October 11, 2021 | Prodigal Son (S1E15)
Another Egypt or Egyptian mention in the Prodigal Son is in episode 15 in season 1, “Death’s Door.” In this scene, Dr. Edrisa Tanaka (played by Keiko Agena), a medical examiner for the NYPD, is explaining to Malcolm and Gil Arroyo (played by Lou Diamond Phillips), an NYPD lieutenant, the victim Kevin’s condition—an embalmment, professionally done.
Dr. Edrisa Tanaka: John Hunter would be proud. He was an early pioneer of embalming. Malcolm Bright: Uh, forget Hunter, what about Hofmann? He discovered formaldehyde. Dr. Edrisa Tanaka: Okay, I admit I was a von Hofmann girl for a while—I mean, who isn’t in college—but credit really goes to the ancient Egyptians, if we’re going to get technical about the origins of mortuary sciences. Gil Arroyo: We’re not.
According to Britannica’s article on the “development of modern embalming” (”modern” being the key word), “John Hunter, in 1775 embalmed the body of a Mrs. Martin Van Butchell, whose will specified that her husband had control of her fortune only as long as her body remained above ground. To meet that condition, Van Butchell had her embalmed, placed her fashionably dressed body in a glass-lidded case in a sitting room, and held regular visiting hours.” John Hunter, according to Britannica, was a “surgeon, founder of pathological anatomy in England, and early advocate of investigation and experimentation.”
August Wilhelm von Hofmann, according to Britannica, was a “German chemist whose research on aniline, with that of Sir William Henry Perkin, helped lay the basis of the aniline-dye industry.” He also discovered formaldehyde, as mentioned in the scene.
However, as written in Britannica’s general article on “embalming” and as Edrisa points out, “the beginnings of the art and techniques of embalming are associated principally with ancient Egypt.”
[Screenshots from a scene in Prodigal Son]
