- Title: Backstrom – Give ‘Til It Hurts
- wiki: link
While avoiding his latest mandatory appointment with Dr. Deb (Rizwan Manji), Backstrom (Rainn Wilson) and his unit investigate a rather pedestrian hit-and-run that leaves one wealthy woman dead. Believing the motive for the socialite’s murder is tied to one of the various charities she was involved in, Backstrom and his team go undercover (sort of) and a swanky charity benefit in hopes of discovering the real motive for the murder.
The charity event is really only an excuse to get the usually slobbily-dressed Backstrom cleaned-up and in a tux to the amazement of the rest of his unit and his ex-wife (Sarah Chalke) whose attempts at friendship Backstrom continues to mistake for romantic interest. Love, it seems, is the only motive Backstrom can’t understand. Events of the episode lead to an unusual gift (that is only given to Backstrom for the payoff of a joke later on) bequeathed to the detective who coincidentally finds just the right use for the sobriety chip in order to solve one of his nagging issues. The writers don’t put half the effort into the eventual unraveling of the mystery as they do in Backstrom’s garish behavior leading to an underwhelming reveal for a murder no one was ever all that into investigating in the first place.
