Top 10 Times Brooklyn Nine-Nine Got Real

The show features more than one unsavory character, yet none so truly awful as The Vulture. There are many instances of The Vulture making exaggerated, crude comments. However, when he becomes the squad’s Captain, they find themselves at his mercy. In a season three episode entitled “The Oolong Slayer”, while others are busying themselves with real work, The Vulture tasks Amy and Rosa with planning his birthday party, stating that “women love planning parties.” The two ultimately get their revenge for the sexist assignment, as they get The Vulture to embarrass himself at his own party.

Jake and Amy’s “toit nups” have already happened by the time the two realize they’re in disagreement on a major issue. Jake does not want to have children, and Amy does. In typical Nine Nine fashion, this argument is subject to a hilariously formal debate, involving mediators and all that jazz. However, the true emotion is present throughout the scenes, and we can see the inner debate carrying on in Peralta’s mind as he goes through the process. This is an issue that is close to many couples’ hearts, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, despite its farcical nature, does it justice.

Peralta’s complicated feelings for his dad are perhaps the most recurring issues in the Nine Nine. Jake’s father left when he was younger, and he never fully forgave the elder Peralta for it. In the season 2 episode “Captain Peralta”, Jake seems to revert to a childlike state when introducing his father to the precinct. He appears proud of him, and naively believes in his father’s desire to spend time together. The latter later betrays him, as usual, and Jake is left in the dark once again. Jake comes to see Captain Holt as a father figure and could also benefit from some therapy, something that is frequently joked about throughout the series, yet is all too real.

Terry may love yogurt, but Terry hates the thought of his children growing up without him. In other words, Terry hates danger. At the beginning of the series, Terry is on desk duty due to an unfortunate shooting incident, in which he panicked and repeatedly shot up a mannequin.
Despite the hilarity of the incident itself, the issue raised is an important one: police officers regularly put themselves in the line of fire, and risk leaving their families behind every time they go out into the field. Terry’s position at a desk is perhaps his most comfortable, because he knows himself to be safe for the sake of his family.

So yes, the life and career of a police officer is filled with risks, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, despite it being a comedy, doesn’t skirt this issue. When Rosa is overheard responding to an active shooter, the squad listens in impatiently for news. They feel helpless, as one would, and try to find ways to distract themselves from negative thoughts and anxiety. Gina and Amy attempt to fix a toilet Rosa complained about, and the frustration and anger they feel ends up being taken out on said toilet. Fearing for the lives of coworkers is a true situation faced by all police officers, and the Nine-Nine is no exception.

Undercover work certainly isn’t easy, and this is illustrated in the ever-so-colorful character Adrian Pimento. After spending 12 years in deep cover working for Jimmy “The Butcher” Figgis, Pimento returns to work at the Nine-Nine. Yet something is definitely different and . . . off about him. He is incredibly on edge, defending his desk with weapons, displaying extremely erratic behaviours, complete with night terrors, flashbacks and terrible memories. Comedy aside, his demeanor is textbook PTSD. Pimento has been through 12 years of traumatic experiences, and he is not OK as a result of it. Thankfully he has the support of the Nine-Nine behind him.

There are more and more gay and bisexual characters in TV shows. What is not always portrayed is the anxiety caused by coming out to friends and family. Rosa Diaz is a constantly serious, always intimidating and sometimes scary individual. However, when she is faced with the task of coming out as bisexual to the squad and then her parents, Rosa shows a rare vulnerability that is felt by many facing the same obstacle. Her squad is more than accepting, yet her parents prove to be more of a challenge. The end of the episode is particularly touching, as the Nine-Nine comes together as Rosa’s surrogate family in her time of need.

Raymond Holt’s travails as a gay, black police officer are often brought up throughout the series. From the first episode, when Jake “miraculously” deduces that the new captain is gay, the topic is everpresent in current affairs as well as flashbacks. Holt started out in the 1970s, making his ordeal a lot more poignant, as acceptance levels were, let’s say, definitely lower in those days, in all ways. However, Captain Ray Holt is an excellent role model, as he never let these obstacles get in his way, and worked himself up the ranks despite the many adversarial and critical roadblocks. And, honestly, there’s nothing as hilarious as when Holt acts “straight.”

As mentioned earlier, The Vulture situation definitely qualifies as sexual harassment in many instances. However, in the episode “He Said, She Said”, Jake and Amy investigate an accusation of sexual assault. A businesswoman is accused of breaking a coworker’s member. She claims he attempted to assault her, and he claims she attacked him unprovoked. She is offered a settlement from the company to not pursue the case and let it go, but Amy convinces her to sue. Amy ends up speaking of a similar issue in her own career, and showing Jake the true treatment of women in the modern workplace.

This episode could not have been easy for comedy writers to tackle. Season 4 featured an episode in which Terry Jeffords was racially profiled, as he was arrested while out looking for his child’s stuffed animal in the evening. Much like the sexual harassment episode, this episode portrayed the different angles one can take when faced with this situation: Terry wishes to pursue the officer, whereas Captain Holt recommends the opposite, fearing for Terry’s future reputation and what it will do to his career. The topic is handled gracefully, with the jokes subtly minimal at the correct times, and the issue portrayed as all too real, which it unfortunately is.