Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Creator: Michael Schur, Dan Goor

Cast: Andy Samberg, Melissa Fumero, Stephanie Beatriz, Terry Crews, Joe Lo Truglio, Chelsea Peretti, Andre Braugher

Genre: Comedy

Seasons: 1 - 4 (2013 - 2017)

Imagine 'FRIENDS' but set in a detective police office environment, and you essentially have 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' in a nutshell.


From season one, 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' tracks the silly, funny and sometimes complex events of the ninety ninth Brooklyn detective precinct. The general plot lines vary from either cases being solved and investigated, personal matters outside of the detective scene, and the relationships between the detectives, a collective diverse oddities, all with charming, memorable characteristics.
The central character of the series (although the series does a good job, especially in the later seasons, with dealing with each of the character's lives and exceeds further than a single perspective) is Jake Peralta (Samberg), a cunning detective who is simultaneously helplessly childish, rarely taking anything seriously, constantly punning and quipping, and reminiscing about an array of police related movies that he is obsessed with (foremost of all these is 'Die Hard' - naturally).
Then there is the obsessive worker, Amy Santiago (Fumero), who is compulsively obsequious towards the newly instated Captain Raymond Holt (Braugher) who expresses little to no emotion and arrives into the precinct expecting perfection from his cops, yet finds himself in an irritating conflict with Peralta, whose personality directly parallels Holt's, resulting in humorous exchanges between the two of them.
Meanwhile, there is Sergeant Terry Jeffords (Crews) the insanely muscular and strong 'sarge' who at the same time is also surprisingly loving and caring for his squad, and father of two kids.
Rosa Diaz (Beatriz) is the secretive, ominously discreet and reserved detective of the precinct who shares very little with her co-workers, and has a dangerously short fuse, ready to get aggressive at any given point, favouring the more violent, macabre approaches to situations.
Charles Boyle (Lo Truglio) is constantly inspired and in awe of Jake and supports him in every way. He regards himself as Peralta's best friend, and is a connoisseur for all kinds of bizarre and exotic (yet mostly repulsive) foods.
Finally, there is Gina Linetti, obsessed with social media, never leaves her phone and has a surprising knack for manipulating people and situations to her benefit.
There are many other supporting cast introduced in later series, such as Scully, Hitchcock, Keith, etc, with equally simplistic and consistent personalities; some are more recurring than others, but still enjoyable to have within the series as well.

The issue that is instantly apparent within the season is the lack of range and development characters really have outside of their characteristics established from the first episode. While this works for a lot of the episodes, it makes their reactions very predictable and after a while, a little tedious to watch. In later seasons, there are definite developments of characters' in terms of their relationships, but otherwise, their personalities are relatively concrete and tightly structured. The show tries mix and match the characters in different combinations, but soon run out, so by the end of the second season, any embellishment on characters is difficult to find. It is a shame that the writers seem to be stuck in either a comfort zone they are unwilling to move out of, or don't take the time, care or consideration to be more creative with the characters.
Nevertheless, character interactions are often entertaining to watch and it is understandable that for a sitcom, the focus isn't necessarily on the development on character, but more the writing and humour, which, once you have adapted to it witty charm and recognise the kind of comedy they are aiming, it is easy to become comfortable in their writing, which is for the most part top notch. The standard occasionally drops and is unreliable to an extent, but nine times out of ten, the episode will likely be very enjoyable. In addition to this, while the humour does not feel forced (a credit to the writers), there are so many jokes being made, that it can feel somewhat overwhelming or there are too many to react to. There are repetitions of the same joke, which typically makes reuses of them feel uninspiring and somewhat predictable punchlines.

There have been too many domestic sitcoms - that is, situation comedies based inside of a home, apartment or flat of some description ('FRIENDS', 'The Big Bang Theory' and 'Miranda' immediately come to mind, but there are many more, if you stop and think about it). So it is refreshing that the show takes an arguably unique position, depicting detectives and genuine crime scenes, mixed in with friendships and relationships inside and outside of the precinct. There are multiple repeated scenarios which are consistent with each season such as the 'Halloween' special (which always has the same structure and plot line) and the Pontiac bandit episodes. These surprisingly are not as tedious as might be expected because in these cases, they are developed and there are throwbacks to previous installments.

The show has also been praised for its diversity and respect to different races and sexuality. For example, Holt is a black, homosexual officer and this is never mocked or ridiculed - frankly, it is just a fact about him that defines the Captain which is refreshing to see. Additionally, there are wide variety of races and cultures depicted, all respectfully, showing a fulcrum in the media's portrayal of diversity.

Ultimately, 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' is good, unique, contemporary sitcom, which ticks all the relevant boxes that make a successful sitcom (and it has been a commercial and critical triumph). The characters are memorable, albeit slightly over simplistic and predictable. The humour is quirky and lighthearted, and the show is commendable for its approach to diversity, a shift in the right direction for other media to follow suit.

Verdict: B