A quick review of tonight’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” coming up just as soon as I guess how tall you are in eggrolls…
Because the “Brooklyn” cast is so good and so deep, for the most part I find myself preferring episodes just focusing on the ensemble rather than ones built around guest stars. Sometimes, you get someone like Craig Robinson who can spar so wonderfully with both Andy Samberg and Stephanie Beatriz, but more often than not I would rather the prominent guest star had been left behind so we could get more time with Boyle or Santiago or even Scully and Hitchcock.
All three of this week’s stories featured notable guests – most of them having appeared on the show before – but only the A-story seemed actually built around them. Eva Longoria fit in just fine during her brief stint on the show, and Chris Parnell is always fun – I particularly enjoyed him talking smack in the squadroom while high on cocaine – yet other than Terry’s fake smile as he contemplates going to the party (which, again, was a moment involving a regular), I spent most of that plot wishing we would get back to the B or C-stories.
Holt’s story involved the return of Kyra Sedgwick, but the bulk of it was just him and Diaz discussing the pros and cons of endorsing Wuntch for the Boston job, and getting insight into what exactly Raymond Holt considers an effective revenge, like getting her tickets to the Boston production of “Wicked.” (“Have fun watching some chubby Chenoweth knockoff!”) And the payoff scene where we find out, as I had assumed, that Wuntch was using the Boston offer to leverage an NYPD promotion, was just so strange – and had such a priceless reaction from Andre Braugher after Wuntch kissed Holt – that it breathed new life into a rivalry that felt like it had maybe run its course before now.
And while Stephen Root popped up again in the Charles/Gina storyline, that story was more about the ongoing tension between the former lovers and future stepsiblings, with a side order of Santiago at her most Leslie Knope-ish with that conflict resolution binder. I hope we actually get to see the wedding where all the bridesmaids are dressed like Roseanne from the television show “Roseanne.”
Not one of their strongest episodes this season, but still plenty of laughs.
What did everybody else think?