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A single camera Police Procedural that first aired on Fox in 2013, Brooklyn Nine-Nine focuses on the exploits of the (fictitious) 99th Precinct of the New York City Police Department in Brooklyn. Starring Andy Samberg as Jake Peralta, the show chronicles the exploits of a close knit group of detectives.
After five seasons of Fox, the show was cancelled in May of 2018 only to be picked up by NBC a day later who aired the show for its last three seasons.
Tropes used in Brooklyn Nine-Nine include:
- Aborted Arc:
- Much of Season 1 hints that the mafia has people in the NYPD, with the Season Finale even implying that Deputy Commissioner Podolski is on their payroll, to the point that the FBI is investigating him. But Podolski never shows up again after Season 1, even after Jake goes undercover to bring the mob down.
- Spinning off that, Season 2 opens with Jake hunting down the last of the mafia suspects that he says need to be arrested following his time undercover only for the suspect to flee New York City. Though Jake anguishes about this, the suspect never shows up again.
- "NutriBoom" ends with the eponymous Mega Corp spying on Jake and Charles for discovering their conspiracies. This never comes up again and Jake appears to have regained the money he lost to NutriBoom. Though it's possible that the FBI did manage to shut down NutriBoom.
- "The Set Up" ends with Jake being put on suspension for wrongfully arresting a man and going beyond his jurisdiction. However, even if the man wasn't a pawn of O'Sullvian and had nothing to do with the bomb threat, there are a lot of hints that something is up with him. He tried to run the instant Jake identified himself as a police officer with Jake later finding evidence to suggest that the man lied about both his address and reason for being in a closed parking lot and that he was trying to flee to Florida. This is given no follow-up before the series comes to a close.
- The Ace: Amy's brother, David Santiago, played by Lin-Manuel Miranda, is the greatest human being who ever lived. He has perfect scores on everything, his blood samples are the finest that the crime lab ever examined, and he got a platinum certification.
- Affably Evil:
- Doug Judy may be a world class thief, but damn if he isn't one of the coolest and nicest guys you could ever meet.
- Caleb the Cannibal. Aside from his habit of killing children and eating them, he's a decent guy.
- Always Someone Better:
- Doug Judy to Jake. Though Season 8 hints that he's not that much better, only escaping in the end because Jake let him.
- Amy's brother David. Not only is he better at everything than Amy, he manages to be a worse dancer than her and has more allergies than she does.
- Ambiguously Bi:
- Jake is something. He isn't straight. Notably, when he tells Rosa what to say when she comes out as Bi, it seems quite cathartic for him.
- Despite Amy's major romances all being men, Four Drink Amy, the state at which Amy is super horny, only seems to flirt with Rosa.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Constantly subverted. These never work.
- Awesome McCoolname: Jack Danger. But it's actually pronounced "Dong-er" which is very accurate to the man's personality.
- Awesomeness By Analysis: The main cast is made up of detectives. It's literally in the job description.
- Back for the Finale: After sitting out all of Seasons 7 and 8, Gina returns in "The Last Day".
- The Bad Guy Wins:
- Any time Doug Judy shows up. He doesn't win in Season 6 but his sister, Trudy Judy, does. And Season 8 is Jake letting him go.
- While John Kelly is ousted in the Season 6 finale, Wuntch ends up replacing him as Commissioner.
- While the reform policies are implemented at the end of Season 8, O'Sullivan manages to not only keep his job as head of the police union but be elected to it for life.
- Badass Adorable: Amy. Adorkable she may be, Angry Amy is terrifying. She is prepared to slit throats. And she can hit hard enough to put herself in Terry's weight class.
- Badass Gay:
- Captain Raymond Holt is openly gay but has taken down two serial killers with little to no backup. Everyone is quite convinced that he would destroy them in a straight up fight.
- Rosa is bisexual and is regarded as the most terrifying detective on the force.
- Batman Gambit: The show has it down to an art form.
