Edit: the review was written after watching just the pilot. By episode 5 it started being a decent dramedy series. So, from 4 stars I raised to to 5 for now.
The other day I was checking on IMDB the series Lucifer. I dont like that series but some reviewers pointed out that there are many shows on TV about "another special guy helping police solving cases"!
This is just another odd-couple police procedural with so many others to count: izombie, limitless, criminal minds (Reeds and Penelope are geniuses), perception, Mentalist, Monk, Veronica Mars, Blindspot, Lie to me, Psych, Elementary, Blacklist, White Collar, Person of Interest, APB and so many others. It's funny how Police Officers have been teamed up with ghost, dogs, puppets, and even their mothers in recent shows!
I like less than half of those shows, so, how Instinct is any new or different? It's not. But that's not bad on it's own. Sometimes we need "more of the same". And sometimes it's not being original but how you tell a story. Sadly, Instinct only gets the tropes I dislike from all these similar shows and presents them casually, stealing the gravity of every situation. It isa series not to be taken seriously from what I gathered from the pilot:
1) It starts with the professor who is charming, clever and provoking as you can see from the class reactions (similar to Perception) 2) Hot cop reaches out to him and he have some bland exposition of how many PHds he has through dialogue (similar to Perception). 3) the case involves the professor because the hot cop has a hunch that the killer has something to do with the professors book. 4) Professor declines to help until his publisher conveniently for the plot tells him to go out and have adventures. 5) Professor knew how to find the hot cop, I guess by instinct (see what I did there?), at a cafeteria. 6) Hot cop tells him she is now his boss. Out of the blue. 7) She has no partner because everyone else sucks (more exposition). 8) Her ex partner was her fiancee and died so there's drama (more exposition). 9) Somehow they have each others numbers and text each other but that wasnt never shown. 10) It is revealed that the whole plot is a game made for the Professor (more exposition). 11) The Professor makes up clues like "if I place this mirror to a drawn diamond, we get an hourglass which means something". I was like.. "whaat?". The clues are just random. 12) We get more exposition of how the hot cops bff is the youngest lieutenant on the force, which makes her special (similar to Perception). 13) Hard ass mayor who doesnt want a serial killer in her city. (Not that the cops can do something about it. yet, next episodes will have more killers). It was funny that the Professor also commented on that. 14) The cop has to explain the situation to the mayor (stuff we already know). Then the mayor tells the cops what to do with the investigation next. Which makes no sense. 15) The Professor is special because he has phonographic memory and he is also gay, which makes this show so much different that the rest of the above list. 16) Bad math! They have 2 murders. Then they deduce that it's going to be 1 murder for each playing card. The cards are 52. Then they say that there will be 49 more victims. So, 52-2=49. 17) A "random" guy had a suspicious close-up the first time he shows up. By the 25th minute I knew he was the killer, because the directing gave him away. 18) As in all similar shows, the main character has quirks that leave the cop wondering wth is going on at most times. This is humor apparently (similar to Perception). 19) The Professor has a secret background as he was in CIA and he has a hacker buddy that can access to sealed documents that even the hot cop can't access (like Criminal Minds, Arrow, Bull, APB etc). 20) Camera mistakes: At one point the serial killer shoots at the heroes. Hot cop sees him at the left side of the screen, but then we see the whole room and the killer was actually behind them! Also when they go after him, the killer climbs like3 floors high but somehow ends up being on the street level. 21) Hot cop was talking about her broken heart and had an epiphany about the case, because some cards have hearts or something (similar to Monk). 22) They know where to go know but they just lost the killer. They discovered a new murder there. Cops don't now CPR to save the victim. 23) They called the cops for help to go to the judge (he was not in any danger). But they didn't call the cops a moment later, at the judges office, so that they can be alone with the killer and have an obvious heroic moment. 24) They caught the killer before he kills, and the killer reveals his plan (more exposition). His plans make no sense because he was inspired by the professor's book, so he didn't really had to leave clues behind. And there weren't 52 targets to kill, but let's forget about that. Also, nobody else from the Judge's office found out that the victims appeared in his court. Also the killings were like 1 day apart from each other so he was easy to track with some magical hacking (similar to Criminal Minds). 25) Hot cop has no vest (seriously?) and gets a typical shoulder wound by bullet which is not a big deal (I guess we needed more drama for the pilot). 26) The two main heroes decide to work together (although that shouldn't be allowed since the Professor is not a cop). They laugh because a dead body was found so there is a next case for them to go. They do laugh!
I don't mind cartoons, or that the heroes here are almost cartoonish. What i dislike is that the clues had no basis and that the killer's game made no sense. We know almost anything we need to know for the main characters (Cia, dead partner, etc). Most shows to lure audience tend to do that. Other shows have the luxury of foretelling a great disaster in the pilot for that same reason (Heroes, Flash etc). I can't blame them for that, because they want viewers so that they can get paid. But at least leave something for later, and make a good story and compelling characters.
I will watch a few more episodes in hope that they fix some of the issues I had. But for me, so far it's a silly show. I hope the characters will start doing smart things, instead of magically connect clues to find serial killers who dont know when to stop. The professor is a promising character.
Edit 2: Season 2 is decent. The series has found its footing and pace and its nice, not much gore, mild humor, each season has a n arc that unravels as they solve the crime of the week. The characters are likeable. I enjoy the professor when he does his lectures, and I guess being a gay family man and having to deal with an adoption, it's appealing side-drama to some. Rating goes to 6 because I look forward to each new episode.
