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.
3 January 1987, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
7 May 1951
17 October 1974, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
21 April 1989, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
3 December 1971, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
28 January 1991, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
22 May 1961, Brooklyn, New York, USA
6 May 1989, Seoul, South Korea
15 May 1948, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
16 June 1975, Queens, New York City, New York, USA
16 June 1973, Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada
14 September 1971, Chicago, Illinois, USA
23 January 1980, New York, USA
6 December 1974, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
13 April 1987, New York City, New York, USA
26 June 1964, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
23 December 1981, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, USA
January 20, 2015
Wilson's talent for dark humor helps keep us interested in Backstrom, even when he's irritating.
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?
February 23, 2015
Backstrom isn't just far-fetched; at times it's downright silly. And clumsy. And painfully obvious.
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.
March 12, 2020
Backstrom is a lifeless carbon copy of a dozen other shows.
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.
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 15, 2019
Halfway through the episode I realised that Backstrom is just a bad House, with a few more dead bodies.
December 23, 2014
Crime dramedy with offensive lead misses the mark.
January 20, 2015
It's all deeply familiar territory.
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
The characters talk at a breakneck pace, the tone is dizzy and yet the results feel run of the mill.

