What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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T2 WHATS UP! September 22 - 28, 2019 BY BREANNA HENRY TV Media A s most viewers are probably aware, the Parable of the Prodi- gal Son comes from the Bible. It's a culturally tran- scendent tale about a wayward child who returns home after many years to a shockingly welcome reunion. The story has been reworded, reimag- ined and retold many times in books, movies and television, but never quite like this. The new Fox series "Prodi- gal Son" premieres Monday, Sept. 23, and in this case, "prodigal" doesn't imply that the son was reckless, wasteful and extravagant, like he was in the source material. This time it just means that he's not a se- rial killer. British actor Tom Payne ("The Walking Dead") plays Malcolm Bright, a criminal profiler whose life and career choices have been heavily in- fluenced by the traumatic events of his childhood. A-list Welsh actor Michael Sheen ("Good Omens") plays Martin, Malcolm's father and the cause of all that trauma — he just happens to be an infa- mous serial killer. If you're not sure how a bib- lical tale of unconditional love and acceptance can be used as a jumping-off point for a series about a possibly unstable pro- filer with a criminally insane father, you'll need to tune in to find out. I can admit to prejudging this series when I first heard about it. I can't be the only person who hears the words "serial killer" and "TV drama" and immediately thinks of the long-running, Golden Globe- winning series "Dexter," de- spite that show having ended more than six years ago. "Prodigal Son" however, does not try to be "Dexter." It's an original story that has in- trigued me more and more as I've learned more about it. Sheen's Martin is a seemingly deranged serial killer known as "The Surgeon," who was locked up when Malcolm was just a boy. As a direct result of his strange and horrifying child- hood, Malcolm takes an interest Michael Sheen and Tom Payne co-star in "Prodigal Son" Daddy issues continued on page T10 TV FEATURE