S01.E06: All Souls and Sadists

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

When Bright uncovers a photo of himself and Martin from when he was a kid, he is forced to focus on the repressed memories from his childhood psyche. He also finds himself bonding with a young boy connected to the NYPD’s latest homicide. Jessica and Malcolm finally agree on one thing—they must put a stop to Ainsley’s idea to interview 'The Surgeon'.

 

Airing Monday, October 28, 2019.

 

[Lily H]

Just once, I'd like to see a psychopathic, sadistic child get what's coming to him, instead of the usual "let's give the boy a lollipop and send him to a cushy hospital for a little while before unleashing him on an unsuspecting public again" trope.

So is Jessica supposed to be much older than the actress playing her, or is Malcolm supposed to be much younger than the actor playing him, or can we add pedophilia to Dr. Whitly's crimes?

[AnimeMania]

I was surprised how butthurt Malcolm was lying to the little psychopath, but had no problem lying to the run-over guy with the cat.

[Chaos Theory]

I’ve never understood why people care so much about the age of the actors who play a character.   I wouldn’t care if Bellamy young played the daughter and the daughter played the mother if they could both pull the rolls.   It’s acting.

This show has always been more about family dynamics and secrets then the case of the week which had an obvious killer.  I figured out it was the kid pretty early on.  We were dealing with Malcom’s fear so of course we have a child psychopath.  But the story worked well.

i really enjoyed Ainsley and Jessica’s conversation.  Ainsley is the only one not tainted by Martin but she also has questions about her past that only Martin can answer and she is an adult but Jessica is an over protective mother.  It will be interesting watching Ainsley and Martin interact.

Also does anyone else think Martin and group therapy is a bad idea?  

Edited October 29, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[jelaine]

3 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

I was surprised how butthurt Malcolm was lying to the little psychopath, but had no problem lying to the run-over guy with the cat.

He identified with the little psychopath so in essense he was lying to himself hence butthurt.

The run-over guy with the cat was a stalker pap which is generally acknowledged, in universe, as somewhere in the vicinity of slime. Why feel bad about lying to someone like that?

49 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

Also does anyone else think Martin and group therapy is a bad idea?

So very much. Think about the guy in the cell next to Hannibal's in Silence of the Lambs. Not a good outcome for anyone but Martin.

[Lady Calypso]

I was literally screaming at my TV "Malcolm, it's the kid! Look at the kid!" They definitely made it clear it was the kid from the moment we first met him, so it was frustrating, seeing that they weren't seeing it. 

Otherwise, the kid was creepy enough and I was convinced that he'd try to take a swipe at Malcolm in their final scene, so I was surprised when he just handed the knife to Malcolm instead. The case was extremely straight forward but it worked in terms of how it related to Malcolm. And this time, we had a little less masochist Malcolm! This time, the only weird things he did was let the Krav Maga boyfriend beat him up and he carried a dead rabbit all the way to the police station! Progress!

I really like Ainsley and actually look forward to seeing how she interacts with Malcolm. I had a good chuckle at her telling Jessica and Malcolm that she went to visit Martin and Malcolm's first question, in an extremely sincere tone, was "Are you ok?" Tom Payne, though I find him overdramatic at times as Malcolm, sold the delivery of that line. 

I also liked Ainsley's conversation with Jessica. With Ainsley having no contact with Martin for 20 years and not really knowing him, since she was...what, four or five when he was arrested? Of course she has questions. She doesn't really know the man, so I liked that Jessica pointed out to Ainsley that she loved her father from that one meeting. It'll be interesting to see what transpires from the interview.

4 hours ago, Lily H said:

So is Jessica supposed to be much older than the actress playing her, or is Malcolm supposed to be much younger than the actor playing him, or can we add pedophilia to Dr. Whitly's crimes?

Malcolm's supposed to be in his early 30s, I believe. The actor is in his mid 30s. He was a recast, and the original actor was in his early 30s.

[kili]

Quote

Also does anyone else think Martin and group therapy is a bad idea?

The doctor running the session just looked so done with him. I hope we get more group therapy with Martin.

The Mom probably took all the martial arts classes so that she would stand a fighting chance against her kid.

[UnknownK]

6 hours ago, Lily H said:

Just once, I'd like to see a psychopathic, sadistic child get what's coming to him, instead of the usual "let's give the boy a lollipop and send him to a cushy hospital for a little while before unleashing him on an unsuspecting public again" trope.

There are plenty of people in this world who like inflicting pain on others, there are also plenty of people who only care about themselves. Each one could probably be treated and can fake living a somewhat "normal" life, put them together and unfortunately you have a serial killer that needs a bullet in the back of the head. Society likes wasting time and money trying to correct things that cannot be fixed because the alternative is kind of ugly.

[UnknownK]

1 hour ago, kili said:

The Mom probably took all the martial arts classes so that she would stand a fighting chance against her kid.

