The Bundren children from Faulkner's As I Lay Dying-- Cash, Darl, Jewel, Dewey Dell, and Vardaman--will all appear on a three-day Dr. Phil special set to air Tuesday.
Wow, lots of trauma to unpack here: loneliness, indifference, hatred. Boy, has Dr. Phil got his work cut out for him.
"It's going to take some time, but I think I can help each one of them start to heal."
The Bundrens, who have not all been together since a suspicious fire almost claimed their lives, will all appear and talk about how their lives were affected by their nine-day trip with their mother's coffin to her birthplace of Jefferson, MS.
"These children were abandoned in different ways by their parents," says Phil McGraw, known to his millions of viewers as Dr. Phil. "It's going to take some time, but I think I can help each one of them start to heal."
Viewers are interested to see just how the years have treated the Bundrens and how the internal conflict within the family will play out. Producers warn that one of the more volatile moments on set might be when Darl gets confronted by his siblings.
"I wonder if after all these years, will the other four be able to forgive him," said McGraw. He references of course the two separate times when he risked the lives of his family, once by abandoning them at the flooding river and a second time when he starts a barn fire.
"One of my goals with Darl will be to ensure that he knows that he is not "crazy" or "insane" but that he is neurodiverse and probably suffers from post-traumatic stress," continued McGraw. "It's important for his family to realize that he needs the right type of help."
Viewers will also certainly be tuning in to see how Jewel, his mother's obvious favorite, has dealt with the fallout from learning that Minister Whitfield--not Anse--is his biological father. McGraw addresses this: "I'm sure there will be some relief there that he is not related to Anse in any way. If only the other children were so lucky."
Dr. Phil of course is talking about the remaining Bundren children, Cash, Dewey Dell, and Vardaman, all of who claim "they are done" with their biological father, Anse Bundren. Rumors around the set hint that McGraw and producers are planning a surprise, and it could be an attempt to reunite them with their estranged father.
Regardless, viewers will certainly be intrigued to finally have some answers to their most-asked questions: How's Cash's leg? Was it amputated? What became of Dewey Dell's baby? And what the hell is wrong with Vardaman?
"Ah yes, Vardaman," said McGraw. "We have something special for him. At the end of the show, producers will give him that toy train he wanted to buy."