Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Hostage Situation - Review

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is back for the second half of the season, and they're not pulling their punches! Or more specifically, Amy isn't pulling her knees...more on that later...

Boyle and Jake got some practice in dealing with hostage situations when they found themselves (and Gina) trapped by Canadian thugs in a department store just a few short weeks ago, which comes in handy when some VIPs are taken hostage -- Boyle's potential future children. (Aka, his sperm.) This all comes about when Boyle and Genevieve, his girlfriend of just a few short months, decide to have a baby together. (Which, honestly, seems less weird than the two of them sharing a single scarf.) And even though Jake thinks it's definitely too early, when Boyle's future biological children are threatened, he helps out his friend anyway. Due to a horrific incident involving a baseball bat and Boyle's unfortunate tendency to slide into a situation crotch-first, Boyle's only chance to have biological children rests with his frozen sperm (from before his ex-wife mandated vasectomy). And that same spitfire of an ex-wife, Eleanor, is back to make sure that he'll never have the chance to procreate. Eleanor (played to maniacal perfection by Kathryn Hahn) removes Boyle's sperm from the bank and comes to him with an ultimatum -- he gets the man she hit with her car to drop a lawsuit, or she gets rid of his potential progenies.

Although Jake points out that the plan is very illegal and he shouldn't take her deal, Boyle has a history of submitting to her will (for instance, giving 85% of his current salary to her in their divorce contract). Jake proposes they treat the sperm as hostages, and try to free them. The plan seems like it is going to work when the detectives go to have a meeting with Eleanor and manage to grab a container, but it turns out to be a decoy. Eleanor's too ruthless to be underestimated, which she demonstrates as she destroys one container of sperm in the garbage disposal. That's right, she shot a/(many) hostage(s)!

Haven given up hope of freeing the hostages legally, Boyle decides to sacrifice his personal and professional integrity and go talk to Eleanor's victim. Who happens to be a 90-year-old priest that got hit by a car while sitting on a bench on the sidewalk. He handcuffs Jake to a squad car and takes off. He's about to exert his police power (by yawning to show his gun and badge) when Jake comes to his rescue and tases him. Back at the precinct he lets Boyle out and reassures him that there are other options for being a father; biology is not what makes someone a dad. Boyle takes off and reappears later with Genevieve at the bar to share their good news with Jake -- they're looking at sperm donors! Jake looks through a couple with them, until he notices one that looks like his dad...because he actually IS Jake’s dad! The glee that fills Boyle when he realizes that his child could be Jake’s sibling would certainly worry ME if I were Jake...

(Wow, this is definitely the most times I've ever typed the word "sperm" for any piece of writing. Isn't television a wonderful place full of unique and enriching stories?)

It's really no surprise that Boyle is raring to have a baby so early in his relationship -- he was the one who suggested that Jake "put a baby in" Amy for their six-month anniversary after all. And he's clearly wanted to be a father for a long time, but was prevented from having kids by Eleanor during their horrible marriage. But it's tough to see that he's willing to throw aside his career and moral code for potential biological children. I know it's just a comedy, but if you used your law enforcement career to threaten an injured, elderly, and completely innocent man to drop valid charges in order to re-obtain your sperm, couldn’t that affect the way you think about your children at all? Though Boyle has shown a willingness to go to extreme lengths for things he cares about (mostly Jake and food-related). It's clear that Eleanor is a VERY toxic influence in his life...but I definitely hope that Kathryn Hahn makes another appearance on the show. Maybe Boyle will get a chance to take her down! (But considering the amount of influence and power she has over him...probably not...)

While Jake and Boyle spend their time trying to obtain Boyle's sperm, Amy tries to obtain a recommendation from Terry for SAMSAM, a mentoring program. She follows up her polite request by breaking Terry's nose with her knee during a self-defense seminar, and then spends the rest of the week trying to be nice but continuing to injure him. After she receives a rejection from the program, Amy rips into Terry for trying to get revenge for the physical damage she's done to him by sabotaging her recommendation. When he shows her the glowing recommendation, she realizes that she falsely accused him. Later, Terry reveals that he WAS responsible for her rejected application, but only because he sent her recommendation into the MENTOR program, not the MENTEE program, because he thinks she's a leader. She ends up getting accepted as a SAM, no wait, a SAM.

When Amy mentioned that she was applying for a mentoring program, I made the same mistake as Terry and assumed she was applying as a mentor, not a mentee. It's clear that despite her brown-nosing and anal-retentive manner (or perhaps because of it?), she's an exemplary detective, and should be leading others. On top of that, she can VERY easily break your nose, so, you know, don't mess with her.

Gina takes a turn in the interrogation room, as a perp specifically requests her to hear his statement regarding cloned credit cards. It turns out that the request wasn't made due to her hip style or distinctly un-detective-like manner, but just due to the fact that they went to high school together. This doesn't help Gina make any headway with him since after she finds out, she just asks about what high school athletes were into her. But it does help ROSA get a confession out of him as the two of them bond over something that irritates them both -- Gina.

I don't know how Gina got her assistant job in the Nine-Nine to begin with, but her pop culture obsession and self-absorbed manner are a fun foil to the down-to-business-and-justice vibe of the rest of the precinct. That being said, seeing Gina step into the detectives' world was also quite fun to watch. She seems to like police work for the same reason that Jake does -- the drama. She flips the chair around to interrogate her witness like the badass detective she definitely isn't. Ineffective she may be, but she certainly loves to play the role. It’s only fitting that she ends the story by informing Holt that he just lost his best detective (aka her).

And last but not least, let us not forget that Captain Holt danced his way through the cold open this episode to diffuse tension with a sidewalk breakdancer, as Jake tried (and failed) to record the historic moment. Cold opens on this show are like eating dessert first. I love it.

Line of the week goes to Rosa: "On more than one occasion she’s called me ‘Gina.’ That's her own name."

What did you think of the episode? Do you think Boyle would have made the injured priest drop the suit, or would he have backed out before that? Do you think Amy will make a good SAM? Or should she still be a SAM? How do you think Gina would do if she was actually a detective? 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.

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