Noine Noine!

The recently concluded cop comedy, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, is my favourite TV Show of all time. As soon as Jake said, “This job is eating me alive.”, I was hooked. For those of you dummies who haven’t watched this amazing show yet, the plot revolves around the goofball detectives of the 99th police precinct in Brooklyn. It is a laugh-out-loud and extremely wholesome sitcom.

So, why do I like B99 so much? After the pandemic hit us last year, I was living in a monochromatic one-dimensional world. Not knowing what to do with all the time that I had, I simply scrolled Netflix till I made the best decision ever – watching this show. B99 simply breathed colour into my life. The show is so engaging and fun that you just forget about your worries and your boring, mundane lives. Brooklyn Nine-Nine was a source of joy and comfort to me and countless other fans during turbulent and uncertain times and will hold a special place in our hearts forever.

Let me talk about the absolutely delightful characters. I am, of course, going to start with the smart and snarky protagonist, Jacob Jeffery Peralta. If you do not want to be Jake Peralta when you grow up, I do not want to be associated with you. This childish and extremely toit character is everyone’s favourite. His character arc and attributes are just perfect. He is not the macho man but a flawed person who grows throughout the seasons. (He still hasn’t learnt how to manage his money, though, haha). Jake is my comfort character and Andy Samberg’s comedic chops helped him absolutely nail this role.

Moving on to the other end of the spectrum, we have Captain Raymond Jacob Holt, whose middle name is a source of delight for a certain detective. This stoic, father-figure of the Nine-Nine has arguably the best quirks ever in the entire show. Whether it is dissolving into a fit of giggles upon eating a marshmallow, bellowing ‘Hot Damn’, being unbelievably petty or coming up with horrendous lines to insult his arch nemesis, Madeline Wuntch, Captain Holt keeps us on our toes. But he is also the wise old sage looking after his protegees with utmost care. His gay, black captain arc is also an important one in media itself. The fact that the writers infused some comedic element into it with lines such as the iconic ‘Yass, Queen’ just goes to show why this sitcom is brilliant. Andre Braugher’s background in drama helped to add a lot of nuances to his performance. It also earned him four Primetime Emmy nominations.

The supporting cast consists of a host of characters, each with unique traits. Amy Santiago, played by Melissa Fumero, is an uptight, lovable nerd and teacher’s pet. Her fascination with binders and her ambitious and competitive spirit are truly some of the highlights of the show. Rosa Diaz, played by Stephanie Beatriz, is a dark and edgy detective who always carries an axe on her person. Her coming out as bi and dealing with her parents was one of the more emotional and pertinent storylines. Gina Linetti, played by Chelsea Peretti, is the human form of the 100 emoji. Her over-the-top narcissism and God-complex are in stark contrast to her personality when she is worshipping Rihanna. Though she did leave the precinct in the sixth season, the squad is incomplete without her. Moving on to the male charaters, Charles Boyle, played by Joe Lo Truglio, is a mumbling, bumbling mess. Some of his standout quirks include being Jake’s jealous best friend, a weird food connoisseur and always stringing the wrong words together. The other ‘Dad’ of the precinct is Terrence Jeffords, played by Terry Crews. His character was in fact based on his real-life personality and his super fit body contradicts his personality, which is as soft and sweet as yogurt. These merry band of misfits go from being colleagues to friends to family.

Apart from the beatific personas, the show has a set of extremely funny recurring characters like the Pontiac Bandit, the Vulture, Adrian Pimento and many others. Coupled with the spot-on celebrity cameos, this show has no shortage of dynamic characters who make it extremely endearing.

The quality of the humour and writing on this show shines through in every single episode. One of the best ever episodes has to be ‘The Box’ in Season 5 where the plot centres around Jake and Holt trying to get a confession from a wily dentist. The stand-off progressively gets more aggressive and intense with the perfect climax to top it off. If you are looking at ensemble episodes, nothing beats the Halloween Heists. Those episodes are insanely chaotic and super fun for both the cast and viewers. There are so many more brilliant episodes where the situation slowly spirals out of hand in the most dramatic fashion and keeps the audience in splits. The show also touches upon some social issues to keep the plot real and down-to-earth. It is indeed another feather in the hat of Michael Schur who is an actual genius when it comes to sitcoms.

Now, I am going to discuss one of my favourite aspects of the show, which is obviously, Peraltiago. As the ship name suggests, it is the pairing of Jake Peralta and Amy Santiago. They start off with a distracting, childish rivalry, aka the original bet, which soon blooms into a distracting, childish courtship and did end up in a distracting, childish marriage. They are super supportive of one another and have helped each other grow. They love and cherish one another and have each other’s backs through thick and thin. Life is unpredictable. Not everything is in our control but you are with the right people you can handle anything. Peraltiago exemplify this statement and serve the ultimate relationship goals of the decade.

One very important chapter in the life of B99 was the cancellation of the show by Fox. NBC picked it up soon after there was an uproar from fans. The downside? There was a slight deterioration in the quality of the show when the streaming platform changed. Despite that, the show has managed to keep tickling our funny bones and provide some adorable content.

I could babble on and on about B99 all day long but this write up will end just as the show did. The finale really managed to tug at all your strings. The conclusion of Jake’s arc definitely triggered the waterworks. My heart is broken just a tad. I am shivering and I think I am going to cry (title of your sextape). But here is to all the laughter and the memories. To the awws and the hahas. To the best squad in the whole, wide world. Nine Nine!