Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Renewal (8x08)

Okay I'm trying to be chill about this but I honestly think this show's treatment of police corruption is SO messy and convoluted!

Cons:

This episode features two characters grappling with their relationship to their work. Holt, who is going to retire to please his husband, but who in the end just takes a new role, because his job is important to him and Kevin respects that. And then Amy, who gets a big promotion to chief, and wonders how she's going to balance work and family.

Okay, so, this is fine, right? Except... the careers they're both talking about are careers as cops, and there's a lot of baggage in turning that into a big part of your identity. Do we praise the show for showing that Amy and Holt are both dedicated to reform, and that's why they're currently passionate about their careers? Because that hasn't exactly been a consistent factor, and we need to be honest about that.

Also... is Jake's suspension over? I got confused about him being in the precinct and working with Holt and the gang. I felt like it all happened too fast for me there.

Pros:

I do like the fact that Holt and Jake had this fun job together, and the shenanigans were amusing. Holt seducing an old lady, the thing with the landline phone, Jake calling an old number he had memorized... very relatable. I do think Jake's child-like glee over police work is a little cringe, but at least the show more or less acknowledges that it's cringe? I don't know.

Amy finding out about Holt's retirement is undercut by the end of the episode where it turns out he's not quite retiring, but I still did like her reaction, and Terry carrying her like furniture. When she requested the same treatment again because she found it comforting, that made me smile. The Billy Joel gag was also mildly amusing, and it didn't overstay its welcome.

Finally you've got Cheddar, secret agent working against Rosa and Charles' attempts to keep Kevin from the truth. I loved that, and I also loved that while Kevin was annoyed that Holt was working on the day of their vow renewal, he ultimately joined in on the fun by pretending to be a cop along with Rosa, and told Raymond that he didn't want him to give up his career. Their renewal was very sweet. I was a little annoyed with how this whole separation plot thread went earlier in the season, but I came around on it.

That's it for now. We have next week off, then this show comes to end the week after. Ultimately, as bittersweet as it is that they're going out on such an... unbalanced note, I do think it's probably for the best.

6.5/10