Perhaps the confusion as to why Brooklyn Nine Nine threw four of season 8’s episodes in the trash is because very few people, if any, are saying why. Unless there’s direct mention of racial injustice or scenes depicting this one has to wonder why the comedy would bother throwing away satirical material that has rarely if ever managed to purposely offend people. At this time there are likely plenty of people questioning this decision, but the point is that the episodes are in the trash, and if the scripts ever surface one can imagine that it might be because the nation has somehow moved past, improved upon, or gone back to not being offended by just about everything that appears on TV these days. At this time the cast is accepting the changes as a needed thing as they move forward and are dedicated to ‘doing better’, which is still hard to equate since the show has been doing pretty well when it comes to depicting its cops and their need to serve the people and the law. Obviously things go a bit screwy now and then on the show but harping on racial injustice and how it’s affecting the writers and what they produce feels almost like it’s headed to the fringe without a solid explanation of why. Hollywood has definitely been on the kick of fighting racial injustice, which is a positive note really, but one has to wonder just how far it’s going to go and where it will stop, if it ever does.
At this time a lot of shows and movies are likely finding that their creators, directors, cast and crew are starting to look around as they try to decide just what they can say, what they can act out, and what’s going to be okay versus what’s going to get them panned by the critics and the fans alike. Terry Crews has already been under fire on Twitter for the things he’s said, finding that his fellow celebrities didn’t care to hear him voicing an opinion that was contrary to everything they believed in. That’s the idea of free speech however, as it does exist for entertainers as well as for average folks. Unfortunately when people use this, be it on social media or in the writing room, complications are starting to arise as the country continues to feel the ever-increasing wake of the George Floyd murder. At this point the very likely possibility of cop shows being taken off the air is starting to dawn on a lot of people since even Chase from Paw Patrol doesn’t feel safe despite being an animated character that was designed for kids. It could be that by scrapping the first four episodes that Brooklyn Nine Nine writers are thinking that they can start over and be more PC as the network wants, or it could be that this is yet another way for entertainment to bend the knee to a cause that has gone way beyond the origin point that it came from.
There are quite a few people that are convinced that Brooklyn Nine Nine, a comedy, a piece of satire, is giving the wrong impression of cops as being good, law-abiding people that are there to serve and protect, and it’s because the image of police in this nation at the time is of violent, thug-like individuals that do what they want, when they want, and without repercussions. Shows such as Brooklyn Nine Nine are said to be funny and engaging, but not realistic. Of course it’s not realistic, it’s a TV show that’s part satire, part drama, and all fiction. The idea that the show is diverse is one note that a lot of people should appreciate, the fact that the commanding officer is black and gay should be yet another, and the fact that they have dealt with racial issues in the past is another point that should count towards the show being considered as one of the many that people can enjoy.
One of the biggest issues with the story thus far is why the episodes were thrown away, which hasn’t been answered in a definitive manner at this point and is a bit of a problem really since without any good reason as to why throwing them away was the only option a lot of people might wonder just what this means for the show moving forward. While a lot of people will probably continue to watch, the expectation of the show to be more realistic and to show a desire to fight racial injustice is likely going to please those that are feeling that the show isn’t doing enough. At the same time, those that feel it was fine the way it was might just groan and keep watching.
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