Brooklyn Nine-Nine: The Good Ones (8x01)

And we're back. This is going to be interesting, writing about this show for one final season, given... well, given 2020. Also given the knowledge that this is likely the last time I'll ever watch a procedural cop show. Not that I was ever big into them before, but... yeah, I mean, it's propaganda, it's always been propaganda, and I can't exactly see past it anymore. Anyway. Enough of that soap box, let's take a look!

Cons:

So, part of me just doesn't know who this is for??? Like, this first episode is about police brutality and Jake is painted in mostly sympathetic yet problematic light, where he's going around agreeing with ACAB actually but then in the same breath saying "not all cops! Not me!" So if this is for liberal fans of the show, it's like... do we need to see cops frowning about how hard this has been on them? No. And if it's for conservatives to try and humanize the cops and then show that there are real problems, then... well, there aren't conservatives watching this fucking show in that way, are there? I don't know. It feels messy. This is why most cop shows that touch on corruption within the cops makes the main characters the "good guys" working within the system. This is what this show has done up to now, and I can sort of appreciate them trying something a little more complex, but I also feel like I'm tangling myself up in circles trying to decide what the heck point they're trying to make.

Then again, I have to acknowledge that I don't know what the show could have done as an alternative? I suppose part of me wanted them to quit en masse and started a PI company together, like Rosa did, but that also would have felt like pandering, so... there's basically no scenario that would have pleased me and a lot of other people too, I bet.

Pros:

The part of the first episode that I think worked, with regards to the racism thing, was Boyle learning not to be performative. It was kind of busted that Terry had to explain to him how he was being an idiot, but I also think the fact that Terry was put in that position, and the problem therein, was part of the point they were trying to make. I think most white people can see some of Boyle's behavior in themselves. You donate to BLM charities and then you want to make sure you tell people in your life about it - and I don't think it's about getting praise so much as it is about people knowing that you're not "part of the problem" because how could you be, if you're actively donating/volunteering/reblogging things as part of the solution? But it is performative, and that's... well, there's an inevitability to that, because talking about these things IS part of how we bring the issue into the light and talk about solutions. I don't know, I just thought Charles was being ridiculous in a really funny way that also hopefully helped some white people reflect on how they could be doing more and saying less. Listen to your podcasts, sure! But maybe shut up about it unless you're doing something or suggesting something actionable! Good lesson for us all, myself included.

I also did like the rant from the female police captain explaining the system and how busted it truly is, because it kind of... proves the whole point of the ACAB thing. Even with good intentions, there's no way to untangle yourself from the corruption baked into the system. If you want to keep your job as a cop, you are complicit in the racism of that system. That's just the bottom line. It's not just cops, either. Look, I work for a law firm that represents big name clients including some super wealthy tech companies that treat their employees like shit. I have to live with the fact that my labor contributes to hurting other people in certain cases, even though I personally don't work with the "bad" clients or whatever. It's messy. Which is why stripping things down to the studs might be the only way to make things actionably better. (But hey. That's not going to happen any time soon, and in the meantime, do what you can to help, right???)

I also thought Amy and Holt's plot line was successful. I was legitimately surprised and horrified to learn that Raymond and Kevin are separated and I sincerely hope that they reconcile before the show ends. Their relationship is such a fun one to see. Seeing the psychological strain of the pandemic and the political upheaval on these characters makes sense, in fact it's the only way this show makes any sense at all if it wants to have integrity and send a message. I'm not sure how that's going to go, but hearing that Holt has basically shut himself down to get through this terrible time is hard to stomach, and it means we're going to have to see a lot of processing and re-evaluation in this final season to make things sit right for these characters.

Grading on a scale of one to ten feels very odd in these circumstances, but here goes. I'll be back later with thoughts on episode two!

7/10