Characters / Prodigal Son

The Whitly Family

Malcolm Bright

Malcolm Whitly AKA Malcolm Bright

Played by: Tom Payne

A profiler who worked for the FBI before his current stint as a consultant for the NYPD, Malcolm's fascination with the criminal mind stems from living in the shadow of his father Martin's serial killer fame. As a child, Malcolm was the one who discovered his father's activities, and it was Malcolm who turned his father over to the police. He's haunted by half-suppressed memories of Martin's activities, suffering from night terrors and vivid hallucinations that further his obsession with discovering the truth behind his memories.

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• Death Seeker: It's implied that Malcolm is this because of the trauma of being a serial killer's son.
• Experienced Protagonist: A veteran FBI agent and serial killer profiler who's forced out due to being reckless and charging in without backup.
• Hidden Depths: Revealed in "Scheherazade" that his knowledge of ballet is from the time he took classes as a kid.
• I Am Not My Father: Malcolm's driving character trait is his desire to separate himself from his father's influence.
• It Runs in the Family: Everyone is worried that Malcolm has inherited his father's insanity, including Malcolm himself. As it turns out in the season finale, Malcolm isn’t his father’s son at all when it comes to killing. Ainsley however...
• Leeroy Jenkins: Malcolm has a nasty habit of running headfirst into danger.
• Morality Pet: For Malcolm. Best seen when Vivian holds him captive.
• Repressed Memories: Malcolm has vague memories of finding a girl in a trunk and it's what caused him to call the police on his father... only there is a period of time (days-weeks) between when he claimed to have found the girl and when he contacted the police. Everyone assumed that he saw photos of his father's victims and the girl was a figment of his imagination as they never found her. The Junkyard Killer finally confirms her existence to the police and they open an investigation to find her.
• Sherlock Scan: As a trained profiler, Malcolm is able to read a suspect's body language to make determinations about their lifestyles, moods, and mental processes.
• Trauma Conga Line: Where to begin. He called the police on his own serial killer father after seeing evidence of his crimes, and in the modern day of the show, almost every episode involves some kind of trauma- getting kidnapped, shot at, or dosed with cocaine.

Ainsley Whitly

Ainsley "Ains" Whitly

Played by: Halston Sage

The youngest of the Whitly siblings, Ainsley enjoys a successful career as a reporter for a local news network. Ainsly has hardly any memories of her father from before his arrest, and she's recently expressed an interest in reacquainting herself with "Dr. Whitly", much to her mother's horror. Ainsly is shrewd, self-assured, and confident that she'll be able to use her connection with Martin to further her own career (a sentiment her mother and brother do not share).

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• Friend in the Press: Always ambitious Ainsly often attempts to use her connections to Malcolm to get inside information on the cases he works in exchange for assisting. Whilst Malcolm is often weary of letting her in and concerned with the lengths that Ainsley is willing to go (including several times putting herself or others in danger), he nevertheless does accept her help from time to time. On occasion, Ainsley even treats investigating the cases as a game to see which sibling can find the solution first.
• Intrepid Reporter: She is a journalist who is always eager for a good story and willing to do anything to get one including visiting her father. This becomes deconstructed when her cameraman (and boyfriend) is stabbed during a lock-down and Martin performs surgery on him to save his life. He's less than pleased when he learns this as she seems more interested in the story than the fact he almost died and promptly ends things with her romantically and professionally.
• It Runs in the Family: Ainsley is very much her father’s daughter as Nicholas Endicott discovers to his misfortune. This, however, terrifies her.
  • As of "Face Value", Ainsley tells Malcolm that they'll have to live with the fact that she killed Endicott.
• Nice Girl: Ainsley wants to help Malcolm with moving on from their father ever since he was arrested.

Jessica Whitly

Jessica Whitly

Played by: Bellamy Young

A woman whose sterling reputation was ruined by the revelation that her successful and charming husband was actually a serial killer, Jessica has spent the intervening decades since Martin's arrest trying to rebuild her family name and protect her children from the legacy their father left. Though she cares deeply for her children, Jessica often oversteps boundaries in her determination to do what she feels is best for them.

