Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 3 Episode 6 Review: Into the Woods
Robin Harry
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It's a hole, not a pit. It's a hole, not a pit.
On Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 3 Episode 6, almost every character found themselves in various physical holes or emotional pits, all outside their comfort zone. While this episode wasn't huge on the laughs, it made for some great storytelling and excellent character work.
JAKE, CHARLES AND TERRY
It's been established that Terry has been having a tough time lately. He's been buried in paperwork, has twin preschoolers and has a baby on the way. After messing up with a case and causing Terry even more paperwork, Jake decided to take Terry out for a relaxing trip to the woods. Definitely out of their comfort zones.
This was an interesting character story for both Jake and Terry. For Terry, we saw how hard it was for him to relax. Even when he said he was ready to, he was always on guard about what the plans were, or what was taken care of. Though that wasn't unreasonable, given who planned the trip.
The trip was a debacle mostly because Jake didn't bother planning it properly, deciding to fly by the seat of his pants. Terry pointed out later that Jake tends to shirk responsibility.
While that may have been an accurate assessment of Jake in that moment, I hardly think that describes him completely. Yes, he does avoid work when he can (who doesn't), but Jake is hardly an inconsiderate person. Just in this season alone, he's shown considerable compassion and concern for both Holt and Amy.
While Jake and Terry were kind of a downer, Charles brought the humor and saved the day. If I haven't said before how much I love Joe Lo Truglio, please know that I do, and that I think he's one of this show's biggest (and most underrated) assets. His freakout about his psychic had me in stitches.
I was so scared, you guys. A psychic told me I was going to die alone in a pit, and I kept telling myself, "This is a hole, not a pit. This is a hole, not a pit. This is a hole, not a pit. This is a hole, not a pit. This is a hole, not a pit."
Charles
HOLT AND ROSA
Holt and Rosa are inarguably the least emotional people in the precinct. The robot jokes about Holt are numerous, and Rosa pretty much only displays irritation, disdain with the occasional amusement.
It was hilarious how Rosa and Holt tried to navigate the proper break-up method, when they both have less than a clue how typical people handle emotions. They both thought a text was a good idea, for crying out loud.
I told Kevin about how I approved about your strategy for breaking up with Marcus, and he said that we were "sociopaths."
Holt
I loved that Rosa reacted like a normal human being to her breakup with Marcus. Even though she initiated it, she was just as heartbroken about it. Her decision to end her relationship brought up all kinds of self-doubts about herself and her potential for future relationships.
What I liked best about this, however, was the fact that Holt just sat there and shared in her emotions, rather than giving some kind of trite "it will be okay, you'll find someone else" advice. That was just perfect. Holt may have more empathy skills than he realizes.
AMY AND GINA
This was the best C-story in quite a while. Amy had a really interesting product to pitch to the NYPD, and wanted Gina to help her out with her presentation. Amy, realizing that she can be boring, was willing to step out of her own comfort zone in order to give her presentation more pizzazz.
Amy: I'm afraid I might come across a little boring.
Gina: (gasp) Amy, are you asking me to "She's All That" you?!
Amy: I didn't read that.
Really, you couldn't have given Gina a better gift. I thought Gina was uncharacteristically nice to Amy, actually. I was expecting her to belittle Amy a lot more than she actually did. Personally, I thought the Shoulder Nova was AWESOME and I wish I had one.
Not only was Gina nice to Amy, she actually encouraged her at the end, showing Amy how much she made a difference to even one person. As with Holt and Rosa, I thought that was a wonderfully realistic way to end that story.
OTHER NOTES:
- Today in Hitchcock and Scully: Poor Scully, he was just trying to be nice to Rosa. She really could be less abusive. Though I laughed a lot at that.
- The split screen action shots in that cold open were a thing of beauty. Loved it.
- Quote of the day goes to Andre Braugher Saying Words – never has a URL sounded so funny.
I did some research on amicable breakups. I visited www dot ladiesgoodhealthmag dot com backslash sex hyphen relationships backslash 8 6 7 5 9 9 9 0 4 backslash 9 4 3 2 ampersand 2 2 5 dot html. Do you know that site?
Holt
What did you think? Do you think Jake is as irresponsible as he was made to look this time around? Should they have bought Amy's Shoulder Nova?
As always, you can relive the best of the 99 when you watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine online.
