TV Review: Brooklyn Nine-Nine 4×1 “Coral Palms Pt. 2”

Welcome back to my weekly review and recap of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” To catch up on previous coverage, click here.

After the craziness of the season four premiere Brooklyn Nine-Nine follows it up with the second half of it’s two part episode which combines the efforts of Jake and Captain Holt. The main difference is that rather than just focusing on the two leads we’re instead brought back into the heart of the Nine-Nine precinct with the rest of the cast where, as Amy puts it, everything is just about the same. Gina, despite some concern for Jake’s well-being, is still remarkably self-centered, Boyle still as dedicated to his BFF but this time he has a child he adopted with his wife Genevieve and Rosa and Terry still subverting the bad-ass cliches both could be associated with. The main difference is that it’s been six months without Jake and Holt around and they’re now being forced to deal with yet another new captain in the form of Captain CJ (a fantastic Ken Marino). As is to be expected, few of the crew are pleased especially once they realize who wholly incompetent he is, acting more like someone wanting to be their friend than their captain.

Gina however latches onto this and soon finds herself with a new assistant, Emily, and then soon after an assistant for her assistant. It doesn’t take much longer for Rosa to be persuaded by walls she can place around her cubicle, Charles by a treadmill desk to stay in shape for the sake of his adopted son and Terry, a personal yogurt fridge. Amy is the last one standing, calling out her teammates for becoming complacent while Captain Holt has been away, completely fine to coast without the authority present that always expected the best out of them. Suitably chastised, the team go to CJ and tell him that they need him to start acting like a leader and sometimes telling them no which, of course, comes back to bite them later when Jake and Holt call in need of help.

Jake and Holt’s plan doesn’t seem to be moving as quickly as they would have hoped but still feel the need to prepare themselves for what could be a dangerous entanglement. Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s dedication in showcasing Florida in the worst possible light delivers some of the episodes greatest laughs, especially when the two go to purchase guns to arm themselves and are met with no push back whatsoever despite holding no identification or permits. Jake’s dejected “our country is broken” is both hilarious due to Andy Sambergs delivery but also due to how on the nose it is.

Jake and Holt get to walk out fully armed, with a bucket of bullets but are pulled over by none other but Gary/Larry/Terry/Jerry (Jim O’Heir), a police officer who hasn’t gotten with the times, spends much of the time complaining about the new (and first) female cop in his precinct and interrogates Jake and Holt with the couples game. Holt and Jake managing to outsmart him lands them in a holding cell as they must try and find a way to escape once they realize that Figgis has finally caught wind of where they are and are heading towards them. The two stage a fight but of course, O’Heir is thrilled by this so instead, Jake tells his Captain to go with it and lands a kiss on him, using the officer’s homophobia against him so that he’ll run in, interrupt the kiss and the two of them can break out.

This scene could have played very differently with the butt of the joke being the two men kissing and not the fact that O’Heirs officers homophobia is so outdated. Holt’s “It’s 2016 man. This is on you” says it all and is just another reminder of the commentary the series provides, albeit typically under the guise of outrageous humor.

The two are now on the run, charged with multiple crimes with a mob boss on their tail and Jake can’t understand why Holt is so hesitant to call their team to help with the latter finally admitting that he’s embarrassed at the idea of being rescued, again, for something he should be able to take care of on his own. In a nice change of pace Jake tells him that requiring help from your friends isn’t anything to be afraid about, prompting Holt to make a call to Terry.

Considering this is the same Jake who used to say he had a hard time trusting people, this was a nice moment shining a light on all of the character development he’s been through in the past two seasons.

As mentioned above though, Terry and co. aren’t allowed to leave to help Jake and Holt due to their earlier talk with CJ and we’re left to wait until next week to see just how they scramble to sneak their way down their and the lasting ramifications that may cause to the precinct.

My favorite line of the night/line delivery?

“It’s so much drier than I thought. Did I want it to be wet?!”

8/10