EPISODE
Backstrom - Season 1
The Portland Police Bureau's Elite Special Crimes Unit is led by Det. Lt. Everett Backstrom, an alcoholic and smoker who is in failing health, but takes on cases in special circumstances.
13 July 1941, Rochester, New York, USA
17 September 1991, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
8 July 1967, New York City, New York, USA
13 January 1974, Terrace, British Columbia, Canada
December 23, 2014
Crime dramedy with offensive lead misses the mark.
February 23, 2015
Backstrom isn't just far-fetched; at times it's downright silly. And clumsy. And painfully obvious.
January 20, 2015
The characters talk at a breakneck pace, the tone is dizzy and yet the results feel run of the mill.
January 15, 2015
It's not the character work or the performances that take Backstrom in the occasional wrong direction. The evidence convicts the writing, which is suspect in each of the three episodes sent to critics.
January 20, 2015
Wilson's talent for dark humor helps keep us interested in Backstrom, even when he's irritating.
January 15, 2019
Halfway through the episode I realised that Backstrom is just a bad House, with a few more dead bodies.
January 21, 2015
On Backstrom, neither the character-driven byplay nor the mystery-driven suspense is award worthy, but together they kill an hour pleasantly. Is that a crime?
January 15, 2015
If given the chance, there's a real possibility for the show to become a decent hit with a passionate fan-base that will follow it to the depths of hell.
January 20, 2015
This is one of those shows where one starts to feel bad for the ensemble, as they trudge through bad scripts, doing all they can to elevate it but sinking into the generic quicksand as Wilson over-acts his way into cancellation.
January 20, 2015
It's all deeply familiar territory.
January 21, 2015
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. Rainn Wilson has found a role that fits him like an ugly, stretched-out poncho.
March 12, 2020
Backstrom is a lifeless carbon copy of a dozen other shows.

