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“Brooklyn Nine-Nine” review: “Unsolvable”

Things with Amy and Teddy are starting to get serious, much to Jake’s chagrin, Gina and Rosa tell Boyle about the secret bathroom, Amy lies to Holt, and Jake tries to solve the unsolvable in this very enjoyable installment of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

I enjoy the Jake Peralta character more when he isn’t a cop with a case to solve. The gimmick with Jake is that despite being an immature goof, he’s also a brilliant detective that can crack cases better than anybody else in the precinct. Each episode is then usually wrapped up in the end with Jake figuring things out. We’ve been getting more of the guys away from being cops in the past few episodes, mostly dealing with Boyle’s relationship with Vivian and the Jake/Amy stuff. When we have opportunities to find out more about Jake when he’s off-duty, or even the rest of the cast, it’s a little more enjoyable. It has kind of a workplace comedy feel to it in that regard. Because it’s a show about cops, the writers have to actually have them do their jobs every once in a while. They’re handcuffed to that premise, if you will. Pun intended.

This episode was a mixture of both of those setups. Its name (“Unsolvable”) relates to a case that Peralta and Terry worked on several years ago (we get a flashback with the guys in bad hair and clothes from the era). To distract himself from Amy’s weekend getaway date with her boyfriend(!) Teddy, Peralta throws himself back into the case along with Terry and stops at nothing (sleep deprivation and unsupported polygraph tests included) to solve it. After the case is closed, Terry becomes the latest person in the 99 to find out that Jake has a crush on Amy. Terry also is given an opportunity to mock Jake with his pecs.

Boyle is still dealing with whether he can move to Canada with Vivian. He’s been trying to talk things out on the phone in various hiding places in the precinct. This leads to Gina and a surprisingly softer and less one-dimensional Rosa to tell him about the secret basement bathroom known as Babylon where he can call Vivian in peace. It smells like lavender, has excellent phone reception, and the toilet paper makes you feel important. Unfortunately, dumb cops Scully and Hitchcock become not so dumb cops when they squeeze Boyle for the location of Babylon. They find it. They ruin it, leading Gina to cut a deal with them to save the secret bathroom involving the exchange of her chair and coveted wolf blanket for Scully’s chair that unsurprisingly smells like his butt.

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Amy’s weekend getaway with Teddy is put in jeopardy because everyone’s favorite suck-up forgot she promised unbelievable hula hooper Holt to help him with some committee work. This leads to, with an assist from Gina of course, the fib that she needs her wisdom teeth pulled, which leads to the friendly Holt sending her to his dentist brother-in-law. She comes clean in the chair right before right her teeth are pulled, but the dentist does find she’s an “over-brusher” with some major cavities. Holt lets her get what she deserves.

Just one more episode left in the very successful, Golden Globe-winning first season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. What will happen? Will Amy find about Jake’s feelings for her? Will Boyle move to Canada with Vivian? Why the hell was The Mindy Project renewed?  These questions may or not be answered, but I’ll be here to review the episode. Now let’s dance to Salt-N-Pepa’s “Whatta Man”!

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