Prodigal Son Review: Annihilator (Season 1 Episode 2)

Prodigal Son Season 1 Episode 2, “Annihilator,” drifts off base and doesn’t give the overused trope of the white boy genius a rest. 

The series puts its worst foot forward and ends up tripping itself, despite several strong performances and a captivating premise. 

Let’s focus first on the parts of Prodigal Son that earn it its two and a sprinkle of star-dust stars. 

Michael Sheen as incarcerated serial killer Dr. Martin Whitly, known as The Surgeon, is even better on the second episode. His giddy exuberance is dorky and it would fit on a “silly dad” series like The Goldbergs if it wasn’t for the fact that he is geeking out on murder! 

Not like in a “cool podcaster” kind of way. In an, “I want to commit these murders,” kind of way. 

Only Sheen could make this violent predator so darn endearing. 

I actually laugh out loud at several of his lines. 

DR. WHITLY: Remember, my door is always open. 

Dr. Whitly is actually the one to solve the case by bringing family annihilation murders to Bright’s attention. This is the part of the show’s premise that is interesting and could really go somewhere. 

What if Dr. Whitly can make up for his past murders and earn the forgiveness of his family, by helping prevent other deaths? 

That’s interesting from an ethical and a storytelling lens. 

The episode hints softly at the possibility that Gil and Jessica aren’t as far from Dr. Whitly as it seems. That casting of shadows connects Dr. Whitly to more than just Bright. 

It gives me hope to think that we could discover on-going ties between the older generation folks on the series. They are the strongest actors and they have the most fascinating stories so far. 

On that age thing. Bellamy Young is young. Too young to be cast as Bright’s mom. It is distracting, especially with Bright calling her “mother.” 

Even though the casting is suspect in regards to age differences, Young’s performance on “Annihilation,” earns it a star. 

Jessica is still glib and overbearing, but the edges from the pilot have been smoothed out. Mrs. Whitly delivers the strongest, most harrowing lines on the episode. 

JESSICA WHITLY: You think life is a case to be solved. Sometimes it’s just a tragedy to be endured. 

Her chipper one-liners begin to have a more sad glow as we begin to understand the pain this wife of a serial killer has felt. 

The writing for her character also makes sense and consistently rings with an upper crusty tone.

JESSICA WHITLY: The guilt you wear like a millstone around your neck, it will crush you. 

I don’t even know what a millstone is! Is that part of a trust fund? 

The final star-earning part of the episode is Keiko Agena. She bursts in with a twitterpated awkwardness. We are supposed to find her heart-eyes for Bright Boy amusing, but instead, we are just charmed.

The tone her overwhelming crush brings to the scene is a mismatch with the rest of the episode. 

But, Agena is so fun to watch that it doesn’t even matter. We’ll take it. The episode needs all the wins it can get because the faults are great. 

The episode’s main weakness is that it takes us on an exclusive journey with an entitled, whiny, privileged white guy. 

I have been on that trip, many, many, times, both on TV and in real life. It is boring at best, rage-inducing at worst.  “Annihilation” leans far more towards the rage-inducing kind. 

Prodigal Son Season 1 Episode 1, “Pilot,” starts us off on this path by having us believe that Bright has some kind of nearly superhuman set of specialized skills, even though he is working with people who have actually earned those skills. 

Malcolm Bright does not prove that he contributes anything special to the NYPD team. He actually adds many risks and almost gets killed on the episode. 

Yet, the way the episode paints him, over and over again, we are to believe that he is the hero saving these idiots from harm. 

There is ample evidence that this show wants us to believe that the NYPD team, who are all people of color, are not bright. 

When Dr. Edrisa is stunned by snakes, Bright shouts in her face about biological fear responses. HE SHOUTS THAT AT A DOCTOR! 

Then, Bright holds court at the office when delivering his “ever-evolving” profile of the killer. He explains police work and crime-scene analysis to NYPD DETECTIVES! 

JT and Dani have come up through the ranks, despite not looking like your typical detective. It makes no sense that they would not have been able to solve this crime on their own.

The very premise that they need NOT-A-DOCTOR, NOT-A-DETECTIVE, Bright is not established in the plot. 

There is nothing about the family dinner murder scene that is particularly complex. Someone close to the family, as revealed by the financials, did it?!

Not. A. Shocker. 

It is insulting that the show has Bright, Dani, JT, and Gil all accepting that Bright is the leader of their team when he is clearly the weakest link. 

Bright’s narcissism and entitlement also get in the way of us learning anything about the far more interesting characters on the show. 

He does not ask anyone about themselves. I want to know why Dani is on the force. I want to know what kinds of cases JT has experience with. 

But, Bright is not interested in anyone but himself. Because he is the only perspective the show gives any kind of attention, that means that we only see and learn about what interests Bright. 

Further, we are to believe that Bright has magical knowledge and skills in areas he has not studied, even though there are people on the team who have actually studied those things. 

For example, rather than having Dr. Edrisa on the phone to consult, Bright suddenly knows everything there is to know about poisons, including how long a child has to live once she’s ingested it. 

He is stealing expertise from people who have earned it.

The night terrors evoked sympathy for Bright on the pilot, but it seems that he is too arrogant to seek therapy for them. EMDR and other therapy treatments are available from complex PTSD. 

It devalues the field of psychology that we see his restraints many times, but never him seeking treatment other than pills. 

The message that the shows send is one of overwhelming pity for the tortured genius soul of Malcolm Bright.

This is a misstep because of Bright’s status as a privileged white man. It is also a mistake because Tom Payne is not giving a strong performance as Bright. 

It is the weakest acting on the series, but it is given the brightest spotlight. 

Prodigal Son needs to cast some of that light onto other characters right away in order to save it from being a white savior massacure. 

What did you think of this episode of Prodigal Son? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Prodigal Son airs Mondays at 9/8c on Fox.

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