Malcolm Bright

Malcolm Bright's History

Malcolm Bright is the son of the notorious serial killer, The Surgeon. When he was a child, he discovered a Girl in a Box, his father's last victim, and eventually helped put his father in prison by calling the police. Despite this betrayal, he was still incredibly intrigued with his father's intellect and continued visiting him at the asylum for the next 12 years. After graduating Harvard University, he ceased these visits so that he could focus on becoming an FBI agent and profiler. Over the next 10 years, he became quite efficient at his job, although he occasionally disagreed with the way in which the FBI and local police agencies handled their cases. After one such disagreement, he was forced to resign, but he was then quickly recruited by an old friend and mentor, Detective Gil Arroyo, to act as a consultant for the NYPD. However, due to his father's possible insight into a new serial killer case in New York, Malcolm was forced to mend his relationship with the other man, even though he still suffers pavor nocturnus (night-terrors) and guilt ridden hallucinations.

Over the course of the show, it is clear that his father still holds on to the hope that Malcolm will one day turn out to be a prolific killer, just like him. In fact, many of the conversations Martin has with Malcolm suggest that he is still trying to groom his adult son.