Critic Reviews

This one’s super funny, especially the scenes featuring Winters and Duhamel together. Talk about chemistry.

Judging only the pilot episode, the banter between them (Dean Winters and Josh Duhamel) can be fun and Gilligan’s influence lends a nice, creepy sheen to the notion that menace lurks anywhere, even (or especially?) in the upper Midwest.

Duhamel and Winters were born to share the screen as the odd couple who must solve a seriously strange series of crimes.

It helps that Mr. Winters and Mr. Duhamel give performances that add some glints of complexity to their surface charm, and that the writers avoid many of the usual clichés. This is an engaging series about a likable bunch of co-workers that isn’t too sweet or predictable.

Aspects of Battle Creek seem familiar, to be sure, yet it registers high on the giddy scale thanks to energetic direction, clever writing and the comic chemistry generated by Duhamel and Winters.

It's definitely a smart, clever spin on the old opposite-personalities buddy-cop formula, with a terrific ensemble cast and immensely likable characters.

Battle Creek is a whimsical, even genial, cop show.

Battle Creek may be a little low-boil compared to other network mysteries, which I don't account a fault; even when it runs to caricature, it stays convincing. And if it doesn't break any new ground, it nevertheless feels fresh and genuine.

There’s a lot of lying going on in this police headquarters. A lot of smart, superbly sustained entertainment, too.

Other episodes seem fairly standard fare, entertaining and involving enough on their own, but lacking the offbeat quirkiness of maple syrup drownings. If the “straightforward” episodes weren’t so well written and directed, this could be a problem of consistency, but as it is, the series is fun and only slightly flawed.