Some Thoughts on Brooklyn 99's "The Good Ones" and "The Lake House"
Some brief thoughts on the first two episodes of Brooklyn 99's final season.
CW: Discussion of police brutality, the police system, and the general stress of 2020 as a whole
Believe it or not, I only got into watching TV shows more regularly recently. Well, as recent as 2019 at least. I don’t know why it took me so long. Binging Youtube videos is so natural to me, you’d think it’d be just as natural with tv shows. But I guess the harder part is just starting them. Once I do get into a TV show, I don’t let go of it for months. I have to rewatch the show as background music or I have to think about what my favorite episodes are and whatnot. The idea of starting a new show, whether it’s ongoing or long over can be intimidating in a weird way. I think it’s just how I’m wired, I guess. I like things that are convenient to me, and having a lot of shows of interest separated through several streaming services isn’t as ideal as say, Youtube is.
Brooklyn 99 was the first show I started actively watching beyond shows I watched as a kid. It was mostly thanks to recommendations from friends and the show’s overall popularity with a lot of people I followed on Twitter and Youtube. It especially piqued my interest in season five when one of the characters, Rosa, came out as bisexual, making it the second instance of a queer person of color in the main cast. As a Hispanic queer person myself, that was exciting to see! And the snippets I did watch of this show were hilarious! I just wanted to see more! I wanted to watch the show for a while, but I didn’t have Hulu or any other streaming service besides Netflix, so it took until finding their Hulu + Spotify student deal for me to finally bite the bullet and watch it.
If someone asked me what my favorite show of all time was, I’d probably end up saying Brooklyn 99. That or Community, but I’ll get to that one soon. Not just because it’s a hilarious show with a big heart, but because I consider it a model example of how to create an ensemble where you love every character and how they all work off of each other. I actually used this show as a base for my own ensemble of original characters (please read my webcomic). They all have a great balance with each other, and the actors do an incredible job capturing the spirit of each character and making it feel like they could be real people you know in your everyday life. Thus, the found family aspect of this show resonates all the stronger. And so far, they haven’t had a bad season! The first season goes through some growing pains, but it still has tons of excellent moments that preview what the show will eventually become, and I will stand by seasons five and six as one of the best streaks of television in history. Season seven slipped a little in terms of quality, mostly because the writers seemed to be unsure of the show’s direction aside from Jake and Amy’s pregnancy, but it still had plenty of excellent episodes and great moments that left me losing my shit.
If there was a possibility of a bad, or maybe a lackluster season, it would be season eight, but that’s because of things beyond its control. 2020 was a year that completely screwed over Brooklyn 99’s outlook on social politics. It had been praised for its social awareness that has a lot of heart and kindness that shows through in its comedy, but that silly optimism and social awareness had to fall into question with the prevalence of George Floyd’s murder in the summer of last year. Because how can a show that claims to be on the side of minorities also base itself around the same system that tears them down? They have a diverse cast both in race and sexuality but they're still cops. They’re still a part of a system that started out as a slave catching patrol. They’re still part of a system that continues to kill black people and get away with it. It’s not just George Floyd. It’s Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Treyvon Martin. Every year these senseless deaths become more and more prevalent, and it took George Floyd for people to come out in droves against the police. To the point of protests and rioting that the police escalated into violence. And yet, the system still saves their asses and never gives them the proper punishment they deserve. Yet, Brooklyn 99 is exactly about that system and how the characters help people, from the inside or the outside. It was easier to ignore in the past, but George Floyd's murder made it impossible. Because now the show can't deny that the entire cast is part of the problem. That even if they're supposedly "good guys", they still work for a system that won't do anything to reverse the corruption and racism that has plagued it for centuries. Even if they try to fix the system from within, the higher-ups who have the authority will always override them.
So what the hell does Brooklyn 99 do from here? It can't go back to being a fun, goofy ensemble comedy. That'd be tasteless and betraying the show's progressive politics. But it also can't veer into serious, political mode. It'd lose what makes the show so special and comforting to watch. So with the release of two new episodes, one dealing with Rosa leaving the 99 after George Floyd's murder and Jake's insecurity for staying in the Force, the other a personal affair where Jake tries to get Holt and Kevin to reconcile their broken marriage, it seems that the show is trying to have it both ways. Which is concerning… but also kind of a relief?
On the one hand, I'm glad that this issue is not only taken seriously but shows that the writers are hyperaware of what recent events mean for each of the characters. How they all wish to see themselves as "one of the good ones". Jake knowing that the system is wrong, but still believing in the good within it, Charles doing everything he can to prove himself a good ally much to Terry’s annoyance, and of course, Rosa quitting deciding that even if it means sacrificing her friends and her career, she doesn’t want to be a part of something that will never be fixed. The tension in “The Good Ones” in particular is… odd. You can tell it’s the same show as before, but it feels like everyone’s just a little bit awkward to be here. Unsure of how comedic it wants to be while still being honest about the police system and whether or not it’s even worth salvaging.
