For the uninitiated, Brooklyn 99 is a cop comedy based in the 99 precinct in New York. The show is in it’s seventh season after moving over to NBC for season six. The first five seasons were on Fox. In Canada, the firs six seasons are on Netflix now and in the US they might still be on Hulu. Here are the ten episodes you should watch for various reasons if you have never watched the show before:
The Characters:
- Captain Raymond Holt
- Sergeant Terrance (Terry) Jeffords
- Jake Peralta
- Amy Santiago
- Rosa Diaz
- Charles Boyle
- Gina Linetti (gone)
- Scully
- Hitchcock
Reasons you should watch it:
Brooklyn 99 has a diverse cast that is full of really funny actors. Andy Samberg is not overwhelming as Jake Peralta and he works so well in an ensemble cast. The entire show is known for it’s funny, always punching up humour. Even the precincts two punching bags, Scully and Hitchcock, are shown to be incredibly useful and good at their jobs when needed.
The show is funny. It has cold opens that have nothing to do with the actual episode, but make you laugh. It shows how people are at work and the cases can be weird as hell at time as well. It is also timely. They have a great episode on racial profiling and another episode about MeToo. However, the show remembers that it is a comedy and even these episodes are funny.
The Essential Episodes
- Halloween: The first of many iconic Halloween episodes allows us to see Jake Peralta at his best. We see how he can bring the other detectives together to have some fun while also showing how he can use his brain to think outside the box.
- The Party: A lot of made about the fact that Captain Holt is a gay, black captain in the NYPD. In The Party we meet his partner and Jake has to figure out why Kevin (his partner) does not like the squad. Lot’s of hijinks ensue.
- The Beach House: Season two was full of great episodes and The Beach House is no exception. We see the evolution of Jake and Holt’s relationship and we see everyone outside of the precinct and chilling with each other. Plus we learn that Jake has a heart (that he pretends he doesn’t have).
- Johnny and Dora: Jake and Amy on a fake date for a case? Jake wearing Terry’s jacket as a disguise? Jake and Amy kissing as a cover? This episode is the one that truly plants the idea that Jake and Amy could be a couple and they do it in a way that makes you not hate the idea of them being together.
- All of Season Three: I was looking at the episode list and I really cannot say there are any bad ones. The Oolong Slayer is peak Jake and Holt and the last two episodes are absolutely amazing. Yippee Kayak is another classic episode where Jake gets to be a giant child.
- Coral Palms 1-3: A three parter that is so thrilling and exciting and funny you cannot look away. All three episodes have some really funny plotpoints and naturally the line “boost my bottom” is featured. As you will.
- Moo Moo: This is the episode I mentioned about racial profiling and somehow it is both tough and an amazing episode. They manage to bring humour into the most tense situations and force everyone to realize there is no right way to deal with something.
- HalloVeen: This is another one of the heist episodes. This one is a little different though as there seems to be something happening underneath all the planning. Plus the cold open is amazing.
- The Box: A box episode is an episode that has minimal characters and sets. The Box is just that and it works really, really well. It features Sterling K. Brown as the perp and Holt and Peralta as the interrogators. It shows both how Jake’s brain works and how box episodes can be really fantastic.
- Hitchcock and Scully: There is a lot left unsaid about these two and when something happens with old evidence, the precinct learns a lot about the two detectives who LOVE desk duty.
Starting next week I will be recapping the show. Happy watching, my friends!
