'Prodigal Son' season 1 adds a dash of Silence of the Lambs to the crime procedural formula
Fox's latest thriller series titled 'Prodigal Son' stars Tom Payne and Michael Sheen as a father-son duo. But this relationship is unlike most father-son relationships we see on television.
For one, Michael Sheen stars as Dr Martin Whitly, who is not just another friendly-cardigan wearing doctor (as actor Sheen had pointed out when paying a visit on 'Late Night with Seth Meyers'). As it turns out, Dr Martin is one of the most notorious serial killers to have ever existed. The Surgeon, as he is otherwise known as, Dr Martin has lived a deceptive life, and while he looks like a loving and caring father at first glance, look again.
On the other hand, you have Tom Payne's Malcolm Bright who is only a young child when his father is arrested for the gruesome murder of 23 people. But Malcolm is also blessed with a unique gift. Being related to the most manipulative of minds in the serial killing business makes Malcolm one of the brightest minds in the field of criminal psychology - he knows how killers think and how their minds work.
And so he becomes the person to crack down these killers. He works with the FBI (as is disclosed in the trailer) as a criminal profiler to find serial killers. But the FBI fires him because Malcolm is not all that different from his father.
But he then works alongside the NYPD to solve crimes alongside his longtime mentor, Gil Arroyo (Lou Diamond Phillips), and detectives Dani Powell (Aurora Perrineau) and JT Tarmel (Frank Harts); he helps the NYPD solve crimes by profiling killers. From the clips released by Fox, we know that Malcolm is now investigating a copycat of The Surgeon. And naturally, it isn't all that easy to crack down this killer. So he must work with his father to nab the killer in time. In these interactions, we see how a manipulative Dr Martin is trying to connect with his son.
Work keeps Malcolm not only busy but in high spirits as well. At the same time, he is also dealing with a manipulative mother in Bellamy Young's Jessica Whitly - who is almost always warning Malcolm to keep away from his father. Malcolm also has an annoyingly normal sister in Ainsley Whitly (Halston Sage) who thinks her brother might be a bit too complicated for her bearing.
'Prodigal Son' premieres on Monday, September 23, 2019, 9 PM ET/PT.