Top 10 Brooklyn Nine-Nine Cast Breaking Moments That Were Left In

“The Fugitive: Part 2”
In this episode, Jake teams up with the Pontiac Bandit to track down his foster brother, George, a recently escaped fugitive. Jake offers him total immunity for his past crimes—a deal that horrifies Captain Holt. Honestly, with that epic theme song, we might’ve been swayed too. While Doug Judy easily charms Jake, Captain Holt proves to be a much tougher nut to crack. Not even Judy’s perfectly timed use of “Twas” can shake him. Andy Samberg, on the other hand, isn’t so lucky—he lets out a small snort of laughter during the deadpan exchange, breaking character just enough for sharp-eyed fans to catch.

“AC/DC”
Any “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” fan knows Jake Peralta’s love for police shows—especially “Die Hard”—is a big reason he became a cop. That obsession often leads him to Hollywood up the job, and this time, it costs him. Despite being ordered to rest, Jake insists on working and ropes Boyle into a case in Atlantic City. With Terry’s help, they track the perp down, but Jake ends up getting hurt—again. At the hospital, Terry confronts him about his recklessness, but Jake only cares that the suspect got away. As he downplays his injuries, even Samberg can’t help but let out a barely stifled laugh at how ridiculous Jake sounds.

“9 Days”
As the story goes, Samberg first started saying “cool, cool, cool” to try to make his castmates crack up, and of course, it quickly became a running gag, with other characters joining in, too. But there’s at least one time the line’s original purpose worked! When Jake and Captain Holt come into contact with Mumps, the doctor lists the potential symptoms of the virus, and both nervously break into a round of “cools.” According to the official “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” YouTube account, Holt actor Andre Braugher tried his best to suppress his laughter. Hey, the doctor never listed “loss of sense of humor” as a symptom!

“Lights Out”
When it comes to describing their newborn, parents usually stick to words like “precious,” “perfect,” or “cute.” However, we haven’t heard too many parents describe their child as “hot.” Okay, so Jake might be the only person we’ve ever heard to describe their kid that way. While Amy tries to steer him to a more conventional adjective to describe their son, he doubles down, making her laugh. Apparently, that wasn’t just Amy laughing at Jake’s goofiness; he actually made actress Melissa Fumero giggle. Later, when the squad visits the new parents, you can spot Stephanie Beatriz (Rosa) smirking as Amy thanks Holt and Terry for that dance.

“AC/DC”
There’s little that stresses Amy more than disappointing Captain Holt. When he invites her, Rosa, and Gina to dinner, she and Gina get trapped on the subway, missing the entire evening. Of course, Amy doesn’t handle it well, turning to a bottle of wine to help her get “chill for real.” Hey, it’s not like anyone else will drink it now, right? Gina’s reaction is iconic, but you might’ve missed that Fumero actually broke in that moment. Surprisingly, it wasn’t Gina’s enthusiasm that did it—at least not that we can confirm. It turns out Fumero had just got some wine up her nose. Classic.

“The Venue”
We know that Boyle’s beef with Sergeant Peanut Butter runs deep. So, as you might imagine, he’s not too disappointed when the horse gets stolen. We get it; he’s still salty about having to share the spotlight, but plenty of people—like Terry’s kids—care deeply about the Sarg. Unfortunately, Boyle doesn’t exactly respect the opinions of two young kids who still need help… How did he put it? While Terry understandably gets mad at Boyle’s disrespect, there is someone else in the precinct who has a very different reaction. Let’s take another look at this shot, shall we? Now, something amusing to you, Detective Diaz?

“The Chopper”
We love Gina, but she’s not winning Employee of the Month any time soon. In this episode, Jake starts a pool to see who can get Gina to look up from her phone. Boyle’s up first, confident he’s got this in the bag given their… romantic history. He barely gets two words in before Gina makes it clear he’s not winning this bet. Now, let’s rewind and focus on the squad in the background. As the stapler hits Charles, you can see Beatriz throw her head back. Sure, it seems like a typical Rosa reaction, but we have reason to believe this was a totally authentic, unscripted moment.

“Jake and Sophia”
In one of the best cold opens, the squad ponders a rare event—Amy is late for work! Captain Holt is initially unimpressed to find his staff idly hanging around, but then he joins in the game with a guess so dull you almost think there’s no way it could be true. But Beatriz clearly found it entertaining and can’t quite hide her smirk as the shot pans by her. When Amy confirms Holt’s guess for her tardiness, his reaction — an adlib— cracks us up every time! Since it cuts straight to the titles, we guess we’ll never know if it broke the cast, too—although we wouldn’t be surprised.

“Charges and Specs”
In this episode, Jake’s relentless pursuit of a civic leader suspected of money laundering leads to a much bigger case. To follow the trail, Jake goes undercover, claiming he’s been canned by the NYPD. As we mentioned earlier, he loves adding some razzle-dazzle to his job, so naturally, he can’t leave the precinct without making a big show of it. He wants everyone to think he’s been unceremoniously fired, right? What better way than with a loud, dramatic exit? As he storms off, Beatriz (yes, again) starts to break. We guess when you’re playing a character who’s always cool and composed, it’s tough to keep up that poker face!

“The Vulture”
In another classic cold open, the squad’s chatting about the oldest perps they’ve ever arrested when Charles walks in and completely misreads the situation. Rosa’s the first to catch on and announces the mix-up to the group. From there, Samberg can barely hold it together, cracking up as Boyle digs himself deeper. Some fans claim that when Samberg covers his ears, you can hear him say “Joe”—as in Joe Lo Truglio, who plays Charles. His reaction suggests this might be his first time hearing these lines! We can only imagine he had to make a quick exit before he totally lost it.


Spotted any other arresting moments where the cast broke character on screen? Book it to the comments and let us know!