- Title: Backstrom – Ancient, Chinese, Secret
- wiki: link
The murder of a psychic in Chinatown forces Backstrom (Rainn Wilson) to question several other psychics in the area including a young man who offers fortunes to each member of the team that reveal secrets and possible futures for each of them. In terms of ongoing storylines the big takeaway from “Ancient, Chinese, Secret” is the reveal of the burgeoning romantic relationship between Niedermayer (Kristoffer Polaha) and Nadia (Beatrice Rosen), which seems to come out of nowhere, as well as some foreshadowing about Nadia’s past which will likely be further explored over the remainder of the season.
The truth behind the crime has a couple of nice twists (such as a murder weapon that isn’t the murder weapon), but given its final reveal the episode’s writing is more convoluted than intricate. While allowing Backstrom to scoff at the idea of psychics the episode allows enough of the predictions to come true to put some doubt in the detective concerning his own ominous fortune concerning his future. Of course the wording of he “won’t see next Christmas,” even if true, offers quite a bit of room for the writers to get cute (I’m betting for a coma allowing Backstrom to sleep through the holiday) if the show can remain on the air through next year’s holiday season.