Brooklyn Nine-Nine - The Oolong Slayer - Review

Well, folks, we knew it would happen someday, but I, for one, didn’t dare hope it would be so soon. That’s right, the true leader of the Nine-Nine is back in charge, and everyone is beaming with joy (myself included), and better yet, it’s all thanks to Detective Jake Peralta. Although The Vulture gave the precinct strict orders (“Only misdemeanors, wieners”) in order to win a bet with the Major Crimes unit, Jake ignores that order and starts his own investigation into a mysterious B&E. Jake believes that the B&E (with a staged doll tea party and no theft) points to the return of the Oolong Slayer, and brings the case to Holt, and therefore Gina as well. They form their own secret investigative task force (or should I say “do-group”). Everything goes smoothly until they go to arrest a suspect, who turns out to be dead. Wuntch and The Vulture bring the hammer down hard, and the detectives both walk away with suspensions. Holt, dejected, drops the case, but Jake won’t let go. He meets Gina at a bar to talk about Holt, as well as fuel his new port-addiction, when he runs out on his bill due to a hunch. With Gina’s help Jake manages to get Holt to a diner, where Jake’s posing a waiter in order to share his news -- all the Oolong Slayer’s victims were in AA, with the same leader.

Holt refuses to disobey orders and fall further into Wuntch’s bad side, so Jake goes off to capture the Slayer all by his lonesome. He creeps around the Slayer’s workplace (a mannequin factory, naturally), but the shaggy doll-enthusiast/tea lover/murderer almost gets the better of him. Luckily Holt show up at the last minute to save the day, and let Jake say his well-rehearsed line, “Prepare to go to jail for oolong time.” Holt doesn’t want his name on the report since he wasn’t supposed to be working the case, but Jake makes sure Holt still gets a victory out of the whole thing. He takes the case to the Chief of Detectives, offering withhold the fact that he solved a case that the Chief worked on for ten years, if he could get a favor in return. The favor becomes apparent when Holt strides stiffly and triumphantly back into the Nine-Nine as captain. And then Gina appears behind her co-workers at her desk in a cloud of confetti. Just as it should be.

This was a great story which not only fit in an impressive amount of case work for a half hour comedy, but showcased just how far Holt and Jake have come since the first episode. At the start Jake did everything he could to mess with the robotic, uptight new captain; disobeying orders, finding every loophole. Holt was cold an impersonal to Jake, seeing him as an ignorant child who let his goofiness get in the way. Now Jake sacrifices personal glory and acclaim in order to bring Holt back to the Nine-Nine, and Holt actually expresses his gratitude (albeit in an appreciative headnod). Last year the two worked an epic case together and it broke them apart (as Holt got transferred to PR), and this year they worked together again and it brought them back together. Here’s to the reunification of the real Nine-Nine crew!

Gina is really on fire in this episode -- she’s really like Jake’s cool older sister in this episode. Not age-wise, just trying to help him out, while shaking her head at him. She seems to come across a lot smarter this season, without giving up her intense love of pop culture. And as usual, she pops up in the weirdest places with some great zingers. She really stood out in this episode, including the amazing bar scene with Jake.

The Vulture puts Amy and Rosa in charge of his birthday party because they’re women, and naturally women like planning things. Although they both want to make it horrible, Amy always has trouble disobeying her captain, even when he’s very clearly the worst. After weeks of trying to sabotage his party, the pair finally stumble upon the easiest way to ruin his party -- himself. After finding out that The Vulture is in a band, they hire his band to play his own party. It’s a win-win, because The Vulture loves it, and he makes a complete fool of himself. As Amy says, “Everything he does is a prank on himself.” Rosa pays Amy the highest of all Rosa-compliments, “Next time I want to hurt someone, I’m coming straight to you.” It’s nice to see the very different detectives bond over something like evil plans.

Boyle accidentally gets Sarge hooked on chocolate-covered nibs, and Sarge spirals out of control with his stress-eating. He quickly gains weight as the stresses of his family life (a wife on bedrest and new kid on the way) prove too much to handle. Luckily Boyle steps in and organizes his co-workers’ time, so they can help out the Jeffords family in whatever way they can. He even pepper-sprayed Hitchcock for volunteering to massage Sarge’s wife. Boyle once again proves he’s a great friend to have around. Just be careful if he offers you some seemingly innocuous snack…you never know if it will become your chocolate-covered nibs…

The episode encompassed several time jumps -- usually about a week or so at a time. I don’t know exactly where the show was at during the end of season 2/start of season 3, but it has officially caught up with real-time. As Gina informs a calendarially-ignorant Jake while in the diner, they are well into October. Does this mean Jake and Amy have been dating for five months? It’ll be interesting to see if their relationship looks any different the next time we get a glimpse of it.

The Oolong Slayer story really took up the majority of the real estate in this episode, leaving light and short stories for the other characters, but it was definitely worth the ensemble sacrifice for the week. Getting to see the team of Holt, Jake, and Gina was hilarious, and the case was well put-together and explained, for a show with roughly 22 minutes. Although B99 works wonderfully as an ensemble piece, it’s also nice to see episodes like “The Oolong Slayer” which focus in a little bit more.

Line of the week goes to Jake for, “That’s what globes are for!” (upon discovering that Holt keeps port and glasses inside a hollow one)

What did you think of the episode? Did you think Holt would return to the Nine-Nine this soon? Would you hire Amy and Rosa to plan a birthday party? Is there any limit to Boyle’s kindness? And did Gina ever really leave?... Let us know what you think 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.

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