CBS' new crime procedural, Instinct, puts its own twist on the familiar genre. The show follows a author and former CIA operative who gets involved with the NYPD and uses their expertise to help solve murders. When a book written by this operative serves as a blueprint for a mysterious serial killer, the author is tasked to try and stay a step ahead of the murderer. While Instinct isn't based off of a true story, it does take inspiration from one of the most prolific crime authors of all time.
Instinct — which is the first-ever network TV drama with a gay lead character — is adapted from the book Murder Games by James Patterson. If you've ever perused the fiction section of a bookstore, chances are you've come across the name James Patterson before. The 70-year-old author has written several dozen books, many of which tell detective stories similar to the tale that Instinct is bringing to the small screen. Instinct is the most recent Patterson adaptation for television, following 2007's Women's Murder Club and 2015's Zoo.
Instinct may make a few changes over the course of its series, but it seems that the show will be using Murder Games as a starting point, since the plots for both seem unchanged. Both the show and the book feature Dr. Dylan Reinhart, played by Alan Cumming, who is an author and university professor who wrote a book that is inspiring a serial killer. Both stories also feature Dylan teaming up with NYPD officer Elizabeth Needham, played by Bojana Novakovic, to catch this killer, who is using playing cards to mark each of their murders. Both stories follow Reinhart attempting to help solve the murders and find inspiration for another book — but Murder Games has a definitive ending. Will Instinct go on after it solves the case in the book that inspired the show?
While the events of Instinct are based on Murder Games, which is the only book of Patterson's that has featured Dr. Dylan Reinhart or Elizabeth Needham, the show seems to be built to outlive the plot of the original novel. The show could end up doing something similar to Monk, The Mentalist, Castle, or the several other crime shows that combine case-of-the-week episodes with series-long investigations. While Murder Games focuses primarily on the case to catch the serial killer known as "The Dealer," it appears that Instinct will be more interested in exploring the friendship between Dr. Dylan Reinhart and Elizabeth Needham.
In speaking with the New York Times, Alan Cumming revealed that Dylan Reinhart and Elizabeth Needham won't be sharing the will-they won't-they dynamic that many television crime-solving partners share, that their partnership will still have plenty of engaging moments as they get to know each other. "He’s a rule breaker and she’s very much by the book. He’s idiosyncratic and she’s very ordered. So there’s that straight lines and curvy lines kind of conflict." However, while Dylan is happily married, Cumming joked that he thought "it would be hilarious if [Dylan and Elizabeth] made out at the office party."
While it may have taken one murderer to make things personal to bring Dylan Reinhart back into the field, it will be his love of solving crimes and his friendship with Elizabeth Needham that keep him on the case. Instinct's story may be directly pulled from one book in particular, but the show could likely extend far beyond the scope of the initial novel. Murder Games laid the groundwork for the character of Dylan Reinhart, but Alan Cumming's performance could be what turns this little-known book character into a household name thanks to Instinct.
