Actor-Inspired Element: Gil Arroyo's surname was originally Martinez. "Arroyo" came at the suggestion of Lou Diamond Phillips, who asked to rewrite the character to be more obviously Filipino-Americannote while both "Arroyo" and "Martinez" are Spanish surnames, "Arroyo" is also the surname of two former Philippine presidents.
Dawson Casting: A particularly egregious example arrives in Episode 3 of Season 2, "Alma Mater." Tom Payne plays Malcolm in flashbacks to his 8th grade and high school aged self. Payne, who was born in 1982, would have been 37 years old at the time of filming for Season 2 in 2020. This move is especially confusing as the previous season had cast actual child actor Kasjan Wilson in the role of "Young Malcolm", appearing in 10 of the season's 20 total episodes.
Playing Against Type: Catherine Zeta-Jones as a doctor who just wants recognition and is driven to do nasty things if she has to.
Screwed by the Network: The show's first season did well enough in the ratings to warrant a second season, but two factors ended up derailing it. First, the COVID-19 Pandemic-induced production shutdown resulted in the episode order getting cut to 13 instead of 20 from the first season (which, in turn, was supposed to be 22 episodes before the pandemic hit). Second, Fox wanted its Monday night slot for a revival of America's Most Wanted, resulting in Prodigal Son being shafted the next night to Tuesday...right up against rival dramas This Is Us and FBI. Oops.
What Could Have Been: Finn Jones was originally supposed to be cast as Malcolm Bright. But when casting was underway, Tom Payne was chosen to be Malcolm.
of Lou Diamond Phillips, who asked to rewrite the character to be more obviously Filipino-Americannote .