Jake and Rosa work the same murder for two months in a more somber than usual outing for the Nine-Nine.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine has taken some cool narrative risks in the last couple of seasons (I’m thinking especially of last year’s “The Box”). They often pay off, too: different enough to keep things interesting for the audience but without changing the show’s inherently goofy tone. This week’s episode, “The Crime Scene,” was effective and entertaining, but a bit lighter on laughs.
I usually find these case deep dives refreshing, even if they serve as an awkward reminder that, oh yeah, murder really sucks when it isn’t being played for laughs. Here, we got to know the victim’s mom more than we usually would have, which worked, even if it put a damper on things. Jake and Rosa have been cops for a long time, and to buy their rookie mistake of promising justice to a vic’s family member, that family member had to be especially sympathetic.
I also think the slightly more serious tone in the case worked because Rosa was going through something serious in her personal life as well: deciding if she should reach out to her mom. Even if the episode as a whole was a departure in tone for the show, the episode itself was pretty cohesive.
This was a great episode for a Jake and Rosa pairing because she tends to confide in Jake more than she does the others, especially about specifics in her personal life, i.e. her new girlfriend. Plus, Rosa calls Jake out on his mistakes more than anyone else does, not in a way that’s cruel, but by acting disappointed and supportive at the same time. Because they’ve worked together for so long, they have an easy back and forth that was perfect for this episode.
After chastising Jake for getting too close to the victim’s family, it was a fun turn for Rosa to do the same thing. Stephanie Beatriz plays those moments of emotion so well even if they are less surprising than they used to be. If anything, she has to work even harder to make them seem genuine.
I also liked that this was a Rosa/Jake episode because it felt right that he was there for the follow-up to her coming out to her parents since he was also there for the actual event. Nine-Nine has done a great job with this storyline, and much as my heart breaks for Rosa, I’m glad they haven’t glossed over the pain that comes from a parent rejecting you like that. It would have been easy for them to write her parents as instantly accepting, but this kind of messy middle she’s working through with them is more realistic.
A few other thoughts:
Rosa’s hair was a fun way to show the time passing and also a great sight gag. It felt like an indicator of how serious her relationship with Jocelyn must be, too; I don’t think Rosa would let just anyone mess with her hair, especially in such a public way.
The line about Jake and Rosa being immune to horrendous things was funny and something I think about a lot while watching crime shows.
I like single storyline episodes, even if I missed more time with Amy, Holt, and Co. I thought it might be a bottle episode at the beginning, but they ended up spending a little time at Jake and Amy’s, the precinct, etc.
What did you think of “The Crime Scene”? Hit the comments and let me know!
Just a Girl, Standing in Front of a TV... 