Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Hitchcock & Scully (6x02)

So much fun! I love this show a lot.

Cons:

I liked the feud between Terry and Amy, but I felt like it might have been a good opportunity to introduce maybe some fun secondary characters, men in uniform from the two competing parts of the squad. Instead, everything stayed firmly in the Amy vs. Terry and Rosa camp. Not a flaw of the episode we got, I suppose, just an observation about something that might have been fun.

Pros:

It seems like one of our over-arching themes of this season is going to be dealing with corruption in the police force. Holt is taking on the new Commissioner and not backing down even though the Nine-Nine is suffering for it. I like that we're taking on this somewhat controversial topic. It's always been simmering in the background of the show, and it was about time to bring it to the forefront for a longer story thread. I like the Commissioner character. He's such a specific kind of bad guy - cheerful, seemingly reasonable, and yet without sympathy or humanity. I can't wait to watch Holt try and take this guy down.

Terry and Amy did crack me up with their feud, especially when Amy escalated it way too far with the microwave. Of course, Rosa did involve a widow by asking her to sign a contract for the microwave, so maybe both sides took it a bit far. Their childish antics make for fun sitcom scenarios, but more than that they highlight the consequences of fighting for justice. Holt keeps dismissing all of these petty concerns about overcrowded work areas, but by the end he has realized that his actions have consequences, and that fighting for what's right is going to be difficult in more ways than one. Also, I laughed when Jake realized he'd missed a whole thing between Amy and Terry at the precinct. It was a fun way to call out the concept of a plot and subplot in a standard sitcom episode.

The main plot also somewhat highlights this theme of corruption, as we learn about a case back in the '80s involving Hitchcock and Scully. They used to be the coolest, hottest cops in the city, but now, years later, it appears that they may have stolen a big bag of money from a crime scene. Jake and Charles are investigating them, with Jake suspecting the worst, and Charles believing them to be innocent. Turns out... both. Hitchcock and Scully did steal the money, but they did so to help an informant that the NYPD refused to put in witness protection. Again, we go back to corruption, and we see how sometimes police officers need to subvert the system to do the right thing.

There were so many great comedic moments in this episode. Honestly, Hitchcock and Scully have always been sort of "bleh" characters for me; I don't hate them, but they just never seem to be utilized as much as they should be. Here, though, the joke that they were once super cool was actually hilarious. I loved the hot young guys they had to play the duo back in the '80s, and Jake getting more and more upset as he wonders what happened over the years to make them lose their cool mojo so badly.

Last week I talked about how the episode served as something a blueprint for many of the key relationships and characters on the show. This episode continued that trend, as we explored Jake and Charles' bond, as well as solidifying Hitchcock and Scully's roles in the show. I love that we see clearly how Jake's cynicism and Charles' trusting nature can both be a good thing in small measure, but can also be a dangerous roadblock to seeing the full picture. It's why they work as partners so well. They're both kind of right, and kind of wrong.

I love the fact that Charles is married and has a kid, but this is sort of incidental to the bulk of the show. It's hilarious that Charles and his wife almost got conned into adopting a grown man, but of course we learn that once again, Charles and Jake were both partially right - this guy was trying to scam them for money, but he really is Nikolaj's brother.

I think that's all for this one! I love this show being on NBC because they get to bleep out swear-words now, and that's adding a lot of comedy for me. Also, I just love this goofy cast of characters and I genuinely enjoy spending time with them. Here's to many more seasons!

9/10