Brooklyn Nine-Nine: “The Pontiac Bandit Returns”

If you’ll allow me to be frank for a moment, I’d like to say that I am a big fan of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I think it’s a very funny show, with a pitch perfect cast (yes, even Samberg), and there’s been never an episode that I genuinely dislike. This season, I find myself having to reconcile the fact that I’m a fan with the fact that I have to watch the show show critically. I’ve had to point out where I think the show fails or at least falters, but that luckily hasn’t interfered with my enjoyment of the show as a whole. But sometimes I do wonder if my own biases as a fan of the show get ahead of my criticism.
Given their grades, do I honestly think the past three episodes (including this week’s) of this show are the best of the series, the ones I could call my favorites? Yes. And no. “USPIS” is a divisive episode (and while technically successful, I’m not sure if it fits as a favorite for me), but I can see arguments for both “The Road Trip” and “The Pontiac Bandit Returns” (especially the former) being on that high of a level. Given the season just by itself (since I did not review the first season), to me, these really have been the show at its strongest, working with the ensemble and the romance aspects without being too underwhelming and overwhelming in either regard, respectively. These episodes also put the police work front and center, reminding the audience that while this is a workplace comedy, it’s not one that has to take place exclusively in the office (which, in this case, is the precinct). The episodes feature a seemingly easy balancing act that the show has really had trouble with this season. As a fan, I wish I could say every episode this season has that, but I can’t.
Now that all of that is out of the way, it’s time for an episode-related non-sequitor: While drugged up Rosa was something beautiful, nothing will ever be able to beat “genuinely happy at her own success, smile that could light up a room” Rosa. I shed a tear at that short moment, and nothing that will or has happened on this show can ever take that away from me or any of us. “How do people do this with their faces,” Rosa asks, and that is perhaps the most complicated question to answer. Imagine doing that for 20-plus minutes while watching the show that you are on, Rosa. After the initial shock of there apparently being a weekly situational comedy-based documentary about your life, you too would find yourself in a constant state of smiles.
See what this moment has done to me? Nothing makes sense anymore, and yet everything makes sense now. “The Pontiac Bandit Returns” (and Brooklyn Nine-Nine as a whole) is the gift that keeps on giving.
As one can gather from the episode title, “The Pontiac Bandit Returns” marks the return of the Pontiac Bandit himself, Doug Judy (Craig Robinson). Much like in the original episode, season one’s “Pontiac Bandit,” Jake and Rosa are on the case; however this time, everyone’s favorite drug, Giggle Pig, is part of the equation. Meanwhile, Boyle and Gina work on a reverse Parent Trap situation, and Amy (despite Terry’s constant advice) finds a loophole to Captain Holt’s no-gift policy and ends up finding a mistake in one of his most high profile cases.
Also, Hitchcock finds a way to cut himself horribly, without the benefit of masking tape to make it all better.
“The Pontiac Bandit Returns” finally provides this season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine with a sequel episode that works just as well, if not better, than the original, while also adding a little something new to the equation. The question in this episode isn’t whether or not the Doug Judy the Pontiac Bandit is going to escape again but how he’s going to do it. It also features the pleasant surprise by having Doug honestly help Rosa (and Jake) with apprehending the leader of the Giggle Pig ring. Actually, “surprise” may the wrong word choice, because for as much as I point out how unprofessional the team can be in the precinct, they are all very capable detectives, especially Jake and Rosa. To take it a step further, as much as I love Amy and her dreams of professional ladder-climbing, Rosa’s movement through the ranks is the overarching storyline that’s really got me intrigued. I see it as being a more enjoyable version of watching Office Ben Sherman’s evolution on Southland.
Unlike the original Pontiac Bandit episode, this time around, Jake is the reluctant one while Rosa is the one with faith in Doug’s ability to help them nail Tito Ruiz, the leader of the Giggle Pig ring. It’s another instance of Jake not being able to let things go (something he was supposed to have learned to get over in the premiere, but since that was about Amy, that doesn’t count) and getting too obsessed, to the point where he’s unable to even give proper Miranda rights on the first try:
Jake (to Ruiz): “You have the right to remain Doug Judy. Anything you Doug or Judy can be used against you in a Doug of Judy. Sorry, I’m preoccupied by someone who will remain nameless. I’ll start over.”