Brooklyn Nine-Nine, "The Wednesday Incident," (2.16) - TV Review

February 15th, 2015, 8:30 PM, FOX

After Holt hands over Jake’s latest case to the organized crime unit and he starts cutting off all of the squad’s perks, Jake teams up with Gina and Holt’s professor husband Kevin to figure out why Holt’s been behaving in such a grumpy and cold manner. The better, of course, to get the blame off of Jake for Holt’s bad mood – which definitely didn’t begin with the titular Wednesday incident, where he popped a bottle in Holt’s office, set off the sprinklers and ruined a sculpture that Kevin made. The journey takes the threesome through a typical morning in Ray’s life but soon reveals that Holt’s keeping a secret from Kevin, jeopardizing the defrosting relationship between Kevin and Gina and leaving Jake to marshal his best deductive instincts to get to the bottom of the mystery. Meanwhile Charles tries to extract information from an elderly bank robbing suspect who is wise enough to play vulnerable and sweet in front of Rosa and Amy and tough and honest in front of Charles. Can he get his co-workers to believe that he’s really pulled in the right man?

It’s very fitting that sitcom legend Garry Marshall puts in an appearance as the show’s guest star of the week. Always golden-hearted in the tradition of The Office (And thus by extension Marshall’s Odd Couple), Brooklyn Nine-Nine manages to balance the sweet with the silly again this week, this time by specifically zeroing in on what makes Ray Holt run.

The answer turns out to be his sense of protectiveness and his self-actualization as an adult, which is unsurprising but very fitting. Holt’s sense of professionalism and his love for his husband are what propel him forward, and Jake – in his infinite curiosity – hasn’t quite figured that one out yet until this episode. Every Jake and Gina episode is a treasure, and this continues the grand tradition, setting them out into the streets of Brooklyn in search of the truth provided laughs galore.

Adding Kevin to the mix was a great idea – I’d love to see him about more this season, as we get deeper into the officer’s personal lives. It’d be wonderful to see him work a case, or watch him try to keep an eye on Rosa or Jake if they were forced to go undercover at his college. His relationship with Holt is enjoyable and unique, and it’s of the sort you never really see on sitcoms; mature, intelligent and loving all at the same time, occasionally beset by real concerns.

Charles’ subplot is classic sitcom plotting in action, too, but in this case he has to deal with a wonderfully ridiculous presence of the elderly bank robber in his charge. The grandfatherly Mister Marshall is the last man you’d ever imagine as a filthy-minded, greedy bankrobber, which is what makes his casting so great. All credit should be given to the show for not making Charles a complete buttmonkey; he gets to be right, gets to have the esteem of his friends, even though he’s afraid of keys. “The Wednesday Incident” adds another piece to the pile of excellent episodes that the second season has brought us.
The Roundup

Tonight brings us Jake’s first perp with a cool nickname! Well, for a second.

Low points in Charles’ life: Being humiliated by an elderly suspect who’s double-dealing him in front of his friends is quite enough for one day. Oh, and he buys his shoes at a kid’s store and he’s afraid of keys.
That was indeed directing and sitcom legend Garry Marshall as Charles’ perp. Marshall started out as a variety comic in the golden age of television but is perhaps best known as the co-creator and producer of Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley and Mork and Mindy and the director of Pretty Woman and The Princess Diaries.

Rainbow flag on Holt’s desk!

Jake got Holt a ‘Who Farted?’ baseball cap for Christmas. He’s never worn it.

”Yeaaah, I’d tap that! NETWORK! I’d tap that network, that’s a thing people say.”

Smiling Holt really IS a pause-creating sight.

Jake’s key phrase to help him properly imitate Holt: “Peralta, that’s enough!”

Holt’s morning routine includes painting classes (in which he repeatedly paints the same rock) and fencing.

”I was lightly stabbed.”

Names for Amy’s sex tape: A blast of cold air coming out of that box.

Next Week: Brooklyn Nine-Nine takes a weeklong hiatus for the Oscars! Will be coming back at you in two weeks with a recap of the Linetti/Boyle wedding!