- Berserk Button: Season 7 finally reveals Holt's. Whatever you do, don't mess with his dog.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Even Rosa is a mix of awed and terrified when Amy gets angry.
- Bi the Way: Rosa comes out as bisexual in "Game Night".
- Big Sister Worship: Not actual sisters, but Amy often acts like a little sister who wants to impress Rosa.
- Both Sides Have a Point:
- The Technician Versus Performer mindset. Both have their merits and are equally valid.
- Holt and Terry in "Moo-Moo." Pick your battles and save your strength for those that count but at the same time, don't let people get away with what they did wrong. Both come to appreciate the opposing viewpoint by the episode's end.
- Rosa and Amy's approach to feminism. When faced with a workplace harassment case that has little to no solid evidence, Rosa feels that the woman should take the settlement money and keep quiet. If nothing can be proven, she lost out on a lot of money and risks losing her job. By contrast, Amy's case, which does get the offender arrested but does cost the woman her job and the money, is that women should fight to fix a broken system.
- Breaking the Fellowship: "The Last Day" sees the Squad all go their separate ways in life. Of the main cast, only Terry, Charles, Scully and Hitchcock remain at the 99.
- Brilliant but Lazy: Hitchcock and Scully. They can solve cases in mere hours if they put their minds to it but prefer to sit around eating Italian food.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Jake. It's shown very prominently in the Season 7 finale.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Fire Marshall Boone and Deputy Commissioner Podolski vanish after Season 1.
- Cliffhanger: The show lives on them.
- Season 1 ends with Jake going undercover in the FBI.
- Season 2 ends with Holt having been Kicked Upstairs as part of Wuntch's Batman Gambit .
- After bringing down a crime lord's operations, Holt and Jake are sent into witness protection.
- In Season 4, Jake and Rosa are outmanoeuvred by Melanie Hawkins and sent to prison.
- Season 5 ends with Holt getting the email that says whether or not he's become Commissioner. By his face, it's clear what the answer was.
- Season 6 ends with Wuntch as Acting Commissioner who uses her authority to demote Holt back to a beat cop.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Subverted with Rosa. Her eagerness to catch Pimento cheating on her wasn't this. It was her subconscious wanting out of the relationship.
- The Comically Serious: Holt.
- Commuting on a Bus: Pimento post-Season 5.
- Contrived Coincidence: In the Season 6 opener, Holt just happens to be at the same hotel as Jake and Amy.
- Crazy Jealous Guy:
- Charles is a platonic version with respect to Jake. He does not take it well when Jake starts getting comfortable with any other man.
- Jake is a more traditional version with respect to Amy.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Terry has Super Strength but he doesn't quite seem to understand that that's not always the answer. He has zero tolerance for cardio and never seems to quite understand that he'll never be as nimble as the much lighter Rosa.
- Dirty Cop: None of the Nine-Nine but there are several that show up.
- Disappointed in You: Holt's reaction to Bob Anderson's betrayal.
- Distaff Counterpart: Much to Amy's shock, she's regarded as one to Hitchcock.
- Dissonant Serenity: Amy in the Season 7 finale as she's giving birth. Though Reality Ensues and, without any painkillers, she eventually loses the willpower not to scream.
- Double Standard Abuse (Female on Male): Hitchcock is a Dirty Old Man and leers at Amy constantly. For this, he's, rightfully, treated as a creep. Gina meanwhile constantly hits on and objectifies Terry, a Happily Married man, and no one calls her out on it, even though much of her actions would constitute workplace harassment if not outright stalking.
- Drives Like Crazy: Hitchcock has nothing to live for and he drives like it. Even Rosa screams.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Madeline Wuntch unexpectedly dies in Season 7 with no build up at all.
- Dude Magnet: Amy. To the point that her ex-boyfriend's therapist considers getting over to be a lost cause.
- Early Installment Weirdness:
- The pilot has a third detective, Daniels, alongside Hitchcock and Scully who is dropped after that scene.
