【Business Relationship】

They say imitation is Business Relationshipthe highest form of flattery -- unless you're talking about straight up ripping off someone else's show.

Michael Rauch, showrunner behind the new CBS crime procedural, addressed accusations of plagiarizing from the well-loved and recently canceled Fox crime show, Bones.You see, when Episode 3 of Instinct(not to be confused with the 1999 Anthony Hopkins crime thriller of the same name, or the 1992 crime thrillerBasic Instinct) premiered, fans expressed indignation at its uncanny similarities to a plot from an episode of Bonesin 2009.

On Twitter, Rauch apologized to the Bonescommunity, claiming the similarities were "distressing" but "100% unintentional." Yet the plotlines are so obscure and alike that it's hard not to feel some skepticism about Rauch's alleged ignorance.

Both episodes follow a fish-out-of-water victim narrative starring young Amish men who move to the city and wind up dead. As pointed out by one Redditor, it only gets worse from there.

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In both, the Amish victims had secretly built their own makeshift pianos (out of popsicle sticks in Instinctand out of rocks in Bones). The discovery of these pianos leads both sets of detectives to a piano teacher, which helps them solve the case. Oh and for good measure, both depict mothers who go against their strict religious rules to keep pictures of their dead sons, and also both episodes end with the families watching a video of their son playing the piano.

I mean ... that's pretty specific!

But the answer to this mystery within a mystery comes down to one of three possible suspects: 1) a serious case of cryptomnesia, 2) the inherent redundancy of crime procedurals, or 3) blatant plagiarism.

I guess it's up to you to solve the case! **crime show music starts playing

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H/T Entertainment Weekly


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