Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Gintars (6x10)

I liked this episode for what it was, certainly, but I also want to talk a bit about what it's not.

Cons:

What this episode is not, is a real examination of Charles' relationship with his son, or Nikolaj's relationship to his biological father. The fact that Boyle has a family is something I oddly forget about a lot when watching this show. It's fine that his family isn't the focus, but sometimes it comes across a bit odd and insincere when there's suddenly a focus on his family life. This episode could have been a chance to develop some of Charles' life outside of work, but instead the focus remained mostly on Jake and Charles' friendship. I have no problem at all with an episode about these two "best buds", but in some ways it feels like a missed opportunity.

In the subplot, there's this building joke about Terry's face - he shaves off his eyebrows and bleaches his goatee because he's afraid of bugs getting into them. It wasn't bad, but it was just a little over the top for my taste.

Pros:

I love the fact that Jake tries so hard to do what's best for Charles, but loses sight of his friend's real needs along the way. That feels like such a Jake-like thing to do. Charles is so gullible and silly sometimes, that it can be difficult to remember that he knows how to look out for himself. I think this story serves as a good reminder of that for the audience, and for Jake as well. I adored the scene with the hats at the end. Charles wants Jake to listen a little better, but doesn't want to change their whole relationship dynamic. I like that Charles is comfortable with who he is, in relation to his son, and his best friend. He doesn't need to be #1, as long as he's part of the friendship.

Gintars was an absolutely hilarious character. The humor started right off the bat, with gems like: "I come from white country. I have very long visa. Very long" and "GAPE," his counterfeit clothing store, and his insistence on doing business only in the nude. I also like that he was wacky, and a little unstable, but his affection for his biological son was genuine, and he wasn't trying to run some scam to steal Nikolaj away. He wanted to know his kid, and that very real, very human impulse helped to ground the character and make it possible to root for him and Charles at the same time.

The subplot was a lot more goofy, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. Amy and Holt are both obsessed with Dr. Yee, a man who has created a technique to use insects in forensics. Rosa has a theory about the case that the flies seem to disprove, to Rosa's displeasure, but eventually she discovers that Dr. Yee is a fraud and is able to solve the case by bluffing the suspect into confessing.

Again, the humor was just great. Especially Amy and Holt being overly enthusiastic and flustered around Dr. Yee. Obviously the mentor/mentee relationship between these two characters is a lot of fun, and very important, but it's also fun to see them as equals sometimes. Both of them get too excited and make a bad judgment call, both of them are clearly smitten by Dr. Yee's science, and both of them are rude to Rosa and Terry as a result. I loved the scene where Holt tells Terry and Rosa that Amy would like to apologize, and then Amy says that he needs to apologize for the same thing, and his response is to say "really?" in a genuinely puzzled tone of voice. I loved that.

This is a bit of a short review, but that's really all I have to say. This was a perfectly solid, perfectly run-of-the-mill episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It made me smile, but it's not one I'll probably remember in the long run.

8/10