Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Episode 1.07 - 48 Hours - Review

After a week off for the World Series (go Red Sox?), Brooklyn Nine-Nine came back this week with a sense of urgency. After Jake makes a hasty arrest based on MO and instinct, the detectives of the Nine-Nine only have 48 hours to find evidence that the suspect is guilty before they have to let him go. And to make matters worse, everyone has to give up their whole weekend because of Jake’s premature incarceration. The enmity is so strong that Charles isn’t even high-fiving Jake anymore.

Coming off of his intricately orchestrated success of the Halloween Heist (as it shall henceforth be known), Jake returns to his typical rash style of police work, which bodes predictable failure. The whole precinct spends the weekend looking for evidence to nail Whitman, the suspect, while Jake continues his interrogation tactic of torture-through-annoyance. I’m surprised that guy didn’t crack, as I would have confessed to anything while Jake wailed away with the guitar.

It was nice to see Amy and Jake’s interactions in this episode, as the partners only get moments here and there, but when they do they’re always fun to watch. There’s no particular romantic tension between the characters as it stands, but they have great chemistry as friends, and Jake’s character always seems to elevate Amy beyond a one-note quality. Their conversation with the picture of soul-patched suspect was funny, and Jake’s efforts to smooth things over with her date was sweet. Jake’s often flippant and childish, so it’s nice to see the more human side of him come out.

Once again, it’s nice to have an episode without an explicit “lesson” for Jake to learn. His impulsive decision sets up the problem of the episode, but doesn’t need to a moment of emotional growth to be effective in this case.

During the long weekend some of the precinct members got bored and hungry, which naturally led to a pie tasting competition, pitting Gina’s choice against Rosa’s choice. Charles gets stuck in between, and lies to Rosa because he’s into her. Gina advises him against lying, saying that most girls don’t like that, although she does because she’s “wired to thrive on dysfunction.” This pie competition is so fierce that Gina comes in on a day she’s not working (and she barely even comes in on the days that she IS working) just so she can bully via pie contests. In the end, however, Charles decides that neither pie wins “best pie”, and shares his own nomination for the title, one which both the girls approve. This adds to the things that the Nine-Niners know about Rosa: she likes apple pie, and she has a nearby apartment, which probably has a shower.

The story feels a little weak, but it does provide some great moments of Gina semi-counseling Charles about Rosa, which is a fun mix of insults and advice.

While it was more of a runner than a story, the bit about “Tiny Terry” was pretty amusing. This giant, strong guy is belittled by his even bigger, stronger brother-in-law and so stays at work for days without sleeping just to avoid him. It was a very small story, but it was a great chance to see some quality interactions between the Captain and his Sergeant, especially Holt’s comment that he downloaded whale sounds for Terry to sleep to.

Another fun episode, not the best, but definitely continuing the solid streak the freshman show’s had right out of the gate. The best moments seem to come when it’s a little less Jake, and a little more ensemble, so hopefully the precinct will continue to develop.

Bits from the Police Scanner
- “What are you talking about? My hair is a mess.” - Captain Holt, on his ultra-short ‘do
- “You’re a blind cop, how has there not been a made-for-TV movie about your struggles?” - Jake on Amy’s blindness
- Scully volunteering to go to Jersey to check an alibi mostly because his favorite salt water taffy place is there.
- “I’m not your secretary.” “You’re literally everyone’s secretary, that’s your job.” - Gina / Charles
- The continual appearance of Jake’s picture with Regis Philbin. (Fun Fact: Showrunner Mike Schur is married to Regis’ daughter, J.J. Philbin)
- Terry’s 25 minutes of sleep chin-ups.
- The night janitor drinks hand sanitizer.

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