When Jake sees him buy a burner phone, he follows Pimento around and monitors his behavior, worried that he’s still working for The Butcher. He tracks him with Rosa’s help (she’s irresistibly attracted to guys that are up to no good), and when Jake thinks Pimento’s doing tai chi in his apartment, he breaks into the trunk of his car to have a look around. Pimento catches him (the apartment guy was just a decoy) and explains that he got a burner because after twelve years undercover he has horrible credit, the mysterious package he picked up was just old mementos from his old life that he had to hide away, and he broke into Jake’s apartment before because he didn’t feel like he was safe in his. The next day Jake show up to work to find that Pimento quit and left a note saying he’d be better off as a “bag man.” Jake goes down to the grocery store to find him and confides that he has no clue what Pimento’s going through -- he was only undercover for sixty days, and he mostly just helped them switch over from AOL. He tells Pimento that he doesn’t know if it’ll all go back to normal for him, but offers for Pimento to come bust the suspect in the B&E with him. Pimento initially turns him down, but when it’s time to make the bust, he decides to join Jake. They smash into the apartment and inform the robber that he’s under arrest. And then Pimento informs him rather manically that he’s going to die, and charges at him.
A funny story overall with a fairly standard plot (I think at this point we know that everyone wants a little respect for their job -- especially when it’s something not very glamorous and often taken for granted). But Mean Marge was fun and frightening, and I liked that the other custodians were pretty much just like her bodyguards. I do think that Boyle had it coming when Marge refused to clean up his mess, as I can only imagine the amount of times that Boyle must have done a similar thing in pursuit of his odd gastronomical pleasures.
When Holt needs someone to record a video submission to get upgraded equipment for the precinct, he turns to the one person with prior directing experience -- Gina Linetti. Of course, her experience mostly comes from Vine, but she enthusiastically dons her director’s costume and gets to work. Although Holt wants just a basic information video, Gina can’t help but add her own pizzazz. That’s just who she is. Unfortunately, it’s not who Holt and Rosa are, and neither of them can get into her fog-filled, fake-horse-riding video. When they refuse to go along with her plan, she just recasts them with two actors that will listen to her demands. Holt gives an impassioned (for him) speech about how that’s not what he wanted, and storms into his office. In the end Gina uses the audio from his “diva meltdown,” along with some sad black and white shots of the refuse-filled precinct, all set to “I Will Remember You” by Sarah McLachlan. This is depressing and pizzazzless enough to get the Nine-Nine some new supplies. Good job, Sargent Linetti.
Although Gina’s job is anything but glamorous, and most of her co-workers don’t seem to be on the same page as her most of the time (except perhaps Jake), she lives like her life is glamorous and pizzazz-filled. She takes little things like equipment applications and make them into her chance to fulfill a directing dream. Sure she’s crazy, but isn’t everyone in the Nine-Nine? Gina may not be the easiest person to direct in an office, but she’s definitely never going to be boring -- she’s a one-woman drama factory.
Line of the week goes to Terry for his dramatic reveal about how he plans to go out…or not:
“What the hell, Boyle?! You almost killed me! I’m not going out in a stew-making accident! Terry’s gonna die saving the president, or Terry’s never gonna die!”
What did you think of the episode? Do you think that Pimento will settle in with his Nine-Nine colleagues, or that the transition back to normal detective work will prove to be too much? Is there any length that Boyle will not go to for his food? And who else is curious about what Gina’s Vines would look like? Let us know below!
