In this week’s episode of
Brooklyn Nine-Nine, we got some Jake and Rosa time, questionable Swedish accents, and one stellar astronomy dance. (You
see what I did there? You get it? Because “stellar” like…oh, you got it. Right, moving on.)
Rosa and Jake team up to bring down a counterfeit caviar seller at the seafood market (which smells like a squid farted inside a whale’s butt), when they
discover he had possession of a very precious diamond necklace. Interpol sends two Swedish agents and Jake is delighted that all of his romantic dreams of
searching for precious stolen jewels with international agents are coming true -- that is, until he just can’t seem to get along with the Swedish team.
Rosa and Jake resent Soren and Agneta for their openness with each other and their bluntness. Both teams search their perp’s apartment for evidence about
where the other missing jewels might be, and they each find their own leads -- the Swedes find an invitation to a party (by a Swedish millionaire with
criminal connections), and the Nine-Niners find info about a shipping container. They go to check it out but meet with several disappointments -- one, Jake
finds out that Rosa broke up with Marcus and never told her, and two, the shipping container is just full of fish.
They realize later that the date was in European format, and so they weren’t looking for a container from October 11th, they needed one from November 10th!
They find the shipment of diamonds, and have a fight about their lack of sharing, and then they realize that the truck the container is on is driving away
and they’re screwed. Luckily the Swedish thugs that are waiting to get the diamonds are not expecting anyone to be waiting in the back of the truck, so
Rosa and Jake manage to take them down together. Later they grab a drink at the bar, and Rosa has a suggestion for Amy’s anniversary gift -- the NY Public
Library lets VIPs stay overnight. And she’s got a connection, because her new boyfriend Tom works there! Sure, it takes her four (stolen) shots before Rosa
will divulge his name, but she got there eventually.
It was really nice to see Jake and Rosa together again -- their friendship has always been really nice to see, and we haven’t gotten much of it this season
so far. Which, in some ways, is what this episode is about. As friends, the two always seemed closer than Jake and Amy (who were a little more
antagonistic/competitive), but this season both Jake and Rosa have sort of drifted apart a bit. Although Rosa has clearly never been a big sharer, this
season she’s slowly opened up in a few ways, and her eventual chat with Jake about her new boyfriend continues that development. And thank goodness she
came up with a gift suggestion, because Boyle’s was clearly not the right option, and Jake panicked and got Amy a boogie board. I have a feeling that “I
had eleven straight birthdays at the planetarium”-Amy will
really love the chance to stay overnight at the library. Also, it’s been six months
since Jake and Amy started dating, for all of those out there like me who are consistently confused as to the timeline in this show. (Also, are they in
November or December? Because they had Thanksgiving on the show a few weeks ago, but the Swedes seemed to say that it was roughly mid-November…was there an
episode order switch? Or am I just unnecessarily confused? Probably the latter.) I hope that we see some more Jake/Rosa friendship this season, as it’s
always really nice to see male/female friendships that are purely that.
While Rosa and Jake are focused on their diamond heist drama, the rest of the precinct is focused on…well, less pressing matters. With Kevin heading to
Paris for six months to teach at the Sorbonne, he and Holt ask Boyle to fill in on their squash team -- they’ve won the last two years and don’t want to
break their streak. Boyle enthusiastically agrees, though when the couple leaves he confesses to Sarge that he’s afraid he’ll let his competitive (read:
crazy) side out, and start eating squash balls like he did in his college days at Sarah Lawrence. He starts out the tournament trying to stay casual, but
Holt reveals that he picked Boyle purely
because of his squash insanity -- he read about his crazy college antics and he wants that on his team.
And it all works out! Boyle loses his mind, and he and Holt win the tournament. Also, they’re banned from playing there again, no doubt due to the physical
and emotional damage wreaked by the manic team.
It was a lot of fun to see a whole different side to Boyle in this episode. Not that he’s usually sane, but he doesn’t tend to get particularly physical,
and it’s always amusing to watch people Hulk-out while playing squash. (I mean, I assume -- I’ve never watched squash before, but I’ve got to imagine that
snapping racquets and eating squash balls is not really par for the course.) It’s also fun to imagine that Holt actually looked into Boyle’s squash history
after hearing his tales of collegiate athleticism, in order to make sure that he was going to play to win and/or absolutely
slaughter the other
teams. Perhaps literally. We don’t really know what went down in that squash court…
While Boyle does his best to help out Holt, Amy and Sarge team up to help out Gina. She’s got an astronomy final and she’s pretty sure she’s going to fail.
(By the way, did anyone else forget Gina was taking classes? Whoops.) The official nerds of the Nine-Nine do their best to teach Gina what she’s been
ignoring all semester. Amy decks out a whiteboard with an elementary school-style space-themed boarder, and tries to help Gina memorize all the 67 moons of
Jupiter with a horrible mnemonic device, which naturally ends with Gina fleeing while Amy’s still reciting it. Sarge’s attempt doesn’t go much better, and
he recruits
Neil deGrasse Tyson! (They’re gym buddies, naturally.) It doesn’t seem like anything’s going to work, until Amy and Sarge perform an hour-long
astrology-themed dance for her. She loves it! But she’s actually already taken the final and totally aced it -- turns out she’s pretty smart, and wanted to
see the dance for two, very clear reasons (Sarge’s pecs).
A few extra notes about the episode: Yes, the Swedes were pretty silly. Their accents were all over the place, ranging from non-existent to over-the-top goofy. But the episode was still funny regardless -- not the best this season, but still not bad. Also, it’s hilarious that Jake is scared of seafood. All you need to do to get away from him is chuck a few eels his way.
Before we finish up here, I’d just like to have a minute of silence for Snackie Chan. May he rest in peace.
…
What did you think of the episode? Do you think it’s better for partners to share all, or nothing? Can you imagine how uncomfortably hilarious it would be
for the detectives of the Nine-Nine to sauna together? Would you prefer Amy or Sarge as your teacher? How many injuries do you think Boyle/The Beast
inflicted whilst playing squash? And most importantly, will the precinct get another new vending machine? 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.
