Instinct isn't the first show to put a capable yet light-hearted personality alongside a skilled female detective. Similar shows like Castle, Chuck, and Lucifer have all featured male protagonists in the past, and now Dr. Dylan Reinhart of Instinct joins the list. While Dr. Dylan Reinhart is not a real person (he's based on a book character of the same name), the character's existence is marking a long overdue point in the real world. Reinhart is network television's first-ever gay lead in a drama, according to USA Today.
Actor Alan Cumming, who plays Reinhart in the show, talked to reporters at Television Critics Association's winter press tour, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter, and said that "to be the first ever network drama [with a gay lead] on U.S. television, it's an incredible thing and a terrible thing at the same time." He elaborated that he thinks it's important to have this character, but that he doesn't want being gay to define Reinhart.
The character is pulled from the novel Murder Games by James Patterson, which serves as the basis for Instinct. Dylan Reinhart is also gay in the original novel, and is happily married in both the novel and the television series. Cumming explained that the prospect of playing a gay lead "was one of the reasons I wanted to do the show," and he was attracted to the fact that being gay is only the "fourth or fifth most interesting thing about this character." In fact, in an interview with the New York Times, Cumming lists the four other interesting things about the character: He's "a fuddy-duddy professor — oops — but he’s also a C.I.A. agent — oops, and he’s a writer and he drives a motorbike."
The Dr. Dylan Reinhart of Instinct is a former CIA operative who has made a life for himself as a professor at a college teaching behavioral studies. During his time as a professor, Dylan Reinhart writes a book about abnormalities in human behavior that becomes the inspiration of a serial killer that is using the book as a guide for killing their victims. This pulls Dylan back into the world of criminal justice, which isn't far off from Alan Cumming's most prominent television role. For seven seasons, Alan Cumming played the cunning and calculated political consultant Eli Gold on The Good Wife. While he wasn't working with the lawyers of Lockhart/Gardner to defend accused criminals, Eli's presence in the lawyers' offices made him a tangential presence throughout the entire series.
However, in Instinct, Cumming's character isn't tangentially related to crime — he's the person tasked with solving them. "I knew it would be kicking into a different gear because I would be No. 1 on the call sheet and not just popping in now and again to do some fabulous Eli scene," Cumming told the New York Times on going from supporting television role to lead. Cumming, who also serves as an Executive Producer on Instinct seems primed to lead a series after having amassed a wealth of experience over decades as a performer on television, film, and especially in the theater. In fact, while Instinct is airing, Cumming will be touring two separate cabaret shows — Alan Cumming: Legal Immigrant and Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs.
Dr. Dylan Reinhart may not be a real person — but there's no denying that the character represents a very real swath of America for the first time ever. And, while Dylan Reinhart was written long before Alan Cumming was cast in the role, Cumming's performance and involvement with the series will likely go on to define the character for as long as the series is on the air.
