Instinct (stylized as INSTIИCT) is an American police procedural drama television series which premiered on March 18, 2018, on CBS. The series is based on James Patterson's 2017 novel Murder Games. In May 2018, CBS renewed the series for a second season. The second season premiered on June 30, 2019. The series was cancelled near the end of its second season, on August 17, 2019. The series is notable for featuring a gay male character in the lead, who is married to another man.[1]
| Instinct | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | |
| Based on | Murder Games by James Patterson & Howard Roughan |
| Developed by | Michael Rauch |
| Starring | |
| Composer | James S. Levine |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 24 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Production locations | New York City, New York |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 44 minutes |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | March 18, 2018 – August 25, 2019 |
Premise
Author, university professor, and former CIA paramilitary officer Dr. Dylan Reinhart (Alan Cumming) is lured back to his old life by New York police detective Elizabeth Needham (Bojana Novakovic) when she needs his help to stop a serial killer who is using Reinhart's book as inspiration for murders.[2]
Cast and characters
Main
- Alan Cumming as Dylan Reinhart, an author, psychology professor, and former CIA paramilitary officer, now a consultant to the NYPD in solving bizarre cases
- Bojana Novakovic as Elizabeth "Lizzie" Needham, an NYPD detective third grade[3] who is stationed at the fictional 11th Precinct and Dylan's partner. Her partner, and fiancé, was killed in the line of duty a year prior, and she had since then refused to have a partner before meeting Dylan.
- Daniel Ings as Andrew "Andy" Wilson, Dylan's husband, a lawyer-turned-bar-owner who still uses his law skills to help their friends when needed
- Naveen Andrews as Julian Cousins, a contact of Dylan's from his days at the CIA who now works freelance and who specializes in computers and information retrieval
- Sharon Leal as Jasmine Gooden, an NYPD lieutenant who leads the 11th Precinct and who is Lizzie's supervisor and friend
Recurring
- Whoopi Goldberg as Joan Ross (season 1), Dylan's literary agent[4][5][6]
- Andrew Polk as Doug, the medical examiner
- John Mainieri as Jimmy Marino, a police detective
- Michael B. Silver as Kanter Harris, a police sergeant
- Danny Mastrogiorgio as Anthony Fucci, a police detective
- Alejandro Hernandez as Rafael Sosa (season 1), a police detective
- Stephen Rider as Zack Clark, a police officer, later detective
- Travis Van Winkle as Ryan Stock (season 2), a police detective from Garfield County, Nebraska, who comes to New York to help the NYPD on the case of a potential serial killer
- Reshma Shetty as Maya Bhaduri (season 2), Julian's former lover and co-worker from his days at MI6, who comes to warn him about a group trying to shut down the city's first responders' unit, only to be murdered by them
Production
Development
Instinct is based on James Patterson's Murder Games.[7][8] The series was picked up to pilot by CBS on January 23, 2017.[9] On May 12, 2017, CBS picked it up to series.[10][11][12] On May 12, 2018, CBS renewed Instinct for a second season.[13][14] Instinct was cancelled after its second season on August 17, 2019.[15]
