S01.E03: Fear Response

[formerlyfreedom]

Malcolm gets his dream interview opportunity when the NYPD zeroes in on one of his and his father's favorite psychologists, who may be involved in a homicide linked to an LSD-laced psychology trial. 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. The consequences of Malcolm's visits with The Surgeon begin to add up when Gil, Jessica and Ainsley catch wind that he has been seeing his father again.

Airing Monday, October 7, 2019.

[Chaos Theory]

 We are only on episode three and already we are dealing with how much did mom know. It’s not very surprising that she’s possibly the one who chloroformed Malcolm. The scenes between Malcolm’s parents were probably the best.    The crime mystery itself was kind of boring.  Truth is this just going to live or die on Malcolm’s family drama and not the police mystery stuff.

Edited October 8, 2019 by Chaos Theory
Sorry keyboard busted

[AnimeMania]

Very weird episode, this is the first murder mystery episode that I have seen where the writers appears to give zero F's about the murderer. They never showed him clearly and they didn't give a good reason why he was murdering people. Were the students taking LSD to prove their own thesis or the professor's?

[nx74defiant]

I watched this episode and just found that I didn't care. It didn't capture my interest at all. Probably won't continue to watch.

[Lady Calypso]

I do still like this show, but I agree that it's the family dynamics that the show seems to be more interested in. The mystery part of the show, the crime solving, is definitely second, or third, fiddle to the family issues. 

But I don't necessarily find that a bad thing. Although I do agree that the crime solving part of this episode was sorely lacking, I still didn't mind this episode (though I preferred last episode a lot more). This episode could have really explored some interesting themes and it's a shame they didn't quite hit it.

I did love everything Bellamy Young. Jessica is such an intriguing character, and we had some great scenes with Jessica/Ainsley and Jessica/Martin. She's definitely more involved and I'm glad they're kind of jumping right into that with Malcolm starting to get a clue. 

I am still all for this show. Even with its weak spots, it still holds my attention more than a lot of the new shows this season.

[Ohwell]

I want to like this show but it's getting more and more difficult.  For starters, I'm disappointed that Bellamy Young is playing the mother because I saw enough of her on Scandal. 

Not sure I'll make it through the season.

[sempervivum]

Several things-

I'm already sick of the 'opens the box, sees the corpse, gets chloroformed' flashbacks. Aside from the fact that I'm not convinced a fleeting experience like that would result in such world-shattering psychic damage, it's losing it's impact on me.

When Malcolm's mom was moisturizing, it took me quite a while to figure out who she was. Makeup is magic. Also, the character is very frugal with the night cream for someone who lives such a lavish lifestyle.

Why would Malcolm have such feeble restraints if he chooses to sleep right up against a giant window*? And why does the show insist on him seeing his childhood shrink; oh, how quirky.

I was distracted by the presence of the actor who played Dr. Elaine Brown (?), who was in some short-lived show I was enjoying last year.

* a fanlight window in a big industrial building of that vintage would almost certainly have a metal frame, and even if it were wooden, little bitty Tom Payne wouldn't have enough velocity or mass to break through it.

[rove4]

30 minutes ago, sempervivum said:

I was distracted by the presence of the actor who played Dr. Elaine Brown (?), who was in some short-lived show I was enjoying last year.

Ah, Timeless, how I miss thee.

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, sempervivum said:

I was distracted by the presence of the actor who played Dr. Elaine Brown (?), who was in some short-lived show I was enjoying last year.

Same here! Timeless was such a better show, too.

I have zero interest in Malcolm's family dynamics. He's a little too old (make that WAY too old) for mommy to be wanting him attached to her apron strings.

Plus mom looks a compatible age with Malcolm, not old enough to be his mother. I find that disturbing.

The similarities to Hannibal are also disturbing, the quirky woman corpse investigator who appears delighted by the dead people, and the murders that seem like they were committed by readers of Thomas Harris' books.

I don't give a fig about the woman in the trunk or Malcolm's family, and the weekly murders are only vaguely interesting. I'm only in for the pretty that is Tom Payne. I guess that's a good enough reason to tune in.

1 hour ago, sempervivum said:

Why would Malcolm have such feeble restraints if he chooses to sleep right up against a giant window*?

Any bets on whether his bed is moved to the center of the room next week, and the window fixed? I think the window being covered in plywood would be funny though.

[AnimeMania]

12 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

Any bets on whether his bed is moved to the center of the room next week, and the window fixed? I think the window being covered in plywood would be funny though.

I am sure mom called to get the window repaired before she reached the top of the stairs to his apartment. It would be funny in they put bars on the window, but on the inside!

[meira.hand]

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

Plus mom looks a compatible age with Malcolm, not old enough to be his mother. I find that disturbing.