- The pilot has a lot of flirtatious overtones between Jake and Amy before the mid-season point established that both are in deep denial about their feelings for each other. And Amy has hints of a stereotypical Brooklyn accent.
- Until about halfway through Season 1, Rosa had a much lighter speaking voice, similar to her actress' natural speaking voice. It fluctuated for a while afterwards before it properly settled down in Season 2.
- Holt mentions in Season 1 that he follows Boyle's foodie blog. In Season 2, he says that, if he could, he'd subsist only on plain flavourless blocks that provided him the basic nutrients that his body needed.
- Some episodes of the first two seasons suggested that Amy and Rosa didn't really like Gina; zig-zagging between being annoyed by her to outright hating her; before it was firmly established that she was well-liked by the whole of the precinct.
- Eats Babies: Caleb the Cannibal. It's easier to eat smaller people because they don't fight back.
- Everyone Can See It: In the first two seasons, everyone can clearly see how madly in love Jake and Amy are.
- Evil Counterpart:
- Doug Judy is main character Jake if he grew up watching heist movies instead of Die Hard, though he might better qualify as a Shadow Archetype.
- Doug's sister Trudy Judy to Doug himself.
- Bob Anderson to Holt. Both are The Stoic and devoted themselves to law enforcement despite the prejudices and shafting they faced. While Holt stayed true to himself, Bob became a mole in the FBI
- Melanie Hawkins to Rosa. Badass biker chicks who can fight anyone? Check. But Hawkins uses her reputation for thieving while Rosa is a honest cop.
- Doug Judy is main character Jake if he grew up watching heist movies instead of Die Hard, though he might better qualify as a Shadow Archetype.
- Famous Last Words: Seth Dozerman: "Tell my wife... that I love her... work ethic." Everyone is suitably appalled.
- Formerly Fat: Terry, about 1.5 times Amy's size, was once four times her size. A t-shirt from his fat days is large enough to act as a short dress for her.
- Formerly Fit: Hitchcock and Scully are revealed to be this in their self-titled episode. Seeing pictures of them in their youth made even Jake and Charles hot for them leading them to question what happened. The ending reveals that they got a free bucket of ribs and they never came out of the restaurant.
- Fourth Date Marriage: To do this is to "go full Boyle."
- Charles and Vivian were set up as this but they broke it off when Vivian had to move to Canada.
- Charles does it again with Genevieve, even quickly moving forwards to child adoption, but they're life partners instead of being married.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: No matter what your sob story, you've still broken the law. You're going to jail for that. At best, you can get a reduced sentence but that's it.
- In a specific example, Jake enjoyed using his Parental Abandonment issues as a free pass before Holt shut him up.
- The Friend Nobody Likes:
- Inverted with Gina. Everyone likes her fine, she holds them all in contempt.
- Hitchcock and Scully.
- Downplayed with Pimento. People like him well enough but he's so unstable that people aren't eager to spend time around him.
- Friendly Enemy: Doug Judy and Jake, though it takes some time for Jake to come around to the friendly part.
- Funny Background Event: In most episodes, Amy and Rosa are usually pulling a face to whatever zany things are happening.
- Geeky Turn On: Amy Santiago. Anything that is stereotypically geeky; such as fast reading, perfectly organized forms, obscure trivia; is a surefire way to get her horny.
- Rosa has some moments of this, having very satisfied smirks when Amy puts the "Badass" in Badass Bureaucrat.
- Halloween Episode: A contest involving an elaborate heist. Season 8 is the only exception.
- "Halloween" features a bet between Holt and Jake to see who's smarter. Jake won. In the B-plot, Charles tries to convince Amy to lighten up and enjoy the holiday.
- "Halloween II" makes the elaborate heist an annual tradition. Holt wins this time.
- "Halloween III" expands the heist to include everyone else. Amy wins.
- Gina wins in "Halloween IV".
- "HalloVeen" has Jake use the heist to propose to Amy.
