Prodigal Son – Season 1 Episode 13 Recap & Review

The White Suit

After a couple of tense, cleverly written episodes, Prodigal Son slips back into old ways, with a stand-alone piece chock full of jokes, little tension and one brilliant white suit. Although many will enjoy the 45 minute ride, especially all the death-defying situations Malcolm somehow manages to navigate flawlessly, the show is at its strongest when it deep dives into the psyche of its characters and with that missing this week, we’re left to rely on the, admittedly witty, comedy to prop the episode up.

A dream sequence begins episode 13 of Prodigal Son as Malcolm visits Martin in prison, where he calls his son “Little Boomerang”.  Malcolm meanwhile, rejects him and walks away. Martin awakens and gets his priviledges reinstated but it’s not enough, he misses Malcolm and wants to reconnect with his son.

Meanwhile, Malcolm prepares to go on vacation. Gil looks set to drive him to the airport but en-route they receive a call about a homicide come through, prompting our protagonist to beg his boss to take him there. Reluctantly Gil does, and dressed in a full, white suit the team tease him over how suave he looks before presenting the murder itself.

A man has scars on his arms, with markings leading them to draw conclusions that this is in relation to the Count of Montecristo. Dr Tanaka tries to move the body but finds a landmine underneath, prompting Malcolm to rush over and save the day, holding the trigger long enough for everyone to leave before jumping out the window in a Michael Bay-esque segment.

Malcolm starts to piece together the clues as this Count of Montecristo killer is given more weight by Martin phoning through to the station and offering up his thoughts, believing the killer is being meticulous and savouring every moment.

The team find another crime scene, this time with a man named William standing with trip wires linked to swords. The team cut the wires as Malcolm catches the swords with his bare hands. Once free, they learn a man named Cal Taylor may be the next victim. At his estate, Malcolm and Gil look around where they find a man named Ernesto hiding in the basement, whom they assume to be the killer. Only, Malcolm isn’t so sure given the motives don’t fit and with Dani, he heads over to see Martin in person.

Martin suspects the next victim may actually be Cal instead, prompting Malcolm to phone through to Gil and head to the imminent wedding…where his Mother happens to be. After some initial awkwardness, Cal’s Father prepares to make his move until Malcolm grabs the microphone and stalls them. Only, in the background Isabella brandishes a gun and prepares to shoot. Dani manages to stop her before she does though, saving the day and letting everyone breathe a sigh of relief and subsequently wrapping the case up.

Despite some genuinely amusing segments, Prodigal Son reverts back to its standard, formulaic case of the week here as the show reaches the second half of this crime drama. While the case itself is interesting enough, it pales in comparison to what we’ve seen before. Personally, the serialised content feels a lot more interesting and engaging, with the darker edge to those episodes adding a lot more weight to Malcolm’s ghosts from the past.

Still, there’s plenty more time for that to change but this week Prodigal Son delivers another standard episode, one that doesn’t really raise many eyebrows despite the incredulous land mine segment at the beginning. Those looking for more answers to the big questions will be left wanting but the character interactions and overarching questions will undoubtedly be enough to see you return next week.