Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Episode 1.05 - The Vulture - Review

 Alright folks, now for our hebdomadal special, What did Jake learn this week?
In a bit of a repeat lesson, Jake once again learned the importance of being part of a team - albeit in a drunker way than before. Not only that, but he specifically learned about making a sacrifice for the good of the team, like taking the blame for a bit of intoxicated, un-jurisdictional crime solving.
Jake tried to solve a case all on his own, only allowing Boyle to help a little bit because he wouldn’t steal his thunder, or even borrow it really. Unfortunately that’s too little, too late and The Vulture (otherwise known as Dennis Duffy, Mayhem, or Brain Cassidy) swoops in from Major Crimes to take over the case, and get all the thunder. To combat The Vulture’s…well, vulture-ness, the dejected detectives head out to the bar to commiserate and brainstorm. After establishing that you can find hate someone AND find them hot, the Nine-Niners brainstorm ways to get back at The Vulture. Although the plan-by-default is to shrink wrap The Vulture’s motorcycle, with no hairdryer available, they decide to get their revenge by solving the case instead.

So the tipsy detectives take the bus to the crime scene, where they each act out the crime. Amy finally realizes the murder weapon was a magnetic corkscrew, meaning it stuck to the inside of the garbage shoot, and so naturally they send Boyle dangling down to retrieve it - after all, he has narrow shoulders.

Upon discovering the illegal police work, The Vulture chews out Captain Holt until Jake lets The Vulture take the credit for the case. In a final act of teamwork, Jake also takes the blame for the escapade, saying the only people there were Jake Peralta, Jay Peralta, and Dr. Jacob Peralta (who was a PhD in Slow-Jam Studies from Funktown State University).

The other Nine-Niners went to the gun range, and Captain Holt and Gina tried to surreptitiously get Jeffords recertified. After the mannequin incident, and then the piñata incident, he was naturally a little reticent to go to a gun range. Frustrated while trying to help both Holt and Gina at the same time, he gives a demonstration himself. After realizing that Gina counted his shots, Jeffords finally figures out the plan, and from then on cannot make the last shot he needs. He also seems to forget how to breathe. Jeffords keeps stalling, even counting to a million and telling the plot to Top Gun.
But eventually, inevitably, he finally takes the shot and gets back to business. He pulls on that old ferocity that was locked up inside him and call Jake out for being selfish, even threatening to crush his head in one hand, like all good leaders do.

One of the great things about this episode was how many characters got to work together in a true ensemble storyline. Rosa, Boyle, Amy, Jake, even Scully and Hitchcock, all joined together in their buzzed state, to try and crack the case. And those not involved with the crime solving made a pretty good unit as well, as Captain Holt and his wily assistant Gina, manipulated Sergeant Jeffords into getting recertified. With Holt’s stern and commanding demeanor, and Gina’s mind games - the two make a pretty great team.

A really solid episode of B99 - it’s clear the show is really starting to hit its stride. The characters are starting to gel really well, the stories are funny and serve the characters, and all the smash-cut flashback jokes are well integrated. Hopefully the ratings will pick up a bit and FOX will give this show the full season pick-up.

So friends, what did we all learn this week? Always take the high road. Which sometimes involves making a cast of your butt, and mailing it to your enemy.

Bits from the Police Scanner :
- “Give me your hairdryer.” “What?” “Don’t you carry one in your purse?” “Have you ever met a human woman?” - Jake/Amy
- “It’s just the target looks exactly like a friend of mine - it’s freaking me out!” - Jeffords “You have a friend, who’s just a silhouette?” - Holt
- Boyle’s moment of joy when Rosa sits next to him on the bus, until she explains the move - “Hitchcock farts non-stop.”
- Clearly Jake assigns Boyle to play the door fairly often in crime scene role-play.
- “I want to get certified, there’s been a ton of crime in my neighborhood and the cops in my precinct are very bad.” “You live in our precinct.” “Yeah, I know.” - Gina/Holt
- Cameo of the Week: Andy Richter as the doorman with the best novel idea (“A mild-mannered doorman gets bitten on the penis by a radioactive spider, and becomes the world’s greatest lover”)

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