The mother loved the kid and would never hurt HIM. Of course she likes inflicting pain like her child (genetics has to come from at least one of the parents to the child), but she just beat up the husband and more then likely went to martial arts class to be a more efficient husband beater. I guess she sensed the instructor was also like her and decided to hook up with him after her husband wanted out of the abusive relationship with the wife and the budding serial killer child.

[UnknownK]

6 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

I absolutely agree with you.  Having that kid kill at least one pet with no remorse whatsoever.  I don't know how anyone comes back from that.  It would have been controversial, but I was hoping that a sniper would have taken that kid out.   That definitely would have sent Malcolm spiraling.

I don't like seeing any series where animals/[ets are killed.

Malcolm looking at blood spatter with that flashlight without any protective eye wear.  Not smart.

Malcolm's mother had no boundaries.  Just barges in anywhere without notice.  In this episode she barges in where her daughter is living.   Then she looks at her daughter's main squeeze and comments on his package.  Yikes. 

Last week she was hinting at a same sex relationship with that human trafficking lawyer.  That is, if they were only in college together.

Sounds like Malcolm's mom needs to get laid.

I think Malcom's mom owns both apartments so she can barge in when she likes in her mind.

Not sure how the blacklight will harm you when you are not getting hit in the eyes by it. Also not sure how blood or other fluids would still show up after 20 years of decomposing (unless those stains are newer)?

[Chaos Theory]

I am curious if anyone here would be able to shoot a kid even a bad one?   Would you have wished that on the unseen sniper or even worse Malcolm who.  Both would have had to live with killing a child.  Yes it’s all high and mighty to want the child to get what he deserves but who deserved killing him?  

[UnknownK]

24 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

I am curious if anyone here would be able to shoot a kid even a bad one?   Would you have wished that on the unseen sniper or even worse Malcolm who.  Both would have had to live with killing a child.  Yes it’s all high and mighty to want the child to get what he deserves but who deserved killing him?  

The kid knifed his father 100 times because he was going to be sent to a hospital to get better help. The kid then knifed the wifes sex partner because the kid didn't want to be sent to a foster house. In between the kid liked killing rabbits and judging by the multiple older graves other animals as well (what kind of screwup would let that kid have more pets). So if you are asking me if I would shoot that kid standing in front of me with a bloody knife (knowing the above happened) if I thought he was going to stab me as well, I would say yes. 

[sempervivum]

19 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

I am curious if anyone here would be able to shoot a kid even a bad one?  

'Look at the flowers, Lizzie' 😯

Really disappointing episode. The killer was obvious from the moment we saw the kid.  And wasn't he supposed to be 14? Why was he wearing a 'Wild Things' Halloween costume like a 6 year old? Also, I can't stand the sister, who looks like she's 14, and who's now going to try to advance her 'journalist' career by exploiting her own family's tragedy.  How Ronan Farrow of her. 

I agree that there's no way group therapy would include a serial killer- do people with multiple life sentences ever get services like that? I would hope not. I used to think it might be useful to do research on defective people like this, but as UNKNOWNK said above:

1 hour ago, UnknownK said:

Society likes wasting time and money trying to correct things that cannot be fixed because the alternative is kind of ugly.

Well, New Yorkers think so, which I guess is why this monster is taking up resources in his padded cell. 

[UnknownK]

Anybody in the hospital that has those services is probably allowed to use them as long as they are  not going to kill somebody during sessions.

I liked how they showed in therapy that killers are not all the same stereotype. The doctor seems like a normal charming very smart person until you piss him off (he can fake being human) while the other guy who just killed his parents seemed batshit crazy from the second he opened his mouth.

Not sure what age has to do with Halloween costumes, if the thing fits its made for you unless there is a "sexy" in the description and you are under age.

The sister looks like a 20 something to me fresh out of school looking to make a name for herself. Getting your serial killer father to talk on camera would be a big career boost since he won't talk to anyone else. Learning how those type of people can have a normal life and still get to do what they do is very helpful to police and medical professionals so its not all about exploiting.

[AnimeMania]

The kid was dressed like a werewolf, nobody should have a problem with killing a werewolf.

[tennisgurl]

I knew it was the kid right away, and that Malcolm would have trouble not picking him out because he identified with him so much. I dont mind that the kid got help, he is clearly better off in a hospital than terrorizing rabbits out in society and maybe its possible he could get at least his psychopathy under some kind of control, I put more blame on his obsessive, enabler mother. He knew what her son was capable of, she knew what he had done, but she kept covering for him and not getting him help, even as he murdered her estranged husband and would have probably been hiding human bodies next to the rabbit bodies one day. The kid is mentally ill, whats her excuse? I really just felt bad for the dead father, who tried to escape what was apparently an abusive relationship and was horribly murdered for trying to get his son help, by his own kid. 

Jessica needs to learn about boundaries, oh my God! her kids are grown ass adults, let them live their lives and stop breaking into their homes at all hours! I did like the scenes with Jessica and Ainsley, and Ainsley getting closer to her murder dad seems like it could be interesting. She seems really excited to have a dad again, even a serial killer dad, it makes me continue to suspect that she will be the one the one that follows in her fathers foot steps, not Malcolm. It was funny how she was like "Everything I know about him is colored by your resentment!" and Jessica had to remind her that him killing several people presumably had something to do with it! Its not like he is just normal deadbeat dad who left the family, he murdered several people! For fun!

