Full disclosure up front: Don't expect Dwight Schrute playing a detective.
That may be the assumption by many when they see that The Office star Rainn Wilson has been cast in the title role of Backstrom. The Fox midseason comedy/drama premieres at 8 p.m. Thursday.
The new character is not a total departure for Wilson fans. Dwight was the bane of his Dunder Mifflin co-workers, lacked even a modicum of social skills and was entirely self-centered.
Detective Lt. Everett Backstrom is all that with the added benefit of being a brilliant detective. Think of Backstrom as Adrian Monk without the endearing personality. Better still, think of him as a detective version of the dyspeptic Dr. Gregory House.
Backstrom comes from creator/executive producer Hart Hanson, who brought us Bones. The series is based on renowned Swedish criminologist and novelist Leif G.W. Persson's best-selling books of the same name.
Backstrom is being touted by Fox as "a subversive and comic crime procedural about an unhealthy, offensive, irascible -- albeit brilliant -- detective who is brought back from exile to run the Portland [Ore.] Police Bureau's Special Crimes Unit (SCU)."
Think of SCU as a sort of Special Victims Unit without the shocking sex crimes of the NBC series.
Irascible? Backstrom's main fault is that he totally lacks any sort of filter. After a five-year banishment to the traffic division for "offensive behavior," Backstrom has returned to lead the newly minted SCU. It seems his brilliance means he's the only one capable of running the new outfit and cleaning up the mean streets of Portland.
Aside: This not the hippie haven Portland of Portlandia. Fans of that IFC series, filmed in Portland, won't recognize the place.
Fans of NBC's Grimm, also set in and filmed in Portland, will be familiar with the darker aspects of the city. I wonder if Backstrom will ever have the occasion to run into Grimm's homicide detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli). Different networks, so probably not.
Backstrom is set in Portland because that makes it easier to utilize the actual filming locations of Vancouver, British Columbia. Vancouver is home to many TV and film projects because it's a lot cheaper to shoot there.
At any rate, as the head of SCU, Backstrom's job is to tackle Portland's most sensitive and serious cases. He must solve each crime while trying (and failing) to alter his own self-destructive behavior.
Self destructive? One of the series' writers summed him up with this: "Backstrom is a despicable, alcoholic, lazy, yet brilliant detective who has no problems whatsoever with North Korea. Seriously, none."
Naturally, Backstrom's return from exile is not well-received by anybody, especially his reluctant commanding officer, Police Chief Anna Cervantes (Inga Cadranel, Orphan Black).
Running the day-to-day operations of the SCU is Detective Nicole Gravely (Genevieve Angelson, House of Lies), who is ambitious and optimistic and the polar opposite of Backstrom. Gravely strains herself to the limit to counterbalance Backstrom's erratic and controversial behavior.
A brilliant and welcome addition to the cast is Dennis Haysbert (24, The Unit) as Detective Sgt. John Almond. He's the steady veteran of the bureau who strongly disapproves of Backstrom's xenophobic antics. Although it's in his nature to try to find the best in everyone, when it comes to Backstrom, Almond hits a wall.
Every police procedural needs a forensics expert. In this case he's Sgt. Peter Niedermayer (Kristoffer Polaha, Life Unexpected), a handsome, philosophical fellow whose free spirit grates on Backstrom's nerves.
In charge of the chain of evidence at SCU is civilian Nadia Paquet (Beatrice Rosen, The Dark Knight), a fetching French immigrant with an impressive ability to navigate cyberspace.
For some mysterious reason, Paquet takes a liking to Backstrom and, at least technically, satisfies Backstrom's therapist's order for him to "make a friend."
Out on the mean streets, beefy Officer Frank Moto (Page Kennedy, Blue Mountain State) earns his keep by suppressing the perps. Meanwhile, Moto's tenant, decorator and underworld connection is Gregory Valentine, played by Thomas Dekker (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles).
When I mentioned that Wilson had been cast in the lead for this series, a co-worker grumbled, "Hmm. I don't know. A little bit of Rainn Wilson goes a long way."
That may be true. If viewers can't find anything to like about the character, I don't see how they'll keep coming back to the series.
Then again, Greg House had many negative qualities that made you want to throw something at the TV. Still, there was a vulnerability that made the character one of the best on TV.
Give Backstrom a look and see if there's something fascinating in Backstrom's flawed character that keeps you interested.
Style on 01/18/2015