‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ Episode 3: A Forgetful Friend Is in Grave Danger — Or Is He? (RECAP)
Spoiler Alert
[WARNING: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 7 episode 3, “Pimento.”]
Just as hilarious as the main characters on Brooklyn Nine-Nine are the recurring ones; The Vulture, The Pontiac Bandit, Wuntsch, maybe Gina now that Chelsea Peretti isn’t a series regular, etc. They only appear once or twice every season, but when they do, fans know to expect hilarity from a familiar face — and a few great plot twists, too.
Such is the case with Adrian Pimento (Jason Mantzoukas), who started the series as an undercover officer recently returned to the world, then he was Rosa (Stephanie Beatriz)’s boyfriend, then he was her ex-boyfriend, then he was an insurance investigator, and finally a security guard. In “Pimento,” the titular character claims someone’s trying to kill him, but with Pimento, nothing’s so straightforward. Meanwhile, the rest of the squad is subjected to their annual HR training, which gets uncomfortably heated.
Guess Who’s Back?
There’s already some drama in Jake (Andy Samberg)’s world: Amy (Melissa Fumero) doesn’t want him to tell Charles (Joe Lo Truglio) that they’re trying for a baby (“he can be a bit much”), and as a result, Jake’s had to all but cut his best friend out of his life. As one might assume, Boyle’s not handling that well.
That drama escalates when Pimento bursts into the precinct and says someone’s trying to kill him. He claims he woke up in a pool of his own blood with a dent in a metal chair the shape of his head, so… that’s not great. But Jake and Boyle find a few complications: Pimento’s memory seems to be resetting itself, and he’s started working as a PI. Which is real: Pimento being targeted as a result of his work, or his memory making him believe he is?
A Great Dad
The trio visit Pimento’s doctor, who explains he has memory loss as a result of traumatic brain injury. He tells them his patient might be experiencing paranoia as a result of the medication he’s on, and Jake and Boyle don’t see any evidence he’s a target. But the next day he runs into the Nine-Nine with a gunshot wound in his shoulder, so it’s not all in his head.
Jake and Charles visit Pimento in the hospital, and as the result of an unfortunately open-backed hospital gown, they realize he’s been tattooing reminders on himself. When Boyle leaves the room, Jake takes a call from Amy and realizes that while he can’t talk to his pal, he can talk to Pimento; anything he tells him, he’ll just forget. As such, he’s relieved to spill his guts about all things family planning.
And yet — it seems Pimento remembers some things. “You’re going to make a great dad,” Pimento tells Jake as they leave the hospital, which stuns and hurts Boyle.
Don’t Trust the D
Jake tells Boyle that there are some things that have to be between him and Amy, and he has to be okay with that. Boyle is… until Jake lets it slip that he also told Rosa. “Sometimes you can be a little much,” Jake finally says. Boyle responds angrily that like Pimento, he can’t remember why they were ever friends, and as a result of their argument, they lose him. They trace their forgetful friend to a tattoo parlor, and the tattooist says this was the second time Pimento left before he could finish the job. The first time that happened? A tattoo that said to not trust his “D” — short for “doctor.” Pimento’s doctor’s trying to kill him!
Pimento then went to see his doctor, and Jake and Boyle follow him there. The doctor, who Pimento was investigating for suspected infidelity, did indeed have him tied up. He escaped out onto a ledge and Jake goes to get him, but both end up stuck. Boyle comes out to save them, and as he does, the pals clear the air. “The only reason I’ve been avoiding you is that I wanted to tell you what Amy and I were up to, and the second I saw you I’d blurt it out,” Jake says. They all form a chain and get off the roof, and all is well between the best pals. Awwwwwww!
An HR Horror
Meanwhile, Rosa, Amy and Holt are soon to be subjected to their annual workplace HR seminar. It’s even too boring for Amy, which is how you know it’s bad. “HR said they’re sending a funny guy,” Terry says, which makes everything worse.
Thankfully, Amy has a plan. She finds a printout of the previous year’s presentation and says the squad can memorize it to get out of the seminar. In the end, Amy’s the one who does the memorizing (Rosa refuses to do “homework”), and she aces the seminar for the squad in record time. But the seminar is required to be six hours, so they’re not in the clear, and it’s time to “dig into workplace conflicts” instead.
Memento, Pimento
At first the group maintains there’s nothing to discuss, but there’s definitely quite a few things on everyone’s mind. They all start nitpicking their issues with each other, screaming and yelling, and just when things get bad, the seminar ends. Everyone keeps arguing until Rosa steps in, calling them a bunch of “Ramonas.” Turns out she did memorize the presentation, and in the face of her kindness, all conflicts appear to be set aside.
A week later, Boyle and Jake are hanging out at the bar when Pimento walks in. Since he stopped seeing his doctor and taking the medication he was “prescribed,” his memory has returned. Oh, and he finally saw Memento, which Jake had been talking to him about for the whole episode. “It was okay,” he says.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Thursdays, 8:30/7:30c, NBC
