‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’: Holt Races to Save a ‘Dognapped’ Cheddar (RECAP)
Spoiler Alert
[WARNING: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 7 episode 12, “Ransom.”]
Throughout the series, there are very few things that have truly rattled Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher). Even his demotion and forced relocation to Florida saw him (mostly) level-headed: he’s a far cry from the precinct’s more emotional members, like Boyle (Joe Lo Trugio) or Jake (Andy Samberg). That’s not to say he doesn’t feel things — he certainly does — but he’s an expert at not letting them show. He’s just a professional like that.
Of course, every professional has their breaking point, and Holt reaches his in “Ransom.” When Cheddar is kidnapped, or rather, dognapped, Holt will stop at nothing to find him.
Dog-napped
When Jake gets to work in the morning, Holt calls him into his office — Kevin (Marc Evan Jackson) took Cheddar to the park, and when he let him off his leash, their beloved boy was kidnapped. “Nothing is as important to me as this dog,” Holt says, and he means it. He blows their plan to trace the kidnapper, and Jake then finds him loading up on grenades to “get even.”
The kidnapper texts Holt their demands, but he doesn’t want money — he wants files from May 2004. With that info, Jake decides to go to the park with Kevin to look for clues, and he puts Holt in charge of trying to find leads in the paperwork. The Jake-Kevin duo are successful in finding a security camera, and Holt gets a lead on a former gang leader from the files.
Becoming Kevin Cozner
Except when they go to the place where they thought they’d find the guy after analyzing the security footage, it’s empty (Holt reacts to this by punching through a wall). Later, the kidnapper calls and demands the May 2004 files on a flash drive. He demands that Kevin bring them, but Jake has a better idea: since the kidnapper probably doesn’t know what Holt’s husband looks like, he simply switches clothes with him. So now, Jake is Kevin.
Jake-Kevin heads into a Shakespeare festival at the kidnapper’s order, where the guy draws him away at gunpoint and rips off his wire, so Holt and Kevin can’t hear him. The kidnapper figures out that Jake’s a police officer and tells him to get his laptop from the car so he can check the files on the flash drive. When Jake opens the door and retrieves the computer, he whacks the man on the head and frees Cheddar. He’s not so successful in escaping himself, and he ends up at gunpoint again. “Would you like to buy a laptop?” he asks the man, nervously.
A Snoog Situation
The B-story this episode deals with Amy (Melissa Fumero)’s quest to win a stroller — or more accurately, a “Snoog.” When she and Rosa (Stephanie Beatriz) head to the store for the contest, they run into Amy’s ex: Teddy (Kyle Bornheimer). There’s also a huge snag in the plan. Pregnant women can’t compete. With that, Rosa steps in to hold onto the stroller as long as possible. Twenty hours later, Rosa’s still there, and she and Teddy are the only ones left in the competition. Unfortunately, Rosa loses when pilsner enthusiast bores her into putting her hands over her ears.
Back at the precinct, Boyle and Terry (Terry Crews) almost go into business with Boyle’s “bone broth” — a drink that heals workout muscle pain. But the ingredients in the mix are unstable, and when they propose the idea to Terry’s friend, it starts exploding. Oops!
Holt, Unhinged
In the park, Holt and Kevin are reunited with Cheddar. They also make a stunning realization: because Jake’s wearing Kevin’s pants, he has the GPS trackers that Kevin bought for Cheddar. The squad tracks Jake’s whereabouts to an abandoned warehouse, and as the man loads him into a car, Holt arrives. He and the kidnapper exchange vicious blows, but Holt’s not giving up. “You took the wrong fluffy boy!” Holt bellows, and then, with a single punch, he knocks the guy out.
The kidnapper is brought to justice, Jake is free, and, perhaps most importantly, one very happy fluffy boy is returned to his family.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Thursdays, 8:30/7:30c, NBC.