[leocadia]

On 10/29/2019 at 4:21 AM, Lily H said:

Just once, I'd like to see a psychopathic, sadistic child get what's coming to him, instead of the usual "let's give the boy a lollipop and send him to a cushy hospital for a little while before unleashing him on an unsuspecting public again" trope.

Potential spoiler for another show so...

Spoiler

You should check out the show "Evil" where there was a similar storyline this week.  You might find the resolution more to your liking.  😉

[foxfreakinmulder]

I still think Malcolm killed the lady in the box and that's why dad went to the trouble of making him think it wasn't real. Him remembering the station wagon being used to strap women down makes me think he was with his dad during a murder. And how long had that station wagon been parked there at the junk yard?

Do the police really need Malcolm to tell them everything about a murder? Even I know if someone is stabbed 100 times it's overkill and usually means it was done by someone the dead person knew. 

[UnknownK]

3 hours ago, foxfreakinmulder said:

Do the police really need Malcolm to tell them everything about a murder? Even I know if someone is stabbed 100 times it's overkill and usually means it was done by someone the dead person knew. 

I think that many stabs just means you really pissed somebody off badly. While that could also mean you knew the guy it doesn't have to.

[Morrigan2575]

Knew it was the son the minute he showed up. 

Other than that, I liked the episode. I liked the family drama. I found Martin's group therapy funny. 

[Grammaeryn]

I’m going to give this show one more episode to keep me engaged or I’m bowing out. I was yelling at the TV “triad of psychopathy!” within seconds of seeing that kid. The weekly cases seem to be getting dumber and dumber. The family drama is a yawn fest. Not enough Michael Sheen screen time. You know what would be interesting is if The Surgeon had an accomplice that never got caught. No, not Malcolm or Mommy Dearest. A twist like that could be good!

[Catfi9ht]

Just getting caught up on the show. It's not terrible but lukewarm for me. I think the writing is the weakest link.

I like all of the characters. My only gripe with the actors would be Ainsley. My only exposure to Halston Sage is this and The Orville. Her line delivery is fine, but she has the camera chemistry of a wet paper bag.

My favorite characters are Malcolm's parents. I love Michael Sheen and know he's phenomenal, but I think this is my first time seeing the actress who plays the mom. She can really hold her own with Michael Sheen and that's saying something.

[xtwheeler]

On 10/31/2019 at 7:57 PM, Grammaeryn said:

I’m going to give this show one more episode to keep me engaged or I’m bowing out. I was yelling at the TV “triad of psychopathy!” within seconds of seeing that kid.

The "homicidal/psychopathic triad" has been abandoned, and is considered an "urban legend" by forensic psychologists. It more accurately reflects a badly abused child (who is much more likely to go on to be further abused, not to become an abuser, as another false psychological trope holds). Lots of people are aware of the "homicidal triad" but studies have not borne it out. 

[dungeonwriter]

I got my actual Krav Maga certified ex-Israeli commando instructor to watch the KM clip and he said it was the biggest load of garbage. 

There's no way that the instructor have assaulted someone and nearly killed them, and had gotten into bar fights, let alone attacked a student like that. 

In real life, as an expert who is well trained to fight, my teacher's nightmare is legitimately defending himself  from a real threat, and causing lethal damage that causes him to be the one put on trial. And that’s for a case of self defense. 

For attacking a student like that? Yeah, that's lawsuits and prison time. 

[nodorothyparker]

Of course the kid was the killer.  That was obvious from the jump, but the show's never really about the Murder of the Week as much as it's about how the case affects Malcolm's teetering sanity.  In this case, he was so busy seeing himself as the poor lost child in the kid that he missed all the other obvious stuff until he was rummaging around the backyard digging up dead rabbits.  He clearly wanted to be that kid's Gil Arroyo.

It's hard to imagine after everything this family has clearly been through in the last two decades how Ainsley thinks dredging up Daddy Dearest's extracurriculars after all this time is really going to help anyone, but I guess we're supposed to think she's so tunnel visioned with her "career" that she's not considering that at all.  It makes sense that having no real memories of Martin because she was so young or no real exposure since that she's got questions she feels like only he can answer, but as she said herself, it hasn't escaped her notice that Mom and Malcolm do remember Martin and have had varying degrees of exposure to him in the intervening decades and they're both pretty far from okay.  You'd think she might see that as a tipoff or warning.  I mean, really, Ainsley?  You feel like the people most affected by him may have painted a bad picture of him for you and the fact that he killed at least 23 known people doesn't have anything to do with that?

I got a bigger kick out of the serial killers' support group than I probably should have.  The group leader just seemed done with Martin's bullshit.  You know he has to be just exhausting to deal with on anything resembling a regular basis.