Prodigal Son Review: Silent Night (Season 1 Episode 10)

Prodigal Son Season 1 Episode 10, “Silent Night,” deserves lumps of coal in its stocking.

The naughty mistakes it makes continue to cast a nasty shadow on the nice parts. 

The nice aspects do deserve our attention and, accordingly, they are the focus of this review. 

Before we get to that, though, let’s quickly touch on the problematic parts.

Bury Your Gays & Other Mistakes

The coal-provoking issues on “Silent Night,” aren’t new. The innocuous one is that the performances of Bright and Ainsley are overacted and shallow.

Bright’s eye-rolls and deliberate sighs are distracting from the emotional intent of the scenes. Likewise, Ainsley’s volume and flat dialogue that doesn’t change contextually (her tone and affectations are the same with her mother, her boyfriend, and the public), make it impossible to care about her or understand her. 

Character is the heart of story and these character development failings greatly limit the Prodigal Son‘s storytelling. 

Not all of the issues are innocuous; there are several harmful mistakes as well. 

Bury Your Gays is a movement that sprang up from fans objecting to the death of LGBTQ characters. Many showrunners have addressed this harmful trend and committed to letting LGBTQ characters live. 

On “Silent Night,” the only two queer characters on the show so far are both murdered. The black gay man, Detective Turner, is shown with a gunshot to the head. 

Turner’s lover and partner, Detective Shannon, has his throat slit.

Bright doesn’t even stay with Shannon to try and save his life. He leaves the courageous cop for dead even though it is his unsafe decision not to inform Gil and his team of where he is that leads to Shannon’s death. It was preventable.

The connection of the officers’ deaths to the Junkyard Killer is fascinating. It is deeply, inexcusably unfortunate that it came at the expensive of the only two queer characters on the show. 

The show also steps in it when it comes to talking about sex work and sex trafficking. While Bright uses the term sex work, others use the term “hooker.” 

JT talks about eating his wife’s crinkle, which is played for a laugh. Then, his next line includes him referring to the murder victim as a hooker. 

What are we supposed to think about this character? If he is a family-centered by-the-book cop, why would he be so insensitive? 

It doesn’t add up unless you see it through the lens of constantly trying to make Bright look good. The POC on the show are constantly shown up by Bright and it is a truly disgusting trend. 

Again, there is some sensitivity to how the show approaches sex work in that it doesn’t vilify the murder victim. At the same time, she is a high-end white escort who is given little to no backstory. 

The escort agency leader is interrogated and treated by the show like a criminal. This indicates that she is a person to be punished even though her employee is the victim of a murder. This bolsters the idea that sex workers or people being pimped can’t be victims. 

This show is also bringing in the topic of sex trafficking. 

Sexual violence against women is such a serious and important issue. Women of color, especially indigenous women and black trans women, are at incredibly high risk of victimization. 

Prodigal Son is stomping through these stories when they require a delicate, informed, and thoughtful approach. 

There is zero indication that this show has done the research or has the lived experience to handle these storylines well. 

These tropes can impact viewers in a deep way. The Prodigal Son team needs to hire sensitivity readers who can identify these issues and help the show create more responsible programming. 

The Good Stuff

As promised, I have much to say about the good parts of the episode.

Jessica’s stiletto’s direct hit on the TV screen is an incredible shot of television. The special effects work is excellent. The piercing looks so cool and realistic.

The framing of the moment is perfect. We think for a second that Bright has some kind of superpower! I guess he kind of does; Jessica is a superwoman if I’ve ever seen one. 

The stiletto throwing is a call back to Bright’s euphoric desire to throw axes. The juxtaposition is effective. Bright is stuck in his head and clamoring about while Jessica, she gets it done in her own style. 

Jessica absolutely wins the episode. Bellamy Young brings the tone that I think the show is going for: sardonic and glib with a deeply rooted heart. 

Her scene with Ainsley where she points out that The Surgeon’s victims matter and they are not part of the conversation is a hit of oxygen to the series. 

These women matter and we haven’t learned anything about them, yet. What we know of the Girl in the Box is just how that impacts Bright. 

She matters on her own. 

Jessica gets it and is brave enough to take action. 

