Brooklyn Nine-Nine Review: Party Paranoia
Tonight’s episode felt like a return to form for Nine-Nine after a few episodes that have been entertaining enough, but haven’t come together as well as they could have. This one devoted pretty equal time to the dueling bachelor and bachelorette parties, and the result was a fun, surprisingly emotional episode that gave all of the characters a chance to shine.
Of course, none quite as much as Rosa and Pimento, who surprised their colleagues with their engagement news in a hilariously low-key way. One of the best things about Rosa is how quickly she commits to something, so I completely bought how fast she fell head over heels for Pimento. Serious kudos to Stephanie Beatriz for selling the emotional moments here (especially in her last scene with Pimento) while still staying true to who Rosa is. Much as I hated to see Rosa sad, Pimento’s departure will give the show a nice focus going into the last episodes of the season. I wouldn’t want to be the FBI guy right now, though. Rosa scorned is going to be one hell of a force to be reckoned with.
The guys’ bachelor party had some fun moments, especially Scully and Hitchcock demanding a meeting outside of the van and the whole gang working together to stage Pimento’s “murder”. That being said, the bachelorette party was even more successful for me, as it showed just how well Charles, Gina, and Amy know Rosa and delivered a ton of laughs along the way. I never would have predicted any of their party choices, yet they were somehow perfect for the mysterious Detective Diaz, with her love of shooting people, demolishing things, and reveling in how little her co-workers know about her.
The kicker is that, as this episode showed, her co-workers do know her and how much she loves Adrian, making their decision to pursue the rogue FBI agent that much more meaningful. The real strength of this show is how genuine the friendships are between its characters, and I can’t complain about an episode that proved that as well as this one did.
