'Battle Creek' Recap: 'Syruptitious' Doesn't Sap the Sincerity of Being a Cop

“Syruptitious” was a much more representative example of Battle Creek’s early goal. It is clear that Battle Creek is not interested in taking itself too seriously (if the title pun wasn't indication enough). That doesn’t mean that there won’t be some serious and emotional beats every episode but It won’t be too concerned with melodrama, at least not initially. Just look at “Syruptitious” in which the two cases revolved around a man being drowned in syrup, resulting in an investigation of a syrup cartel and Font doing an investigation into a legal marijuana seller because he believes they are selling fake marijuana. That’s right, a syrup cartel and fake marijuana. “Syruptitious” shows that Battle Creek not only wants to straddle the line between comedy and cop show drama but also is fairly comfortable in doing so.

The main investigation into the syrup cartel feels like a good definition of what Battle Creek wants to achieve every week. The fact that there is a syrup cartel in Battle Creek, enough to scare a judge into giving Milt a warrant, is fairly ridiculous. And that ridiculousness is played up just enough to be fun without becoming complete parody. There is a sleek syrup making montage. There is a sting operation featuring Milt and Russ selling their own syrup, meeting with restaurateurs in back alleys and filling up trucks with barrels of the syrup. There is even Russ being suspended from the case only for Milt to hire him as an FBI informant. And even though the characters realize this whole thing is a tad ridiculous, but they still take their job seriously. This may be the most important aspect of the show.

So far in the first two episodes of Battle Creek the actors, and especially writers, have been able to slyly wink at the camera while being sincere. The actors are able to throw in those comic moments without coming off as snarky or uncaring about solving the case. The competition between Milt and Russ is all in good fun but at the end of the day they both want to catch the bad guy. They undertake their jobs seriously even if they are always being thrown curveballs. It’s important that the characters continue this line of thinking because the minute the “serious” case is treated as farce will be the moment that Battle Creek becomes a not very funny comedy as opposed to its current status as a cop show dramedy.

“Syruptitious” did this fairly well in its main case. Despite all the cartel shenanigans the killer ends up being the victim’s wife’s dad who killed the victim accidentally while they were in a fight because the victim beat the wife. This is definitely a serious circumstance and is treated with the proper amount of reverence when the case is solved. It’s all fun and games until it isn’t and Battle Creek not only realizes that, but executes it fairly well.

In the other case of the week Font, who has a medical marijuana prescription for his migraines, believes the marijuana store is selling fake weed. The store clerk is a bit of a prickly character who plays to the stereotype of the pothead who is familiar with all the laws pertaining to him. Font sends in the informant to get some weed only to realize that the informant was sold real weed. The informant also comes up with the idea that the clerk is just skimming off the top selling what he skims as a side venture. Font brings Milt in finally to try and strongarm the clerk into confessing, which doesn’t happen, but Font and Milt win the day when they threaten the clerk to prosecute him for putting a Cheech and Chong movie on in the store without permission -- otherwise known as the FBI warning no one reads at the beginning of each movie. If you can’t tell this case was not a very serious one and was mainly played for laughs. If this becomes the format of the show it should be interesting to see how many “wacky” comic cases the writers can come up with before they run out.

But “Syruptitious” did reveal that the Milt and Russ relationship isn’t completely firing on all cylinders. In the first two episodes there has been a little too much psychoanalysis going on. This was most obvious when Milt and Russ are sitting in the restaurant where they hope to sell their bootlegged batch of syrup. Both get their couple lines to analyze each other before the owner of the restaurant comes up to them. It felt too on the nose and almost out of place. Unlike in “The Battle Creek Way” where Russ tells Milt what he thinks about him right before they try to bust down the door of the drug dealer’s home, this felt too easy. It is understandable for them to continue to feel each other out but this could be done in other methods. Still, the show is young so there will be kinks to work out. Though it was a nice moment when Russ tells Font not to get Milt at the end of the episode, showing Russ still doesn't want Milt around.

Battle Creek doesn’t really belong on Sunday night. It has far too much competition from other shows on other networks. But it is a solid and welcome addition to the pantheon of cop shows. It isn’t a must watch as it doesn’t have the panache of the earlier season of House M.D. (these two shows are created by the same person) but it is a nice change of pace and is pretty enjoyable. It will be interesting to see where, if anywhere, Battle Creek goes in later episodes and, possibly, seasons.