I wonder if people who have seen the trailer clip of Instinct felt a sense of déjà vu. Here is another crime-drama series launched by a network featuring a white man and a white woman in the leading roles. In solving crimes, one character proceeds by-the-book while the other tends to use unorthodox methods. When they are paired together, which usually takes place in the pilot episode, they initially clash so that their warming-up-to-each-other sequence can be spread throughout a couple or more episodes for character development before they come to appreciate and respect each other.
Judging from everything that I have read on the internet and even from the network’s own releases and previews, this is more or less what we are getting with the Instinct’s two leading characters, Detective Lizzie Needham, the straight-shooter, and Dylan Reinhart, the quirky-but-genius ex-CIA operative who now ‘operates’ in the world of academia as a professor and a writer. Another déjà-vu trait, Reinhart is a witty jokester. He has a sense of humor, one that either flies above people’s heads at times, or comes across sardonic at others. In this sense, he is essentially a variation of the ‘distinguished’ group of ultra-clever, white-male characters in leading roles such as Dr. Gregory House, Agent Fox Moulder, Rick Castle, Detective Bobby Goren, Patrick Jane, and Dr. Jason Bull.
So, how exactly will this show set itself apart from others and gain the ratings needed to survive its first season and beyond? Scheduled for the 8 PM slot on this Sunday, the pilot episode will be going against Counterpart, an excellent series on Starz, American Idol on ABC, Little Big Shots on NBC, and back-to-back episodes of The Simpsons on Fox, not to mention a few games from March Madness.
If I sound all gloomy and doomy so far, do not take that as an indication that I have a low expectation of Instinct. On the contrary, I am glad that it will be the first series to be reviewed on my blog. There are valid reasons to be excited about this show, so let me delve into those.
Instinct is based on a novel, by the renowned author James Patterson, called Murder Games (recently changed to Instinct in accordance with the show). Nevertheless, a TV show is primarily defined by its own producers and writers. Outlander (Starz) is a great example of a show based on a series of books (and it remains loyal to their story for the most part), but the masterpiece that the showrunner Ronald Moore has put together with terrific episodic writers like Ira Steven Behr, Anne Kenney, and Toni Graphia, is worth every minute of watching, whether you are a fan of the books or not. It’s an encouraging example because, by all indications, Instinct also seems to be in good hands. Michael Rauch, an accomplished producer, is at the helm of the show. His résumé includes Beautiful People (2005-06), Life Is Wild (2007-08) and more notably, Royal Pains (2009-16).
I am not familiar with the first two. I have watched, though, many episodes of Royal Pains and I know that it enjoyed solid success during its seven-year run. It was described accurately by one critic as “a reliable source of escapist entertainment,” a goofy but lively pastime opportunity for viewers who had an hour to spare. It took place at a delightful location and featured a doctor as the leading character (a white male, again), his hilarious brother, and plenty of eccentric patients that allowed room for raillery. There was some amount of acceptable drama, but the show’s success mostly rested on humor drawing from the dialogues between the wide variety of zany characters, with a touch of occasional romance. To Rauch’s credit, the several episodes that he wrote and directed himself contained richer plots than many others (“Fight or Flight” and “A Farewell to Barnes” are two examples) and had longer-lasting consequences on the main characters.
Instinct gives Rauch an opportunity to take his skills to the next level. Unlike Royal Pains that aired on a cable network (USA), Instinct is on CBS, a national network. Rauch also has at his disposal the highly talented actor Alan Cumming who plays Dylan Reinhart, and with all due respect to Mark Feuerstein as Dr. Hank Lawson in Royal Pains, Cumming is a five-star actor who can quasi-jump from your screen into your living room and make you feel like his character is alive next to you. You probably know this already if you watched him perform in The Good Wife as Eli Gold.
Det. Needham, the other half of Rauch’s leading tandem for Instinct, is Bojana Novakovic who previously had a leading role in Satisfaction, a supporting role in Rake, and a recurring role in Shameless. There is also a decent trio of actors in supporting roles, Daniel Ings (Lovesick and The Crown), Naveen Andrews (Lost and Sense8), and Sharon Leal (Supergirl). Whoopi Goldberg also chimes in a recurring role as Reinhart’s book editor.
CBS seems to be banking on the fact that Instinct’s leading male character, Dylan Reinhart, is gay. Often criticized in the past for its reluctance to cast progressive characters – Reinhart is also married – the network hopes to chip away at that reputation with the show. Cumming, has been very vocal about that aspect of his character on the show at every interview to promote the show. He has identified himself as bisexual in previous interviews, actively supports LGBT rights, and he is married to the illustrator Grant Shaffer.
Is having a gay lead character enough to offset the déjà-vu traits of Instinct that I have mentioned at the top of this preview? My answer to that is rather straight-forward. As long as the writing is of high-quality and the stories being depicted resonate with viewers, the show has the ingredients necessary to flourish, even in the saturated market of crime-dramas featuring a man and a woman as leading co-stars. In any case, you will find out how I felt about the pilot episode in my review that will be posted within 48 hours after it airs.
I am excited to tune in on Sunday at 8:00 PM (Eastern Time) to CBS and watch the pilot episode. So are you, I hope.