Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 2 Episode 3 Review: The Jimmy Jab Games
Robin Harry
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It's competition time again on Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 2 Episode 3, as the team engages in an elimination style tournament of fools in the hilariously named "Jimmy Jab Games".
Really, what else would a precinct of detectives do while they're unsupervised and on call for motorcade duty?
The games themselves were absolutely hilarious. First of all, their origin story was so funny. We know these characters well enough to imagine the moment when Jake Peralta came up with the "Jimmy Jab Games" through a total failure to pronounce the name of former Iranian President Ahmadinejad.
Then there were the actual tournament games. Game One: eating moldy Chinese food, which obviously eliminated Charles. Game Two: "Bulky Bulky Foot Run", where they have to run through the precinct with bomb squad gear on.
Game Three: trying to keep an undercover persona from their fellow cops, which Rosa failed miserably at as soon as someone unknowingly called her "sweetheart." Then Game Four: an obstacle course through the precinct. The games themselves were hilarious, but Gina's marks left me in fits of giggles. "Ready, set, Paul-Gosselaar!!"
The games were a great venue to explore the Jake/Amy relationship - or lack thereof.
JAKE & AMY
Jake wasn't fooling anyone when he said he was over Amy. Charles saw through it, but more importantly, Rosa saw through it. While Jake was busy trying to win the game to get Rosa's friend's phone number, Rosa was busy trying to protect him from himself. She challenged Jake to win the game without flirting or bantering, to prove that he actually was over her.
Jake failed the test, and I kinda saw all of it coming. Of course he was going to let her win. Oldest trick in the book. What I didn't see coming was Rosa voluntarily giving him her friend's number to help him move on.
I'm not sure how I feel about that. On one hand, I don't particularly want to watch Jake pine for the rest of the season. He's a charming and funny guy, and I think it would be fun to see him in a functional relationship for a change. On the other hand, I'm just not a fan of love triangles, and I'm afraid this is going to go into the "who will Jake choose" territory.
CHARLES & GINA...and HITCHCOCK
Okay. I'm warming up to the Charles/Gina idea. It worked really, really well in this episode for a few reasons. One - the way they loathe each other and what they're doing is pretty funny. Two - watching them try to keep it a secret out of pure embarrassment is hilarious. Three - throwing Hitchcock into the mix was a stroke of genius.
Hitchcock's escalating blackmail was fantastic, made even funnier by the fact that he didn't even know what was on the tape. The poor guy just saw the opportunity to use leverage to improve his social standing - an impossible feat, really.
I'm curious as to where they're going to take Charles and Gina from here. Will they consistently have belligerent & reluctant sexual tension, or is there any possibility that feelings might evolve? And is Charles completely over Rosa?
CAPTAIN HOLT & TERRY
I'm not sure I know who this Captain Holt is. This Holt is amused and smiles a lot - and by a lot I mean twice. Still, that's two more times than I'm used to. We've gone from the rumors of him cracking jokes and being funny to him actually cracking jokes and being funny. He's gone from calculating and practical to, well, emotionally calculating and practical.
I get that the new Deputy Chief riles him up emotionally, and I get that it threw a wrench in his well planned system. However, he went from 0 to 60 in the space of two episodes. This version of Holt is admittedly pretty funny, but the onset of these character traits was so abrupt that it feels out of character.
To make matters worse, he's often unaware of when he's being petty and emotional. In two consecutive episodes, he's had his staff showing him the errors of his ways. I miss the self-controlled, self-aware, robot Holt. He's kind of turning into Peralta.
That being said, I do enjoy the dynamic that Wuntch brings to the show. It is nice to see Holt be challenged and flustered. I want my old captain back soon, though.
What did you think? What do you think of Captain Holt, and of the turn in the Jake/Amy scenario?
Don't forget! You can watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine online via TV Fanatic any time!