Casting
On February 8, 2017, Alan Cumming was cast as Dylan Reinhart.[16] Bojana Novakovic was cast as Lizzie on February 18, 2017.[17] On February 23, 2017, Daniel Ings was cast as Andy,[18] and Naveen Andrews was cast as Julian.[19] Khandi Alexander was originally cast as Monica Hernández in the pilot,[20] but was replaced with Sharon Leal on June 22, 2017.[21]
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 13 | March 18, 2018 | July 1, 2018 | |
| 2 | 11 | June 30, 2019 | August 25, 2019 | |
Season 1 (2018)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Pilot" | Marc Webb | Michael Rauch | March 18, 2018 | INS101 | 9.05[22] |
| 2 | 2 | "Wild Game" | Doug Aarniokoski | Carol Flint & Constance M. Burge | March 25, 2018 | INS112 | 10.16[23] |
| 3 | 3 | "Secrets and Lies" | Peter Werner | Chris Ambrose | April 1, 2018 | INS108 | 6.61[24] |
| 4 | 4 | "I Heart New York" | Constantine Makris | Michael Rauch | April 8, 2018 | INS106 | 8.12[25] |
| 5 | 5 | "Heartless" | Don Scardino | Michael Rauch | April 22, 2018 | INS102 | 7.11[26] |
| 6 | 6 | "Flat Line" | Laura Belsey | Tanya Barfield | April 29, 2018 | INS111 | 7.01[27] |
| 7 | 7 | "Owned" | Doug Aarniokoski | Jill Abbinanti | May 6, 2018 | INS104 | 6.96[28] |
| 8 | 8 | "Long Shot" | Jay Chandrasekhar | Carol Flint | May 27, 2018 | INS103 | 5.16[29] |
| 9 | 9 | "Bad Actors" | Jim McKay | Dan E. Fesman | May 27, 2018 | INS105 | 4.68[29] |
| 10 | 10 | "Bye Bye Birdie" | Doug Aarniokoski | Constance M. Burge | June 3, 2018 | INS107 | 6.37[30] |
| 11 | 11 | "Blast from the Past" | Cherie Nowlan | Lee Ellenberg | June 17, 2018 | INS109 | 5.27[31] |
| 12 | 12 | "Live" | Ed Ornelas | Michael Ballin & Thomas Aguilar | June 24, 2018 | INS110 | 5.63[32] |
| 13 | 13 | "Tribal" | Michael Rauch | Michael Rauch | July 1, 2018 | INS113 | 4.51[33] |
Season 2 (2019)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1 | "Stay Gold" | Stephen Surjik | Michael Rauch | June 30, 2019 | INS201 | 3.59[34] |
| 15 | 2 | "Broken Record" | Alex Pilai | Keith Foglesong | July 7, 2019 | INS202 | 3.38[35] |
| 16 | 3 | "Finders Keepers" | Lee Rose | Carol Flint | July 14, 2019 | INS203 | 3.56[36] |
| 17 | 4 | "Big Splash" | John Behring | Marc Dube | July 21, 2019 | INS204 | 3.27[37] |
| 18 | 5 | "Ancient History" | Randy Zisk | Constance M. Burge & Jill Abbinanti | July 28, 2019 | INS205 | 3.35[38] |
| 19 | 6 | "One-of-a-Kind" | Janice Cooke | Michael J. Ballin & Thomas Aguilar | August 4, 2019 | INS206 | 3.11[39] |
| 20 | 7 | "After Hours" | Joe Collins | Erica Saleh | August 11, 2019 | INS207 | 3.50[40] |
| 21 | 8 | "Go Figure" | Cherie Nowlan | Anthony Johnston | August 11, 2019 | INS208 | 3.39[40] |
| 22 | 9 | "Manhunt" | Constantine Makris | John Cockrell | August 18, 2019 | INS209 | 3.47[41] |
| 23 | 10 | "Trust Issues" | Lee Rose | Carol Flint & Constance M. Burge | August 18, 2019 | INS210 | 3.09[41] |
| 24 | 11 | "Grey Matter" | Michael Rauch | Michael Rauch | August 25, 2019 | INS211 | 3.43[42] |
