TV Review--Backstrom

He’s not bad, he’s just written that way.

That seems to be the attitude of the creators of Backstrom, the new Fox police procedural that can easily be summed up as House as a detective.  Backstrom, played by The Office alumni Rainn Wilson, is a racist, misogynist, alcoholic, lazy, lying piece of work who, luckily for him, is as good at solving crimes as Gregory House was at diagnosing diseases.  According to one of his subordinates who inexplicably tolerates him, Backstrom operates on a higher level, seeing the truth where others can’t.

The pilot episode lays Backstrom’s vices on a bit thick, as pilots are want to do. But there is some there there.  For instance, when pushed to name a suspect at the crime scene, Backstrom points to a seemingly random African American campus security guard and says, “Him.”  Everyone else dismisses the accusation as racist, but the young man turns out to be involved; a more PC police officer would have dismissed his suspicious behavior as profiling, but Backstrom has no such filters.

It may take some time to sort out the ensemble supporting Backstrom, but there is potential.  There is the female assistant (Genevieve Angelson) who hates him but acknowledges his skills ; the somewhat fawning forensic analyst (Kristoffer Polaha); a gorgeous French woman whose exact purpose I’m not clear on but she’s some kind of tech support (Beatrice Rosen); a beat cop who is supposed to take care of Backstrom when he can’t take care of himself (Page Kennedy); and another detective who, as a part-time pastor, is Backstrom’s complete opposite,  played with amusing understatement by the wonderful Dennis Haysbert.

House managed to survived for eight seasons, but Backstrom had better learn some lessons if it is going to last more than 13 weeks.  First off, as outrageous as House was, the producers chose their moments and vices.  They didn't show House stealing money from poor kids while soliciting a hooker and eating Choco-Chocolate chip ice cream and washing it down with a bottle of bourbon.  Second, House was played by Hugh Laurie, it what is probably the greatest performance on TV not to win an Emmy.  As good as Rainn Wilson is, he is no Hugh Laurie so they can’t be quite as outré and get away with it.  Lastly, House was a Rubik's Cube of psychological analysis as to the reasons for his personality disorders; Backstrom seems to be laying everything on an abusive father, which is a bit simplistic.

The other element that bears watching are the mysteries.  The one in the pilot was fine, but one problem with creating a brilliant cop is that you have to be extra alert in creating worthy cases for him to solve (a problem I believe Elementary is beginning to struggle with in season three).  I’ll have to see a few more episodes to know if the writers can produce a well-structured mystery plot on a weekly basis.

I am moderately encouraged by Backstrom.  I can’t say I liked the pilot, but I didn't hate it and I can see the potential (on the flip side, I liked the pilot for Helix but saw no potential as a series).  Wilson has proven himself to be capable of playing an off-putting yet endearing character, and he certainly has room to play with here. 

The show is set in Portland, Oregon, which means between this show and Grimm, Portland will be the murder capital of America for a while.