Brooklyn 99, season one
Jan. 16th, 2016 09:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osprey_archerI finished the first season of Brooklyn 99, and you guys, I love this show. Leaving aside all else for the moment, it's just so darn funny; it makes me laugh out loud at least once an episode, and I have this unfortunate tendency to start watching - just one episode! - and then, you know, one episode is over, but they're only twenty minutes long, clearly I should watch another. And maybe another.
It strikes a pretty perfect balance between the cops' work and personal lives, too. Sometimes when I watch cop shows I feel like shouting "Get back to your precinct already!" at the screen (usually I don't continue with those shows for very long) - I think romantic entanglement is the easy mode of television writing (or just plain story writing, for that matter), certainly easier than coming up with cop-related things for cop protagonists to do.
The only clouds on my horizon with this show, in fact, are the looming signs of future Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago and especially Charles Boyle/Rosa Diaz. I've warmed very slightly to Jake/Amy, because underneath their surface differences they have some important similarities - they're both competitive and immature and desperate for approval (Amy is much more obvious about it; Jake expresses it by pretending he doesn't care at all while practically breaking his neck to get it) - but then again, those are not similarities that really say "these two people would have a successful romantic relationship." They would probably both be better off with someone who would know when to say "Chill, dude." Like, possibly every morning at breakfast.
And I don't think Charles and Rosa have much of anything in common and also he's scared of her (she breaks things! when she's angry! she's scary! I love her but she really is scary), so it's hard to see that working out as endgame even though there are little flashing neon signs around them saying ENDGAME ENDGAME ENDGAME.
One of the things I really like about the show, actually, is that - although Amy Santiago likes to see herself as the mature one to Jake's shenanigans - neither she nor Rosa end up acting as straight woman to the rest of the team; they're just as immature as the guys, and they don't get saddled with the show's emotional labor.
(Plus, although Rosa and Amy's friendship isn't a big plot point in the season, they are friends and they do hang out with each other and crack wise and I like that about them.)
Most of the emotional labor on the show goes to Terry, the sergeant who describes himself as a "proud mama hen" of his team (and whose big conflict this season is his desire to stay safe so he can take care of his family versus his duties as a cop), and to Charles Boyle, clumsy, good-natured, food-obsessed, and always on the lookout for ways to promote team togetherness. He's so into Thanksgiving that the team actually puts together a bingo card of Charles' Thanksgiving quirks.
Also, Holt's deadpan. That deadpan, you guys, he kills it.
It strikes a pretty perfect balance between the cops' work and personal lives, too. Sometimes when I watch cop shows I feel like shouting "Get back to your precinct already!" at the screen (usually I don't continue with those shows for very long) - I think romantic entanglement is the easy mode of television writing (or just plain story writing, for that matter), certainly easier than coming up with cop-related things for cop protagonists to do.
The only clouds on my horizon with this show, in fact, are the looming signs of future Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago and especially Charles Boyle/Rosa Diaz. I've warmed very slightly to Jake/Amy, because underneath their surface differences they have some important similarities - they're both competitive and immature and desperate for approval (Amy is much more obvious about it; Jake expresses it by pretending he doesn't care at all while practically breaking his neck to get it) - but then again, those are not similarities that really say "these two people would have a successful romantic relationship." They would probably both be better off with someone who would know when to say "Chill, dude." Like, possibly every morning at breakfast.
And I don't think Charles and Rosa have much of anything in common and also he's scared of her (she breaks things! when she's angry! she's scary! I love her but she really is scary), so it's hard to see that working out as endgame even though there are little flashing neon signs around them saying ENDGAME ENDGAME ENDGAME.
One of the things I really like about the show, actually, is that - although Amy Santiago likes to see herself as the mature one to Jake's shenanigans - neither she nor Rosa end up acting as straight woman to the rest of the team; they're just as immature as the guys, and they don't get saddled with the show's emotional labor.
(Plus, although Rosa and Amy's friendship isn't a big plot point in the season, they are friends and they do hang out with each other and crack wise and I like that about them.)
Most of the emotional labor on the show goes to Terry, the sergeant who describes himself as a "proud mama hen" of his team (and whose big conflict this season is his desire to stay safe so he can take care of his family versus his duties as a cop), and to Charles Boyle, clumsy, good-natured, food-obsessed, and always on the lookout for ways to promote team togetherness. He's so into Thanksgiving that the team actually puts together a bingo card of Charles' Thanksgiving quirks.
Also, Holt's deadpan. That deadpan, you guys, he kills it.
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no subject
Date: 2016-01-16 03:08 pm (UTC)neither she nor Rosa end up acting as straight woman to the rest of the team; they're just as immature as the guys, and they don't get saddled with the show's emotional labor.
I think that's one of the best things about the show: no one is stuck being the straight man. Everyone is absurd and competent and funny in their own way. It's a true ensemble.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-16 11:02 pm (UTC)And yes! I love what an ensemble it is. Even Scully and Hitchcock get the occasional moment!
no subject
Date: 2016-01-17 01:23 pm (UTC)--perfect way of putting it.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-16 04:29 pm (UTC)Another thing I liked about the show is that there's no "pretty girl." I mean, all the women are pretty, but their personalities are way more important than their looks.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-17 02:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-17 01:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-17 02:14 pm (UTC)