Brooklyn Nine-Nine: “The Apartment” Review

Detective Peralta goes through some financial hardships as the crew of the Nine-Nine face performance evaluations and the weekend crew.

Note: The following review goes into detail about the episode. SPOILER ALERT!

For those of you who may be joining the party a little late, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” is the story of a police precinct (guess where?) full of very funny and very flawed officers. Their leader is the first black and first gay captain the N.Y.P.D. has ever had, and their best detective is a manchild who is willing to show up to work without pants in order to prove a point. The thing you’ll notice more than anything else with this show is how great the writing is and the way the actors bounce the material off of one another.

“Brooklyn Nine-Nine” has a great way with intro scenes. It’s widely known that Peralta has a few deep seeded father issues, and they came out in the fantastic intro line of dialogue when he responds to Captain Holt by saying, “Thanks dad” which was fantastic. It only got better when Captain Holt played into the scenario, asking Peralta if he wanted to continue the conversation over a game of catch.

(Credit: FOX)

The story was an interesting trip through Peralta’s personal life. We’re given not only some backstory about how Jake was raised by his grandma, but also some interesting development about his and Gina’s friendship. They’ve always gotten along, but it was a nice treat to see them team up this episode, especially the way they interacted in the latter parts where Jake was forced to make real life adult choices. His ending decision was well written and believable, and great that it ended on a positive note.

The chemistry between the actors is as strong as ever. What really shines bright this episode are moments such as Peralta offering Gina an ice cold 40 and Boyle helping Diaz seek vengeance on her facial hair-chopping desk mate. The writing is fantastic, but it’s the delivery of the material and the chemistry between the cast that will separate “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” from other sitcoms on the network.

(Credit: FOX)

No matter how serious the show gets, with the honest problems such as a failed marriage, realizing you haven’t grown up as fast as your childhood friends or that you care way too much what your boss thinks, there are endless amounts of sight gags and great one-liners to add leverage to the heaviness of every situation. It’s enough to make each of us just as proud of a mama hen as Sgt. Jeffords is.

The Breakdown

“Brooklyn Nine-Nine” continues the streak of solid character development, comedic timing and heart. The self-evaluation format gave each character a fantastic opportunity to shine bright with each of their own quirks, as well as Sgt. Jeffords’ ability to stand up for his crew. If for some strange and unacceptable reason you haven’t gotten into this show, “The Apartment” is a great way for you to get your feet wet.