As one show ends, another soldiers on. The show ending its season of course, is Prodigal Son. Will it get picked up for another? That remains to be seen. I will say, it was an impressive end, given how shaky I’ve felt about the second half of the season. Let’s dig in to both Roswell, New Mexico and Prodigal Son.
Roswell, New Mexico had two relatively distinct story lines this week. First up, Liz and Rosa’s mother comes to town. Man, she just seems like an unpleasant human. There are beats when you feel sort of sympathetic for her, but then she steals, and it’s also revealed she’s got a boyfriend who doesn’t even know she has kids! Luckily, the visit results in her signing her half of the diner over to Liz, so that’s something. And Liz and Max also get past their first “fight,” which seemed pretty tame in my opinion.
The other part of the episode centers on Maria and some maybe newfound psychic abilities? Either way, she was able to see into the brief future and save Kyle from getting run over by a car. Kyle also just might be getting his new love interest! While giving himself stitches, Stephanie pops in and they end up making some emotional (and physical) connections. Maria wasn’t the only one honing some newfound powers, the “pod squad” were also trying to teach Rosa how to control her new abilities. Somewhat unsuccessful, she emotionally continues with her substance abuse in the face of frustration. There was no Alex this episode, so I’ll be glad to hopefully see him back next week, and it seems someone (Max) finally noticed that Jenna’s been missing! Can’t wait to see what’s in store!
Alright folks, the season finale of the freshman FOX show, Prodigal Son, has aired and I was pretty pleased with it! I also got some answers about why the story has seemed so rushed and disjointed in the latter half. Initially ordered for 22 episodes, this pandemic shut production down two episodes early, BUT they already had the finale scenes shot. Before shutting down completely, there were some re-writes that ultimately cut Dermot Mulroney’s time short, and I would assume some other things related to Eve and her sister, and perhaps Ainsley? Either way, I suppose when I look at the show through that lens, they did alight with what they had.
Off the heels of last week’s episode, Malcolm is briefly in jail before getting put on house arrest (which he clearly breaks) for the murder of Eve’s assassin. Malcolm escapes the confines of Jessica’s home to investigate who actually killed the assassin, and SPOILERS, it was Eve’s sister, Sophie! In the end, Malcolm doesn’t have the heart to turn her in, so he’s going to face whatever presumable consequences come. Elsewhere, Endicott has decided to make Martin’s life in prison significantly more unpleasant, and he gets sent to Riker’s. Ainsley and Malcom go to him to see what he has on Endicott…turns out it’s nothing. In the meantime, Jessica is at Endicott’s for dinner where she witnesses Gil get stabbed in the gut by one of his cronies. And that’s not all! Endicott’s got Ainsley Malcolm in his sights. Malcolm goes to shoot him, but can’t bring himself to do it. So in a magnificant twist, Ainsley slits Endicott’s throat from behind and stabs him several times. Turns out Ainsley’s the prodigal daughter we’ve been sleeping on!
I was not entirely surprised by this twist, but I was taken aback by the way it was executed! I don’t feel like slitting someone’s throat is a natural motion that comes to people. But is was gruesome and I loved it! I also thought it was interesting that after it happened she seemed to come back into the present, a little unaware of what she’d just done. Malcolm looks equally shocked, and I assume if a second season comes, will have to figure out how to mentally handle what’s just taken place. Sure, there are some cliffhangers, like is Gil going to recover from his stabbing, but enough was wrapped up that if it doesn’t get renewed, it was still pretty satisfying. After so many disappointing episodes, I really don’t care either way if this gets another go, but if it does, it just needs to tell a better story and flesh out more of the supporting characters. Later Prodigies!