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• The Alcoholic: She's rarely seen without a drink in her hand, though she is classy about it.
• The Atoner: She tries to channel her guilt and anger into humanitarian causes and offers a reward for any information regarding the girl in the trunk once she realizes that it wasn't just Malcolm's imagination.
• It's All My Fault: It turns out that Jessica blames herself for Martin's killing spree because she suspected he was up to something but never acted on it, because she thought he was just having an affair.
• My Beloved Smother: Jessica is an overbearing socialite who keeps pressuring Malcolm to quit his law enforcement career and get married.

Dr. Martin Whitly

Dr. Martin Whitly aka The Surgeon

Played by: Michael Sheen

A notorious serial killer known by the moniker "The Surgeon" for his precise work in disassembling his victims (skills he gained in his career as a doctor), Martin Whitly has spent years in a high security prison after his son reported him to the police. Although he's incarcerated, Dr. Whitly maintains his study of the human body, and still consults with doctors around the world on difficult surgeries. His overwhelming charisma makes him a master manipulator, and it's been implied that he was grooming his son Malcolm to take up a murderous hobby of his own.

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• Affably Evil: He may be a serial killer, but he is remarkably soft spoken and personable to everyone he meets. However, his wide smile and sense of humor also makes his interactions more creepy.
• Catchphrase: "My boy!"
  • In Like Father...: "My girl!"
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Martin is a serial killer, but still clearly loves both his children and ex-wife.
  • In Season 2, he gets concerned about Ainsley having the potential to kill even after Malcolm hides her work.
    • When Malcolm was about to go to private school, Martin gave his consent to do so so that he wouldn't be ostracized by the public. It also includes changing his surname legally.
• Even Evil Has Standards: When Malcolm accuses him of having a hand in killing women in his first case with the NYPD, he expresses anger that he'd be one or that he'd help someone do it.
  • In "Ouroboros", he tells Dr. Capshaw that he will try to save a patient when he was in the OR, refusing to give in to his serial killer tendencies.
  • Martin is not pleased with being held hostage by Capshaw. And he's terrified of her.
• Multiple-Choice Past: He mentions in "Flesh and Blood" that he became a serial killer because (maybe) his mom loved him too much (or less) or he had an abusive father. Or that he just wanted to be one.

New York Police Department

Gil Arroyo

Lt. Gil Arroyo

Played by: Lou Diamond Phillips

• A Father to His Men: In "Speak of the Devil", he is rightfully pissed at the officers at his precient for not providing JT with backup. He has to shout at them to make his point.
• Cool Car: He drives a class Ford Mustang. He's heartbroken when the roof is destroyed in "Wait & Hope" since Malcolm had to use it to improvise his safe landing.
• Famous-Named Foreigner: Famous-named racial minority. According to Word of God, his surname "Arroyo" was taken from former Philippine president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
• Only Sane Man: When Gil thinks Malcolm (and to an extent Edrisa) are getting way deep into their work.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: He allows Malcolm to join the NYPD as a paid consultant despite his rocky family ties to New York.

Dani Powell

Det. Danielle "Dani" Powell

Played by: Aurora Perrineau

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• Action Girl: In several instances, Dani gets in the action to arrest suspected serial killers.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: When Malcolm's drug trip goes bad in "The Trip" and he starts having a panic attack, Dani ultimately has to punch him and knock him out.
• Put on a Bus: As of "Bad Manners", Dani was recruited by NYPD's Vice Enforcement Division.

J.T. Tarmell

Det. JT Tarmell

Played by: Frank Harts

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• Accidental Misnaming: Malcolm keeps calling JT "Jaime" by mistake.
• Oh, Crap!: In the Season 2 premiere, JT is mistaken to be an armed suspect by uniformed officers Dani called for backup. It's only after she and Malcolm tell them that JT's a plainclothes officer that they stand down.

