'Prodigal Son' Episode 7 sees Ainsley give The Surgeon an opportunity to redeem himself on camera; Is she working with him?
Spoilers ahead for Season 1 Episode 7 'Q&A' of Fox's 'Prodigal Son'
They warned her. Not once, not twice but again and yet Ainsley (Halston Sage) was sure that she was one step ahead of The Surgeon.
When Jessica (Bellamy Young) meets Ainsley nervous about her interview with Dr. Martin Whitly (Michael Sheen), her daughter tells her not to worry — she has a plan. Even though her editor made her send questions to the Claremont Psychiatric Facility, those are not the only questions she is going to ask him.
However, Jessica warns her that what The Surgeon does best is turn the tables in his favor. Even Malcolm (Tom Payne) warns her. But Ainsley is confident she is one step ahead. Jessica tells her that if she doesn't end up showing him to be the true evil that he is, she will come across as his accomplice.
When the interview begins, The Surgeon is prepared to answer the pre-determined set of questions.
However, Ainsley begins by naming some of his victims and how he brutally killed them, including how he pulled out someone's tongue and heart to see how they long they survive.
But The Surgeon lists out how he saved several people and by that logic, his mark on the world is a net positive. "Isn't that what counts, that I did some good?" he asks her.
At this point, Ainsley finds him twisting everything she says and countering every point she is trying to make. Soon, it seems like the interview is beginning to get frustrating for her. And then comes the lockdown.
A patient Tevin (Matthew Maher) goes wild killing his guard and setting himself free in the facility, He wants to tell Ainsley Whitly, the journalist he sees on TV, his story.
But The Surgeon's room is on lockdown and restricted so they are safe for the time being. Ainsley sends her cameraman boyfriend Jin to take some footage of the facility for their interview.
He's allowed two minutes and within those two minutes, he is attacked by Tevin, who stabs him. Malcolm manages to secure the door with a crowbar while Ainsley frets over Jin unable to breathe.
After some back and forth, Malcolm and The Surgeon's guard David (Esau Pritchett) don't want to give him a knife to perform a rather rudimentary surgery on him. But with paramedics still a while away, it seems like the only way that Jin can be saved is by freeing Martin from his shackles and allowing him to perform the surgery.
And so, Ainsley shoots him performing the surgery — saving Jin. Malcolm repeatedly asks her to stop shooting because he knows that this is a part of The Surgeon's plan to turn the tables in his favor, but Ainsley apparently thinks it is her job to document who Martin is.
By the end of the episode, once the lockdown is over, she tells Jessica that it was Martin who saved Jin — "Dad saved him," she tells Jessica, who knew this was coming.
This has given rise to the speculation that she might be working with him. Giving him the redemptive moment, especially on camera, seems like helping The Surgeon in one way or the other. This also explains why she would push Jin to gather the footage at the lockdown.
Fans also think that he might be planning this for a while. "I doubt it's a total coincidence that he brought up Ainsley coming in that group therapy session, he may have tried to orchestrate the entire thing... it was weird when he said 'it's good to have a plan," pointed out a fan.
If Ainsley really is working with her father, she knows what her father is capable of. Is she filled with just blind ambition or a blind drive like her The Surgeon?
'Prodigal Son' airs on Mondays at 9 pm ET/PT on Fox.