Dad too actually,

Bellamy Young is 49

Michael Sheen is 50

Tom Payne is 36

[patty1h]

This show is trying my patience now, after watching Malcolm hanging out of a window after waking from night terrors, tethered by wrist restraints, while his mother stands on the sidewalk below.   Really?

Also, the show is using a plot device that makes me angry, which was used all the time on the original CSI:  the person whose job is basically a desk job but somehow is always out in the field interacting with cops, solving cases, fighting psycho killers.  William Peterson was always out doing a cops job instead of looking through a microscope.  That always bothered me and PS seems to be following this setup.

[Ohwell]

Even though Michael Sheen is 50, I can take him looking older, especially with the scraggly beard.  However, Bellamy Young doesn't look old enough, even though she tried to dress matronly.  My issue with her is that I never thought she was that good of an actress. 

[tennisgurl]

Oh yeah, mom knows more than what she is letting on. I dont know if she was a full on serial killer partner, but she knew who was in that trunk and was apparently trying to hide it. 

Agree that the case of the week stuff is pretty poorly thought out so far, but I do like the character dynamics, even the supporting characters are growing on me. I mean, as a person who as a grown ass person still sometimes grabs a lollipop from the doctors office, I got a kick out of that whole scene where Malcolm brought little lollipops to everyone. 

If Malcolm has to sleep in restraints at night, maybe he should, I dont know, get stronger restraints, or not have his bed right by a window? That whole bit where he fell out the window was just...weird.

[Regalbegal]

22 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

We are only on episode three and already we are dealing with how much did mom know.

Given they are moving so quickly during the season into this plot, I am thinking (hoping?) that the story regarding the mother will zig in some unexpected way by the end of the season.

I  liked this episode - yes, the crime of the week felt a bit perfunctory, but I find the background storyline more interesting anyway, and if it means more time for scenes between Bellamy Young and Michael Sheen I am all for it. 

7 hours ago, meira.hand said:

Dad too actually,

Bellamy Young is 49

Michael Sheen is 50

Tom Payne is 36

Honestly, I wouldn't have given the ages of the characters a second thought unless it was brought up here.  I buy Bellamy Young as a well-preserved real housewife type in her early to mid-50s.  I have never seen the actor playing Malcom in anything before, but would have guessed his age (as Malcom) around 28-30, so in the realm of a realistic offspring of the two other characters.    

[Chaos Theory]

I don’t care if a 36 year old plays a teenager as long as they do it well.   If you get Bellamy Young to play the main characters flighty but sketchy mom you don’t say no.   

Edited October 9, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[Jennabelle88]

Okay, where to start? I wasn't into this episode, which is disappointing because I LOVED the previous two. Let's just skip straight to the end. If just a whiff of chloroform can trigger memories, why not sniff the bottle? Why douse your pillow? And if memories trigger your psychotic episodes, why not harness yourself beforehand? And what the hell did Mommy Dearest do? 

[Steph J]

5 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Oh yeah, mom knows more than what she is letting on. I dont know if she was a full on serial killer partner, but she knew who was in that trunk and was apparently trying to hide it. 

I'm definitely getting a Paul Bernardo & Karla Homolka vibe from the parents.

[ParadoxLost]

6 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Oh yeah, mom knows more than what she is letting on. I dont know if she was a full on serial killer partner, but she knew who was in that trunk and was apparently trying to hide it. 

I've been assuming that Dad somehow involved Malcolm in murder(s) and Mom found out about it and proceeded from there to protect her son rather than stop her serial killer husband.

I'm not sure I'll stick around to find out.  I don't think I want to watch a show where the lead has night terrors that end with him flinging himself out a window by episode 3 and Mom is blase about it.  That means that the dumbest thing I've seen since the Fonz jumped over a shark is run of the mill and its only going to get more preposterous.

I was already having a lot of trouble with the basic premise.  I think this show would be better if Martin wasn't a regular and only consulted in dire circumstances and if Malcolm had a chance to build relationships before going off the deep end.

[mythoughtis]

I can’t buy the concerned Mommy act.  She allowed her small son to visit his father, the serial killer, alone for years.    Yet she didn’t allow her daughter to see him even once.   Now she wants to ‘fix’ it.  Too little too late. 
 

question- where is she getting her money?  Her husband has been in a prison psych hospital for 20 years.  She doesn’t seem to work. 
 

question- the man is a serial killer, but is in a psych hospital rather than in prison.  Have we seen an explanation explaining exactly why he’s in one place vs the other? 

Edited October 9, 2019 by mythoughtis

[AnimeMania]

3 hours ago, mythoughtis said:

question- where is she getting her money?  Her husband has been in a prison psych hospital for 20 years.  She doesn’t seem to work. 