- As a result of the Channel Hop changing the broadcast schedule, Season 6 didn't have a Halloween Episode but moved the Heist, In-Universe and out, to Cinco De Mayo.
- Season 7 had "Valloweaster." The episode started out at Halloween but the Heist was delayed until Valentine's Day and then further delayed until Easter (when it aired).
- Hammerspace Hideaway: Rosa's skin-tight jeans hide a ridiculous assortment of large weapons.
- Pimento also has one.
- Happily Adopted: Nikolaj Boyle.
- Hate Sink: The Vulture is a petty, misogynistic douchebag who has zero redeeming qualities. Love Redeems does not apply to him.
- Heterosexual Life Partners:
- Jake and Charles.
- Amy and Rosa. Though there are some hints that they harbour some non-platonic feelings for each other.
- Innocent Innuendo: This is exclusively how Charles communicates.
- It's All About Me: Gina. To the point that several psychologists want to actively study her to determine how deep this attitude goes.
- It's Not You, It's My Enemies: When Figgis targets him in Season 3, Pimento flees to make sure Rosa and the Nine-Nine isn't caught in the crossfire.
- Knight of Cerebus: While most of the villains on the show are Laughably Evil in some way or another, Jimmy "The Butcher" Figgis is played entirely seriously and even shoots a man on camera.
- Major Injury Underreaction: Holt gets a pipe impaled through his leg while in Florida and treats this as a minor scratch. Even when he performs surgery on himself.
- Master Actor: Rosa. No one knows anything about her personal life. She's always acting.
- Mole in Charge: Bob Anderson, the old friend that Holt called upon to help with their FBI investigation, is Figgis' mole in the FBI.
- Mysterious Past: Rosa. What is known is that she's never had soup, can do a handstand, her first word was "Da-da.", she lived in Osaka, Berlin, Macau, and Stockholm, attended ballet, medical and business school, has a pilot's license and was once a gymnast. Even her best friends admit that they know nothing about her.
- Nightmare Fetishist: Jake.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: D.C. Parlov couldn't have more George R. R. Martin tropes if he tried.
- Official Couple: Jake and Amy with Holt and Kevin as the main Beta Couple.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Holt did something so badass in The Eighties that a movie was made out of it. It was either Passenger 57, Rush Hour or Lethal Weapon.
- One of the Boys: Gender inverted. Boyle is quite comfortable among the girls.
- Once a Season:
- Doug Judy will show up to lock wits with Jake.
- They'll be an elaborate heist.
- Only Sane Man: Terry usually fills this role, Amy taking the mantle on his off-days.
- Opposites Attract:
- Jake and Sophia, the cop and the Defence Attorney. Ultimately deconstructed as their differences force them apart.
- Jake and Amy are much more traditional version, the slacker and the Super OCD girl. Though also receives its own deconstruction as it's their similarities that hold them together.
- Real Men Wear Pink: Among Jake and Boyle's activities while hanging out is watching Tangled.
- Reality Ensues: Happens a lot. Usually Played for Laughs.
- A lot of action cop tropes sure look cool but all they result in is physical injuries and paperwork to request the equipment and catalogue the property damage.
- Likewise, a lot of '70s cop tropes are deconstructed. As badass as the department may have been in those days, they were racist homophobes who only let straight white men onto the force. Holt outright says that Amy and Rosa, two Spicy Latinas, would never have made detective in his day. He even mentions a partner of his who loved smoking so much that he died of lung cancer.
- Pimento went undercover for twelve years in a brutal criminal organization. It's left him totally unable to cope with normal life and with serious psychological scarring. He also has a bad credit rating after disappearing for over a decade. As he later learns, you can't leave your job for seven months, even if it was for your own protection, without telling anyone and not get fired.
- In "He Said, She Said", Holt finally has the epic rematch with his old enemy, the Disco Strangler. But the Disco Strangler is now a very old man who can barely hear anything and, as a result of his age, didn't get very far.
