PRODIGAL SON Post-Mortem: Aurora Perrineau on Dani and Malcolm’s Complex Relationship, the Unbelievable Season Finale

May 4, 2021 by Marisa Roffman

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Tuesday, May 4 episode of PRODIGAL SON.]

PRODIGAL SON’s Martin (Michael Sheen) is out—but he certainly isn’t free.

After the team spent all episode trying to track down the infamous Surgeon, who appeared to be roaming free in the city after breaking out of Claremont, they wound up finding the other men…with Martin still on the loose. What they don’t know? He appears to be trapped in Vivian’s (Catherine Zeta-Jones) car.

So what comes next? Aurora Perrineau teased Dani’s attempt to balance her friendship with Malcolm (Tom Payne) and the hunt for his father, teaming up with a new Whitly, and the unbelievable season finale…

Malcolm admitted he’s not holding up well in the aftermath of Martin’s escape. What is the balance like for Dani as she’s trying to do her job, but also dealing with her concern for her colleague?
I guess it’s more of just like an internal balance for her, where she wants to be there for him as a friend, but I think her job is her stability, in her own mental state. She’s always trying to do the right thing when it comes to work and doing the proper protocol and all of that stuff, because of the fact that she’s had her own issues and feels like work has always been kind of her savior. So I think she’s having a hard time with some of Malcolm’s tendencies, especially as of late, but still trying to be there for him as a friend as much as possible.

They did have a beautiful scene where they acknowledge they didn’t have a friend like the other…but she acknowledged it’s still up in the air whether that was a good thing for her life. How is she juggling her desire to protect him, while also being aware his issues could pose a problem for her?
I don’t think she’s as much worried about it, as she’s worried for how he will react if she steps away from him. I think for her, she’s been through enough, and is enough of her own person to not let another human being drag her down. So I think it’s more her always trying to consider his feelings and what would happen if she stepped away from him; how he would cope with it. So I think it’s really a balance of again trying to make sure that he’s okay and not hurt his feelings, so that he doesn’t go completely over the edge.

Dani is one of the people who seems to be closest to Malcolm. Is there a concern she might be targeted as a way for Martin to get closer to Malcolm?
I don’t think she’s concerned at all. She’s done dangerous things and been on the force for so long, and been undercover, which is the one of the most dangerous parts of being a detective is going undercover. So I think there’s less of a fear there. Definitely a knowledge of there’s a possibility, but less so fear. Although she hasn’t been in a situation to this magnitude, it’s still, it’s part of the job, it’s par for the course.

We saw, earlier in the season, Malcolm envision more than friendship with Dani. In your mind, does she reciprocate those thoughts?
It’s a hard question to answer, because even though actors try to look at it from the character’s point of view, sometimes your own views cloud it a little bit. And I know that myself and Tom have always been [of the mindset] I don’t think certain things always have to go there. I think a lot of times shows and movies go there. For me, I don’t like a rom-com, I’m not a huge romance person, it’s far and few between. BLUE VALENTINE, is one of my favorites, but that’s also the breakdown of relationships.

So, it’s hard to be like okay, well, outside of us being actors, does it make sense for these characters to do that? I think for Dani, it’s a really nice friendship. I think, in any relationship, a friendship can always blossom into something, if you have the right chemistry and are both available. I think the thing right now is that the chemistry is there, but are either available is the real question?

Right now, the team thinks Martin is out there—unaware it appears Vivian got to him first—and the leads seem to be drying up. What’s Dani’s next move?
I get help from a another Whitly.

Potentially related, it was revealed Ainsley has been talking with her father behind everyone’s backs. How does that reveal impact the way Dani is looking at Ainsley?
I think Dani is always a little hesitant about getting too involved in that family business anyway. Which we’ve seen obviously with her talking with Gil. I think she has a tendency to be more hesitant about delving into relationships with them. Her back is up like a cat, like, this could be a little fishy. But she’s going to do her job and investigate, so she’s going to go along for the ride.

We also saw Malcolm freak out when he thought his father might have been killed. What might Dani do when it seems like he could be a liability to the investigation?
I think he’s already a liability. [Laughs.] I think most times he’s a liability. Which is part of the reason that we love him. He’s the little brother that does the sketchy things that he shouldn’t be doing; he’s the black sheep of the family. I think he’s been a liability. So now it’s trying to make sure nothing bubbles over, which is what the team is trying to do.

Is that a big focus for the team in the final stretch of episodes?
The team isn’t as involved in the next few episodes. So there’s not much of that.

Looking ahead to the final episodes, what are you excited for fans to see?
We get to see some really exciting things with Martin that I think will be really, really fun.

Looking back at the season, you’ve had incredible guest stars. Was there a particular one you were most excited to work with?
Anna Gunn, just because I’m such a huge BREAKING BAD fan. And I don’t look at who they cast before we go to work, so, it’s always like a surprise to me when I get to set and I see the guest star, because I try not to look at their last name on the call sheet. I’m always just like, “Okay let me just meet this person.” So it was really exciting for me to be surprised. We all have masks on, she had her mask on, and she’s like, “Oh, hi, I’m Anna.” And I’m like looking at her like, “It kind of looks like Anna Gunn.” And then I moved on with my day. And then we went to call action and she took the mask off, and I was like, “Oh shit, that’s really Anna Gunn.” That was really exciting for me, because I think she’s really incredible, so it was super memorable.

I love that you treat yourself to a surprise like that. Was this advice someone gave you or something you started yourself?
Oh, no, it wasn’t advice as much as I like to be surprised. Especially because Dani never knows—she doesn’t know who these people are. Obviously the script ruins it for you when you read, so you know what’s happening, and you’re like, okay well now I know everything that person’s going to do, I’m investigating them, and all this stuff, and obviously that’s what acting is. But I like to just have a little bit of, “Okay, I’ve never met this person, and I’m meeting them in the scene. Why not not know who they are?” Sometimes it gets spoiled, because someone comes on set, they’re like, “Oh my god, do you know who we got for this episode?” And then you’re like, “Oh, well, I guess I know, too.” But every once in a while, you miss that conversation. [Laughs.]

Before I let you go, your colleagues have been teasing how insane the finale is. What was your reaction to reading it?
My reaction was I read it and then I screenshot it. And I sent it to, I think, Frank. And I said something like, “Do you think this is real?” And then he said, “I think so.” And I said, “I’m gonna call [co-creator] Sam [Sklaver].” So then I called Sam, and I was like, “Dude, are we doing this?” And he’s like, “Yeah, we’re doing this.” And I was like, “Oh. Okay. We’re doing it.” So it was a definitely a surprise for everybody.

PRODIGAL SON, Tuesdays, 9/8c, Fox

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PRODIGAL SON Post-Mortem: Aurora Perrineau on Dani and Malcolm’s Complex Relationship, the Unbelievable Season Finale

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