TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2×05) – “The Mole”

Very few shows make me laugh as much as Brooklyn Nine-Nine does, and this week’s episode didn’t have just one strong episode, it had three, all of which were worthy of the time dedicated to them, and all of which were hilarious and utilized their characters excellently.

The biggest chunk of story went to Jake and Captain Holt teaming up to find out who the mole was in their precinct. When Jake is first told of the investigation he’s incredulous, believing that none of his coworkers would be a mole. Holt tells him that it’s impossible to know everything about everyone. Jake soon realizes that he could be falsely incriminated due to files he’s brought home with him to help him work on cases outside of the office. Being Jake, he’s also forgotten about them and left them at his place, and his old place where Gina now lives.

Jake gets Amy to help him recover them secretly before he can be called out for it, but upon entering Gina’s apartment is thrown off track when he finds her and Boyle. Jake, needless to say, no longer believes that he knows everything about his friends once he learns that even Boyle has been lying to him. He grabs the files and leaves, but before he’s able to put them back is caught by the internal investigator.

He shows up at Captain Holt’s late at night to tell him about what happened and that he’s being suspended in the morning. After the Halloween episode it’s nice to see a more nuanced version of Jake and, consequently, Andy Samberg, who still gets to pull ridiculous faces but isn’t such a larger-than-life presence that it chews the scenes. This Jake is much more interesting because he’s ridiculous and would rather focus on what Holt’s middle name is than his actual problem, who could realistically be pegged for being the mole due to his going under cover with the mafia for six months, who hides powdered donuts in his pockets, but who is also such a dedicated worker that he brings his work home with him.

Captain Holt isn’t having the best day either, as exemplified by his rant to Hitchcock and Scully at the bar.

“And you ask, am I okay?” This entire speech is pure comedic gold. Hand Andre Braugher all of the Golden Globes and all of the Emmys because that right there was comedy perfection.

Holt isn’t enthused to see Jake on his doorstep, but he is willing to help, and the two get to sleuthing as they list any and all attributes to the rest of the team that could possibly make them the culprit. However, this scene is more of an excuse to allow Braugher and Samberg to play against one another, and it delivers some of the biggest laughs of the night. Holt slapping Jake using the element of surprise and Holt’s horror and brilliant deduction that Jake saw Gina and Boyle getting it on are two moments in particular that were personal favorites.

Fatigue gets to them, though, and they end up in disagreement, with Jake being kicked out and told to return his guest pajamas, toothbrush and slippers.

The next day Jake comes to the office having realized that it was Chief Wuntch who sent in the internal investigator as a way to try to obtain dirt about the office and Holt. The two call them out on it and blackmail them into letting Jake off of suspension. Using Holt as a straight man character to Jake is funny, but it’s so much better when we get to see both of them being slightly ridiculous, or in this case, dramatic, which apparently Holt has a flair for.

Rose and Terry have been busy trying to further their drug tactical team and find more information on the drug Giggle-Pig. This leads them to a silent disco, and while it doesn’t gain them any new information, it does spark concern in Terry that his daughters could possibly end up on the wrong track no matter what schools he puts them in. Rosa tells him that he’s the best father she knows, and it’s almost the sweetest moment of the episode.

Yet, surprisingly, that moment goes to Gina and Boyle. I don’t think I ever thought that Boyle and Gina would ever share a scene that was ever, ever even remotely close to being emotionally evocative, but here we are. After the two are caught they decide to end it for good. But, inspired by Amy’s words about how sleeping with Boyle isn’t really all that embarrassing, and that people will be surprised but soon forget about it, Gina stands up to make an announcement to the team. She tells them about them sleeping together and asks for any questions, deciding to take her fate into her own hands so that she can spin what happened with her control. Boyle asks if she had any regrets and she says no, and that it was fun. This is just another example of why this show works so well, and why it’s a sitcom that all of the new primetime comedies should be striving to emulate. Boyle and Gina are both oddballs, probably the most outside of the box characters on the show, but even they’re given moments of character growth.

This episode was nearly as good as this show has ever been, with a lot of laughs and a lot of great moments for the characters and actors playing them.

9/10