Edrisa Tanaka

Dr. Edrisa Tanaka

Played by: Keiko Agena

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• Geeky Turn-On: She's quite obviously infatuated with Malcolm, impressed by his forensic knowledge.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Edrisa is terrified of snakes. Which is unfortunate in "Annihilator", as the killer surgically implanted several live Black Mambas in one of his victims.

Claremont Psychiatric Hospital

Staff

Vivian Capshaw

Dr. Vivian Capshaw

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• Beware the Nice Ones: Vivian is one scaary woman after she helped break Martin out of Claremont.
• Deadly Doctor: She got turned by Martin prior to his breakout out of Claremont and holding him hostage. The Whitlys assumed that she was turned because of Stockholm Syndrome.
• Framing the Guilty Party: She stabs herself in "Sun and Fun" to frame Martin.

Brandon Marsh

Brandon Marsh

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David

David

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• Nice Guy: He helps Martin out when he needs to make calls to his family. But otherwise, he follows the rules of his superiors and tells him no when Martin's not allowed to.

Inmates

Frair Pete

Peter "Friar Pete" Davis

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• All There in the Manual: His actual name, Peter Davis, is mentioned by Arroyo in "You Can Run...".
• Boom, Headshot!: He's killed by a Marshal in "You Can Run..." in this manner.
• Sinister Minister: In Season 2, Martin befriends Friar Pete, a former friar-turned-serial killer also incarcerated in Claremont.
• Villains Out Shopping: After escaping the hospital, Friar Pete helps himself to a few games of bowling.

Suspects

The Copycat

Carter Berkhead

Played by: Michael Cerveris

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• Jack the Ripoff: The antagonist of the pilot is a former patient of Martin's who became enamored of him and sought to emulate him by copying his kills.

Claude Springer

Claude Springer

Played by: Steven Beauchamp

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The Annihilator

Jon Littman, Esq.

Played by: Michael Esper

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• Freudian Excuse: The suspect went after his victim because of the need to be officially recognized as family.
• Murder-Suicide: The killer in "Annihilator" tries to do this when the police track him down, poisoning his wife and kids as well as himself. Thanks to Malcolm and Dani's intervention, he fails.

Dominic Render

Dominic Render

Played by: Joseph Anthony Sudol

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Joey

Joey

Played by: Shawn T. Andrew

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Mrs. Cadichon

Trini Cadichon

Played by: Pascale Armand

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• You Killed My Father: She committed her murders to avenge her daughter.

The Spree Killer

Isaac Parker

Played By: Clark Furlong

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• Bad People Abuse Animals: Isaac is a 12-year-old boy who would routinely kill his pet rabbits, but his mother covered it up for him. This escalated to stabbing his own father to death. He later stabs his mom's boyfriend for not letting him go trick-or-treating.
• Enfant Terrible: The murderer in "All Souls and Sadists" is a 12-year-old boy with sadistic tendencies.

Tevin Standish

Tevin Standish

Played by: Matthew Maher

A patient at Clarmenount who breaks out during the episode Q&A when he learns that Ainsley is at the hospital to interview her father.

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• Axe-Crazy: Naturally, since he's in Claremont for murdering his entire family.
• Crime of Self-Defense: He claims this as according to Standish his family was abusive and killing them was the only way to protect himself. Naturally, no-one believes him for obvious reasons...

The Junkyard Killer

Paul Lazar/John Watkins

Played By: Michael Raymond-James

A Serial Killer whom Malcolm and the others encounter while investigating the death of the NYPD Chief of Detectives and to their shock learn that not only has he been active for years but was a "friend" of another infamous killer...The Surgeon.

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• Would Hit a Girl: He nearly killed Ainsley and Jessica, but Malcolm intervened in time.

Beth Saverstein

Beth Saverstein

Played by: Kristen Connolly

Dr. Coppenrath

Doctor Simon Coppenrath

Played By: Scott Shepherd

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Nicholas Endicott

Nicholas Endicott

Played By: Dermot Mulroney

A corrupt and powerful business tycoon.

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