I will say I am relieved that the show is hyperaware of its status as “the one with the good cops”. I remember at the height of the George Floyd protests seeing a tweet get demolished for saying Jake is the only good cop out there, which is exactly the misunderstanding and problematic framing that leads to people labeling the show as “copaganda”. A term that I personally don’t subscribe to, but one whose existence I understand. So to hear the show be blunt and address that just because Jake, Charles, Amy, Terry, and Holt are among “the good ones”, that doesn’t mean they aren’t part of a system that rewards the sea of other corrupt officers who protect their ass and tolerate injustice for their own benefit. Jake and Rosa's back and forth is especially great, as it causes undeniable tension between them over their decision. It makes sense that Jake wants to hold on to the dream he had since he was a kid, even as every day he's being proven how much of that dream was a lie. Not even just the job, but his family within the 99, and how different things will be now that they might not see each other all the time. It also makes sense that Rosa is the one to quit. Out of all of them, she is most tuned in to social issues and how that affects not just people she knows, but also herself as a Latina queer woman. Her reasoning is very valid and understandable, maybe even the correct path. She’s making a difference by working against the system rather than working for it. I think the show is leaning toward that, especially as the episode ends with awkward silence after a genuine bonding moment. Because even if Rosa still sees Jake as a friend, she’s also all too aware of what Jake is letting happen out of his own selfish point of view, especially as a white man who will never face that same discrimination.
But that puts "The Good Ones" in a weird position as an episode. Jake and Rosa's storyline is completely serious, while the two subplots are mostly played for laughs. Except they're still rooted in real-world issues, so it's not as lighthearted as it maybe should be. I'll at least give leeway to Charles and Terry's subplot where Charles overcompensates his allyship by treating Terry abnormally out of some moral obligation. Mostly since it's a social situation that's funny and relatable while still reaching a casual, reasonable understanding by the end. But Amy and Holt's subplot threw me off in the end because what started as Amy freaking out over Holt starting small talk with her, sprinkled in with jokes about Terry’s sex life, ended with the heavy news that 2020 was so hard on Holt that it caused him and Kevin to separate. They didn’t reveal much of it, but it’s safe to assume George Floyd weighed the most on Holt, whose entire mission to fix the system by using his newfound power to make a real difference… didn’t really do much at all. Thus leading to emotional outbursts, stress, and worse, damaging his most important relationships. All the humor beforehand now feels inappropriate. The moment that Raymy shared is beautiful, but again, it feels a bit sudden to do this when a few minutes earlier you had Terry storm into the room insisting that his sex book was Scully’s, actually.
But that heaviness isn't all that present in the following episode, "The Lake House". Which, while it still has the storyline of Holt and Kevin's separation, it doesn't include any political commentary and is instead just sorting out personal strife within the characters. And honestly? I think I liked this episode more. Because it focused primarily on what makes the series so special: the characters and their relationships. Not to say the serious stuff from before was bad, but this episode relieved a lot of the tension and just existed as itself. I knew that the news of Holt and Kevin separating would impact Jake the most, seeing as his trauma stems directly from his biological parents’ divorce. I liked seeing that naive optimism within Peralta shine in a more personal light, especially with the ways he clearly knows both Holt and Kevin very well. I also like how Amy and Charles are paired up in this episode. I was scared that Amy would be demoted to the “mom” character now that Mac was in the picture, but they still kept up her adorable personality while still exploring her stress of raising a child. Plus, Charles was hilarious in this episode. His cockiness over knowing how to calm Mac down only to accidentally lock him in a room for several hours was great to watch. I also thought Rosa (while high admittedly) finding something in common with Scully was actually kind of sweet. A very inconsequential subplot that still leads to some great moments. The ending was a bit of a Deus Ex Machina but I still loved this episode.
That's why I'm left at a weird crossroads with this season so far. These episodes are great, just as good as the show has ever been, but now there's a weird tension in the air. One that even if the show tries to distract itself from, will still linger in the viewer's mind. But again, what else can they do? They have no choice but to balance this split between politics and comedy. This is the trap they set up for themselves, now they have to find a way to get out of it. And it makes me wonder how much more often we're gonna get episodes like "The Good Ones" vs episodes like "The Lake House". I still believe the series is going to end on a good note. Maybe not on its highest note, but still enough to feel satisfied with whatever solution we get. I do have the sneaking suspicion that the writers will be bold enough to have every character quit the Force by the end. Hell, maybe they’ll have the characters leave one by one until Jake and Holt are the only ones left. It’s speculation, but it’s not out of the picture. Everyone has better things to move on to outside of the 99. Even Hitchcock went into retirement and is living his “best” life. That’d just leave Jake to figure out if he wants to sacrifice his dream for the sake of his personal beliefs. Which, maybe in the past coincided with being a cop and saving lives… but not anymore. He might just have to let go of the idea of being a “cop” and save lives his own way. Or settle down to be a father and find a new career path. Only time will tell I guess. I need something to keep me company while The Owl House is on hiatus anyway.