I think the mother came from a very rich family and the serial killer dad was not wealthy. The dad did all sorts of things to give her the life she was accustomed to. So, she is probably living off of her parents money at the moment.

[MaggieG]

Anyone else get the sense there may have been a little history between Jessica and Lou Diamond Phillips (I can't remember his character name)?

[mythoughtis]

40 minutes ago, MaggieG said:

Anyone else get the sense there may have been a little history between Jessica and Lou Diamond Phillips (I can't remember his character name)?

As in he thinks she was a bad parent?  Yes.  As in he and his wife were there for Malcolm when mom wasn’t? Yes. As in they had a thing? No.  
 

Makes me wonder if the detective felt she was involved, but couldn’t find enough to charge her. So he stayed close to the family to try to keep the kids safe. 

Edited October 9, 2019 by mythoughtis

[Simba122504]

One of my pet peeves is characters repeating shit you know is not going to happen because it's a major plot point on the series. Mama: Stop going to see your father. Stop going to see your father. Of course that's not going to happen because it's a freaking big part of the show! Writers, shut up. I understand it's only been episode 3 but it's already annoying me.  This series needs a creepy season long mystery arc to go along with the CoTW stuff. So far the cases of the week have involved weak cardboard cutout villians involved in forgettable motives. Maybe they don't have the budget or I'm just sleepy, but showing LSD in action would have been amazing. But I'm tired and that's a more entertaining series. 😆

[Jennabelle88]

1 hour ago, MaggieG said:

Anyone else get the sense there may have been a little history between Jessica and Lou Diamond Phillips (I can't remember his character name)?

Yes. I was wondering what they had to do with each other. Before she'd even said two words, he told her his wife loved Malcolm. I was like, "Do huh? Where'd that come from? What did his wife have to do with Malcolm and his family? And what a weird way to just randomly bring that up!"

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, mythoughtis said:

Makes me wonder if the detective felt she was involved, but couldn’t find enough to charge her. So he stayed close to the family to try to keep the kids safe. 

That is the file that Lou Diamond Phillips gave to Malcolm, so yes, Lou Diamond Phillips probably took care of Malcolm and his sister if they arrested the mother and father for the crimes, before determining the mother was not involved. The father probably painted a story that kept the mother from being implicated. 

Malcolm might just blow up his mother's world. The rest of this season might be trying to find enough information to put his mother in prison.

[foxfreakinmulder]

On ‎10‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 11:43 AM, patty1h said:

This show is trying my patience now, after watching Malcolm hanging out of a window after waking from night terrors, tethered by wrist restraints, while his mother stands on the sidewalk below.   Really?

And the mom was looking up as the glass was falling almost right on top of her and she didn't get a scratch lol.

I really don't think a profiler could get a clear picture of a murderer that quick simply by looking at a few items or a dead body.

I'm wondering if Malcolm killed the girl in the trunk and mom and dad covered it up and tried to make him believe it never happened.

Why did mom tell dad when she visited him "not to take the only thing she has left" when she ask him to stop talking to Malcolm? I said to her through my tv "what about your daughter doesn't she matter?"

For some reason this show is giving me The Following vibe. That show started out interesting and then fell down the rabbit hole of dumb, yeah sure, unrealistic, give me a forking break.  I hope it stays away from the rabbit hole.

[Perfect Xero]

I'm mostly in for the family drama and not the case of the week, but it would be nice if some of the cases were complex enough to actually justify getting killer Dad's help. At least this week Malcolm and team mostly solved it on their own.

[rove4]

On 10/8/2019 at 6:59 AM, icemiser69 said:

The writers of this series are spending too much time with Malcolm's family dynamics, and not enough time on the murder mystery of the week.

I'm actually more interested in the family dynamics and history than in the MOTW.  There are plenty of police procedurals on air in any given year for me to get my fill of that stuff.  Here, I'm more interested in Malcolm's mental health and how his past and his family impact that. 

[Regalbegal]

On 10/9/2019 at 4:17 PM, foxfreakinmulder said:

For some reason this show is giving me The Following vibe. That show started out interesting and then fell down the rabbit hole of dumb, yeah sure, unrealistic, give me a forking break.  I hope it stays away from the rabbit hole.

Yeesh, for sure, that show fell far and fast (I can’t believe it lasted like 3 seasons?).  At least this early on this show doesn’t seem to be taking itself as seriously as The Following did, so hopefully that is a good sign. 

[sharifa70]

I like the premise but I’m having a hard time suspending disbelief enough to go with it. In the pilot it was that Malcolm would never pass a background check for the FBI. In this episode it was the chloroform. I might accept that Dr. Whitly could get it, but where would Malcolm get it? Can people just buy chloroform whenever they want? If Malcolm needs restraints to sleep and it’s that dangerous for him, why is he in a top-floor apartment? Why aren’t the windows reinforced? So many questions!