Jessica and Gil’s chemistry is superb. But that doesn’t mean that she’s simmering in a crush and not willing to fight! On the contrary, she is done being secondary. 

I do wish that we could have seen a Gil and Jessica Christmas dinner moment. Obviously, plot-wise that doesn’t make sense. But, Jessica is such an interesting and complicated person. She deserves friendship in her life. 

The huge fancy room with a big dinner table and just Jessica and her conniving daughter sitting at it, it is incredibly sad. 

Loneliness is a fascinating and important emotion. Even though it’s painful, it’s the right direction to go for Jessica’s character and it adds a layer of complexity to her motivations. 

The million-dollar reward is so, well, cool. Mrs. Whitly is putting her money where her mouth is and not letting anything stop her from protecting her family for her ex-husband. 

Megan Good as FBI Agent Colette Swanson has a two-second, wordless interaction with Jessica and it is GOOD. It builds a mountain of backstory in just one look. 

Agent Colette Swanson is a much-needed voice on Prodigal Son. She is not out to get Bright, she just sees his actions for what they are: unsafe, entitled, and misogynistic. 

Her presence is shaking things up in a big way and it is thrilling.

There are so many different directions that her story could go, and “Silent Night,” makes it clear that the show is willing to take its time and unfold her character.

The scenes between Dani and Swanson are grounding. The performances are subtle but not gritty, which is perfect for the show.

It is very refreshing to see two women of color having frank and non-competitive workplace conversations. I would not be mad at a Dani and Swanson sleuthing subplot. Dani is very talented and she could be lured away by the FBI. 

All the potential is very exciting! The addition of Colette Swanson to Prodigal Son is the big gift of the episode. 

Lou Diamond Phillips finally gets some room to stretch his acting legs as Detective Gil Arroyo. Gil still doesn’t get as much screen time as his talent warrants, but he makes the most of his greater presence on “Silent Night.”

Gil finally stands up to Bright and makes it very clear that the golden boy can’t just make assertions without evidence and expect everyone to follow him.

GIL: Prove it. 

He is reluctant to let Dani assist Swanson, but not because he is against Swanson. He just wants to keep his team together and he appreciates the value Dani brings to that team. It’s not a pissing contest, it’s about family. 

My favorite Gil moment on the episode are, unsurprisingly, between Jessica and Gil. It’s obvious that he has romantic feelings for her. And it is also obvious that he is too protective and paternalistic. 

There is a conflict there. 

Thank goodness! Conflicts make ships more interesting.

 

 

 

At the root of this conflict is what it looks like to support someone. I think both Jessica and Gil have a lot to teach each other about that. 

They are both used to taking care of everyone else. They are giving, smart, sexy as all get out individuals. But, they don’t know how to be helped. Letting their guard down is beyond uncomfortable. 

But, if they learn together and build trust, they can overcome their fears and have an unbreakable connection. 

Look, I ship it, okay!

The final nice thing on the episode is the murder mystery.

The Junkyard Killer’s crimes are linked to The Surgeon’s. These are linked to Bright’s childhood, and all of the current detectives on the case. 

It’s really exciting and the way the show is building a season-long mystery, with the cases of the week tying into the big one, is masterful. 

Surely when we return from the winter break, Martin Whitly will be out of solitary and we will get more time with him. 

Hopefully, during that time the show can also review their content with some fresh and informed eyes to address the naughty issues. 

I hold out hope for this show, especially because so many of you love it! Prodigal Son placed first in our Best New Fall TV poll. 

Make sure to let us know what you love about the show because that’s still an open case for us. 

Case Notes

• Jessica’s wardrobe is stunning. Doesn’t do anything to help us think she’s older, but we love it anyway.
• What is with the weapons collection on display behind Bright’s TV? Overkill much?
• Handsy Santa is not a funny thing. That is very concerning. Bright is working with the police, he could bring that up at the office!
• Bright puts the gun to his head which ruins the evidence! I wish Dr. Edrisa would point out these mistakes and tear him a new one.
• Fingers crossed that Swanson is queer and we get a solid queer ship on the show. 
• I would have grabbed the rose, too. Screwtop wine is delicious!

 

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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