‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’: Holt’s Biggest Rivalry Comes to an Unexpected End (RECAP)

Andre Braugher in Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Season 7
Spoiler Alert
John P. Fleenor/NBC

[WARNING: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 7 episode 7, “Ding Dong.”]

As long as Madeline Wuntsch (Kyra Sedgwick) has existed on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, she and Holt (Andre Braugher) have been mercilessly insulting each other. They’ve called each other every name in the book, made life incredibly hard for each other and, in general, relished the other’s deepest sufferings.

In “Ding Dong,” it appears those days have come to an end — but Wuntsch has saved one last deep affront for Holt. Meanwhile, Jake (Andy Samberg) has just one ticket to a movie premiere, and Terry (Terry Crews) and Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio)  duke it out (literally) for the honor.

The Witch is Dead

So… Madeline Wuntsch is dead, and Holt is celebrating. “Her death means I’ve won,” Holt says, knowing he’ll be captain again soon. Except it might not be so easy: he gets an email from Wutsch, or rather, her estate. Never one to let Holt win in the event of her death, Wuntsch tells him from beyond the grave (in a video) that he’s in charge of planning her NYPD memorial service. He can’t get out of it. So indeed, it appears she’s won: he’ll never be able to hold a service without insulting her.

Except the real challenge isn’t holding a respectful service. It’s determining whether he’s Wuntsch’s true nemesis. Another man shows up and claims to be her true adversary, and based on the video she received — one exactly like Holt’s, in which she declares the dude her “one true nemesis” — he’s right. Wuntsch was, as a jealous Holt puts it to Rosa (Stephanie Beatriz) and Amy (Melissa Fumero), “two-timing him.”

Two Services

When Holt re-emerges from the place he stormed off to, he’s holding the angry speech he wrote earlier. He says he’ll read it, but Amy and Rosa convince him to team up with Adam. They end up making friends, or so it appears. But some things don’t add up with Adam’s story, Amy and Rosa realize, and it turns out Wuntsch planted him to get Holt fired. When Holt gets up to give his speech, a video plays of him mercilessly insulting her.

It appears Holt’s in serious trouble, at least for a minute. But then Holt reveals his plan. The event wasn’t the real memorial: he knew Wuntsch would have one last hurdle for him to jump over, and instead faked the service in anticipation of whatever her plan was. Later, at the real service, Holt admits he’s a little sad about Wuntsch’s passing — after all, he can’t insult a helpless dead person.

“No one challenged me like she did,” Holt says in his speech, “our relationship was like an epic chess match.” He admits at the end of the speech that he wished she wasn’t gone, and it looks like he means it.

A Kwazy Battle

Jake, meanwhile, is going to the premiere of the Kwazy Kupkakes movie — but he only has one extra ticket. This then becomes about whose kids, Terry or Boyle’s, Jake likes more, and indeed, who Jake values more as a friend. Terry tells Jake he has to make the choice; he can’t flip a coin and let fate decide for him. They both try to bribe him. “Enough!” Jake declares. He says they need to decide for themselves, and they decide to “duke it out in the ring.” So that should be interesting, at least.

They fight, and, shockingly, Boyle appears to win… by punching Terry in the, uh, well, you can guess where Boyle punches Terry. Terry counters, and they both end up wounded. With that, Jake makes his decision. He’ll bring Boyle and Terry’s kids, but not them. “I hope you’ve learned your lesson,” he says.

And at the end of the episode, Amy makes a joyful announcement — she’s pregnant! She and Jake celebrate. And in the dead of night, Boyle awakens: “It happened,” he says. Because of course he can just sense it.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Thursdays, 8:30/7:30c, NBC