Backstrom [Fox]

JP Liz V1

Thrill wrote: »

Fox orders Backstrom to series. 13 episode order.


The drama adaptation of Leif G.W. Persson’s best-selling Backstrom series of books.



http://www.deadline.com/2014/01/backstrom-rainn-wilson-series-order-fox/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7ROY4UUsX4

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Sherlock or House PD starts tonight

Agent Coulson

I found it a bit if a damp squib it's nothing new or original with a paint by numbers cast of characters and script.

Also having Dennis Haysbert in the cast and not using him well is a huge mistake.


I'll give it one or two more episodes but nothing holding out hopes that it will improve.

Backstrom is one of the oddest shows to come along in quite some time, it's lead is deliberately unlikable and blunt to a point where he comes across as a casual racist, a misogynist and an all round dick. While those elements can be used to create an interesting character here they exist simply for the sake of it with Backstrom being one of the most one dimensional characters on TV. At the best of times it feels like we are watching Dwight Schrute at his worst and none of the blame lays at the feet of Rainn Wilson who does what he can with such wafer thing material.

Perhaps the shows biggest problem is that the procedural case of the week was so familiar and bland. The show isn't a character study and as such you could almost forgive the lack of a fully formed lead but if you can't guess the villains of the week by the 10 minute mark then you've never seen a procedural before. It's all so rote and uninteresting that not even the presence of Thomas Dekker or Dennis Haysbert or Page Kennedy lifts proceedings up. All three turn in charismatic and fun performance but not one of them is given anything substantial to do and Haysbert is more often used as furniture than as a character.

The last thing anyone wants is another by the book procedural or even better a cynical crime show where the victims are treated as nothing more than a plot point. Backstrom seems to make the mistake of assuming that a procedural with a truly cynical and unlikable lead is something fresh and wonderful, it's not. On the basis of the pilot it's just another of the never ending stream of generic procedural without an ounce of humanity or resonance.

I am somewhat hopeful that the series will pick up as the cast are great and Hart Hanson's The Finder took awhile to find its feet before becoming one of TV's most likable shows.

Episode two was rather better and actually gave the supporting cast something to do, Haysbert is still way underused and Backstrom himself is just way too hard to warm to though the final scene was rather touching and the talk of his childhood at least make him likable. I think that the show needs to find a niche where it can be it's own thing, the case of the weeks thus far have been boring and a lot of the dialogue is unnecessarily showy but there's a glimmer of hope that something good will come from the show

squonk

I watched Episode 1 last night. I was a little distracted at the time with something else going on but it appeared to jump into the case of the week and working with the cast extremely quickly. It felt like picking something up mid season. It's great to see Haysbert back on screen. He was great in 24 and I still reckon he was great in Now and Again with Eric Close all those years ago!

Skerries

squonk wrote: »

I watched Episode 1 last night. I was a little distracted at the time with something else going on but it appeared to jump into the case of the week and working with the cast extremely quickly. It felt like picking something up mid season. It's great to see Haysbert back on screen. He was great in 24 and I still reckon he was great in Now and Again with Eric Close all those years ago!

he was great in The Unit until it jumped the shark

Guy:Incognito

Enjoying it so far, The "I am.........." stuff grates on me a bit though.

the_syco

Episode three is good. Herself should heat things up a bit!

mafaa

the season is not really that interesting, can't think much of the procedural cases except 1 likable character in the series ; hope it stays as one seasoner

Guy:Incognito

mafaa wrote: »

hope it stays as one seasoner

Why? If you dont like it just dont watch anymore if its renewed. It will have no effect on your life.

I can never understand people being happy when a show is cancelled.

mafaa

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Why? If you dont like it just dont watch anymore if its renewed. It will have no effect on your life.

I can never understand people being happy when a show is cancelled.

precisely, don't watch anymore to me is equivalent of hope it stays as one seasoner to me, don't later change my mind whether it renews or not

Dozen Wicked Words

Well I am enjoying it so far, apart from the "I'm you" which grates a bit. That and the not being able to light his cigar thing.

Would love it to get a second season. I like the dynamic between the team and backstrom and his lodger

half brother

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I'm a Hart Hanson fan though, really enjoyed early Bones and was disappointed when The Finder got cancelled.

ElNino

I am enjoying the dis-functionality of the show. It is the police procedural version of House.

Skerries

cancelled

http://deadline.com/2015/05/backstrom-cancelled-fox-1201423347/