Alma Mater
Episode 3 of Prodigal Son Season 2 begins with Martin concocting up his own perfect-scenario dream. Only, the lights dim and this fantasy soon paves way for a nightmare. Martin awakens with a start and rings Malcolm, telling him to head in and visit at 4pm. At the same time though, Martin clings to the notion of escaping from Claremont. He keeps up appearances and prepares to make his move. Before that though, Malcolm receives a visit – and new case – from Gil. There’s been a murder at Remington Academy and the Mayor has put them on the case. Gil asks for Malcolm’s help as it turns out the victim is actually Headmaster Nathaniel Brumback. Dead by the swimming pool at this luxurious estate, Brumback was notorious for taking bribes and Malcolm just so happened to attend that school back in the day. All of our group (except JT who’s with Tally while she’s about to give birth) gather at the swimming pool and notice that a desk is underwater and set up to look like the headmaster’s office. Could this be a crucial clue going forward? Well, Malcolm is forced to relive some painful memories as he meets the Interim Headmaster Alan…and Vice Chairman which happens to be his Mother. Malcolm is initially hesitant but eventually agrees to continue with the case. Malcolm is fixated on the culprit being a teenager due to the nature of the crime but continues to struggle with his concentration. His hands shake and painful memories of the past come flooding back. Specifically, moments following his Father’s arrest and how Malcolm changed his name before attending. This jogs some memories of his time in school, namely surrounding a black book the Headmaster would use to record names of different students. Believing this may hold a clue, Malcolm dives into the water and retrieves the book. In fact, those students whose names are jotted down happen to be the three Malcolm is looking to profile right now. Given how prolific this school is, could it be cause for one of these students to kill? Malcolm seems to think so. Well he manages to narrow it down to three students – Molly, Louisa and Anton. They all exchange glances while being questioned, hinting that they’re hiding something. Quite what though, remains to be seen. When Jessica finds out, she believes Malcom’s past is compromising the investigation. Well, it turns out Edrisa may hold the clues needed. She picks up a water bottle in the physics lab and realizes it hides the test answers under the label. The toxicology report on the dead headmaster also seems to hint that Brumback was dead before he hit the pool. According to Edrisa, the killer used chloramine trihydrate which is a poisonous antibacterial. This brings Malcolm’s focus to Louisa, who Malcolm invites over to his place. Jessica talks to her and confronts her about the cheating. She admits to what happened before outright asking who murdered the headmaster. Well, that brings Malcolm before Alan who admits that Martin was the one who revealed his real name at school. While Anton leaves the school grounds via a helicopter (as you do), Malcolm visits Martin and blames him for not having a real childhood. Malcolm admits he was locked up in a locker for 3 straight days because of his name. While the police arrive to arrest Anton at his apartment, Malcolm confronts the Interim Headmaster and believes he’s the murderer. As Alan doubles over and clutches his throat, it seems like he’s been poisoned. Louisa suddenly shows up and reveals herself to be the real killer. As Malcolm tries to talk through how she’s feeling, he eventually decides to use the fire suppression system to save himself. Just as Louisa walks away, Gil shows up with his officers to arrest her. Thankfully, this also saves Bright from his ordeal. Afterwards, he heads into Claremont and apologizes to his Father. After a brief but important chat, Malcolm walks away while Martin asks him to ring the following day. Malcolm tells him to enjoy bible study as he opens the bible. The camera pans across to reveal a blue and green keycard hidden inside. These will, of course, allow him to escape from Claremont.
The Episode Review
Prodigal Son returns with a much more straight forward episode this week, without the messy subplot involving JT and commentary from Dani. Because of this, the episode flows a lot better but the case itself is still relatively simple. Perhaps a little too simple in truth. The murder wasn’t that difficult to figure out and the resolution was wrapped up with a neat little bow at the end. However, it is a step in the right direction as this show starts to double down on its episodic cases. Hopefully this is a sign that the rest of the season will follow suit and try to rekindle the spark that season 1 had in abundance! For now though, there’s still hope for Prodigal Son to ascend to the heights it hit early on in season 1.
