Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Episode 1.22 - Charges and Specs - Review

The first season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine has officially come to a close. That seemed so quick -- title of Santiago’s sex tape! This fantastic season closer played to Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s strengths, combining an interesting (if abbreviated) case with the detectives all working together in various ways to try and help each other out.

Jake puts his job on the line when he continually tries to uncover the corruption of a well-liked public figure, and Amy actually stick her own neck out to help him. Even the Captain supports him once Jake shows him his CI (who really loves selling drugs). These characters have all come a long way to get to this point. Jake trusts Holt when he asks him to seemingly throw away his career, Holt trusts that Jake’s onto something with the case, and Amy is willing to put aside protocol to do what she thinks is right, not just what she’s been told (“My internal GPS has been recalculating for a week”). The subtle developments throughout the year to move the characters forward without changing who they are is a commendable aspect of the freshman show, and a good sign for the future season.

Right as Jake’s about to take off for half a year he confesses his romantic feelings to Amy, then leaves her to mull that over for the next six months. Although it’s a good move for the show, setting up the start of the next season with interesting stories, it’s an unintentionally mean move for Jake, dumping his feelings on Amy and leaving her to obsess over them alone. Knowing Amy’s tendency to obsess, chances are she’ll either convince herself that she’s in love with him (only to be met with a Jake who no longer feels the same), or she’ll drive herself crazy and hate him upon his return to the NYPD. Regardless of how it plays out next year, this story helped provide closure for the arc of Jake and his secret feelings, and opens up lots of exciting possibilities for next season.

In other romantic news, Vivian dumps Boyle who reacts as any newly dumped person would - dressing up in a Matrix-inspired outfit and eating hard-boiled eggs out of a bag. Wait, that’s not normal? Uh oh… Their relationship was obviously doomed from the start, but it served to redefine the relationship between Boyle and Rosa in a much-needed way. Their new friendship proved a lot more interesting to watch than Boyle’s obsessive and decidedly un-subtle pining after Rosa. Of course this episode delivered on the show’s promise for an unexpected hook-up, and it did not disappoint as Gina and Boyle woke up in bed together, much to the surprise, and probably disgust, of each. Also, they were clearly in a girly room, so I’m wondering how drunk Gina must have been to invite the object of her ridicule (though to be fair, that could be anyone), into her own apartment.

While Jake and Boyle struggled a bit with romance, Holt did not. The Captain may not be into the ladies, but apparently they’re into him when he turns on his robot charm. Not only that, but of course he’s a fantastic dancer. It only makes sense for this man of mystery -- besides, if him and his husband have taken hula-hooping classes, one would only assume they’ve taken ballroom dance classes as well. Captain Holt’s best moment of the episode? Slowly grooving to the beat while telling Jake and Amy to hurry up and get to the office.

If the show follows a roughly real-time trajectory then Jake will return to the NYPD right around the start of the second season in September. However, if that’s the case, and it would seem to be the most likely scenario, then any immediate fall-out from the Gina/Boyle Night of Shame will be long-gone.
Although this first season had ups and downs (as do all first seasons), this last run of episodes was particularly strong, and the finale ended the first year on a good note. It went out with a bang -- title of Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s sex tape!

What did you think of the season finale? What about Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s first season? Will you tune in next year to see more antics down at the Nine-Nine? Let us know below!

About the Author - Kimberly

Kimberly is a college student studying Writing for Film & TV, and a big TV nerd - willing to talk any show, any time. Her tastes are various and sundry, but she’s got a soft spot for comedy. She currently writes the SpoilerTV reviews for Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.