Last night Brooklyn Nine-Nine moved ever closer to Boyle’s wedding with Vivian and continued to strengthen the bond shared between members of the Nine-Nine squad. While Peralta and Boyle have always been bros, last night really solidified the bond between them and proved just how far the friends would go for one another when truly needed. Diaz spent the episode attempting to apologize to another officer for rudely embarrassing him in front of his entire department while Santiago, Gina, and Terry attempt to go on a very minimal diet. Last night’s episode, “Fancy Brugdom,” didn’t really have me dying of laughter, but nicely focused on the idea of supporting your friends no matter how hard the situation becomes, and continued to deepen the squad’s bonds as the first season nears its end.
We open up in the office, where Terry, Gina, and Santiago are sitting down together to have a meal for the fourth day of their new diet. They have preplanned meals that are delivered to their doorsteps, although it doesn’t seem like they get much of a meal; this one being an orange wedge, three cashew nuts, and a single grape, but I guess it’s paying off somewhat because the homeless guy on Santiago’s stoop said her skin looked dope. Despite all being in perfect shape, they think the teambuilding alone is worthwhile, because “they can get through this together!” Meanwhile, Diaz is on the other side of the office learning that she had an official complaint filed against her for harshly humiliating another officer in front of his peers for wrongly labeling evidence, and she’ going to have to go apologize.
The episode’s main focus falls on Peralta and Boyle, who (through a quick flashback) met up at a bar where Boyle asked Jake to be his best man by putting a bow tie into a beer and having Peralta drink it. I don’t know how else I expected Boyle to ask something like that. Boyle wants to be a “Fancy Brugdom,” which is Danish for Fancy Groom, because the Danes throw the most beautiful weddings in the world (and the most violent funerals). Peralta begins to endure the wacky wedding choices of Boyle; habanero pepper flavored cake frosting, Liberace-esque tuxedos, and finding out that Vivian wants Boyle to retire and move to Ottawa with her. Of course Peralta doesn’t want to see his best bud leave Brooklyn, but Boyle is scared to confront Vivian himself, so Jake spends the episode helping him figure out how to handle the situation.
Gina is the first to give up the diet, bringing a “Sloppy Jessica,” to work for lunch. The hoagie includes mac & cheese, chili, and pizza on a bun; so disgustingly delicious, and tempting to try, as Santiago and Terry have to sit there with their minimalistic meals. They try and try, but as the episode progresses, Santiago eventually gives in as well, sneaking away to have four burgers, and Terry is angry enough to lift a car. However, he admits that he’s doing the diet just to support his wife in losing baby fat from pregnancy; and while Gina and Santiago definitely aren’t going back to having a single almond for their snack, they will gladly support Terry in sticking to the diet.
Boyle can’t bring himself to confront Vivian about the move to Canada out of the fear of possibly losing her, so he surprise invites her to brunch with him and Peralta so that Jake can be the one to break the news. Even when Peralta sticks to his best man duties and brings Canada up in the conversation, Boyle still ends up immediately throwing him under the bus and storming out with Vivian complaining that Jake overstepped his boundaries. So the problem continues to grow, but Peralta doesn’t abandon his friend. After pulling him over in the squad car and a swift “baton to the knee,” Peralta is able to force Boyle into having a conversation with Vivian. He finally tells her how he feels, and she doesn’t dump him; in fact, Boyle sees that they end up making progress with the situation and returns to Peralta with some celebratory thank you whiskey and cigars for his best man.
Last night’s episode was really nice and I absolutely loved the story between Peralta and Boyle that displayed how deeply rooted their friendship truly is. Boyle is a weird guy, but would be a complete pushover if he didn’t have Peralta around to help him out every once in a while; and while I think Boyle is definitely happy with Vivian, I’m glad to see him not compromise who he is just to make the relationship last. I also really enjoyed the diet plotline and seeing the interaction between Terry, Gina, and Santiago. In the past couple of weeks, we’ve really gotten to see how much Terry cares about the members of his squad, but last night showed that they care about him too. I thought Diaz had a pretty quiet night, and while her plot also reinforced the idea of the characters having each other’s backs, it just seemed like the most generic. I enjoyed seeing Holt try and help her learn to say sorry, especially when they go back and forth with robotic “I’m sorry,” lines, but thought it was pretty boring that a New York City cop was filing a complaint for being harassed about not doing his job right.
Yet, despite that one minor qualm, I thought that Brooklyn Nine-Nine made a great statement last night about the strength of their cast and how well the characters can interchange with one another and always have the great chemistry that keeps me watching each week.
My Moments of the Night:
– Santiago’s hypo-glycemic rage towards Hitchcock was hilariously unexpected.
– Terry can sing the cantaloupe song by himself, even the high parts; “Cantaloupe, Yes I Can”
– Boyle’s wedding choices are only the second worst — Red Wedding, Game of Throne.
What did everyone think of last night’s episode, “Fancy Brugdom?” Let me know what you did and didn’t like about it in a comment below!
[Photo via Eddy Chen/FOX]
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