Brooklyn Nine-Nine: The Oolong Slayer
October 18, 2015 6:41 PM - Season 3, Episode 4 - Subscribe

It's a brand-new Jake/Holt team-up! When the Vulture limits the precinct to working dull misdemeanors (wieners), Jake rebels by secretly taking on a serial killer case, and an equally bored Holt (with Gina!) jumps at the chance to help. Meanwhile, Rosa and Amy are both roped into planning the Vulture's birthday party, and Terry fights a losing battle against stress eating.

EXTRA B99 STUFF!

As teased in last week's comments, an exciting new guest star has been announced for the Nov. 22 episode. I won't say any more, but feel free to click and be spoiled!

On Twitter, Stephanie Beatriz shared a behind-the-scenes photo from a cut scene from last week's episode, "Boyle's Hunch". It looks like Boyle and Genevieve (Mary Lynn Rajskub) ended up getting Jackson Pol-lucky after all!
posted by Strange Interlude (15 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Of course, Holt is awesome enough to have a bar inside a globe. OF COURSE.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:59 PM on October 18, 2015 [2 favorites]


Gina's flash-bang confetti entrance at the end of the episode made me actually emit a distinct BWA HA HA, like a comic book villain.
posted by Strange Interlude at 5:39 AM on October 19, 2015 [5 favorites]


Yeah, I actually applauded Gina's entrance on my couch.
posted by shesdeadimalive at 10:50 AM on October 19, 2015 [1 favorite]


i really need some nibs.
posted by poffin boffin at 12:56 PM on October 19, 2015 [2 favorites]


I added the "thisismydesign" tag to this one because the Oolong Slayer's tea-party tableaux calling card made me wonder what it would be like if B99 ever crossed over into the trippy art-murder world of Hannibal. Which in turn made me imagine Andy Samberg doing a Will Graham glowing-pendulum mind-of-the-killer murder reconstruction. Which then made me imagine Andre Braugher as Holt as Hannibal, which would be PERFECT. Ladies and gentlemen, start your AU fanfics!
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:57 PM on October 19, 2015 [2 favorites]


"I'm taking this abnormal psych class, and everyone in it is obsessed with me."
posted by chazlarson at 5:08 PM on October 19, 2015 [6 favorites]


Nibs is a very, very funny word.
posted by meese at 5:32 AM on October 20, 2015


"So THAT's what globes are for!" was amazing, as was every reference to port. I'm really happy they wrapped up the Holt exile plot line (though I'm sure it's not completely over) before it got repetitive, instead of dragging it out through the season, and it was lovely that this time it was Jake who had his back (and gave up his right to brag for catching a serial killer, his lifelong dream). Holt getting into Jake's joyful attitude never gets old

Jake's awkward forehead-kiss and Gina's "Pay your bill! Who raised you?" as he leaves without paying was hysterical, and also a nice dig at the fact that we rarely see TV characters, you know, actually paying for things. I think it's adorable that Amy gave him a sticker for waking up, and he wore it all day.

The Amy-Rosa plot, while short, was great, and I think they should put the two of them together more often. "I don't know, go to a bar and....(world's longest pause) drink there." The Vulture's band should open for Mouse Rat.

I have to admit that I wasn't a big fan of the nib plot (fat suits aren't my idea of humour, I guess), but hopefully they find a better use for Terry now that Holt is back.
posted by ilana at 7:50 AM on October 20, 2015 [1 favorite]


fat suits aren't my idea of humour, I guess

I agree in general, but there are some things that I think they did well here:

--The fat suit served a really important storytelling purpose: it gave us a clear way to keep track of the passage of time. That helps me make sense of it. It's not like the writers were all, "Ha, wouldn't he look funny if he were FAT???" Instead, the writers were trying to locate a visual way to clearly show that time was passing.

--The show regularly acknowledges that Terry has to work to keep his body in good shape. It's not like he can just go, "Oh, so I guess I'll stop drinking soda for two weeks" and suddenly he's back to being in perfect shape. His physical shape is something that is hard to maintain, and it is his personal choice that it is worth the maintenance. His good shape isn't presented as an expected norm, but instead as an exceptional outlier that is the product of effort and lifestyle-structuring commitment.

--I didn't really notice the fat suit as, itself, a source of comedy. It wasn't funny that he was getting out of shape. What was presented as funny was his growing addiction to nibs (NIIIIIIBS!) and his reactions to Boyle's concerns.

--While it wasn't funny that he was getting out of shape, it also wasn't a tragedy that he was getting out of shape. No one reacted with disgust to his body, as he grew heavier. The fact that he was getting heavy, itself, wasn't the source of anyone's concern. Instead, the concern was for Terry's emotional and psychological well-being, given all the stresses involved in their crappy work environment and the challenges of being a working father.

--Terry was angry when Boyle commented on his body, and this anger was represented as appropriate. Or, at least, that's how I interpreted the show: yes, it really is not cool to go up to a person and talk about how muscly they are, or how chubby they are, or whatever. Sure, some of Terry's anger was presented for laughs (the whole "male gaze" line), but it just didn't read to me as undermining the fact that Terry really doesn't have to answer to anyone for his choices.

--What mattered, in the end, was that Terry was unhappy and anxious, not that he was fat. This is the main thing for me, I think. A lot of shows do the fat suit thing in a sort of, "haha, look at how disgusting and awful the character is because s/he's fat now! haha!!! The fat is a source of shame and pain!!!" way. Here, though, it was incidental: the real issue is that Terry just didn't have the time and energy to focus on the things that matter to him (his muscles), and this was a bad thing. And his friends rally around him, not to help him get thin, but to help him get some peace and relaxation. Not even Boyle really cared at all about Terry's weight. All Boyle really cared about is that Terry's growing weight represented a disconnect between Terry's values/desires and his current circumstances. And so he worked to help with that.

I'm not trying to argue anyone out of annoyance or disappointment with the fat suit thing. I can totally understand. But I do think this episode did a lot better than most shows do, when it comes to the weight of the characters, so I thought I would try to figure out why.
posted by meese at 12:04 PM on October 20, 2015 [15 favorites]


I, too, am glad that Holt is back for many reasons, having held out hope that his PR stint would be short-lived. But now that I think about it, Holt had to be back in the 99 by now to follow through on his Halloween 2015 prank, which I believe he started planning in April 2014.
posted by joan cusack the second at 9:02 PM on October 20, 2015


And wouldn't you know it? Next week's episode is titled "Halloween III", which will hopefully be a better sequel than the other Halloween III...
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:26 AM on October 21, 2015


You guys enjoy Gina to a degree that I do not understand. This show makes me laugh and laugh and then when Gina comes on my face turns to stone and/or a horrible grimace. Then something else happens and I laugh and laugh and laugh like there's no tomorrow.
posted by bleep at 6:28 PM on October 24, 2015


You guys enjoy Gina to a degree that I do not understand.

To each their own. But Gina is a Timberlake, and you're treating her like a Fatone...
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:10 AM on October 27, 2015 [3 favorites]


That grackle??
posted by bleep at 1:51 PM on October 27, 2015 [2 favorites]


I liked that this episode went a little Wire-esque in it's portrayal of internal police politics. Jake giving the Chief of Detectives credit for a serial killer case to get something he wanted is totally the kind of horse-trading that would have played with Rawls.

Also, I love that included in the many ways Holt is mentoring Peralta is how to be an actual bad-ass cop.
posted by dry white toast at 8:24 PM on October 29, 2015 [2 favorites]


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