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When you hear that writers Vince Gilligan (“Breaking Bad”) and David Shore (“House”) have made an original show starring Dean Winters (Mayhem from Allstate) and Josh Duhamel (“Transformers”) with Bryan Singer (“The Usual Suspects”) directing the pilot, you probably get your hopes up for an exciting series. Sure, it’s a buddy cop show, but sometimes you need a fun and light break from all those acclaimed dramas like “House of Cards” and “Mad Men.” Unfortunately, the new CBS series “Battle Creek” doesn’t quite know what to do with itself and falls flat.
Detective Russ Agnew (Dean Winters) is the number one detective for the Battle Creek Police Department. He’s devoted to protecting his small Michigan city, but there’s just one problem: their department needs help getting more up to date. They lack certain equipment needed for operations and what they do have doesn’t even work. Enter Special Agent Milton Chamberlain (Josh Duhamel). He’s been sent from the FBI Detroit office to help the department get back up on its feet. He’s the guy that everybody likes. He is good at just about everything and has a certain charm that everyone loves—except Russ. Russ is now no longer the number one detective and must deal with his new partner Milton.
Overall, the show doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously, but there’s something lacking and holding it back from being a great show. The pilot was written by Vince Gilligan ten years ago but was shelved. To think that if this had been picked up back when it was first written, “Breaking Bad” may have never even existed. “Battle Creek” has a fun idea behind it, but doesn’t stand up to other better cop procedurals like “Castle,” “Elementary” or “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”
Its first episode is currently available for viewing on CBS.com. New episodes air Sundays at 10/9c.