The other day I was checking on IMDB the series Lucifer. I dont like that series but some reviewers pointed out that there are many shows on TV about "another special guy helping police solving cases"!
This is just another odd-couple police procedural with so many others to count: izombie, limitless, criminal minds (Reeds and Penelope are geniuses), perception, Mentalist, Monk, Veronica Mars, Blindspot, Lie to me, Psych, Elementary, Blacklist, White Collar, Person of Interest, APB and so many others. It's funny how Police Officers have been teamed up with ghost, dogs, puppets, and even their mothers in recent shows!
I like less than half of those shows, so, how Instinct is any new or different? It's not. But that's not bad on it's own. Sometimes we need "more of the same". And sometimes it's not being original but how you tell a story. Sadly, Instinct only gets the tropes I dislike from all these similar shows and presents them casually, stealing the gravity of every situation. It isa series not to be taken seriously from what I gathered from the pilot:
1) It starts with the professor who is charming, clever and provoking as you can see from the class reactions (similar to Perception) 2) Hot cop reaches out to him and he have some bland exposition of how many PHds he has through dialogue (similar to Perception). 3) the case involves the professor because the hot cop has a hunch that the killer has something to do with the professors book. 4) Professor declines to help until his publisher conveniently for the plot tells him to go out and have adventures. 5) Professor knew how to find the hot cop, I guess by instinct (see what I did there?), at a cafeteria. 6) Hot cop tells him she is now his boss. Out of the blue. 7) She has no partner because everyone else sucks (more exposition). 8) Her ex partner was her fiancee and died so there's drama (more exposition). 9) Somehow they have each others numbers and text each other but that wasnt never shown. 10) It is revealed that the whole plot is a game made for the Professor (more exposition). 11) The Professor makes up clues like "if I place this mirror to a drawn diamond, we get an hourglass which means something". I was like.. "whaat?". The clues are just random. 12) We get more exposition of how the hot cops bff is the youngest lieutenant on the force, which makes her special (similar to Perception). 13) Hard ass mayor who doesnt want a serial killer in her city. (Not that the cops can do something about it. yet, next episodes will have more killers). It was funny that the Professor also commented on that. 14) The cop has to explain the situation to the mayor (stuff we already know). Then the mayor tells the cops what to do with the investigation next. Which makes no sense. 15) The Professor is special because he has phonographic memory and he is also gay, which makes this show so much different that the rest of the above list. 16) Bad math! They have 2 murders. Then they deduce that it's going to be 1 murder for each playing card. The cards are 52. Then they say that there will be 49 more victims. So, 52-2=49. 17) A "random" guy had a suspicious close-up the first time he shows up. By the 25th minute I knew he was the killer, because the directing gave him away. 18) As in all similar shows, the main character has quirks that leave the cop wondering wth is going on at most times. This is humor apparently (similar to Perception). 19) The Professor has a secret background as he was in CIA and he has a hacker buddy that can access to sealed documents that even the hot cop can't access (like Criminal Minds, Arrow, Bull, APB etc). 20) Camera mistakes: At one point the serial killer shoots at the heroes. Hot cop sees him at the left side of the screen, but then we see the whole room and the killer was actually behind them! Also when they go after him, the killer climbs like3 floors high but somehow ends up being on the street level. 21) Hot cop was talking about her broken heart and had an epiphany about the case, because some cards have hearts or something (similar to Monk). 22) They know where to go know but they just lost the killer. They discovered a new murder there. Cops don't now CPR to save the victim. 23) They called the cops for help to go to the judge (he was not in any danger). But they didn't call the cops a moment later, at the judges office, so that they can be alone with the killer and have an obvious heroic moment. 24) They caught the killer before he kills, and the killer reveals his plan (more exposition). His plans make no sense because he was inspired by the professor's book, so he didn't really had to leave clues behind. And there weren't 52 targets to kill, but let's forget about that. Also, nobody else from the Judge's office found out that the victims appeared in his court. Also the killings were like 1 day apart from each other so he was easy to track with some magical hacking (similar to Criminal Minds). 25) Hot cop has no vest (seriously?) and gets a typical shoulder wound by bullet which is not a big deal (I guess we needed more drama for the pilot). 26) The two main heroes decide to work together (although that shouldn't be allowed since the Professor is not a cop). They laugh because a dead body was found so there is a next case for them to go. They do laugh!
I don't mind cartoons, or that the heroes here are almost cartoonish. What i dislike is that the clues had no basis and that the killer's game made no sense. We know almost anything we need to know for the main characters (Cia, dead partner, etc). Most shows to lure audience tend to do that. Other shows have the luxury of foretelling a great disaster in the pilot for that same reason (Heroes, Flash etc). I can't blame them for that, because they want viewers so that they can get paid. But at least leave something for later, and make a good story and compelling characters.
I will watch a few more episodes in hope that they fix some of the issues I had. But for me, so far it's a silly show. I hope the characters will start doing smart things, instead of magically connect clues to find serial killers who dont know when to stop. The professor is a promising character.
Edit 2: Season 2 is decent. The series has found its footing and pace and its nice, not much gore, mild humor, each season has a n arc that unravels as they solve the crime of the week. The characters are likeable. I enjoy the professor when he does his lectures, and I guess being a gay family man and having to deal with an adoption, it's appealing side-drama to some. Rating goes to 6 because I look forward to each new episode.