I guess I haven't seen enough of this to rate it.

Prodigal Son, on FOX
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This 2019 series is about a profiler named Malcolm Bright. At the start of the series, he's fired from the FBI, and thereafter begins working as a consultant with the NYPD. The team he works with is led by Lt. Gil Arroyo (Lou Diamond Phillips), with whom Malcolm has been friends ever since he was a young boy, when Gil arrested Malcolm's father, Martin Whitly. (He's played by Michael Sheen, whom I had just gotten to know from Good Omens, but I didn't recognize him at all in this role. I only learned it was him when I started working on this review, and saw his name on Wikipedia, after I'd seen seven episodes. That really blew my mind.) Anyway, Whitly was a world-renowned doctor, but once it was discovered that he was also a serial killer, that's what he became best-known for. (And he's been dubbed "The Surgeon.") At some point since then, Malcolm changed his last name from Whitly to Bright, to avoid being associated with his father. It is in large part because of his father that Malcolm has learned the skills he now uses to help the authorities catch killers, but his past has taken a terrible emotional and psychological toll on him. His night terrors are so bad that he has to chain himself to his bed at night. And recently, he's begun going to see his father in prison, after years of staying away from him. He wants the Surgeon's insights to help him with the cases he's working on. Aside from that, he also wants to learn the truth about disturbing repressed memories that are starting to surface. But his father is cagey with the information he shares. Whitly seems to be toying with Malcolm, though that may be partly to stretch out the amount of time he gets to spend with his estranged son.

Other members of Lt. Arroyo's team include detectives Dani Powell and JT Tarmel, the latter of whom doesn't particularly like working with Malcolm. There's a medical examiner named Dr. Edrisa Tanaka (Keiko Agena), who does particularly like working with Malcolm. (I think she's quite adorkably awkward, and probably my favorite character on the show. Which is cool, because the fact that Agena was going to be in the show was one of the main reasons I wanted to watch it.) Another of the reasons I wanted to watch the show is because Malcolm's sister, a TV journalist named Ainsley Whitly, is played by Halston Sage, whom I know from The Orville. She eventually decides to interview her father, as a means of boosting her career. Malcolm and Ainsley both have somewhat exasperating relationships with their mother, Jessica Whitly (Bellamy Young), a wealthy socialite who tries to control their lives, and who is very much against their visits to the Surgeon. Also, Malcolm sees a psychiatrist named Dr. Gabrielle Le Deux, though it doesn't seem like he pays much heed to her advice.

I guess that's all I can say for now, but there's definitely an intriguing family dynamic between all the Whitlys. And I guess the cases of the week are interesting enough, though I'm more interested in learning about the past, and what Malcolm's fragmented memories will ultimately reveal.

Unfortunately, I missed the second half of the first season, because my executive dysfunction made it impossible for me continue watching any of my shows, for several months. And while my condition has improved enough to catch up with some shows online, I don't feel like I can do so with this one. I'm still interested in seeing how things turn out, but just not enough to fight my dysfunction. So I'm afraid my review is over.


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