Brooklyn Nine-Nine - The Wednesday Incident - Review

Holt is NOT in a good mood, and Jake is determined to figure out why! Partly because he cares about the well-being of the others in the precinct, partly because he's relatively nosy, and mostly because everyone blames him for the foul temper of their robot captain.  Jake, instigator of "The Wednesday Incident," tried to have a nice work-appropriate celebration with some sparkling cider, when the whole thing went sideways and the sprinklers went off, drenching Holt's office and his paper crane from his husband.  Jake insists that something had been bugging Holt before, so he forces Gina to help him speak to Kevin Cozner about the situation.  After some investigating (during which Jake learns that the Captain fences and paints rock still-lifes in his free time), Jake figures out that the Captain was mugged, and probably too embarrassed to tell anyone.  Half-right, it turns out that the Captain was almost mugged, but he beat up his attackers instead, and got "lightly stabbed."  Jake's inappropriate behavior of going to discuss the situation with Holt's husband instead of Holt earns him a ban on involvement with Holt-Cozner personal matters.  (That seems pretty fair).

Jake is pretty into Holt -- not in the same sort of infatuation/idol worship way that Amy is, but he certainly looks up to him, and really wants to have a good relationship with him.  So Jake spending a whole day off trying to figure out what's got the Captain down, makes a whole lot of sense.  He wants to fix the problem; not just to put a kibosh on the anger articulation, but because whether or not they turn out that way, Jake's actions are often intended to impress Holt or make him happy.  (I'm sure he's talked about it before, but no doubt there's some connection to Jake's deadbeat dad and Jake's desire to impress his fatherly-figure of a boss.)

This story also shows that Holt is not a robot!  Or at least he's a robot that can get stabbed.  Or maybe he is a robot, after all he has painted over 360 paintings of the same rock.  Who knows.  But he does have feelings, and he does have faults, and when he's upset he kicks Jake out of his house (understandable), and when he's happy he plays Handel at painting class.  But the most important thing that "The Wednesday Incident" shows about Holt, is that he's fallible.  He's not just a perfect role-following, invincible cop.  He can make the wrong decision like real live humans; whether that decision is to get in a fight with a couple hooligans, or not to tell his spouse about the event and his related injury.  Holt's anger in the precinct is not with the members of his squad (though he probably is a little mad at Jake), but it's with himself, due to his regret and frustration over the choices that he made.

Luckily after Jake's uncomfortable involvement in Holt's personal life, and the reveal to Kevin about the truth, Holt eases up on the Nine-Nine, and everything gets back to normal.  Which is good, because Sarge has a hell of a time trying to put out fires all day to keep the grouchy Captain from exploding once more.  And by putting out fires, I mean literally putting out fires, because Hitchcock decided that it would be a good idea to cook his oatmeal with a ROAD FLARE.  I'm not sure how both Hitchcock and Scully have actually survived for this long, when they regularly do things like try to warm up oatmeal with a FREAKIN' TORCH.  But perhaps they are like cockroaches -- they're just stupid and scuttle about, but somehow they will outlive us all.  (But honestly, how has one of them not accidentally shot themselves by now?  Just food for thought.)

Elsewhere in the precinct, away from the fires and the flaming oatmeal, Boyle brings in a dangerous perp.  That's right, Boyle officially catches a major bank robber that he's been tracking.  He doesn't get much support from Amy and Rosa though, because his perp, Martin Miller (Gary Marshall), is a seemingly feeble octogenarian.  They fall for his elderly charm, treating him as though he is their grandfather, unfairly accused and unable to withstand the harsh realities of booking and interrogation.  But here's the thing about looks, people -- they can be deceiving.  And although Boyle hears several confessions from the Mr. Miller, the ladies are never close enough to hear.  He starts to get extremely frustrated that no one seems to be taking his big perp seriously, as though they don't trust his police work.  Fortunately/unfortunately the old bugger croaks in interrogation, and none of the other detectives ever get to hear a confession out of him.  Fortunately though, Boyle's co-workers do trust his work, and run the serial numbers from a dollar bill that Mr. Miller gave to Amy.  Turns out he did rob those banks!  And Boyle's validation is sweet.  He may not be the coolest detective (like Jake), or the one with the best hair (like Jake), but he is good at his job.  And he knows the most important lesson of all: never judge a book by its cover.  Whether you're old, young, short, tall, about to chew solid foods or not, never let that dictate whether or not you can rob a bank -- "Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Breaking Down Criminal Stereotypes Since 2013."  (I would actually advise against robbing banks, in general, especially because Boyle will catch you, even though he is afraid of geese.  He doesn't let his avian fears get in the way of his detecting, so watch out, world!)

What did you think of the episode?  Was Jake right to meddle in Holt's personal life in order to help?  Does Jake owe Gina a "CHIT" now, or are they even?  How does Hitchcock make Easy Mac?  With a blow torch?  Are old people the one thing that makes Rosa sentimental?  Where will Jake hang Rock #369?  Let us know below!

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.

Recent Reviews (All Reviews)