Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Lights Out (7x13)

I can't believe we've reached the end of the season so soon! The weirdness of the world has really distorted my sense of time and reality, let me tell ya...

Cons:

There isn't a lot that I'd truly complain about in this episode, but there was quite a bit that just had me... shrugging. For example, Rosa helping Amy during her labor was funny, but not super funny. And Hitchcock and Scully's food obsession fell pretty flat; we've seen it all before at this point! These are not things I hated about the episode, they're just things I felt sort of neutral on.

Also, as this is the finale, I feel like now's a good time to discuss the pacing of the season overall. I gotta be honest - it felt rushed. Early on, I assumed that Holt's demotion was going to give us an opportunity to introduce some new faces to the crew, to play with different dynamics as various folks came in as temporary captains. But no. We got that once, and then it was just Terry, and then Holt was back, with very little fanfare. The same can be said of Amy and Jake becoming parents. We saw that they were having a hard time getting pregnant, then suddenly Amy was pregnant, and before I knew it, here we were, and she'd given birth to her baby. It didn't allow for a lot in the way of interesting stories to be told with regards to their impending big life change.

Pros:

I love high-concept chaotic episodes like this, though! So fun! A power outage sends Brooklyn into chaos, right at the moment when Amy goes into labor. Holt and Terry are stuck in an elevator, Jake and Boyle are trying to help citizens while getting to Amy, and Amy is trying to hold down the fort as her water breaks and her contractions start. Because of all the chaos, this episode was high-energy and a lot of fun from start to finish. Even the parts that I mentioned above, where things were maybe a little bland, were still fun because of how quickly everything was bouncing around.

I loved that Rosa was really grossed out by what was happening to Amy, but she was excited to meet the kid and be "Auntie Ro-Ro." That is very me. Birth freaks me out in a major way, but I love babies! I also love that Rosa started to get into the specifics and read the birthing book as she got more and more anxious for Amy.

Amy falls in to the category of sitcom pregnant ladies who go into labor at an inconvenient time, but I love that instead of being an inconvenience, pregnant Amy was super-competent as always, and as the highest-ranking officer around while Terry and Holt were stuck in the elevator, she kicked ass and kept everything going in a time of crisis.

Meanwhile, Boyle is inappropriately excited for Amy and Jake's baby, of course, while Jake is just trying desperately to get to the hospital, as he doesn't want to miss the birth of his child. Along for the ride during the blackout are: a very prejudiced old white lady with a gun, a would-be bank robber, and a gaggle of twenty-something women out on the town. I loved the rag-tag gang and how they kept making more and more problems for Jake and Boyle. At the same time, while Amy was being a bad-ass back at the precinct, Jake was doing his job as well, helping people in need wherever he could.

Holt and Terry's "stuck in an elevator" subplot was perfect. The only thing I have to say against it was that it was far too short. Terry teaches Holt a dance to keep him calm, as it appears Holt is afraid of elevators. In the end, the two perform their hip hop routine to distract Amy from the pain as she is forced to give birth in the precinct, without drugs. Just perfectly silly fun, especially as Jake tries to pretend he doesn't mind having missed that, but then jumps at the opportunity to see a video of it as soon as he can.

Scully and Hitchcock being worried about the food going bad during the power outage wasn't really my favorite, but there were other moments of comedy with them that I greatly enjoyed. I love that Scully has various different hospital bags on hand, for a one day stay, two days, or a coma, should the need arise. Also, it was oddly touching that Scully and Hitchcock provided Amy with a cozy place to give birth, as it shows that even in all their idiotic ways, they do sometimes pay attention, and they do want to help when they can.

And that's that! The season is over. What with the world being the way it is, who knows when we'll next be able to check in with the Nine-Nine... but I'm excited for that time to come when it does.

8/10