Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Boyle's Hunch - Review

The TV gods must have been listening to my prayers last week, because this week we got some classic B99 cold open action back. Hooray! Hoorah! Huzzah! Jake returns to the precinct after a bust with a new partner -- Jake Jr. aka Spidey Klume aka Mrs. Doubtspider aka Joe Spiden aka Tarantula Basset aka SpiDermot Mulroney aka a tarantula. Needless to say, none of his co-workers are particularly pleased about it. Amy even informs Jake that she will not be coming to his apartment as long as that thing is there. Sarge is downright terrified -- a fear that only intensifies after Jake’s new best friend escapes his (open) cage. Sarge decides to make his own escape, and unknowingly takes the large arachnid with him, on his head. The look of terror on his face as the elevator doors shut in front of him is priceless. Thanks for bringing back the cold open, B99! It made the Nine-Nine feel like home again, even after all the turmoil in the precinct over the past few weeks.

The rest of “Boyle’s Hunch” similarly follows traditional B99 beats. The issue of who’s captain, and Jake and Amy’s relationship, get pushed to the side for an episode that could easily fit in with those of season 2. Holt and Gina try to organize a campaign to change the public’s opinion of cops, and Holt decides to start with Amy as the first face of the campaign. As per usual, Amy is eager to please Holt (even though he’s no longer her captain), and enthusiastically goes along with his plan. However, as Gina foresaw, the campaign does nothing but stir up more contention toward the NYPD, prompting Holt to come up with a new plan -- asking the public for feedback on what they could do better. With Amy’s blind devotion, and Gina’s surprisingly in-tune instincts, this story makes it feels like Holt and Gina never left the Nine-Nine. Pulling Amy into the campaign is a move that makes sense for Holt (turning to a very dedicated former-employee whom he can count on), and gently reconnects the PR duo to the Nine-Nine, instead of leaving them in their own little in-show spin-off. Although it’s clear that Holt (and Gina) belong in the Nine-Nine, until they make it back, B99 is doing a good job of keeping them connected to the other characters, while still focusing on their new jobs.

In traditional B99 fashion, the main story features a case to solve, though it doesn’t come to the detectives in the usual way. Last we saw Charles Boyle, he was out looking to have emotional intercourse with women. And it looks like he might have actually found someone in Genevieve Mirren-Carter (Mary Lynn Rajskub). She’s awkward, funny, has too many dogs, likes takuyaki…oh, and just got sentenced to ten years in prison for insurance fraud. Boyle, being of course immediately smitten, decides that Genevieve is innocent, and that he needs to solve the case in order to release her and give their love a chance. The case leads Jake and Boyle to her ex-boyfriend Nick’s (James Urbaniak) art show, where the pair assume identities of varying complexities (Jake has a backstory and career plans, whereas Boyle only gets as far as a name and a pair of glasses). The two wonder about the realities of farting when one is covered in latex (as Nick’s assistant is), and get to see a painting entitled “Genevieve 4/16,” created on that date via Genevieve, Nick, paint, and twenty-four hours of sex. Although the thought of his love having sex with another man is hard for Boyle to swallow, he moves beyond it when Jake realizes that her paint-covered sex is her alibi for her supposed-theft of her own art. Naturally, Nick’s assistant (the latex-covered one) set up Genevieve out of jealousy because she was in love with Nick. She used the latex (like the type she was adorned in) to make a cast of Genevieve’s fingerprints, steal the artwork, and open a storage locker in her name. Jake encourages Boyle to go get his girlfriend out of prison and Boyle couldn’t be more excited.

It’s always fun to get a good Jake/Boyle story -- the two are great as partners, as they work well together, respect each other, and encourage each other when they run into roadblocks. The show always seemed to fit a little better with Jake and Boyle as partners instead of Jake and Amy, like it was at the start. Although it’s also great to see the now-couple work together, it’s nice to have their working relationship one step removed. Television does not need another partner couple. Boyle and Jake really care about each other, and the friendship rarely feels unbalanced, even though Boyle’s character is wacky enough to be more of a devotee than a friend on another show. Boyle has always been there to support Jake in his relationships (though specifically cheering him on with Amy), and Jake comes out in full force as an epic wingman in this episode. Not only does he chuck a fish doughnut at Genevieve to get her attention (unconventional, admittedly, but it works), he helps Boyle work on her case, and solves it even after Boyle gives up and leaves to dejectedly buy cheese by the wheel. Although Boyle and Genevieve only got a quick conversation in the courthouse and one in prison, I hope that she’ll be back in a future episode and the two will get a chance to see where their shared love of takuyaki can take them.

One of the other true friendships in the Nine-Nine comes to the forefront this week, as Rosa and Sarge investigate missing food in the precinct, by the Nine-Nine’s most-ineffectual duo -- Scully and Hitchcock. Rosa’s convinced that the pair stole and ate her ice cream (don’t laugh, Marcus got her into it). Honestly, I’d say she has some pretty solid instincts there, as the two seem to spend most of their time at their desks, eating. Rosa brings the issue to Sarge and the two try to prove Scully and Hitckcock’s guilt. They plead to being lactose intolerant, and therefore innocent when it comes to ice cream theft. Rosa and Sarge buy them a pizza as a trap to catch them in their lie, and it seems like it’s working when the two start in on the cheese-covered pizza quite enthusiastically. But it turns out that they weren’t lying about being lactose intolerant -- they’re just willing to live with the consequences. They admit to eating Rosa’s ice cream, but since they got away with that, got a free pizza, and head off to do something horrible in the bathroom, it’s clear to Rosa that there are no winners…

Line of the week goes to Gina: “Yes, I’m the Nostradamus of your shame.”

What did you think of the episode? Do you like Holt and Gina in PR, or do you want them back in the precinct? Do you think Boyle has finally found “the one” in Genevieve, or does he put too much stock in similar food preferences? And will ice cream ever be safe in the Nine-Nine with Scully and Hitchcock around? 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 Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Recent Reviews (All Reviews)