- Title: Battle Creek – Sugar High
- IMDb: link
When Russ (Dean Winters) is kidnapped by a convict (James Le Gros) who escaped prison less than a week before serving his full sentence of more than 20 years Milt (Tad Hamilton) works with the Battle Creek Police Department to find their missing officer. Despite the lunacy of the escapee’s behavior, Russ discovers the man isn’t a complete moron although it will take him nearly the entire episode to uncover what exactly the man is after that would be worth adding more years to his prison term.
The basic one-note distrust of Russ for Milt has been the foundation of the show, much to its detriment, as anything other aspect of Battle Creek. “Sugar High” offers the chance to change that but it’s impossible not to see Russ as anything other than petty when he can’t even bring himself to admit that Milt saved his life. That, along with Milt missing another perfect opportunity to share his feelings with Holly (Aubrey Dollar) leaves us with a dislikable ass who lacks the flair and genius of Backstrom (but none of the baggage). I don’t know if CBS will decide to pick the show up for another season, but if that is the plan there’s some rewriting and character development that desperately needs to take place to make this a destination worth returning to every week.