Cobie Smulders is the best star for this ABC detective show ‘Stumptown’

She anchors this adaptation of the cartoon series of Greg Rucka, a show that is not afraid of what P.I. conventions for own purposes.

"Stumptown" knows how to start a show. Yes, the actual beginning of the show is that two little criminals discuss the finer points of slow roasting in Portland. And yes, that makes way for private detective Dex Parios (Cobie Smulders) who surpasses criminals with a fire extinguisher and her two bare hands. But what follows is that easy-to-expect intro, both in the cold tempo and in the first episode afterwards, is a more than the solid basis for a new twist on the network detection series.

To the extent that "Stumptown" feels the need to check off the expected items from a checklist, it does so with incredible efficiency. The opening episode - titled "Forget it Dex, It's Stumptown." - proves Dex's skills in her chosen job, sets her military background as a way to explain the continuing physical and psychological effects, and even manages to make room for an informal connection between collecting evidence. Directed by James Griffiths, written by Jason Richman, and based on the comic series by Greg Rucka, this is a pilot that takes the conventions of an apostate detective story and uses them for its own purpose.

In her first assignment on the screen, Dex is called in to investigate the disappearance of a teenage girl, so that she can show off all the tools available to her. (This extends to warding off an unwanted pick-up attempt while waving a man at the bar with a few sentences like a cat pushing a glass from the side of a table just because it's possible.) Similarly, this one opening hour is the window of Smulders. She makes the crime-centred patter look easy and sells the idea that Dex is someone who is influenced by her time in the army, even if she tries to get past those memories.

Even with some of those slick verbal words, "Stumptown" does not want Dex to be graceful or infallible in her work. When conviction doesn't work for her to get info, Dex uses some clumsy brute force to make some info exist. A person can be effective in his work without having complete and total control over the other shaken parts of their lives. Dex does its best, and that's good enough in most areas.

The surrounding players in Dex's ongoing search for answers are all ready to provide the meaningful relationships they need, allowing "Stumptown" to build its central character. Jake Johnson immediately feels at home as Gray, Dex's old friend who starts a well himself. Johnson and Smulders already have great give and take with Cole Sibus, who plays Dex's younger brother Ansel. The matriarchal casino boss Sue Lynn Blackbird seems to be one of the most promising counterweights in the series, giving Tantoo Cardinal a chance to be a film for Dex and Hoffman (Michael Ealy), her new contact with the Portland police.

Ealy is also an exciting addition to this cast, even if he is standing next to most of the pilot's exhibition work. (Who wouldn't want a detective to explain their lives to them after a few days of knowing?) So much in "Stumptown" only works on the basis of Dex's interactions with the people in her inner circle, including fellow confidant Tookie (Adrian Martinez). The potential stumbling block of the series will be if ABC's procedure tries too hard to dwell on Dex's past rather than seeing those events in it is present come true.

Anyway, the way the show has already carried out its first case offers sufficient hope. Stumptown is very similar to the promise that Dex has something to call its own, it can free up its own space in the larger network hour world. With a wink, a smile and if necessary a fist, Dex is a character who could well linger for a while.