Not only does Fox’s new series “Backstrom” supply an hour of mediocre, at best, entertainment but it has almost no resemblance to the Leif GW Persson book of which the show is based.

In the series premiere, “Backstrom” does an arguably poor job of bringing such a complex character, Evert Backstrom, to life. While the show slightly captures Backstrom’s repulsive and often blatantly racist demeanor, it does not reach the depth of his character  and genuine nature.

The first episode follows Backstrom on a rather easy path down the murder case of a rich, spoiled college kid, caught up in the wrong crowd. His girlfriend, a supposedly doe-eyed stripper, along with her drug dealer boyfriend, cons the young student to give her a substantial amount of money.

Unfortunately, the case and episode seem to be over quickly after it starts and does not offer the perplexing plot that a viewer would expect in a crime show.

Tonight’s episode, the second in the series was as unimpressive as the first. It failed to deviate from its immature and lazy writing that permeated every scene. Not only was Rainn Wilson’s perceived intelligence unbelievable, but the writers of the show did not help him by supplying the actor with a laughable script, and not in a good way.

After a less than impressive second plot to catch a serial arsonist, the show ends with Backstrom flying a kite from his childhood that was lost almost 30 years prior. This is not only inconsistent with Backstrom’s personality, but it cheapens the show in a way that would insult readers of Persson’s book.

Forgetting about the average nature of the new Fox series, there are multiple aspects of the book that are not represented in the show. This would not necessarily be a problem for the random viewer, but for those watching the show after reading the book, this could be a substantial issue.

First of all, the book’s plot takes place in Sweden and there are various subtle parts of the Swedish culture that are important in developing Backstrom’s character. But, the show obviously takes place in America, so all of these aspects have been lost.
The first two episodes seemed to be foreshadowing a one season series that flops soon into the creative process. Iit will be interesting to see how the writer adapt to such a difficult market to break into — the American crime television series.