May 14, 2021
Series Prodigal Son Receives a Flood of Love from 3 Crossover Fanbases as “Malcolm Bright Needs a Hug” Trends
Fans of 3 Other Shows Who’ve Come to Love Prodigal Son, too, Tweetstorm Pleas to Save It
A psychological horror-thriller with a sprinkling of dark comedy, Prodigal Son received a flood of attention Thursday night along with the support of 3 other series’ fanbases as its tag #SaveProdigalSon and the phrase “Malcolm Bright Needs a Hug” trended for almost 2 hours from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM ET. This occurred during a planned tweetstorm on Twitter and peaked at more than 15,000 support tweets and almost 20,000 tweets after the first 90 minutes. Plans for another tweetstorm were announced during Thursday’s event, with the repeat planned on Twitter for Friday, May 14th at 8 PM ET.
Crossover fans from Lucifer, Hannibal, and Supernatural, who’ve come to love the newest series, Prodigal Son, took to social media like a firestorm, trading quips about main character Malcolm Bright, played by Tom Payne, and tagging HBOMax and Netflix with pleas to pick up the series from Fox, who announced the cancellation of the show on Monday. Prodigal Son fans thanked the crossover fans who were able to join with them, remarking on the fun and camaraderie they were having as they connected with other fans while shouting their appreciation of the show. Friday evening might turn out larger numbers as it’s a more likely time segment for a larger amount of fanbase to be available for tweeting.
Fox’s cancellation announcement after only 2 seasons of the show came shockingly just after Catherine Zeta-Jones and Alan Cumming, both veteran film actors, joined the Prodigal Son cast. Their introduction kicked off a series of complicated red herring plot lines and emotional rollercoaster rides whose foreshadowing hinted at a Season 3 that would be like nothing before seen on network television — and more akin to film.
Even without Zeta-Jones and Cumming, the cast of Prodigal Son already counts film stars Lou Diamond Phillips (as Lt. Gil Arroyo) and Michael Sheen (as serial killer Martin Whitly, father to Malcolm Bright) among the illustrious cast.
Fans of Prodigal Son are hoping to make enough noise this week to gain the attention of, and ultimately get picked up by, either HBOMax or Netflix streaming services. While Netflix takes its international audience into account, unlike the U.S.-based television networks when tracking ratings and popularity for their shows, HBOMax is now streaming the two existing Prodigal Son seasons, sparking some hope among fans that more possibilities now exist to #SaveProdigalSon.
Tweetstorm events over the weekend may determine the fate of the show, but the passionate fans who share a mutual love of Prodigal Son with Lucifer, Hannibal, and Supernatural fans are heavily organized, too, setting up an account on Twitter for supporters and crossover fandoms to keep up with news and events at @ProdigalSaviors.
B. Roxy Rogers is a journalist, fiction author, TEFL educator, and digital nomad.
Her latest writing projects are STRANGER THAN FICTION: A biopic of Brian Howe’s era with Bad Company (nonfiction) and REDEEMING ROCHEFORT (fiction) an alternate-history/paranormal/fantasy romance. Both books are forthcoming from Green Lady Publishing. When not writing or quarantining, her passions are focused on Europe, 80s EBM/industrial music, arthouse films, and dance.
