#the cannibalism might be a bit much for me to handle in the show tbh

[guinevereslancelot]

should i watch fallout 🤔

[ultrahpfan5blog]

Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Season 6 Retrospective

After the euphoria of everything that happened with B99 being cancelled and then revived, B99 returning for a season 6 felt like a gift. Basically a bonus in a way. It was a quasi relaunch of the show in NBC and I have to say that NBC promoted it a lot more than I remember Fox promoting it. Having finished season 6, it is a mixed bag. The season has a lot of really great episodes, a few mediocre ones, and one that I despise with every fiber of my being. And because of those handful of episodes that don't live up to the mark, season 6 ranks as my least favorite season. However, B99 even at its worst is considerably better than almost everything else on tv so its not a very heavy criticism of the season as a whole.

The previous season left the question of Holt becoming Commissioner unanswered. And while it would have been interesting to see B99 tackle Holt becoming Commissioner, it would have fundamentally been impossible to continue it as a singular workplace comedy if Holt and maybe Gina were working elsewhere permanently. So it was obvious he was not going to become Commissioner. The premiere is a delight. Its a honeymoon episode for Jake and Amy with a depressed Holt right in the middle of it. This episode is has plenty of great moments for Holt's variety of novelty t-shirts, to Jake and Amy's Die Hard roleplay, to Amy standing up for Jake and going off on Holt, to the hilarious 'this B needs a C in her A' moment which was clearly the writers having a lot of fun with having lesser language restrictions. The B and C stories are ok, but the A story is a delight. The next episode is a Hitchcock and Scully episode which is nice because we get to see them as studs in the 80's. There is a problem that it does not match up to flashbacks they have done in the past but I kind of ignore that. The next two episodes are dealing with Chelsea Peretti's departure from the show. Tbh, when Chelsea was on maternity leave for the first half of season 5, I didn't really feel her absence. Plus, it did start to feel at times that the writers weren't sure how to include her organically. The Tattler is a cute episode. I love the 90's look of the episode. Melissa Fumero looked adorable. Its probably one of the best Jake and Gina episodes, a dynamic which was strangely underserevd over the course of the show given Andy and Chelsea are childhood friends. But this episode and also their stuff in 'Four Movements' bring up the best in their dynamic. 'Four Movements' is a sweet goodbye although i wish Terry and Boyle had gotten a personal goodbye like Holt, Jake, Amy, and Rosa got.

The season's main storyline is Holt's fight with John Kelly, the new Commissioner. I thought Phil Reeves was pretty damn great as John Kelly. He was just slimy enough to know why he got on Holt's nerves and still charming enough so you could see why other people might like him if they didn't know him. The show continues to do some strong experiments. I love 'The Crime Scene', which is very much centered on Jake and Rosa. The episode doesn't have any B plots and just lets Any and Stephanie carry the episode with a fun appearance from Michael Mosley. It also effectively resolved the pending story from season 5 regarding the issues between Rosa and her mom since she came out as Bi. In terms of platonic friendships between a guy and girl, I feel Jake and Rosa is one of the most well created friendships I have seen on tv. There is also a real time episode in 'Ticking Clocks' guest starring Sean Astin, who was one of the celebrities who championed B99 when it was cancelled. I enjoyed that episode quite a bit because it got the whole ensemble involved. My only issue with it is that it made me dislike Jocelyn. I didn't like the way she broke up with Rosa on her way to the airport and put Rosa under the pump when she saw that they were in a high pressure situation. Holt was pretty right to be mad at the end of the episode. the show also tackled sexual assault with 'He Said, She Said' which is a home run in terms of acting performance for Melissa Fumero. Definitely some of her best dramatic work on the show. She's very ably backed up by Andy Samberg and Stephanie Beatriz who also directed the episode. The episode isn't a complete home run because there is a tonal inconsistency. Its a tough subject to be funny about. There is B plot that is completely unrelated connected to Holt's pursuit of the Yo Yo strangler and its a hoot. But it clashes in tone with the A plot which is pretty serious for the most part. Whereas an episode like Moo Moo managed to connect both the A and B stories with the single topic with Jake and Amy having to explain to Terry's kids about Racism. But honestly, this was about as well an episode on this topic that I can imagine.

The middle of the season is when the show hit a bit of rough patch, starting with Gintars. I like what the episode says about adoption and it was refreshing to see Charles be more assertive to Jake, but the whole deportation angle left a bit of a sour taste in the mouth. The B plot also has Holt and Amy being uncharacteristically mean spirited and while they apologize to Rosa at the end, the episode didn't make it feel they actually learned their lesson. The Therapist is kind of meh. Its another Jake going behind Charles' back episode. While the episode comes around at the end by giving a reason why Jake doesn't like therapy and Jake admitting that he needs to got to therapy, the rest of the episode involves a lot of jokes at patients and therapists which just isn't all that funny. Casecation is my least favorite episode on the show. Its an episode that is so tone deaf and inconsistent in characterization that it just irritates me. The rewatch is only the 2nd time I have watched the episode. I tend to skip it during the rewatches. Its bizarre how badly OOC almost every character is. I think Terry and Charles are the only ones who aren't OOC. While Jake's fears about parenthood are grounded in realistic concerns, we have had several moments where Jake has talked about having kids in the future. So the fact that he comes off as not wanting kids is inconsistent with what we know of him. I was not surprised with Amy being pro family, coming from a big family herself, but the fact that an organized person like her didn't outright have this conversation with Jake before marriage is not believable at all. The episode is also really mean spirited. The structured debate part has Amy, Holt, Kevin etc... all making fun of Jake's fears, Amy being emotionally manipulative and issuing ultimatums, Rosa offering to bully Jake into agreeing with Amy. In general, this maybe the only episode where I disliked Amy, whom I otherwise adore. I understand her perspective, but the way she handles it is unkind. I could honestly go on a long diatribe about why the episode is terrible. In the end, the mean spirited nature of the episode is what turns me off because the thing I love about B99 as a whole is the optimistic and idealistic nature of the show. Gina's return in 'Return of the King' is also not a favorite. Again, the episode just makes Gina look like a bad friend for blowing off Jake and Terry without explanation for so long.

However, thankfully, these 4 episodes are just a blip on the radar. The rest of the episodes are filled with a lot of hilarity. The Bimbo is one of my favorite Holt episodes. Jake and Holt is a dynamic that can never go wrong. Add Kevin to the mix and you have solid gold. Holt as "the bimbo" is a damn funny idea and its executed brilliantly. Cinco de Mayo is the first heist episode not on Halloween and its my third favorite. Mainly because I always root for terry since he always gets underestimated or made fun of during the heists. The Golden Child brings Lin-Manuel Miranda, another B99 celebrity fan, in as Amy's brother and its a lot of fun to watch Jake play the straight man whereas we see Amy being the crazy competitive one with Lin being up to the challenge as well. Craig Robinson makes a welcome return as Doug Judy, and The Honeypot is another hilarious Jake and Holt episode. The season ends really strong with Sicko and The Suicide Squad, bringing back Caleb the cannibal, Wuntch, The Vulture, and CJ. CJ is still a bit much but the others are all a hoot. It was nice to see Wuntch on the right side of things for once and we yet again see why Jake is considered the best and brightest of the 99 with his plan to take down John Kelly. The season doesn't have a cliffhanger, more a rejigging of the 99 dynamic with Holt being demoted to patrol officer temporarily.

Overall, it still a fun season. But the four episodes that didn't work bring the grade down a bit. Its a 7.5/10 overall. Now, onto season 7 with just days left before season 8 begins.