Glossolalia – As the episode opens, Cal Quinn (Richard Roxburgh) is on a float in the swimming pool when a helicopter carrying Samir Maalouf (Fayssal Bazzi) lands. A short time later, Cal suggests his fees are exorbitant. Samir assures him that he is worth it.

Abi Quinn (Rebecca Gibney) picks up an envelope with “Nice Try Moses” written on the front. When Moses Quinn (Alexander D’Souza) approaches asking for Cal, she never mentions the envelope.

Issy Kalani (Hayley McCarthy) says something strange is going on with Abi and Cal. Taz Quinn (Ming-Zhu Hii) assures her it is nothing. Issy reminds them of Cal’s unusual behavior yesterday. Benji Kalani (Jordi Webber) suggests waiting to see what Abi has to say when she walks through the door. Issy asks if Cal is having a mental breakdown. Abi tells them that he is taking a break. Eli Slowik (Jacek Koman) says he went to Camp David for a week. Benji asks how the expansion is going in Los Angeles. Eli claims the church is being fitted with furniture and accessories. Taz reminds him of Cal’s book signings and radio spot scheduled for today. Abi agrees to take over the radio spot but the signings must be canceled. Dion Quinn (Ewen Leslie) questions what they will do if Cal is not back before Sunday service. Benji urges everyone to say a prayer for Cal. Abi designates Sunday service to Dion before walking away. Issy catches up with her to try to convince her to let Benji lead the Sunday service. When Abi refuses, Issy believes she is playing favorites.

Abi pulls up Rosa Adebayo’s (Brigid Zengeni) reflection session with Hannah (Ivy Mak). Cal asks to join the session. Rosa admits to getting drugs from a pharmacy. Cal recalls buying drugs from a street dealer. Rosa tells Cal that she promised Juno Adebayo (Andrew Solonge) a fresh start there but let her down. Cal assures her that Juno will forgive her because God already has.

Cal questions Samir’s qualifications. Samir claims to have a PhD in clinical psychology from Stanford. Cal suggests he does interventions. Samir says he does breakthroughs. Cal recalls Rosa pleading with him to call her because she needs him. He is digging a hole in the backyard. Abi asks what he is doing but he ignores her and keeps on digging. Cal tells Samir that he doesn’t believe in psychology, everyone is in God’s hands and the Bible is the truth. Samir denies being a Muslim.

Jed Quinn (Jacob Collins Levy) serves a homeless man when Robbie Ratten (Rupert Reid) enters the establishment. Robbie gives him a 90-day notice to vacate because the site has been approved for 12 executive apartments. Jed says his lease is for three years. Robbie offers to cover six months of his rent and help to relocate. Jed declines the offer. Robbie warns against any delay in vacating the property.

Shen (Iggy Wong) warns Juno that Collette (Jahla Black) is upset about her late rent. Juno tells him that she gets paid tonight. He claims Collette keeps track of the milk. She says her mum just died. He urges her to write it on the milk jug when Abi arrives with lasagna. Abi asks her if Rosa ever spoke of Cal. Juno says she raved about him and purchased his books and courses. Abi explains her sorrow when her mum died. She opens the church for Rosa’s funeral. Juno tells her that the police haven’t released Rosa’s body because she committed suicide.

At Cal’s normal radio spot, Abi tells Hendo (Septimus Caton) and their listeners about the new church in the City of Angels. Cal calls into the radio show. She alerts Eli via a text. Samir takes Cal’s phone. Eli calls to ask about Cal. Samir assures him that he has it under control. As Cal walks away upset, Samir promises the retreat will give back more than his phone.

Jonathan Malik (Matthew Backer) helps Dion prepare for the Sunday service. After a few deep-breathing exercises, Jonathan tells him that Cal messed up Sunday and it may be his opportunity to step in as the pastor at U Star. Dion ends the session.

Moses, Harry (Billy Zeng), and Tia (Giulia Modonese) trespass on private property. Elsewhere, Juno dials Rosa’s phone to listen to her voicemail. An intoxicated man in a suit (Jordan Devitre) vomits on the floor. Another drunk man (Shaun Dover) laughingly calls him a “foul man”. Juno cleans up to emesis.

Cal walks outside where he talks to Samir. They talk about why they’re unable to sleep. When Samir talks about digging a hole, Cal remembers digging one and Abi yelling for him. Samir tells Cal that he doesn’t believe in guilt or redemption. The only thing he believes in is success. Juno asks her boss if she can get the advance tonight. He says no before asking if it’d kill her to smile. Moses and the others get caught hanging out on the rooftop. While they flee, Juno dumps the vomit bucket on her boss’s vehicle.

Issy picks up Moses who mentions that his last video got a lot of views. She urges him to take the video down because journalists know about YouTube. Issy promises she won’t tell their mom because she hasn’t told her anything in years. Juno learns that her roommates are going to throw her out. Shen and a woman tell her she has been given her two weeks’ notice. Eli speaks to Jed and tells him they could set him up with something much bigger. He tells Jed that people are asking about certain items he left the party with. Jed shows him where the coats are kept. Eli learns that some of Jed’s people are wearing the coats. Juno watches Eli leave moments later.

She goes inside where she speaks to Jed about Eli. Jed says he doesn’t work at the hospital so she may be thinking of someone else. Abi is worried that Cal could jeopardize LA. She asks Eli if he knew about the sessions with Rosa. Cal complains about Abi dumping him there overnight, but she argues that he had a breakdown. When asked about the reflection sessions with Rosa, Cal insists he was never in the room alone with her. He argues that he is the church and cannot be sidelined. Abi believes he has put everything at risk and that he is not right. She leaves after telling Cal they need all of him back. Dion listens to Cal preach. Juno goes home, drinks, and looks at a picture of her mother.

Cal asks Samir if he thinks he’s broken. Samir thinks what is important is what God thinks. When they talk about Rosa, Cal says he was able to beat his demons but she wasn’t. Samir reminds him he built the church, but Cal argues that it was God. Cal confesses he can’t hear God anymore. He believes God is punishing him. Later, Jed gets attacked by two individuals. Cal asks God to forgive him for leaving her there. Samir watches him go outside and cry while speaking in tongues. Dion receives a message. In the morning, the homeless people can’t get inside because Jed hasn’t opened yet. He struggles to get out of bed because he is bruised and bloody. Cal gets into a plane with his son.

 

Prosper Review

The second episode of Prosper didn’t show much of an improvement over the first. Everything about the series is bloated from the cast to the stories and even the episode count. Even though the series is stupidly simple, there is still too much going on and only a tenth of it is actually interesting. The performances, dialogue, and characters aren’t believable.

It is hard to take this seriously especially some of the characters. Truthfully, the role of Cal isn’t a great match for Richard Roxburgh although the shallow writing could be the culprit. No one really stands out because the screen time is juggled among so many pointless characters and storylines. After two episodes, this already feels like a big nothing burger with no purpose and no direction.

The lifeless story and character portrayal are enough to make this a good insomnia cure, but it may be better to skip it altogether. The episode scores a 4 out of 10. Recaps of Prosper can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Discuss Prosper and other shows at the Reel Mockery Forum.