S01.E08: Family Friend

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

As the NYPD digs into the “Junkyard Killer” case, Malcolm realizes the main suspect may have had a connection to his father. As news regarding this serial killer spreads, Ainsley itches to be the first one on the case, while Jessica panics, fearing she may never be able to leave the past behind.

Airing Monday, November 11, 2019.

 

[Roxie]

Not happy about next week's preview showing Malcolm getting busy with Eve.

[Simba122504]

I’ll admit these last two episodes have been way better than the first 6. Definitely engrossing and a vast improvement from earlier in the season. I asked for a serial killer arc and TPTB already had one.  The whole Whitley family is dysfunctional in different ways. Martin obviously being the most extreme one. I wonder how far Ainsley is willing to go for a story? Martin becomes more proud of her than his son. I’m actually sad that it’s about to take its winter break. 

[AnimeMania]

3 hours ago, Roxie said:

Not happy about next week's preview showing Malcolm getting busy with Eve.

I figured seeing Malcolm without his shirt was a prelude to Malcolm and Eve hooking up. I still believe that Eve has an ulterior motive for hanging around Malcolm. 

They have really toned down the Medical Examiner's character from quirky to slightly peculiar, I liked her original personality better. She has almost zero screen presence now.

The Police Officer JT is really annoying, he craps on everything and has nothing to contribute.

When the cameraman breaks up with Ainsley, I was expecting her to get mad and slam his hand in the laptop. She does, but I think it was an accident.

The Junkyard Killer left so many clues to his identity, how many people have a key card to that gate. I am surprised it didn't record a name and how often he uses it. A camera facing the gate should have captured every time he entered, he had to have slipped up at least once. There should also have been tons of cameras in front of the police station, they could have backtracked his route.

[UnknownK]

The junkyard killer got away with killing because there were no bodies found and the people he killed were not people anybody would care about to report missing. If nobody is looking for you and nobody stumbles over your dead body there is no crime being investigated.

The keycard could have been swiped from somebody and a guy with a beard and a common hoodie is not that easy to find especially if he lives off the digital grid. Unless the junkyard is abandoned and nobody local has ever bothered to find the owner to collect taxes on it for 20 years there must be somebody who owns it and some records around, 

[mertensia]

This really is just getting better. 

I am really very curious about the girl in the box. I liked that Lou said he wasn't going to tell him she wasn't real.

[Chaos Theory]

I am really liking The Whitley Family abd appreciate that they are all really fun in their own way.   I like that Ainsley is really good at her job.  A lesser show would have made her “the normal one” and there the boring trite character.   This show has made her really good at her job which of course doesn’t do much for her boyfriend who has every right to be a little upset at her.  I did like what he said to her. Paraphrasing “This is who you are.   I don’t have to like it”.

The slow stuff was the case of the week but it looks like that might actually be picking up with the entry of the FBI who have a grudge against Malcolm and a long running bad guy.   
 

Bellamy Young continues to be a hoot and a half.  

Edited November 12, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[sempervivum]

As usual, I fell asleep halfway in. I did wake up in time for topless Malcolm, with bonus chest hair. (OT, but I was pleased to read recently that chest hair is back in fashion). (For men, if it's still OK to say that). Pretty nice guns, Tom.

Was I the only one rooting for the killer to break the door glass and finish off Ainsley? Ugh, I can't stand her and her Sandra Bernhard-esque giant, writhing lips.

Exactly what kind of hospital was that? It looked like ones I remember from 40+ years ago, except with completely empty hallways. 

Human Trafficing Lawyer seems far too conventional to put up with Malcolm's crazy; I can hardly wait to see her crawl into his bed, with it's tangle of restraints. 

Also, why on earth would Malcolm put on a suit and tie to go into that tunnel (or whatever it was) to meet the killer? Even his boss was in a turtleneck.

[saber5055]

10 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

When the cameraman breaks up with Ainsley, I was expecting her to get mad and slam his hand in the laptop. She does, but I think it was an accident.

She totally caught his thumb in there, and I laughed that the laptop made a "slammed closed" sound while he was removing his thumb so it really could close.

Thank you police guy for asking who's been paying for that basement phone line for the past 20 years. Mom said bills just get paid, and this before auto online payments were invented! Amazing.

I was waiting for Malcolm to do a star 69 to get the call-back number of the phone-calling killer, but I guess you can't do that on a rotary dial. Plus burner phone, I guess.

