Critic Reviews

What you’ll see is the best broadcast TV cop drama of the season, with a dirty-to-the-touch sleuth played to the hilt by an actor who’s very much up for this.

Wilson’s Backstrom is just downright rude and in-your-face belligerent, and, at times, it can be tough to swallow. That’s where the supporting cast comes in. Polaha and Rosen are particularly winsome characters, providing additional touches of humor and helping to soften Wilson’s hard edges. A little more of them and little less of Wilson will go a long way.

The mechanics of the cases (again, par for the genre) might squeak or grind here or there, but Backstrom really stumbles only when it strains too hard for seriousness--and it is not a fatal fall, in any case.

This series is notably dependent on its writing, specifically the crafting of its mystery plots. Because of that, Backstrom will probably turn out to be variably enjoyable from week to week. But at least it has the potential to be excellent.

There are some interesting ideas, like calling out Gen-Xers for romanticizing pessimism, and several well-cast, offbeat supporting characters, but Backstrom needs to find a more cohesive voice and stronger case-of-the-week plots if it wants to keep walking the prime-time beat.

Viewers may be attracted to Backstrom because of its charming supporting players as much as its abrasive hero. The whole thing grew on me in the course of three episodes provided for preview.

As beloved as Mr. Wilson is from “The Office,” as it is written the character of the curmudgeon Backstrom doesn’t seem trenchant enough to be memorably offensive or socially tart. Yet if enough viewers pray long enough for his evolution, they may be rewarded by taking other pleasures from the show.

Unlike "The Office," Backstrom hasn't yet fleshed out the supporting characters to water down Wilson's well-oiled obnoxiousness generator. Once it stops explaining everyone's backstory--why is he so bitter? why is she so naive? why are the firefighters evil?--Backstrom might turn into a decent chase for the bad guy of the week.

Unfortunately, in the first episode, the show overdoes Backstrom's unlikability to the point where it's an open question whether viewers will return to see subsequent episodes, where he becomes less hard to take, and we learn more about why he is the way he is.... The more encouraging news is that judging from two additional episodes made available for preview, Backstrom--which is based on a series of novels written by Swedish criminologist Leif G.W. Persson--calms down and gets better as it goes along.

It's annoying to be told that a show whose pilot isn't terrific gets better in subsequent episodes, but like Backstrom, I have a job to do.