Brooklyn Nine-Nine: The Favor

December 13, 2017 6:44 AM - Season 5, Episode 11

The second half of the midseason-finale double header! Official FOX synopsis: "When Seamus Murphy (guest star Paul Adelstein) returns to redeem the favor Holt owes him, the precinct searches for a loophole that will allow Holt to uphold his end of the bargain without breaking the law."
posted by Strange Interlude (9 comments total)

I thought I was onto something brilliant when I noticed Captain Holt use contractions when he lied to Seamus, and when he lied about not being Jake's secret Santa. But I went back and noticed him use "it's" and "don't" in other parts of the episodes, too. So I am not sure if it is still his "tell" or if they just do not want him to sound like a robot.
posted by Gary at 2:51 PM on December 13, 2017

Yeah, I think there might be a TVtropes article about having characters who avoid contractions, and how much more difficult that is to write than one would assume.

Interesting that both shows created by Michael Schur are now at mid-season end-of-year cliffhangers, each involving a non-regular character played by Marc Evan Jackson — where he is threatened in one, and the the threat-poser in the other.
posted by InTheYear2017 at 4:05 PM on December 13, 2017 [8 favorites]

I've heard it said that there are other detectives in the 99 and it would be so awesome if we ever saw them detecting anymore.
posted by jeather at 7:55 AM on December 14, 2017

Yeah, but those guys aren't as funny as our guys. If they were, they'd have their own show.
posted by Strange Interlude at 10:27 AM on December 14, 2017 [4 favorites]

As much as the Seamus Murphy plotline feels like a barely-relevant plot contrivance in the otherwise very even-keeled universe of B99, I appreciate that it gave us a possible new recurring character in Mike Mitchell's Kyle. I've enjoyed him for a while now as the co-host of the Doughboys podcast, so it's always nice to see him turn up elsewhere.
posted by Strange Interlude at 10:35 AM on December 14, 2017

I'm pretty sure Amy and Rosa are on this same show and could be detecting instead of Jake-and-Charles again. (I grant that Amy doing paperwork is well worth it but this is a complaint I have made for a while.)
posted by jeather at 11:25 AM on December 14, 2017 [2 favorites]

Ah, I get what you're saying. I thought you were talking about Lohank and the bunch from the night/weekend shift. Agreed, hopefully Amy and Rosa get more A-plot cases in the new year.
posted by Strange Interlude at 2:12 PM on December 14, 2017

I'm pretty sure Amy and Rosa are on this same show and could be detecting instead of Jake-and-Charles again.

Amy's character is suffering because they still try to make this an Andy Samberg sitcom instead of the ensemble show it should be. So all her A-plots are helping Jake get out of jail or wedding planning with Jake.
posted by Gary at 5:14 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]

*THREE MONTHS LATER*

Oh hey, note for those currently catching up: B99 is returning to its former Sunday 8:30 PM EST time slot on March 18. It looks like we have at least a solid four weeks of new episodes between now and April 8th!
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:14 AM on March 16, 2018