'Prodigal Son': Tom Payne delivers his best as a deeply troubled criminal psychologist
Spoilers ahead for season 1 of 'Prodigal Son' on Fox
First impressions of 'Prodigal Son' are that of intrigue. A fast pace coupled with thrilling direction and a gripping plotline, 'Prodigal Son' opened to wide acceptance from audiences and critics.
The thriller revolves around Tom Payne's Malcolm Bright, a young intelligent criminal profiler who, in between finding serial killers for the NYPD, is on a quest to find his truth.
His father, Dr Martin Whitly (Michael Sheen), is not just a really gifted doctor - he is also the most notorious serial killer in New York City. The Surgeon was arrested in the 90s after, as it is revealed at the end of Episode 1, Bright calls the cops on him.
This rubbishes The Surgeon's attempts at reconnecting with his son by reiterating that both of them are the same. Even before he is arrested and sent away for good, the last thing that he tells Bright is that they both are the same since they both find the criminal mind interesting.
Naturally, after The Surgeon's arrest, Bright stays away from his father. But once he starts working with the NYPD, he keeps going back to his father. This aggravates his already deteriorating mental health. Bright has been suffering from debilitating mental health - tremors, night terrors, nightmares, and PTSD - ever since he discovered the truth about his father. In this element, Payne's portrayal is realistic.
When Bright is suffering on the screen, audiences don't feel remorse. Instead, they are captured by the authenticity of his many issues. Many find that the tremors displayed by Payne are akin to those people suffer through in real life. "Malcolm’s tremors looked really real. They reminded me of my own tics. They looked completely natural and unforced, how does he even do that? Everyone on this show is just amazing! I can’t wait to see more of it," said a fan.
As a criminal profiler, Bright is spot-on - his deductions and profiles are constantly evolving with the case, but he manages to nab the bad guy always. When working with his new team in the pilot episode, the air is tense, mostly because the team doesn't accept him as their own. But as the series progresses, this relationship evolves.
In personal life, his relationship with his family is also strained. With Bellamy Young's Jessica, his mother, Bright shares a relationship of hide-and-seek. Her repeated warnings to stay away from his father fall on deaf ears as Bright is stubborn to know the real answers. He hides more things from her than that he shares, but that could partly be the result of Young's imposing character.
With his sister Ainsley (Halston Sage), he shares a close relationship, but like every sibling relationship, they have their share of secrets. But the rapport he shares with his sister is perhaps the most normal relationship out of 'Prodigal Son.'
Bright's pain feels real even on the screen. His ongoing struggle to find the truth about himself and his father feels like a labyrinth but one that both he and the audience want to solve.
'Prodigal Son' airs on Mondays at 9 pm PT/ET on Fox.
