Despite formula, ‘Instinct’ lacks chemistry
Is “Instinct” (8 p.m. Sunday, CBS, TV-14) a new project for Alan Cumming? Or the umpteenth adaptation of a James Patterson thriller?
Cumming stars as a Dr. Dylan Reinhart, first seen as a comfortable, tweedclad professor of abnormal psychology. He seems suited to academic life and is happily married to his husband.
But we all know that police procedurals are not based on domestic bliss, gay or straight.
Reinhart’s world is rocked when his editor (Whoopi Goldberg) informs him that the first draft of his second book is a bore, a plodding theoretical tome bereft of zing. The other shoe drops when New York police detective Elizabeth Needham (Bojana Novakovic) comes to his class to inform him that a serial killer appears to be using Reinhart’s exciting first book, “Freaks,” as inspiration for his bloody spree.
Reinhart immediately sees a collaboration with Needham as a chance to leave the classroom and get acquainted with his retired “mojo,” commemorated in old photos of himself dressed in leather atop a motorcycle. And what better fodder for a new page-turner than a chance to catch real criminals?
Sadly, buddy-cop partnerships require chemistry as well as interesting (or at least believable) characters, and “Instinct” supplies neither. Cumming is well suited to play the wry, witty sophisticate, but he’s rather tentative here, as if he’s afraid that neither Needham nor an “NCIS” audience will get his jokes.
For her part, Needham remains a complete cypher. She’s provided with sad backstories (the death of a lover and partner and even a sick dog), but they aren’t enough to add up to three dimensions. She’s pretty, young and blonde. Reinhart is a gay man well into middle age. Their lack of compatibility owes more to age and attitude than sexual orientation. Given someone quicker on the uptake to play with, Cumming might have an updated “The Thin Man” on his hands.
But that would require dialogue that rises above the predictable. Even the show’s Manhattan setting seems generic.
And, as mentioned above, this is a James Patterson procedural, which means that it’s not enough for Reinhart to be a genius professor and a best-selling author. He must be an ex-CIA agent as well. And it’s his background in tradecraft, gunplay, fighting and cliche-ridden banter with his old agency handler (Naveen Andrews, “Lost”) that tips “Instinct” from implausible to ridiculous.
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For the record, Sunday nights now sport two new series about unlikely federal agents. ABC’s “Deception” (10 p.m., TV-PG) stars Jack Cutmore-Scott as Cameron Black, an impossibly self-involved former Las Vegas illusionist who helps the FBI fight bad guys using sleight of hand and vanishing acts. It’s a pretty absurd show with little chemistry between Cameron and, well, everybody. But it’s better than “Instinct” because it fully embraces its preposterous nature.
SPORTS TRAGEDY
The two-night special “Aaron Hernandez Uncovered” (7 p.m., today and Sunday, Oxygen) explores one of the more complex and tragic sports stories of the last decade from the vantage point of the late NFL star’s fiancee and lawyer.
Born into rough circumstances, Hernandez became a rich man playing for the dominant New England Patriots, only to be convicted of murder and commit suicide behind bars.
A posthumous examination revealed that Hernandez suffered from concussion-related brain injuries often known to alter behavior. Does this exonerate Hernandez or only compound his tragedy?
This is the second prime-time examination of the Hernandez story. Earlier this year, “48 Hours” aired an episode based on the book “All-American Murder: The Rise and Fall of Aaron Hernandez” by … prolific author James Patterson.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
› Second-round action of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament (7:30 p.m., CBS).
› “20/20” (8 p.m., ABC, repeat) interviews the cast of the old and new versions of “Roseanne.”
› The daughter of an apparent suicide, a 12-yearold becomes fiercely protective of her adoptive family in the 2018 shocker “Mommy’s Little Angel” (8 p.m., Lifetime, TV-14).
› Petulant narcissists work at the top of the legal game on “For the People” (10 p.m., ABC, repeat, TV-PG).
› The six-part series “Christiane Amanpour: Sex & Love Around the World” (10 p.m., CNN) features the globe-trotting journalist in a new role, interviewing men and women from various cultures about matters of intimacy, love and pleasure. First up: Tokyo.
Kevin McDonough can be reached at kevin.tvguy@ gmail.com.