Tonight on FOX their new crime franchise Prodigal Son airs with an all-new Monday, October 7, 2019, episode and we have your Prodigal Son recap below. On tonight’s Prodigal Son season 1 episode 3 called, “Fear Response,” as per the FOX synopsis, “Malcolm gets his dream interview opportunity when the NYPD zeroes in on one of his and Martin’s favorite psychologists, Dr. Elaine Brown, who may be involved in a homicide linked to an LSD-laced psychology trial.
Meanwhile, as his night terrors continue to evolve, Malcolm checks in with his trusted childhood therapist to discuss new theories on what exactly he witnessed as a child; and the consequences Gil, Jessica and Ainsley learn that he has been seeing his father again.”
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The Prodigal Son begins tonight in 1998 when Jessica Whitley (Bellamy Young) comes to see her husband, Dr. Martin Whitly (Michael Sheen) in prison, where he insists he can beat the charges and they can still have a nice life together. She orders him to stop, thinking they had a good life, marriages were long and women make sacrifices as she would have sacrificed anything for him. She feels he will be in a cage for the rest of his life and after today none of them will come back to see him. She leaves him sitting there alone.
Present-day, Jessica buzzes repeatedly at Malcolm Bright’s (Tom Payne) door, which makes him struggle in his sleep as he recalls what he saw in his father’s box. His father is putting chemicals on a cloth, telling him to be careful as so many other people die and why can’t Malcolm remember. Jessica attempts to used her key to open the door to Malcolm’s place as he struggles against his nightly restraints. She calls him, angrily reminding him that he is simply a tenant in her building; at the same time, he comes flying out the window, thankfully still restrained to one wall. She asks if he is okay and he nods so she demands him to buzz her in.
Once inside the apartment, he insists he is fine as she confronts him about seeing his father. He admits he is consulting with the NYPD. Shocked to learn they are a team, solving crimes together. He feels his father is not controlling him as she tells him that he needs to realize these memories he has are not real. She has no interest in revisiting the past and for the sake of his mental health, she feels he should leave it there too. She wants new keys by tomorrow, leaving his place.
Malcolm tells his therapist, Dr. Gabrielle Le Deux (Charlayne Woodard) that his mental health is fractured and feels it is beyond repair. She only agrees to see him because he won’t see a therapist more appropriate for his age group. She wants to know if this is about his nightmares about the girl in the box. He believes his father drugged him, and he was able to move the girl’s body before the police showed up. She recommends he stays as far away from his father as humanly possible for his own well-being. He is called by the police, taking a bunch of lollipops on his way out, but she feels they haven’t even started their session.
He arrives at the crime scene handing out lollipops to Gil Arroyo (Lou Diamond Phillips), JT Tarmel (Frank Harts), Dani Powell (Aurora Perrineau) and Dr. Edrisa Tanaka (Keiko Agena). The victim is George Holton from the university and his eyes have been removed. There are small abrasions on his wrist and ankles indicating he was bound during the act, meaning it was done at another location and dumped there. There is a letter attached to his chest. Meanwhile, Martin watches the news feed from his cell. Malcolm feels the writing is done by possibly one of Holton’s former patients and this one is having a more aggressive psychotic break, guided by delusions or hallucinations; acting on behalf of a higher power. They discover the killer took Holton’s entire brain and Malcolm is lost for words, having no idea what that means.
It seems that George Holton was scared to death, he didn’t have a heart attack as his heart was healthy. Taking his brain was some deep psychological need, but Malcolm needs to figure it out. Holton was on leave and left the department under Dr. Elaine Brown (Sakina Jaffrey) and Dr. Carl Mitchell (Frank Wood). Malcolm takes a call from his father, who is proud to have seen his sister, Ainsley Whitley (Halston Sage) and him on the news earlier. He was asking if the killer took the brain? Malcolm remembers them studying Elaine Brown’s theories. He praises his daughter for her diction on the news, he tells Malcolm this case may prove difficult for him since his fear always proved to be his stumbling block and the nightmares and tremor. He has been good at repressing it but it is there. Malcolm reminds him it is because of his father! Martin invites him to come back as he seems troubled at their last visit. He wants him to inform Elaine that her work inspired him to resist convention. Gil watches, concerned for Malcolm.
Malcolm and Dani visit the university where Elaine Brown isn’t too keen on them being there. Malcolm asks her to sign his book, while they ask for all of Holton’s students and rosters; they learn of a student who committed suicide 3 months earlier, named Alice. They said she was troubled who succumbed to the troubles of doctor pursuit.
Jessica comes to see Ainsley at work, demanding she never lies to her again. Ainsley says is tired of being in the middle; worried what seeing their father could do to her brother. Jessica insists she is protecting her but Ainsley feels she only knows about martin what Jessica wants her to know. Jessica says she only sleeps peacefully at night because of the choices she made. She leaves, telling her daughter to thank her any time.
