If you’re a fan of the television subgenre that pairs a gifted, impulsive, often childlike male civilian with a tough, straight-arrow, lonely female cop, then you were probably a fan of “Castle,” one of the most successful shows of the type. (Other recent or current examples: “The Mentalist,” “Perception,” “Forever,” “A.P.B.,” “Lucifer.”)
You’re also in luck. Maybe. Sunday night brings not one but two new examples of the genre. “Deception” on ABC pairs a magician and an FBI agent. “Instinct” on CBS pairs a professor and a New York police detective. “Deception,” with its bad-boy hero, has shades of “The Mentalist.” The academic aspects of “Instinct” recall “Perception.” But both owe a primary debt to “Castle.”
Since they’re essentially the same show — harmless case-of-the-week fluff hewing closely to a particular formula — we can assess them based on said formula: Which is more like “Castle”?
The hero: In “Deception,” Jack Cutmore-Scott (“Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life”) plays a master illusionist who works with the FBI to help his wrongly jailed twin brother. In “Instinct,” Alan Cumming (“The Good Wife”) plays a psychology professor and author of three books who works with the New York Police Department because of his expertise — like Richard Castle, a mystery novelist who had studied criminal behavior. Advantage: “Instinct.”
The hero, Part 2: Cumming’s Professor Dylan Reinhart is also a former CIA agent who quit spying to please his husband. Cutmore-Scott’s Cameron Black is a pure civilian, like Castle, and more humor is milked from the contrast between him and his gung-ho partner. Advantage: “Deception.”
The heroine: A tough call because not much differentiates them. Ilfenesh Hadera’s Kay Daniels in “Deception” and Bojana Novakovic’s Lizzie Needham in “Instinct” are both standard-issue brusque, uptight, damaged cops and straight women to their more theatrical partners. (These roles are not gifts for actresses.) Novakovic is ethnically Serbian, like Stana Katic of “Castle.” But the name Kay Daniels is closer to Katic's Kate Beckett. We’ll call it on back story: Lizzie lost a former partner and fiancé, while Kay lost a sister — like Kate, who also lost a family member, her mother. Advantage: “Deception.”
The supporting players: “Deception” has a full “Castle"-style crew: Laila Robins as the suspicious but supportive senior officer; Amaury Nolasco as the junior officer who befriends the new guy; and Vinnie Jones, Justin Chon and the always amusing Lenora Crichlow as Cameron’s magic crew, who take the place of Castle’s family. “Instinct” has Sharon Leal as the boss cop; Whoopi Goldberg as Dylan’s editor; Daniel Ings as his husband; and the always suave Naveen Andrews as a former spy colleague. It’s a less “Castle"-like bunch. Advantage: “Deception.”
The city: “Castle” did a decent job of using Los Angeles locations to achieve a sense of its New York setting. Both of the new shows are set and at least partly shot in New York, but through three episodes of each show, “Instinct” has more Gotham flavor. Extra points for the Burger Warrior food truck. Advantage: “Instinct.”
The cases: “Deception” has to come up with situations that call for the large-scale, theatrical illusions that are the specialty of Cameron and his crew, like escaping from a bomb-rigged museum gallery under video surveillance. “Instinct” can do more intimate, character-based mysteries that play off Dylan’s knowledge of abnormal psychology — like “Castle,” it’s kinky-killer-of-the-week. Advantage: “Instinct.”
The actors: “Castle” ran for eight seasons on ABC because of Nathan Fillion’s charm as Richard Castle and the comfort and humor, if not outright chemistry, between him and Katic. “Deception” may be more of a surface clone of its ABC predecessor, and — given that Dylan in “Instinct” is gay — more likely to develop a “Castle"-like romance between its partners. But in the performances and teamwork of Cumming (more restrained than usual) and Novakovic, “Instinct” has more of what made “Castle” a hit. Advantage: “Instinct.”
Final score: “Instinct” 4, “Deception” 3.
