The pressure is on for Michael (Pearce Quigley) in the new Apple TV series Small Prophets. He needs answers to what happened to his girlfriend Clea. He wants closure, but it’s also crucial to holding off her brother Roy (Paul Kaye), who wants to sell the house because he needs money. Now, he also has a new, even more lucrative target.
In Small Prophets season 1 episode 5, “Whose Gonna Make Me Laugh?,” we get a looming deadline and some signs of hope. Let’s dive in.
Neighborhood complaints
As we begin, Clive (Jon Pointing) has had it with Michael. He finds ash in his driveway, and he wants to file a formal complaint. Bev (Sophie Willan) tells him he’s being too hasty. But Clive wants his neighbor to clean up his act, so Bev says she’ll look into it and make the call.
Bev heads next door. She wants Clive to think it’s about investigating the yard, but really, she’s trying to find out more about the little people in the jars. She pokes around but doesn’t find much. Later, it’s clear either she or Clive has made a call. There are inspectors on site poking around, too. But that’s not the only people interested in the property.
Roy calls Michael to tell him that it’s time to sell. He says he wants to come around with an inspector, but Michael isn’t pleased. The inspector is really Bea (Kathryn Drysdale), and they are really looking for a book. When they enter the house, they see that it is stacked high with boxes.
While meeting in the garden, Roy tells Michael he’s putting the house on the market in three weeks. That puts the countdown clock on Michael. He has to get an answer about Clea before Roy has her declared dead. But Roy also asks about the clutter. When he learns the boxes belonged to Clea and were for her business, his interest is piqued. He offers to help clear things out, and Michael says he’ll think about it.
Rabbit trails
Meanwhile, Michael is still trying to figure out who visited his father (Michael Palin). He accuses Clive, but that’s a dead end. Still, he wants to know who is poking around and asking questions. He’s wondering what they are after. When he gets a call from his father’s care facility, he heads out there quickly.
His father is unsettled. He said he just got a letter from an old friend who, like always, asked about Michael. He also found a notice from his friend’s funeral. But the date of the funeral was in 2009, and even more strange, Michael didn’t remember ever meeting the man. But the letter is from just two weeks ago, and it does ask about Michael. It’s strange, and Michael thinks it could be a clue to a larger mystery.
He doesn’t have a lot of time to dwell. The Homunculi are getting close to ready. He gives Kayce (Lauren Patel) a call and invites her over. They do their work to dig up the jars and get them back in the shed. Once everything is set, they gather inside and open everything up.
Michael unwraps the jars and finds that the Homunculi are fully grown. Now that they are ready, the question is if it will work. Kayce and Michael set about for some tests. First, they try some card tricks, and the Homunculi are able to guess the correct answer. Then, they ask some more personal questions, again getting a deeper truth. Finally, they test them by asking them to predict the outcome of a sporting event. After getting the prediction, they sit down to await the results and confirm that their plan and process has worked.
There’s a lot going on here. Roy is on the hunt for a very valuable book. Michael is on the hunt for who is sending letters to his father asking about his well-being. And the Homunculi are ready to answer questions about the future or deeper truths. That puts us in position for some big revelations as we head toward the finale of season 1.
Small Prophets streams Wednesdays on Apple TV. Check back next week as we recap all the action of the season right here.
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