Brooklyn Nine Nine review

My first glimpse of Brooklyn Nine Nine was the legendary Backstreet Boys clip, with Jake’s rendition of “I Want It That Way” with a line up of potential murderers.

Enough said.

The humor is fast paced and odd, a good combination for a show about cops in Brooklyn.

Apparently part of the audition process included the actors testing their improv skills with Andy Samberg, which is why they always do a take focused on improv. Some of the show’s best moments come from the actors own comedic genius.

Andy Samberg plays Detective Jake Peralta who is the best cop at his precinct, also possibly the whole world, even more than his fellow officer Amy Santiago. The team at the nine nine precinct have worked together for years, and have been up close and personal with each other and all their lovely little habits.

This show explores the humor in little moments, like having to pull an all nighter when your coworker screws up, or the big time stuff, like going undercover as a mobster. The office is full of pranks, competitions, dance offs, explosions, and not nearly enough personal space.

Jake is a delightful little weirdo.

He initially clashes with his new captain, Raymond Holt, but they soon develop a strong workplace bromance. Holt has subtle facial expressions, a deep monotone voice, and comedic enunciation. Jake pushes his buttons and occasionally gets a glimpse of Holt’s “fun side” while Amy religiously devotes herself to making Holt her mentor. Rosa ends up dating Holt’s nephew, super awkward, and Terry just does his best to keep everyone from breaking everything.

Terry keeps everyone in line and orderly, and away from his yogurt. I love every time Terry plays with Jake’s tiny head, or dances, or crushes something with his bare hands. It takes a lot of muscle to manage the nine nine, and Terry’s got muscles to spare. He’s basically the dad figure, keeping the kids well behaved while also knowing when to join in the games.

But Rosa is definitely my favorite character, especially when she destroys something, whips out a random weapon, or threatens people like she’s ordering her favorite drink. She gives solid advice, has no patience for stupidity, and smiles as people like she wants to tear them apart with her teeth. It’s everything I aspire to be in life.

Everyone is terrified of Rosa, I love watching people react to her temper. She’s the only one who really pushes Jake to be an adult and make decisions. She picks up on Jake and Amy’s feelings and demands that they be honest with each other and stop annoying her with their noncommittal flirting.

Jake and Amy’s relationship starts with him spending way too much money on giving her the worst date ever, and just gets better from there. They drive each other crazy but they have a lot of fun, and I like watching them joke around and compete with each other.

Every character has fantastic comedic timing, but Gina elevates the humor to a higher, stranger level. Gina and Jake are childhood friends, so they know each other really well and can bring up old memories and habits that help add to the humor. So far, my favorite Gina moment is Captain Holt’s party, where Gina has an entire room of psychologists analyzing her endless monologue of narcissism. Holt’s party overall was pretty hilarious, but Gina was definitely the best part.

Her and Charles having a casual relationship is super weird, but I love them becomingstep siblings. It’s perfectly bizarre. She keeps his dad in line by threatening his son’s testicles. It’s an effective system.

Boyle has many weird intense obsessions, including being best friends with Jake. He has a deeply intense relationship with food, and shares way too many details about the connections in his food life and sex life. In general, he shares too many details about his personal life, even surpassing Jake’s boundaries.

But he adds to the humor, whether he’s breaking things on his face or explaining the emotional ramifications of sushi donuts. He’s just as weird as Jake, but without Jake’s signature belief that he is the coolest person to walk the earth.

Everyone could use a touch of the classic Jake Peralta confidence.

It’s a simple comedy compiled of over the top characters and situations, but manages to make me laugh without stressing me out. Comedies tend to overdo it with the jokes and dramatics, and try too hard. But this show perfectly finds the little jokes in every day life, even if that every day life is a bit elevated for comedic effect. It has a quirky charm that I really love. There are still many many seasons for me to catch up on, so hopefully the quality upholds as the show matures.

The comedy is balanced really well. Even though the characters are quirky, they still develop in a somewhat realistic way. The plot is just crazy enough to be fun, but not so crazy that it’s impossible to believe. It’s got the same talent as The Office, with well written cold opens that start each episode off on the right note.

And of course, we have their best cold open, with Jake reaching a new low of insensitivity… but we appreciate his love of 90s music.