[Samwise979]

I watched the first three episodes in a row. I am liking it so far. Confused about the serial killer dad's office but I'll go with it....

Any Gilmore Girls fans recognize the medical examiner is Lane?

(I typed this a long time ago and I guess I forgot to post? Lmao)

Edited October 15, 2019 by Samwise979

[sharifa70]

28 minutes ago, Samwise979 said:

I watched the first three episodes in a row. I am liking it so far. Confused about the serial killer dad's office but I'll go with it....

Any Gilmore Girls fans recognize the medical examiner is Lane?

(I typed this a long time ago and I guess I forgot to post? Lmao)

I knew I recognized her from somewhere! I gave up on GG in season 2, so not exactly a fan, but thank you! I keep forgetting to look her up in imdb. 

[Driad]

35 minutes ago, Samwise979 said:

Confused about the serial killer dad's office but I'll go with it....

He seems to be in a mental hospital for the criminally insane.  Maybe extra payments got him the office.  Unclear whether he can see patients in person or only their records, or something like Skype.

[Samwise979]

34 minutes ago, Driad said:

He seems to be in a mental hospital for the criminally insane.  Maybe extra payments got him the office.  Unclear whether he can see patients in person or only their records, or something like Skype.

Right but how is he still practicing? He didn't lose his license? And even if he could see patients who would see him? 

[sinkwriter]

On 10/14/2019 at 9:54 PM, Samwise979 said:

Any Gilmore Girls fans recognize the medical examiner is Lane?

Right away!  🙂  And I hope they don't just use her for these little snippets of comedy where she drools over Malcolm. I want her to be a substantial part of the crew with actual character depth. 

[Morrigan2575]

This isn't like other procedurals where the murder mystery is The story. In this show the weekly murders are just a plot device to move the characters/family drama forward. I'm actually OK with that because I find Malcolm and the Malcolm/Martin stuff fascinating. I'm actually looking forward to seeing Martin/Ainsley interact and I'm all about the mystery of what happened to Malcolm when he was a kid. 

[Trini]

So I watched the second and third episodes and not the Pilot (looks like I skipped the unevenness, so cool), and here's my problem with the show so far -- I like our protagonist Malcolm, I'm rooting for him, I want him to have better mental health and figure out this mystery from his childhood; BUT I feel like he needs to stay as far away as possible from toxic parents, but then there wouldn't be a show.

I'm annoyed my Dr. Whitly's ridiculously cushy cell.

Crashing through the window in this episode was unnecessarily over the top.

I might watch a few more, but I don't know if I will stick with this.

Edited November 3, 2019 by Trini

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 10/8/2019 at 11:12 PM, mythoughtis said:

question- the man is a serial killer, but is in a psych hospital rather than in prison.  Have we seen an explanation explaining exactly why he’s in one place vs the other? 

The most likely explanation is that he mounted an insanity defense, was found not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, and was committed to a psychiatric hospital.

[nodorothyparker]

I'm here for the family dynamic and not the Murderer of the Week, which is probably a good thing since the weekly cases almost feel like afterthoughts.  Oh yeah, it was this random grad student you're never even going to get a good look at it and he did it because ... oh, I guess he was stressed to the point of a psychotic break by these drug experiments they were all doing.  And here's our "consultant" consulting with a person of interest about his own personal issues while he's supposed to be investigating.  Sure, let's go with that.

So yeah, I like the show, warts and all, because it's delivering the tortured family relationships in spades.  I guess we're to assume the restraints have mostly worked up until now, but since the reintroduction of Hereeee's Daddy, not so much.  Maybe it's time for Mom to go shopping for some upgrades since she seems to have all the family money and plenty of free time.  Both the flashback and modern day Martin-Jessica interactions were pretty interesting and plenty revealing, from Martin telling her with all seriousness that they were affluent enough he and his attorney thought he could skate on 23 known murders to present-day Jessica telling him point blank that their visits were hurting their son and Martin basically shrugging it off because what about me? What about what I want?  Me me me.  It seems obvious from the red dress flashback that Jessica knew something hinky was going on, but I'm not ready to buy just yet that she was an accomplice or anything along those lines.  As of now, I'm still inclined to either think she found out about his extracurriculars and didn't do anything because as she said, they had a nice life and when he was arrested she basically lost everything.  Or she thought he had mistresses or something and was willing to look the other way.  I guess we'll see now that Malcolm has realized something is off there.

We never did find out what JT stands for.  And now I know because of this show that you can indeed buy chloroform online.  If anyone ever looks too closely at some of my searches, it's going to be hilarious.  Or so I hope.