Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Prodigal Son’ On Fox, Where A Serial Killer’s Son Solves Murders For The NYPD

To say that Michael Sheen‘s acting style is intense is an understatement; the man can go from “vanilla and banal” to “violently enraged” in about 2 milliseconds, whether he’s doing it with his native British voice or his commanding American voice. But we’ve never seen him in an American, Greg Berlanti-produced network procedural… until now. Read on for more about Prodigal Son…

PRODIGAL SON: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: 1998. A ten-year-old boy looks with bewilderment at his bearded, sweater-wearing dad, who is about to be taken away by the police. “You’re my son, and I love you. I’ll always love you, because we’re the same.”

The Gist: Malcolm Bright (Tom Payne) was an expert profiler for the FBI but he gets fired because his background makes him too risky on serial killer cases; he punches a maverick sheriff when he shoots a killer Malcolm was trying to get to surrender.

What’s Malcolm’s background? He’s the son of “The Surgeon” — Dr. Martin Whitly (Michael Sheen) — who was a seemingly normal doctor and family man but he also killed a number of people in precise surgical fashion over the years. Malcolm hasn’t seen his father in ten years, since telling him during one of his regular visits that he’s joining the FBI. He even changed his name to “Bright” to distance himself. But he also has a special gift; through the mental hospital discussions with his dad, plus his inherited way of thinking, he has good insight into the mind of murders. “We’re the same,” as his father told him back in ’98.

How did Martin get caught? Malcolm turned him in, especially after he saw what he thought was a woman gagged and bound in a trunk in the basement. The cop that he warned when he arrived at the scene? Gil Arroyo (Lou Diamond Phillips), who is now in charge of a homicide division and hires Malcolm to work as a profiler alongside his detectives, Dani Powell (Aurora Perrineau) and J.T. Tarmell (Frank Harts), both of whom are skeptical of Malcolm’s abilities. When they’re called upon to look at a body, Malcolm knows the M.O.: It’s a copycat version of a string of murders his own father committed.

Malcolm has severe PTSD, to the point where he has to sleep in restraints every night to guard against night terrors. His mother Jessica (Bellamy Young) and younger reporter Ainsley (Halston Sage) both encourage him to stay away from murder cases — the very same cases Ainsley reports on in her TV news job. Jessica is especially concerned about Malcolm’s health after he goes to work for Arroyo, fearing that he’ll go back and visit his father to help him with this case.

And, sure enough, he does. He doesn’t want to, and he tries to keep his distance from “Dr. Whitly,” but Martin draws him in, and is intrigued by the fact that this copycat is out there.

Our Take: Prodigal Son has a bit of an identity problem. It’s got the pedigree, coming from the Greg Berlanti emotional drama/superhero factory with Chris Fedak (Chuck, Forever) as the showrunner. It promises to not be the standard procedural, and it may even have a bit of a sense of humor, considering Fedak’s involvement. But it struggles against itself, with the procedural side and the continuing drama side pushing back and forth, and not giving the show any kind of foothold one way or the other.

Because of the introductory nature of the pilot, and the fact that we flash back quite a bit in the beginning of the pilot, it feels that there’s a good balance between the case of the week and Malcolm fighting his better instincts to reconnect with his father to solve the case. And, of course, Michael Sheen gets a chef’s kiss for his perfect portrayal of a crazy-eyed normal-seeming guy who just happens to be a ruthless serial killer. Considering most of his scenes are from his well-appointed room at the mental hospital, he does a lot with what he’s given, going from “creepy normal” to “homicidally enraged” in the way that only Michael Sheen can do. The part fits him like a bespoke suit.

But the rest of it? Meh. Bellamy Young is her usual fine combination of haughty but protective, and Phillips can play roles like Arroyo in his sleep. But the procedural element of the show needs work. Episode 2 leans heavily on the case of the week, and, aside from the very welcome presence of Keiko Agena (more on that in a bit), a lot of it falls apart. It doesn’t help that Sheen is relegated to mostly making goofy phone calls from his cell, though at least the circumstances that led Malcolm to call the cops on his dad are pressed further. We can only get so many weeks of Dani and J.T. doing the “What’s up with this guy?” routine before that gets old.

We want as much Michael Sheen on our screens as possible, and Prodigal Son isn’t utilizing its best resource the way it should. At least not yet.

Sex and Skin: Nothing.

Parting Shot: “There’s so much more I can teach you about murder. Maybe we can solve a few. Together. I don’t want to lose you again.” Martin says to Malcolm after the copycat is caught. “Goodbye, Dr. Whitly,” Malcolm says in disgust. As he leaves, Martin smiles and says “My boy.” We just got chills typing that.

Sleeper Star: Listen, we stan Agena, ever since her days on Gilmore Girls. But she’s the perfect comic relief as medical examiner Edrisa Tanaka, who acquires a not-so-secretive crush on Malcolm, and not just because he’s handsome.

Most Pilot-y Line: Doesn’t it seem strange to have two British actors star in a series opposite each other but speak in American accents? Why not have them both be British?

Our Call: STREAM IT. There’s enough to recommend Prodigal Son, knowing that Fedak and company have the skills to get things right. But the three best reasons to keep watching are Michael Sheen, Michael Sheen and Michael Sheen.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company.com, RollingStone.com, Billboard and elsewhere.

Stream Prodigal Son On Fox