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'Prodigal Son': Fans find the Fox thriller erring on use of 'psychopath', 'sociopath' and other criminology terms

The show's strengths apart, fans demand a more studied approach to the use of specific terms to describe the characters.

Spoilers ahead for Season 1 Episode 1 of 'Prodigal Son' 

Fox's latest crime thriller 'Prodigal Son' premiered on Fox on September 25 to an audience that immediately took a liking for the show. Revolving around an intelligent criminal profiler in Malcolm Bright (Tom Payne), the show deals with his relationship with his serial killer father, Dr Martin Whitly (Michael Sheen), who is known as The Surgeon for his criminal activities. 

After Bright is fired from the FBI for showing psychotic inclinations similar to that of his serial killing father, he joins the NYPD to help Gil Arroyo's ((Lou Diamond Phillips) team solve murders and catch serial killers. This assignment brings him closer to his father since he happens to require his help from time to time - a relationship he has been avoiding for over a decade.

But even as the show has been accepted for its fast pace and the characters, fans have been finding fault with its use of criminal terminology. A fan of the show took to Reddit to point out the discrepancies.  

"I don't want to judge prematurely, but their terminology and usage of 'psychopath' and 'sociopath' seem to be inaccurate so far. It isn't clear whether or not The Surgeon is a psychopath ( = capable of no real connections and born without a conscience) or a sociopath ( = capable of very minor connections and the result of some sort of trauma or abuse), so I won't dispute their claims," began the thread. 

In the beginning of the first episode, Malcolm describes The Surgeon as a "predatory sociopath." And this description seems to have confused fans. "However, Malcolm called him a sociopath but Martin implied he was a psychopath. Malcolm also seemed to imply that psychopath is the same as psychotic, which is far from the case. Another interesting tidbit is when Martin said that psychopathy could be considered a "genius" instead of as a disease. Many people thought of psychopathy as evolutionary traits designed to make people succeed."

According to this particular definition, Michael Sheen's Dr Martin Whitly fits the profile of a psychopath. "The psychopath is callous, yet charming. He or she will con and manipulate others with charisma and intimidation and can effectively mimic feelings to present as "normal" to society. The psychopath is organized in their criminal thinking and behaviour and can maintain good emotional and physical control, displaying little to no emotional or autonomic arousal, even under situations that most would find threatening or horrifying. The psychopath is keenly aware that what he or she is doing is wrong, but does not care." Comparing that to a sociopath, who "will not be able to move through society committing callous crimes as easily, as they can form attachments and often have 'normal temperaments.'"

The fan goes on to point out the factual discrepancies on the show. "Psychopathy without abuse very rarely makes a serial killer by itself without the individual being abused, unless they are also sadistic or narcissistic. Most killers are sociopaths or psychotic who have been abused or lived rough lives. He also labeled Ed Gein, Ed Kemper, and Jeffrey Dahmer as psychopaths. While Kemper is a psychopath, Ed Gein was psychotic, not a psychopath, and Dahmer notoriously felt many emotions, even a minor degree of remorse, and had a rough childhood, so he was undoubtedly a sociopath, not born without a conscience."

'Prodigal Son' airs on Mondays at 9 pm ET/PT on Fox.