‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ Makes a Triumphant Return With Its NBC Premiere (RECAP)
Spoiler Alert
God bless NBC for saving Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
While the show’s not any different in tone than it had been on Fox, that’s for the best; one might say “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and fans, celebrities and critics alike have provided testimony to Nine-Nine’s continued functionality and fun.
In the Season 6 premiere, “Honeymoon,” which picks up the moment Season 5 ended and delves into Jake and Amy’s luxurious honeymoon, the show continues doing what it’s always done with aplomb: mixing humor and heart with real-world insight.
Stop Dancing
The episode opens with Holt revealing whether he’s been chosen as the NYPD’s new commissioner. The captain tells his squad that he has — yay, Commissioner Holt! — and Jake runs off to get the Jock Jams CD he’d intended to play at his and Amy’s wedding to celebrate.
Unfortunately, while Jake’s out of the room, Holt reads the email and discovers he’s missed a very crucial “not”; as in, he has not been chosen for the job. Jake comes back, dancing and playing music, and the whole squad tells him to stop.
And that’s just the cold open.
Posadita Bonita
Captain Holt has been taking personal days in the aftermath of being turned down for the commissioner job, leaving Terry in charge (and not Gina, though she advocates for a “Westerosi free-for-all”). Though the squad thinks Holt’s going through some tough stuff, things are looking quite a bit better for Jake and Amy. Their wedding insurance money was refunded, and instead of going to a less glamorous honeymoon destination, they’ve opted to go to Posadita Bonita, a resort in Mexico. Everything’s going great — they’re drinking margaritas out of coconuts and getting grapes with cheese — but then, as quickly as their happiness set in, it vanishes.
Holt’s at the resort, too.
After being passed over for his dream job (which went to the boring, “safe choice” John Kelly), Holt’s feeling disillusioned with his career and his life. He tells Jake and Amy he tried to go back to work, but instead found himself on a plane to Mexico. (It happens, right?) A dejected Holt says he’ll stay out of the newlyweds’ way, but he shows up during their romantic dinner, he bumps into them in the pool, and, when they leave the door to their room open, he interrupts them during couples’ massages to ask “what is it about me that screams, ‘loser’?”
Third Wheeling
Later, Jake and Amy try to decide what to do about Holt’s continued intrusions. After Jake’s suggestion of killing him gets shot down, they opt to include him in a variety of couples’ activities in order to cheer him up. Unfortunately, many of these activities are just that: they’re for couples. Holt joins in on “sensual food-tasting” and spa masks before winding up in a flower-filled bath with the pair. There, he thanks them for allowing him to accompany them throughout the day and says he feels well enough to head home soon. Mission accomplished, right?
Wrong. When Jake goes to get him and Amy celebratory coconut drinks he runs into Holt, who tells him that they’ve helped him realize there’s more to life than the NYPD and he’s putting in his resignation when he gets home. To stop this from happening, Jake offers to take him to the airport and then the couple lock him in and tie him up in their room.
Jake and Amy try to talk some sense into Holt by reminding him of his goals for the Nine-Nine, but Holt insists, wrongly, that he accomplished everything he set out to do. Jake steps in and gives a touching speech about how he needs Holt at the precinct, but Holt calls him selfish. Amy, enraged, tells Holt she’s spent years “giving a hoot” about him as a boss, as a mentor and as a friend. But after what he said to Jake, she’s “all out of hoots.” They storm out.
Holt later escapes and finds them drinking merlot out of coconuts. He apologizes. He says he thought if he spent years at the NYPD following orders and not making waves, he could eventually make meaningful change. He says he’s decided to go to the mayor about Kelly’s plan, and if he tries to implement it, Holt will complain to the press. He thanks Jake and Amy and says he’ll pay to extend their stay, so they have a real honeymoon.
A Boyle Tragedy?
Back at the Nine-Nine, several things are falling apart; including Gina’s dad and Boyle’s mom’s marriage. Boyle comes to Gina to ask for her help in getting them back together, because as the former says, tragedy “eats out” Boyles. (What well-chosen words). Gina eventually lets slip that her mom talked to her about what went wrong in the marriage, but tells Boyle he should keep his nose out of it. “Where does my nose belong, if not inside our parents?” he asks. (Again, well-chosen words from Charles Boyle).
Eventually, through the use of a mask and a well-timed phone unlocking, Boyle finds out the truth: Gina told her mom to divorce his dad. Betrayed, Boyle asks her why she did such a thing. Surprisingly, it wasn’t because she hated being a Boyle. Gina reveals that her mom was cheating on Boyle’s dad, and she told her she had to break it off because her mom was being “disgusting.” Awwwwww, Gina was looking out for the Boyles!
Top Dog Terry
“Top Dog Terry” struggles to help Rosa when she comes to him for advice on what to do in a sticky situation. Her meth case is in danger of being poached by sanitation, since some of the drugs were found in a dumpster. Terry’s confidence in the situation slowly wears off, and Rosa gives him some time to think. Terry uses this time to try to find the password for Holt’s computer, which will allow him to read Holt’s manual and advise the squad the same way the captain would.
When he guesses the wrong password and the computer threatens to delete the hard drive, Terry throws it against the wall in an attempt to fix his mistake. He then tries to fix the computer, and then tries to log on to the cloud to get Holt’s hard drive data back, and is unsuccessful in both endeavors. Eventually, Rosa shows up with a hard copy of Holt’s manual — which Gina had the whole time — and Terry reads that in times of uncertainty, Holt recommends checking in with Terry because the captain trusts him completely. With his confidence bolstered, Terry gives Rosa good advice.
The Nine-Nine Goes to War
On their first morning back to work, Holt joins Jake and Amy in the elevator. He tells them he went to the mayor with Kelly’s plan, and the mayor placed it under review. Of course, Kelly didn’t take that well; he closed the bottom floor of the precinct for “renovations,” which — when the elevator doors open — is revealed to have caused some cramped, cluttered chaos.
“Prepare yourselves,” Holt says. “The Nine-Nine is at war with the NYPD.”
Other Observations:
- Amy dressing up as Holly from Die Hard was hilarious, as was Jake dressing up as Melville Dewey (the creator of the Dewey decimal system). These newlyweds sure know what turns each other on!
- Holt’s dejection at losing the Commissioner job was both heartbreaking to watch and incredibly relatable. While I wasn’t necessarily expecting him to go off the rails the way he did, it makes sense in hindsight and made for some funny moments. (Especially the shirts he wore throughout the episode).
- Again, Holt being passed over for the job was one of Nine-Nine’s “real world insight” moments — not only because Holt didn’t get it, but because his female competitor also lost out. This show is particularly good at providing commentary on how the cards are often stacked against people of color and women, and the organization’s unfortunate selection of a new commissioner proves how committed the show is to showing the world as it is rather than how we’d like it to be.
- I’m elated this episode had such a focus on Gina, but it also made me dread the moment we’ll have to say goodbye to Chelsea Peretti as a series regular.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Thursdays, 9/8c, NBC
