Prodigal Son Review: Designer Complicity (Season 1 Episode 4)
Prodigal Son Season 1 Episode 4, “Designer Complicity,” is a snooze fest.
The sleeping scenes with vivid nightmares are themselves just boring. Even Michael Sheen as Dr. Marint Whitly can’t save the episode from itself, though his scenes are a small bright spot.
“Designer Complicity,” walks back the progress made on Prodigal Son Season 1 Episode 3, “Fear Response.”
Instead of sincerely exploring how Bright’s childhood trauma is invading every area of his life, the episode treats his dreams as real clues.
The exploration is the mystery of his childhood, not his mental health and the ways he is failing to cope in adulthood. This emphasis on the mystery and the meaning of the red dress undercuts the power of Bright’s psychological story.
Dreams are not where suppressed memories reveal themselves.
Repressed memories can be recovered. However, it is painful, long-term work that needs to be done with an experienced professional therapist! Also, it may not be healthy to do.
Giving your memory a root canal is only advised if you have a plan for safely filling the cavity. Bright is not relying on therapists to help him.
In fact, the show implies that Bright can do it all himself. He can figure out the mystery of his past, he can solve every crime, he can best all of his demons.
That resistance to allowing other characters to meaningful contribute to Bright’s life, the resistance to giving him real flaws and imperfections, makes for a very boring show.
Tom Payne has still not figured out a usable accent and the dialogue comes off forced. The episode is full of closeup shots of Bright’s wide-eyed face and the awkwardly overdramatic performance takes us out of the suspended disbelief.
It is a real waste because the roster of talent on Prodigal Son is deep.
We still know so very little about Dani and Dr. Edrisa, the two most intriguing characters on the show for me. The case of the week format overlaid on the Whitly family drama doesn’t provide time or room for a closer relationship with Dani and Dr. Edrisa.
Keiko Agena brings quirkiness, humor, and romance to the show as Dr. Edrisa. Prodigal Son missteps greatly by not centering more attention and story on her.
As I have pointed out in the past, the over-emphasis on the white characters, especially Bright, the wealthy white man, creates the problematic white savior trope. Bright has Dr. Erisa, Dani, JT, and his therapist in his life to help him.
The show does not ever have Bright rely on the expertise of the women of color in his life. Instead, they are there to listen to him and be a backdrop as HE figures everything out.
Yuck.
In the process, we lose the opportunity to enjoy the talents of the amazing actors of color on the show.
I do enjoy seeing the clear chemistry and history between Jessica Whitly and Detective Gil Arroyo. The lingering emotion from the video hints at a bond that did not end after the police room interview.
It remains a mystery what happened with Arroyo’s wife. That is one of the few parts of the episode that pulls the audience in.
Jessica Whitly is quite flat on the episode. Her dramatic scenes lack the sarcasm and fatalistic glow that make her an exceptional character.
Still, the plot reveals are interesting.
Bellamy Young has great chemistry with Sheen, Halston Sage, who plays Ainsley, and Lou Diamond Phillips who plays Detective Gil Arroyo.
As we learn about their relationships in the past and present, the show gets some circulation flowing.
The show could improve by letting the supporting characters have more prominence. It would also improve by ditching the case of a week format and staying with one serial killer for an arc of episodes.
There is hope for Prodigal Son, but it needs to keep us awake first.
Case Notes
- I could watch Bellamy Young putting on face cream every day of the week.
- Stalking is a very serious crime and it is nice to see it shown outside of an ex-lover context.
- The body makeup for the victim is super cool.
- It is wild how the show transforms Michael Sheen from old to young! It would be very helpful for the show to give Bellamy Young more costuming and make-up design that ages her.
- Keiko Agena deserves her own show.
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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Janelle Ureta
Janelle Ureta is equal parts Veronica Mars, Raven Reyes, and Rebecca Bunch, but she aspires to add some Tammy Taylor to the mix. An attorney turned teacher, Janelle believes in the power of a well-told story. She is currently exploring how to tell short stories, 140 characters or less, on twitter. She loves to talk about TV, and right now she can't shut up about Timeless, Dear White People, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The 100, or Younger.