I really want to be in a hospital where all the staff, including nurses and janitorial, go home at night and just leave patients on their own. I mean, no one is sick or going to die if staff leaves for the night, right? Not sure why the killer dressed up as a doctor since no one was there to see him anyway.

I'd be fine with Ainsley being murdered. And put in a box in Mom's basement.

I was flipping channels so missed Malcolm sans shirt. *sigh*

Do those walk-through bar gates turn backward? I wouldn't think that'd be safe IRL.

[sinkwriter]

11 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

I still believe that Eve has an ulterior motive for hanging around Malcolm. 

Me, too. Just the way he was saying how it's kind of his thing, how he can read people, and she looked at him and said, "I know." But I felt like she had a look on her face like, "Except you aren't reading me right, because I have ulterior motives and you don't have a clue." I don't trust her at all.

Frankly, I can't believe how much Malcolm's mother keeps telling her. I'm like, lady, for someone whose husband was a serial killer, you are being way too trusting of this complete stranger with all your personal secrets and feelings and business. Don't tell her things!

Edited November 12, 2019 by sinkwriter

[Lily H]

Yet another example of a particularly annoying movie/TV trope. That of the completely deserted and dark hospital, (day shifts only for the lucky nurses and doctors at these hospitals, it seems), and populated solely by victim and killer. (And, of course, the obligatory but ultimately useless hallway "guard" who ALWAYS ends up dead).

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, sinkwriter said:

Frankly, I can't believe how much Malcolm's mother keeps telling her. I'm like, lady, for someone whose husband was a serial killer, you are being way too trusting of this complete stranger with all your personal secrets and feelings and business. Don't tell her things!

Yes to all of the above. And so what that mom has a gun, loaded or not. What's the big deal in that. Some people have closets full of automatic weapons. This lady just had one hand gun, not the stuff of terrorist attacks. Since she wasn't accused of any crime (that I remember hearing about) it should be legal for her to have it. WTH people, leave her alone.

It would be interesting if mom is playing a long con on Eve, setting her up to be Malcolm's new squeeze and all. That's a story line I could get into.

[AnimeMania]

2 hours ago, saber5055 said:

And so what that mom has a gun, loaded or not. What's the big deal in that.

I think it is the heavy drinking, the paranoia and the gun. The good thing is the house is almost empty so there are few people she can accidentally shoot. 

[saber5055]

22 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

I think it is the heavy drinking, the paranoia and the gun. The good thing is the house is almost empty so there are few people she can accidentally shoot. 

LOL! Maybe then everyone (Malcolm) will have the courtesy to knock first instead of just walking in on mom if they don't want to get shot. Seems like even Eve barged in, uninvited. I'd want a loaded gun too, if people kept doing that to me. Now that Malcolm took the gun, watch Mr. Junkyard Killer come visiting.

[AnimeMania]

Just now, saber5055 said:

24 minutes ago, AnimeMania said:

I think it is the heavy drinking, the paranoia and the gun. The good thing is the house is almost empty so there are few people she can accidentally shoot. 

LOL! Maybe then everyone (Malcolm) will have the courtesy to knock first instead of just walking in on mom if they don't want to get shot. Seems like even Eve barged in, uninvited. I'd want a loaded gun too, if people kept doing that to me. Now that Malcolm took the gun, watch Mr. Junkyard Killer come visiting.

Eve didn't actually barge in, the housekeeper let her in. Malcolm probably is always welcome. I think mama Whitly should make herself a panic room with a full bar. I hear there is an empty room with nothing but a phone in it, that would be perfect.

[KaveDweller]

7 hours ago, saber5055 said:

I was waiting for Malcolm to do a star 69 to get the call-back number of the phone-calling killer, but I guess you can't do that on a rotary dial. Plus burner phone, I guess.

I didn't notice it was rotary.....how old was this secret room? The surgeon was only arrested 20 years ago, people weren't still using rotary phones at that point. 

7 hours ago, saber5055 said:

I'd be fine with Ainsley being murdered. And put in a box in Mom's basement.

If Ainsley is murdered Malcom's mental issues will get way worse. I like him somewhat functioning, so I am hoping Ainsley and Mom stay alive.