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 54% based on 26 reviews, with an average rating of 5.44/10. The website's consensus reads, "Instinct is ultimately an underwhelming police procedural, despite having Alan Cumming in its arsenal."[43] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 53 out of 100 based on 12 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[44]
The character of Dylan Reinhart has been called groundbreaking for being the first openly gay lead character in an hour-long American network television drama series.[45][46][a]
Ratings
Overall
| Season | Timeslot (ET) | Episodes | First aired | Last aired | TV season | Viewership rank | Avg. viewers (millions) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Viewers (millions) | Date | Viewers (millions) | ||||||
| 1 | Sunday 8:00 p.m. | 13 | March 18, 2018 | 9.05[22] | July 1, 2018 | 4.51[33] | 2017–18 | TBD | TBD |
| 2 | Sunday 9:00 p.m. | 11 | June 30, 2019 | 3.59[34] | August 25, 2019 | 3.43[42] | 2018–19 | TBD | TBD |
Season 1
| No. | Title | Air date | Rating/share (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | DVR viewers (millions) | Total viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | March 18, 2018 | 1.0/4 | 9.05[22] | 2.54 | 11.59[48] |
| 2 | "Wild Game" | March 25, 2018 | 1.3/5 | 10.16[23] | 2.15 | 12.31[49] |
| 3 | "Secrets and Lies" | April 1, 2018 | 0.6/3 | 6.61[24] | — | — |
| 4 | "I Heart New York" | April 8, 2018 | 0.9/3 | 8.12[25] | 1.48 | 9.61[50][b] |
| 5 | "Heartless" | April 22, 2018 | 0.6/3 | 7.11[26] | 1.68 | 8.80[51][b] |
| 6 | "Flat Line" | April 29, 2018 | 0.6/3 | 7.01[27] | 1.79 | 8.80[52] |
| 7 | "Owned" | May 6, 2018 | 0.7/3 | 6.96[28] | 1.86 | 8.83[53] |
| 8 | "Long Shot" | May 27, 2018 | 0.4/2 | 5.16[29] | 1.70 | 6.86[54] |
| 9 | "Bad Actors" | May 27, 2018 | 0.3/1 | 4.68[29] | 1.97 | 6.65[54] |
| 10 | "Bye Bye Birdie" | June 3, 2018 | 0.5/2 | 6.37[30] | 1.82 | 8.19[55] |
| 11 | "Blast From the Past" | June 17, 2018 | 0.4/2 | 5.27[31] | 1.88 | 7.15[56] |
| 12 | "Live" | June 24, 2018 | 0.5/2 | 5.63[32] | 1.62 | 7.25[57] |
| 13 | "Tribal" | July 1, 2018 | 0.4/2 | 4.51[33] | 1.93 | 6.45[58] |
Season 2
| No. | Title | Air date | Rating/share (18–49) | Viewers (millions) | DVR viewers (millions) | Total viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Stay Gold" | June 30, 2019 | 0.3/2 | 3.59[34] | 2.08 | 5.67[59] |
| 2 | "Broken Record" | July 7, 2019 | 0.3/2 | 3.38[35] | 1.96 | 5.34[60] |
| 3 | "Finders Keepers" | July 14, 2019 | 0.3/2 | 3.56[36] | 1.84 | 5.40[61] |
| 4 | "Big Splash" | July 21, 2019 | 0.3/2 | 3.27[37] | 1.56 | 4.83[62] |
| 5 | "Ancient History" | July 28, 2019 | 0.3/2 | 3.35[38] | 1.75 | 5.11[63] |
| 6 | "One-of-a-Kind" | August 4, 2019 | 0.3/2 | 3.11[39] | 1.81 | 4.92[64] |
| 7 | "After Hours" | August 11, 2019 | 0.4/2 | 3.50[40] | 1.92 | 5.42[65] |
| 8 | "Go Figure" | August 11, 2019 | 0.3/2 | 3.39[40] | 2.20 | 5.59[65] |
| 9 | "Manhunt" | August 18, 2019 | 0.4/2 | 3.47[41] | 1.86 | 5.34[66] |
| 10 | "Trust Issues" | August 18, 2019 | 0.3/2 | 3.09[41] | 2.15 | 5.25[66] |
| 11 | "Grey Matter" | August 25, 2019 | 0.3/2 | 3.43[42] | 1.91 | 5.34[67] |
Home media
The first season was released in Region 1 on December 11, 2018, and on Region 2 on December 17, 2018.[68]
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| Instinct – Season One | 13 | December 11, 2018 |
