NOTE: Full spoilers for this episode of, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” are present in this review
After a standout first offering in this week’s double bill of Brooklyn Nine-Nine episodes, the second episode of the week also proved to be a particularly great one, as the precinct returned to their usual routine at the office. “Chasing Amy” had a main storyline that took a pretty sizable leap with Santiago’s character, and two subplots nicely rounded out the laughs with their own satisfying and funny flourishes!
The main storyline primarily centers around Santiago, as mentioned, as she prepares to take the Sergeant’s Exam. Since Santiago is freaking out about the test however, she’s become a nervous wreck around the office, which cranks her un-cool ‘Amy-isms’ to the extreme! Peralta, meanwhile, thinks he has a solution, by creating a mock test constructed in a room that’s as disruptive and irritating as possible. The trouble here though is that Santiago becomes freaked out and vanishes, forcing Peralta and Diaz to go chase her down.
This Peralta/Diaz pairing proved to be very inspired, as the two use Santiago-flavoured detective work to retrace every manic step that she takes in Brooklyn. After visiting a closed stationery shop and a library, they eventually make their way to Santiago’s best and only friend, Kylie, who disapproves of Peralta as a boyfriend, but nonetheless tries to be helpful. The goofs with Peralta struggling at Santiago’s and Kylie’s trivia nights were especially funny here, even though just meeting Kylie now for the first time makes them a bit less funny than they could have been. Still, Peralta being seen as the uncool person in Santiago’s social circles made for a pretty cool way to turn the tables on his character.
Eventually, Peralta and Diaz do manage to track down Santiago, who ran to the roof where she first allegedly fell in love with Peralta, back during Season One’s events. This was a really neat callback, and it nicely meshed with a heartwarming twist of Santiago not worrying about the test itself, but more so about how it could affect her relationship with Peralta. Peralta however confesses that he always knew Santiago would be his boss one day, and does whatever he has to do to get Santiago to her exam, namely by ‘Die Hard-ing’ off the side of the roof with a fire hose! Naturally though, Peralta just gets stuck in mid-air, and Diaz has to open the locked door to let Santiago free, so she can take plenty of pictures of Peralta’s predicament. This was a great storyline with an equally great ending, and hopefully, Santiago’s promotion can play a considerable part in the potential Season Five that FOX has yet to confirm for now.
The first of the subplots meanwhile revolved around Jeffords going to Holt, to say that the toy room needs a little bit of sprucing up. The two then discover that they both love trains, and decide to build an ornate train set for children to play with while their parents are questioned at the precinct, though given their vastly different personalities, they wind up disagreeing on how the train set should be built. Holt insists on perfect real-world accuracy, while Jeffords wants to be more fun and whimsical. This was an amusing little rivalry between the two, especially when it culminated in the predictable result of a child rejecting the trains and demanding video games. Once Jeffords and Holt then realize that not many people care about trains, they decide that it’s good enough that they found each other, as two train enthusiasts being brought together is rare. This made for another sweet ending to a very funny Brooklyn Nine-Nine storyline. If only The Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper existed in this universe, eh?
The remaining subplot revolves around Gina and Boyle, as Boyle delivers the news that a Boyle matriarch has passed away, and has left a disgusting master sourdough mold to Gina. Gina is initially disinterested, of course, though after discovering that Boyle wants the dough, she tries to extort him for it. This is fairly funny, especially as we get another hilarious peek into the radically offbeat Boyle family, as Boyle’s relatives come right into the precinct to banish both Boyle and Gina from the family circles, after the mold is irreparably damaged. Boyle trying to get back into the family graces could have been funny, though honestly, Gina pledging to make another mold for the Boyle family feels a bit too out-of-character. Still, it is sweet that she tried to at least get Boyle back in his relatives’ favour, even if this forced turn had their storyline ending on a bit of a wimper.
“Chasing Amy” fell back on some reliable pairings for the Nine-Nine crew, but it did so to strong effect. Santiago’s attempt at a promotion, Boyle’s and Gina’s eccentric family drama, and the brief Jeffords/Holt train rivalry all brought just as much laughs as they did heart, with the final exchange between Peralta and Santiago on the roof feeling especially sweet and lovable. It’s a bit strange that FOX still has yet to renew Brooklyn Nine-Nine, especially as they seem to be scrambling through the back half of Season Four by suddenly doubling up episodes for the remaining weeks of the current season, in a similar strategy as one that rival, NBC employed with their freshman sitcoms, Trial & Error and Great News this season. It’s episodes like this that prove this sitcom as having tons of life left in it though, even when it sticks to its normal playbook. I really hope that renewal notice comes soon.