- In "Lights Out", as Jake reminds everyone, you can't just jump on a horse and expect everything to go smoothly. It takes time to learn that skill.
- People do not like being the victims of Sherlock Scans, considering it to be an invasion of their privacy. The type of characters who employ this usually clash with their higher-ups and are promptly fired for being difficult to work with. And even then, a Sherlock Scan is largely circumstantial evidence and not valid in criminal proceedings.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Cheddar, Holt's fluffy boy!
- Parental Substitute: The squad is not shy about admitting that they view Holt, and to a lesser degree Terry, as such.
- Platonic Life Partners: Jake and Rosa were old academy buddies.
- Politically-Incorrect Villain: Almost unfailingly.
- Pop Cultural Osmosis Failure: Raymond Holt. When forced to talk about Sex and the City, it sounds like he's reciting a blog post or a review.
- Pregnant Badass: Amy's cover story in the last arc of the third season. And for real in Season 7. It takes a special kind of badass to oversee emergency services responses to a city-wide blackout while having contractions.
- Put on a Bus: Twice with Gina. She first leaves for the first half of Season 5, as both she and her actress were on maternity leave before later leaving the Precinct forever in Season 6 to become a social media star, ultimately sitting out Season 7 before returning in the Grand Finale.
- Sitcom Arch Nemesis: Holt and Wuntch are a particularly vicious version of this, enacting gigantic Batman Gambits to get even the tiniest edge over the other.
- Smoking Is Cool: Averted. Amy is deeply ashamed of her smoking habit and everyone says that she needs to stop.
- Status Quo Is God: The second vending machine will never be fixed.
- Take a Third Option: In "Ding Dong", Jake decides that he won't be giving his movie tickets to either Charles or Terry. He'll just take the kids himself. As Terry and Charles realize, Jake didn't realize that he just volunteered for a day of free babysitting.
- Take That:
- There are no good soups.
- Florida is the butt of many jokes.
- Those people who whisper things to politicians? There's saying absolute nonsense. They just give the illusion that a politician is professional and some time to think up an answer.
- Technician Versus Performer:
- Amy and Jake respectively, with the two having a bet over who can make the most arrests in one year. Jake just eeks out a victory.
- Charles and Rosa to a lesser extent.
- Too Kinky to Torture: Jake loves it when Amy is cruel to him, be it physically restraining him or berating him.
- Too Much Information: Boyle frequently gives out explicit details of his sexual life with the barest incentive.
- Toxic Friend Influence: The more Rosa spends around Gina, the jerkier Rosa becomes.
- Twenty Minutes Into the Future: The COVID-19 pandemic happened between Seasons 7 and 8 but, unlike the real world, it ended before 2021.
- Undying Loyalty: Everyone to the group but none can match Charles' devotion to Jake.
- Vague Age: Rosa. She appears to be around Jake and Amy's age (late 20s to early 30s) but is affected by sonic weapons that affect people under a certain age that Jake is immune to and always looks the same in flashbacks. Though many of their interactions suggest that she's older than Amy.
- Villainous Crush: Doug Judy has a massive crush on Rosa, having composed a song about her and has outright said that he wants to father her children.
- Voice Changeling: Rosa. Though some of it is just Stephanie Beatriz's range, it's often someone dubbing her lines.
- What You Are in the Dark: When faced with Olivia Crawford as a serious rival for Commissioner, as opposed to three against whom an easy victory is a possibility, Holt reveals publicly reveals that Crawford is only there as a PR stunt. As a man who was denied advancement, he won't stand by and see others denied opportunities.
- Whole-Plot Reference:
- "Yippie Kayak" is Die Hard in a department store. Jake is thrilled by it.
- "Pimemento" to Memento. Pimento and Charles haven't seen it though so they think it's Finding Dory.
- Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Pimento. Unless... the kid's a dick.
- You Do NOT Want to Know: When it comes to Charles and Hitchcock, no one is allowed to ask follow-up questions.