[tennisgurl]

I guess I cant really blame Ainsleys boyfriend for breaking up with her, filming her boyfriends emergency serial killer surgery for her story without telling him is probably a deal breaker. I cant tell if Ainsley is just super ambitious and passionate about her work, or is a serial killer in training. Or both. 

That was a pretty good episode, it looks like we have another reoccurring serial killer to deal with!  I am really interested in what the deal is with the girl in the box is, and the family dynamic is always interesting.

Yeah, maybe have more than one shitty guard keeping the kidnap and attempted murder victim safe from the killer who he was convinced might try and kill him? And what kind of hospital is this where everyone goes home at night?!

I am totally suspicious of Eve, she seems too good to be true, especially as she gets closer to both Malcolm and Jessica and hears more about their personal problems and lives. Maybe she is some kind of murder fan girl?

[Driad]

Did Malcolm know or remember that Junkyard Killer's name was Paul, or did he just choose a name to refer to him?  Maybe I missed a line.

[AnimeMania]

9 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I didn't notice it was rotary.....how old was this secret room? The surgeon was only arrested 20 years ago, people weren't still using rotary phones at that point.

This will make you lose your sh*t! I still have a rotary phone in my basement, and even more incredible, it is one of the ones that permanently stick to the wall! Our basement is mainly used for storage. Those phones last forever and if it ever does break, we can replace it with the one we removed from our kitchen, it didn't stop working, we just replaced, several (maybe as many as 10?, new electronics never last, always the batteries) times with something newer, with more functions. We still have a land line (through the cable company), we have had answering machines with tapes, digital answering machines, and now we have a phone system that has multiple headsets, so there is a headset in each of the most popular rooms that share a group phone number list.

[MaggieG]

Count me in on wondering where the heck everyone was in the hospital.

[SnarkEnthusiast]

Malcolm is still a terrible actor. Also, that priest was just hanging out without a hand for what, 3 days or a week? I guess death via blood loss is no longer a thing.

Malcolm sleeping with his mom's friend was a given, since it's the closest he can get to subconsciously fucking his mom.

The writers aren't even being stealthy about the build up to revealing Ainsley as the true sociopath with her creaming her jeans to her secret surgery footage and not giving a shit about the story of the Junkyard Killer causing mass panic because she only cares about her own self-interest and notoriety. Everything is me, me, me.

[Chaos Theory]

1 hour ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

The writers aren't even being stealthy about the build up to revealing Ainsley as the true sociopath with her creaming her jeans to her secret surgery footage and not giving a shit about the story of the Junkyard Killer causing mass panic because she only cares about her own self-interest and notoriety. Everything is me, me, me.

Wow.  I just think she is overly ambitious and it comes out in awkward ways.    I

[dstv]

2 hours ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

Also, that priest was just hanging out without a hand for what, 3 days or a week? I guess death via blood loss is no longer a thing.

The Junkyard Killer was mentored by The Surgeon, who met him as a hospital employee, so I think it's safe to assume that he is knowledgeable enough about medicine to keep someone alive after amputating their hand. 

16 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

The surgeon was only arrested 20 years ago, people weren't still using rotary phones at that point. 

I was!  It was very useful during Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma, because we had a phone that didn't go out when our power went out. We still have the phone in our basement, though we don't have a land line to plug it into anymore.  As for the private line still being paid for...I'm glad they addressed that even if it was a little hand-wave-y.  I don't have to stretch *too* hard to see a small, obscure line item get carried over year after year till no one managing the accounts really knows what it is and just keeps paying it. 

I am highly suspicious of Eve, and I don't like the idea of her and Malcolm together, but i *do* like the way he is nervous and flustered around her.  Given his notoriety as "serial killer's son!", the way he reacted to being called a "friend" a couple episodes ago, and the bit at the end of this ep. about his former colleagues not liking him at *all*, I get the feeling that the relationships he's forming in NY, with the NYPD and otherwise, are something new to him, and his reaction to Eve is a nice way of showing/reinforcing that IMO.

[Simba122504]

15 hours ago, MaggieG said:

Count me in on wondering where the heck everyone was in the hospital.

At Popeyes waiting on the spicy chicken sandwich. 🙃

[AnimeMania]

2 hours ago, Simba122504 said:

17 hours ago, MaggieG said:

Count me in on wondering where the heck everyone was in the hospital.

At Popeyes waiting on the spicy chicken sandwich. 🙃

If there is a Popeye's that close by, shouldn't the hospital be packed with patients.

