NOTE: Full spoilers for this episode of, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” are present in this review
Brooklyn Nine-Nine began the doubling-up of episodes for the remainder of Season Four this week, starting with a trip out of the precinct’s natural comfort zone. “Cop-Con” brought the detectives to Rochester for the titular police convention, a place where they see the opportunity to party and blow off steam. Holt, however, has other ideas, as he wants the precinct to be on their best behaviour so that he can get a seat on the police council.
The Nine-Nine crew are obviously going to defy Holt’s orders, though their plan hits a considerable snag when the Buffalo police that normally host the party are arrested for taking bribes. This gives Peralta the idea of having the detectives throw their own party, while trying to sneak it around Holt. This results in an obvious aping of beloved Warner Bros. comedy, The Hangover, as the detectives drink a lot and wind up very hung over the next morning, before realizing that Holt’s laptop has gone missing.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine has been better than ever for laughs throughout this season, though the humour was particularly standout in this episode, as we get a look at the detectives shedding their professionalism to party hard, and suffer the consequences. Holt was also a great foil in this respect, as he obsesses over having to use colour in his presentation, while also having to outperform an outwardly nice rival, played in a guest role by Andrew Daly. Both the attempts to retrace steps and the attempts to keep Holt at bay were incredibly funny, especially when Holt is initially oblivious to the detectives’ partying, until photos of their shenanigans end up planted on his laptop during the presentation!
The real window into the partying depravity of the Nine-Nine naturally costs Holt the council seat, and the photos being an act of sabotage by his rival was a great final twist too. The show surprisingly went against expectation though, by not having Holt be miserable, and instead be disappointed that he missed out on the party. The ending gag of Peralta trying to make things up to Holt by having the precinct visit a thermometer museum with him is pretty amusing, though it did feel like Holt’s sudden heel-turn on partying came out of nowhere. I almost wish he could have been included in the party plans in the end, if that was going to be his attitude.
Nonetheless, we also get a subplot with Scully in this episode, as he meets a woman that basically feels like a female version of him. Scully’s awkward and disgusting nature keeps getting in the way of his attempts to ask the woman out though, leading to Santiago and Gina trying to help him out. This was easily the best use of Scully in any storyline all season to date, especially when Santiago and Gina try to help him be more confident, only to see that this repulses the woman in the end. Turns out, Scully just had to be himself, which is a sweet final result, even if the woman he was trying to court turns out to be just as gross as he is. Maybe Scully deserves a little romance in his life though. Who are we to judge?
This was a pretty straightforward The Hangover-inspired misadventure for the Nine-Nine, but, “Cop-Con” was nonetheless an especially funny and enjoyable episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The precinct’s partying and the lovesick Scully both brought non-stop laughs throughout the episode, and even if Holt didn’t get his council seat in the end, the precinct still helped him have a nice time in Rochester all the same. After the rather heavy and topical, “Moo Moo” from last week, it’s kind of nice to have a lighter and more ridiculous Brooklyn Nine-Nine episode follow it up, which has the show going back to its usual more over-the-top nature. This episode is also welcome proof that doubling up episodes over the next three weeks to cap off Season Four fortunately doesn’t seem to hurt the quality of the show either!