Same old, same old with Brooklyn Nine-Nine this week -- which is a good thing, because this season has been hot so far! (Seriously, is
there something about second season FOX shows?)
Gina and Boyle’s secret is finally out. And it came out in a way that provided the appropriate trauma to their co-workers, and then became the non-issue
commensurate with the relationship’s shock value. Which is not actually that high, once you think about it. Their little friends with benefits situation
has come to an end now that the liaison is public knowledge, but both Gina and Boyle came out on top in the end. (There’s a joke in there, but I’m going to
leave it alone, just this once.) Gina got to Olivia Pope the situation and choose how the information was disseminated through the Nine-Nine, whereas Boyle
survived his first casual relationship, and was happy to hear that Gina had no regrets about their time together. It was nice for Jake to discover that his
seemingly guileless friend actually managed to deceive him, in an episode centered on how well Jake apparently knows everyone in the precinct. Maybe Jake
isn’t as omniscient as he thought…
Jake
certainly isn’t as omniscient, or at the very least, intuitive, as Captain Holt, for whom it took all of thirty seconds to deduce that Jake
was upset after finding out that Boyle and Gina were sleeping together. Jake and Holt have a little impromptu sleepover in order to suss out the mole in
the Nine-Nine, after Jake finds himself the lead suspect (due to his proclivity to take home case files and then…well, leave them there). It’s possible that the
Peralta/Holt sleepover was the event the show’s been building to from the beginning. As a big fan of jump cut sequences, the sleepover scene as the two
disparate detectives descended into similar states of insanity was priceless. The sleepover unfortunately came to an end, as all good sleepovers do, when
Jake started to question the Captain about his potential to be the department mole. As we all know, when loyalties and integrity are questioned, it’s time
to return the guest pajamas, toothbrush, and slippers, and call it a night. In the end Jake and the Captain figured out that the mole
wasn’t one
of the handful of people they work with everyday and know really well and trust with their lives -- but instead, the MOLE INVESTIGATOR HIMSELF. Not a
shocking revelation, but a fun one, in a classic “twist” way. The only other options would have seemed to be Jake himself, unwittingly, or Scully or
Hitchcock, perhaps even more unwittingly.
Casualty of the 21 Minute Sitcom: Sarge/Rosa’a story about their Giggle Pig task force and Sarge’s dilemma about where to send his children to school. The
headphone rave was pretty cool, and as I understand, an actual thing, but the rest of the story was short and irrelevant enough that I sort of mentally
skipped over those bits. One of the things about
Brooklyn Nine-Nine is that it always feels as if the C story has been cut by about 50%. The A and
B stories in this episode wove so neatly together that all can be forgiven for the anemic C story about New York preschools. With such an ensemble-fueled
show, the C story can help to service those extra characters, but sometimes it feels as though the space it takes up could be better used to fill out one
of the main two stories.
Holt’s middle name is Jacob. And with that, we’re done for today.
What did you think of the episode? Did you appreciate Holt’s “Wuntch meat” pun as much as he did? How did you feel about the Gina/Boyle reveal? Do
you have guest pajamas? And if so, can I come over?
About the Author - Kimberly
Kimberly is 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, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and About a Boy.