[Simba122504]

11 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

If there is a Popeye's that close by, shouldn't the hospital be packed with patients.

😂😂😂 Yeah, the classic “empty hospital” trope is tired. 

Edited November 14, 2019 by Simba122504

[saber5055]

On 11/13/2019 at 5:47 AM, AnimeMania said:

This will make you lose your sh*t! I still have a rotary phone in my basement,

Is it walled up in a secret room? And when it rings, will you answer, "Hello Paul, how did you get this number?"

16 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

If there is a Popeye's that close by, shouldn't the hospital be packed with patients.

That's where all the hospital staff was, in the ER treating Popeye's Chicken Sandwich customers. Everyone was needed!

On 11/13/2019 at 12:48 PM, dstv said:

We still have the phone in our basement,

What is it with rotary phones in everyone's basement?

[mustbekarma]

I have a rotary phone in my utility room. I can only receive calls and call out 911. It's a courtesy from my internet provider. I keep it hooked up just in case of emergency.

[Morrigan2575]

On 11/12/2019 at 11:10 PM, tennisgurl said:

I cant tell if Ainsley is just super ambitious and passionate about her work, or is a serial killer in training. Or both. 

I think Ainsley is a sociopath, that doesn't make her a serial killer although she could become one with her father's manipulation.

Add me to the group that doesn't trust Eve (that scene about reading people was super odd). Although, I admit it's possible that Eve being evil is simply a red herring.

I like Mama Whitley more and more every episode, she was a hoot this episode.

Edited November 15, 2019 by Morrigan2575

[Trini]

BTW, has anyone figured out the real life address for Malcolm's apartment?

[saber5055]

22 hours ago, Trini said:

BTW, has anyone figured out the real life address for Malcolm's apartment?

Where does this show take place? I wonder if it's a studio set.

Cameraman breaking up with Ainsley because she taped the surgery was dumb. That film could be used as evidence if Cameraman died because Martin screwed it up. And if it pointed to Ainsley being at fault for letting Cameraman get shanked, it could put her in prison. So it would have been destroyed.

I would have split with Ainsley for her making me go out into that hallway to get stabbed while she stayed safe. That's not how journalists are suppose to work, THEY are the ones that are always shown standing in knee-deep water reporting while not getting blown away by some hurricane. Ainsley is a fraud.

Never thought that the person in the box might have been killed by Malcolm. There's a new twist!

[Trini]

2 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Where does this show take place? I wonder if it's a studio set.

New York City. But they have shown an establishing shot of the building on a street, which I think is in NYC, but I'm not sure where.

[saber5055]

I did a search and it is filmed in NYC. The hospital where Martin is kept is the Findlay Teller Apartments in Bronx. They've also filmed on 72nd Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, but I don't know if the apartment could be there. In September they filmed at 30th St and 39th Ave in Long Island City. We need a New Yorker to tell us where Malcolm is living!

[CoyoteBlue]

20 hours ago, saber5055 said:

I would have split with Ainsley for her making me go out into that hallway to get stabbed while she stayed safe. That's not how journalists are suppose to work, THEY are the ones that are always shown standing in knee-deep water reporting while not getting blown away by some hurricane. Ainsley is a fraud.

Eh, It's not like she asked him to go roam the halls; he was just twenty feet away behind the same locked-down doors as the rest of them. There's no reason they should have expected CrazyTown to get his hands on an all-access pass and break in. 

[Mari]

On 11/18/2019 at 1:58 PM, saber5055 said:

Cameraman breaking up with Ainsley because she taped the surgery was dumb. That film could be used as evidence if Cameraman died because Martin screwed it up. And if it pointed to Ainsley being at fault for letting Cameraman get shanked, it could put her in prison. So it would have been destroyed.

Was it for the filming, or was it for her attitude about it?  I think it was less about her having filmed it, and more about how she was completely absorbed in how it could impact her career, and not so absorbed in how it had impacted his health.  

[AnimeMania]

13 hours ago, Mari said:

Was it for the filming, or was it for her attitude about it?  I think it was less about her having filmed it, and more about how she was completely absorbed in how it could impact her career, and not so absorbed in how it had impacted his health.  

What would be good for Ainsley's career would also be good for the cameraman's career since they are connected, especially since they are sleeping together.

[Mari]

Well, maybe it would be good for his career--but, if she gets a higher profile, would a more prominent camera person be assigned?

