Episodes Reviewed:
Brooklyn Nine-Nine – “Pilot”, “The Tagger”, “The Slump”, “M.E. Time”, “The Vulture”
Brooklyn Nine-Nine is the follow-up sitcom from Parks and Recreation’s creators, Michael Schur and Dan Goor. Naturally, it has very big shoes to fill. B99 follows Brooklyn’s 99th precinct as it receives a new captain, Ray Holt, played by Andre Braugher. Holt’s no-nonsense attitude puts him at odds with Jake Peralta, Andy Samberg’s character, who is immature and childish, but a brilliant detective.
Rounding out the ensemble is Melissa Fumero’s Amy Santiago, a highly competitive and ambitious member of the precinct with a running bet with Jake that makes for probably the show’s weakest element. The bet generates conflict between Jake and Amy, which is a little unnecessary because the characters bounce off of each other pretty well.
Joe Lo Truglio and Stephanie Beatriz play Charles Boyle and Rosa Diaz. The former is a goofball who has a crush on the latter, who is sort of like a more deadpan April Ludgate, proving that such a thing is possible. Boyle has some paintings of character outside the relationship, but in the early going, Diaz has little more character than being an object of Boyle’s affection.
Terry Crews and Chelsea Peretti round out the cast as straight-man Terry Geffords (potentially Terry Crews’s funniest role to date) and Gina Linetti, who is hilariously detached from reality. These two characters would be standouts in most shows, but Andre Braugher is clearly the show’s standout character.
The strongest element of the show, even though Andy Samberg can grate and annoy, is the interplay between Jake and Holt. Holt is always in control during their scenes, but never really a stick in the mud. He’s a stickler for the rules, but he’s never above totally humiliating Jake, creating some of the best scenes in the show.
One of the strongest elements of Holt’s character is that he’s gay, but the show never really makes a thing of it. He is not defined by his sexuality, but it merely supports who he is. It’s a fantastic and fresh role because Holt is not a stereotype.
As for the first episode, the show spends most of its time setting up its characters, though it does so quite competently. The Pilot is pretty strong, but focuses a little too much on Amy and Jake’s bet.
“The Tagger” is a stronger episode, and feels very comfortable with just letting its characters function without much exposition. It also contains perhaps the greatest visual gag of the entire first season: Jake and Holt pulling up to an arrest in a penis-tagged police car.
“The Slump” continues to build on “The Tagger”, letting its characters basically by themselves without bogging us down with early-game plots that help paint them. The show feels really confident with its cast right out the gate, something most sitcoms, even the best ones, can’t really figure out until later in their run.
“M.E. Time” kind of takes a step back in the Jake department, however. Jake works best when he’s playing off of Holt, but he stumbles quite a bit when bumped up against Boyle and Diaz. On the flip side, Holt plays fantastically off the rest of the cast, with one of the funniest gags so far (“You can never tell what he’s thinking”). I kind of misremembered the episode thanks to its A-plot, but its subplots are gold and were enough to make me bump up my assessment of the episode.
“The Vulture” does bring things back on track by giving Jake a new character to bounce off of, but most importantly, it involves most of the main ensemble within the main plot. And its B-plot helps advance one of the show’s better characters in the process. Out of the first five episodes, “The Vulture” is definitely the best.
What’s really fantastic about Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and something I’m probably repeating, is that it feels like this show skipped the growing pains process in the early going and already feels like a show well into its second season, barring a hiccup or two along the way. “The Tagger”, “The Slump”, and “The Vulture” are definitely among the season’s best, which on one hand shows that the show hits the ground running, but on the other hand, suggests that the whole season isn’t going to quite live up to the season’s earlier efforts. For what it’s worth, few shows can have as great of a start as Brooklyn Nine-Nine has had.
Final Verdict:
“Pliot” – B+ – MVP: Gina–”Did anyone else get a little bit of a gay vibe?”
“The Tagger” – A- – MVP: Terry–”What? There’s a penis on my minivan?”
“The Slump” – A- – MVP: Amy–”Yes, sir, I will make better mouth.”
“M.E. Time” – B – MVP: Holt–”That is without question the funniest story I’ve ever heard.”
“The Vulture” – A- – MVP: Pembroke–”The last 2% is the hardest to get. That’s why they leave it in the milk.”
The TV Fox 