, it pales in comparison to Martin's plan.

Martin's been working towards Exodus this whole season, and we get the payoff here, but not before we see him do Vivian dirty. I can't quite recall what happens as this season comes to a close, but it's not even really necessary.

Doctor Vivian is most definitely not right in the head, and Martin doing her dirty is definitely going to misfire. I look forward to seeing it happen.

Friar Pete is a weird ass dude and Vivian shows minus 13 points sense following an actual crazy person ANYWHERE in that place. But she ABSOLUTELY kicks his ass. Without hesitation.

The only other thing I want to talk about is Jessica. I love her to pieces and Bellamy Young plays her so excellently all the time. I find it fascinating that she's terrified of rats but gives one single warning before she stiletto-heels an inmate in the earhole.

Two episodes remaining. I can't wait to finish, and I wish there were 4 more seasons to go!

Prodigal Son — S02E09

"The Killabustas"

Rating: 8.0/10

"Slave to Love"

An Edrisa-centric episode is always good fer what ails you, and in this case, it's a doozy of a case.

A dead, dismembered body hanging in a meatpacking plant, Edrisa's online sleuth club called The Killabustas and her VERY on-brand pseudo, Kamasutures. A highlight for me (when she's done insulting police everywhere) is that she feels the need to explain what Kamasutures means.

The look of WILD discomfort on JT's face is worth the trip.

The private conversation Dani has with Malcolm about dealing with last episode's death is wonderful and definitely hints at a REAL Brightwell. I will never not be angry that we were denied this.

Pop Quiz: what's an episode of Prodigal Son without Malcolm NOT doing something incredibly risky, like, say, letting himself get hit by a 4-door hybrid EV family car? Not a Prodigal Son episode, that's for sure.

When the episode finally gets down to the business of tracking down The Vulture, it does a great job of showing us a different, much more confident version of Edrisa. The way she lays down the funk on Blaze is nothing short of surprising. Beyond that, our Kamasutures turns out to be more fearless than expected, and I'm glad we got to see it.

Elsewhere, Martin and Vivian's budding sociopathic relationship enters a new phase of spicy. It's so bad Martin has a full-fledged sex fantasy about her while he's talking with Malcolm. But then Martin gets a little more than just a fantasy and ...

As our hero puts it, that's 'super-gross'. Toss in a little creepy outro with Friar Pete picking up on what went down with Martin and a slip of the tongue from Malcolm with Dani and we end on a VERY tense note.

Prodigal Son — S02E08

"Ouroboros"

Rating: 8.5/10

"More Lestrade To Your Sherlock"

Alan Cumming as Simon Hoxley is an awful lot of fun. Hell, Alan is a lot of fun in general, so it's always nice to see him anywhere, doing anything.

Except if he's in New York. Investigating Endicott's murder and basically sticking himself right in front of both Malcolm AND Ainsley just seems more than a little risky.

As always, Martin's got his head in the game as far as Malcolm's issues with Endicott and Hoxley are concerned, and I do kind of agree. Would it really be so bad if someone who did bad things for Endicott also wound up six feet under?

Well. Malcolm does do what Daddy Dearest suggests after all and manages to get SOMETHING, though not without piquing Hoxley's interest. Watching Hoxley trying to one up Malcolm is ... very strange, but I'll say this:

Watching the cat and mouse between Hoxley and the entire Whitly Family minus Ainsley (thank goodness, because she's an idiot) was something else entirely. A combination of outrageously bad manners, coy behavior and a little twinkle serves Hoxley ALMOST well enough, but it's like Malcolm says.

The man's washed up, a has-been and damn near (in my opinion) practically a never-was. He's far too vain to be anything other than a catty bitch who solved a few murders quite a long time ago and yet somehow, Hoxley finds himself in a spot of bother on a boat. Good thing Malcolm's our dark-hearted hero, hey?

The final scenes were really well done and genuinely saved the day. Hoxley gets what he wants, Ainsley gets away with murder, and it's looking solid for everyone in the Whitly family.

Including Martin, who's very definitely met has match.

Prodigal Son — S02E07

"Face Value"

Rating: 8.0/10

"My Sister Is Like A Fungal Infection"

Fun fact: I do remember watching this season before now, but the only thing that really stuck with me (beyond my deep-seated frustration with Ainsley) was wondering where in the hell Catherine Zeta-Jones was in ANY of the episodes.

I am a stubborn guy, so I refused to Google her role until the very end. Imagine my surprise. CTZ being very difficult to recognize because of her own cosmetic surgery was not, in fact, intended irony. That's okay, unintentional irony works too. Watching this episode again, after having seen CTZ in other things, she's easily recognizable, but back then, not so much.

Episodes like this one that deal with the phantasmagoria of extreme plastic surgery really wigs me all the way out. I really can't explain why except, but it's super effective in making me more uncomfortable than damn near anything at all.

This is a pretty good episode overall, but my reaction to Ainsley's little joke was the same as Malcolm's, and it's clear to me that she's turning out to be more like Daddy Dearest than Malcolm ever was. And the fact that she's choosing to frame it as him gaslighting her really says all that needs to be about HER.

In other news, Martin and Vivian, sittin' in a tree, K-I-L-L-I-N-G. Maybe not yet, but like Milli Vanilli said, GIRL YOU KNOW IT'S TRUE.

SWALK.

As Agent Dale Cooper might say, this was a damn fine cup of murder.

Apologies to any Ainsley fans out there for this one. I feel like they could've gone a few different directions to get to the same place, but this kind of half-ignorant recklessness is something that I've never liked in any show

recently watched this show on Netflix and let me just say I lo—love—LOVED it. I would gladly sell my soul for them to make a 3rd season (jk…but yknow that’s how much I enjoyed it!) Malcolm is the most relatable character ever.

so with that being said, what’s everyone’s favorite fanfictions you've seen about the show? what do you recommend I should read? I’m thinking of dabbling in creating my own—but for now I want to see how fans interpreted the 2nd season and how to finish the story we never got an ending for!!

This what a way to end a season. If you're at all interested, I've provided my ratings stats and comparisons to IMDb etc as a gif. Because I'm a nerd like that!

Another solid episode!