Plus, a lot of people would hope the person they're sleeping with would be more concerned with the near death and stab would than a possible promotion.  Emergency surgery by your girlfriend's serial killer dad in a prison/mental hospital would probably make you less likely to worry about your career, and more about your life choices.  You'd especially worry about your life choices if the aforementioned girlfriend seems to be internally squeeing over how your stab would/emergency surgery made her life better.

Edited November 21, 2019 by Mari
unnecessary letters.

[AnimeMania]

10 hours ago, Mari said:

Well, maybe it would be good for his career--but, if she gets a higher profile, would a more prominent camera person be assigned?

I am sure she would want to keep the same cameraman since ever assignment would be like a paid sex vacation. The higher the profile/celebrity of your girlfriend, the higher the status is of the guy who dates her.

I think the show is trying to suggest that the cameraman broke up with Ainsley because he was getting some kind of "Serial Killer adjacent" vibes from her that were making him uncomfortable.

[dstv]

On 11/14/2019 at 7:48 PM, saber5055 said:

What is it with rotary phones in everyone's basement?

How else is Paul going to call us?  🤷🏻‍♀️

[AnimeMania]

2 hours ago, dstv said:

On 11/14/2019 at 8:48 PM, saber5055 said:

What is it with rotary phones in everyone's basement?

How else is Paul going to call us?  🤷🏻‍♀️

You have reached the Serial Killer Network, how may I direct your call.

[Trini]

Glad Malcolm is at least a little closer to getting some answers.

Mom's Lawyer Friend is obviously shady; but what type of shady, and how much is the question. Maybe she's just into serial killers (and Malcolm is the closest thing to that not in prison)?

I know it's a TV show, and this isn't going to stop, but it annoys me that although Malcolm is just a profiler*, he always ends up knee-deep in the 'action'. I get it; he's the lead. But it was especially nonsensical in this one when he goes down into a hole he knows nothing about - when there were plenty of other cops around - just to get him face-to-face with the victim.

*Actually, I'm a fuzzy on his job title.

I kind of want Malcolm and Kooky Medical Examiner to try dating but they both come to the conclusion that they are better off as friends. Because two kooks together is too much, but I like both of them, and they seem to have some similar interests.

[Sile]

On 11/12/2019 at 9:53 PM, Driad said:

Did Malcolm know or remember that Junkyard Killer's name was Paul, or did he just choose a name to refer to him?  Maybe I missed a line.

The owner of the junkyard was listed as Paul Lazar but his existence seemed to be strictly on paper.  The police (Gil) referred to it as the "Paul Lazar case" when he was talking about the Feds taking over.

I knew Jin was going to break up after discovering the surgery footage, but I can't figure out why.  That goes viral and he could make some serious bank from interviews, a book, maybe even a straight to video (haha) movie.

Good episode, but the lack of Sheen was a bummer since he was the reason I started watching in the first place.

[nodorothyparker]

I get that Jessica is lonely and feeling isolated with everything bubbling up, and it must be really hard to make and keep friends when you're still Mrs. Serial Killer after 20 years but she's being awfully chatty with a woman she just met and only knows superficially through charity work.   And now she's sending Eve to her son's apartment as well, the one that's only mildly crazy on a good day and may not appreciate this stranger barging in?

The Crime of the Week is actually a lot more absorbing than a lot of them have been up to this point, maybe because they found a semi-organic way to tie it to all the family drama instead of letting it be just this thing that happens that prompts unrelated strife within the Whitlys.  I didn't realize until the end that we never actually saw Martin this episode, but he still managed to be fairly present through all the discussion about his protege and the girl in the box.

Can't blame Ainsley's boyfriend for looking at that footage and realizing that hey, while this life-threatening thing was happening to me after I was stabbed doing her bidding, she had the camera rolling for the story instead of focusing on me.  I randomly wondered if anyone has bothered to clue her into the fact that it was all a setup by Daddy Dearest or whether she still thinks he was being a hero.  She was clearly still seeing the original interview and his ties to the new serial killer as a story she could pitch, so who knows?  I did love how the hospital was suddenly convienently abandoned and then it was just ... over like nothing had happened.

Also loved JT at least asking about the phone and being, no actually, most of us don't have business managers who pay our bills where we might just forget the secret serial killer hotline in the basement for 20 years.