Malcolm thinks Dr. Brown is lying. JT brings in letters from people who had crazy theories about Alice’s suicide, including one that has familiar handwriting. They accused the psych department of the book’s experiments, Alice was tripping off acid when she took a header off the building. Malcolm says the writing is older than what they have at the crime scene but there is something they are missing in the words; he wants them ti find him. Dani gets a call from Carl Mitchell that he can give them more information but he has been dosed and it is over. He is in another building, profusely sweating. The detectives, along with Malcolm go to the roof where they find Carl, and Malcolm says the killer is still there.
Malcolm tells him he is high on LSD, enough to cause a psychotic break. He grabs Malcolm and walks towards the edge with a blade. Malcolm elbows him and he falls one story down, saying he knew it would break his fall.
Gil informs them Carl has a fractured rib, so Malcolm mocks the detectives who call him a “whack job consultant.” Carl Mitchell’s blood had more than 50 times the normal dose of LSD, the same as Holton; those levels are no accident. It is used to induce fear that ultimately kills them. That is what moving the brain means, the destruction of his own mind. He wants to rid the world of the people who did this to him. Gil says they need to get to Elaine Brown’s immediately.
They get to her place, wanting to know how many of her students participated in these experiments? Malcolm rambles off who more specifically they are looking for and she comes up with Dominic Render. He dropped out about 6 months ago, her experiment causes schizophrenia with him; it was the trip that never ended.
Jessica comes to the precinct and goes to Gil’s office. She offers her condolences for Jackie, but she is 3 years too late. She reminds him that he is not Malcolm’s father nor was Jackie his mother. She felt like she was losing Malcolm so she forced him to see his father in order for him to see what his father was really like. Gil reminds her that Malcolm Bright does whatever he wants and they cannot control him; she says, “speak for yourself!”
Jessica sits in her dressing room, remembering the last time she saw Martin. The last visit, he told her she did get the very best of him, men have tendencies and means and he did whatever he could to meet those means. She knew what he was and she will be back. She looks at him horrified before she walks out, but in the present day, she dresses and calls her driver, Adolpho (Giuseppe Ardizzone) to bring her to Claremont Psychiatric Hospital.
JT tells Malcolm the professor is having tea and then going to sleep so he can stay there and Malcolm can go home. Malcolm wants to know what his initials stand for as he jokes that he isn’t surveillance material. Malcolm says he is an insomniac so he is perfect for the job. JT explains that as in his world, there are ranks and titles and people respect that but Malcolm doesn’t respect his badge and title causing Malcolm to explain the story about Gil coming to his house as a child and arresting the bad guy. He says no one has more respect for the badge than he does. He returns to the house to ask Elaine for one more question.
He speaks to Elaine about his own experience, making her wonder if he has ever smelled chloroform before. He changes the subject asking about her own fears but she says she has regrets that can evolve into fears. She says her memories may be blocked because they are attached to something he fears and the only way to face it is to confront it. He finds some masks she has and suddenly it dawns on him that he has seen the mask before. Dominic was fascinated with the collection, as she realizes she was dosed with LSD. The letters match up to make a mask. She begs for him to turn on the lights and they have to go back but he insists they cannot go back!
JT sits outside, suddenly realizing the lights are out in the house, Malcolm calls JT saying render is inside the house. Malcolm grabs a fire poker as he tells Elaine to stay in her chair. He puts on her music, telling Dominic Render that no one else needs to die as he too has had his own share of nightmares and he can help him escape his. It is not too late. He climbs the stairs, admitting he is scared too as a fight ensues between the two men. JT finally breaks through the backdoor but Elaine is the one who shoots Dominic, saving Malcolm. He tries to talk Elaine to stop fighting the fear and let it consume her and the panic will subside. He tells her she needs to live with herself, she drops the gun and collapses on the stairs. He continues to ask JT what the J stands for.
Jessica walks the halls calmly towards Martin’s room. She tells him to burn in hell as he tells her she is slimming. She doesn’t want to be there but she prefers him on a leash. She wants him to stop seeing Malcolm; he jokes about her killing the mood. She wants to know what he wants from him, as he says he only wants a relationship with him. He doesn’t want to talk about the kids as she tells him he is dead to her and when he actually dies she will flush his ashes down the most disgusting Port Authority’s toilet.
He insists that Malcolm will be just fine and he is very proud of him and Ainsley and Jessica for raising their beautiful children. He thanks her, but just as he is about to touch her face she admits she is terrified of you, even as he is chained to the wall. She admits she had to feel he was dead to her in her mind because she loved him so much. They had everything and they were happy until everything was taken from them, except their children. She gets angry, asking how he can take them from her now. He reminds her that he was there and what happened wasn’t just about him. She begs him to leave Malcolm alone as he is the one thing she has left.
Malcolm sits in his apartment with a bottle of chloroform and places several drops on his pillow without strapping himself in for the night. He is back to being a child (Kasjan Wilson) and walking in his childhood basement when his mother grabs him from opening the box. He says he saw a woman but his mother tells him that it doesn’t concern him. Grabbing his arm tightly and orders him never to speak of it again as he has no idea what his father is capable of. Malcolm opens his eyes, saying, “Mother, what did you do?”
THE END!