A Holt/Kevin-centric episode uncovers new depths for the fan favourite couple.

Among the recurring characters that pop up on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Kevin Cozner (Marc Evan Jackson), the husband of Captain Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher), is a favourite. Holt is a bit of a unicorn in the TV landscape: a smart, dry-witted and highly competitive queer man of colour. At times it’s easy to consider him one of a kind. This is why Kevin is important: his similar temperament and the “hella specific” (as Andy Samberg‘s Jake Peralta describes) way that Holt and Kevin demonstrate affection reinforces that Holt may stand-out among the goofballs of the Nine-Nine, but he is a perfect match for Kevin.

This is why it’s delightful to see Holt struggle with feelings of inadequacy among Kevin’s work colleagues at the university. Holt is typically an unflappable leader, so seeing him get flustered, repeatedly knock over objects and even lose his ability to speak is a new aspect on the character. Six seasons in and Brooklyn Nine-Nine still has new angles on these familiar characters to explore. It bodes well for the continued health of the series.

Another positive to ‘The Bimbo’ (the title refers to Holt’s classification of himself in the eyes of Kevin’s colleagues, to whom he feels intellectually inferior) is that the identity of the culprit who inspires the case doesn’t stoop to being obvious. It makes sense for Jake and Holt to initially finger Dean Alistair (Oliver Muirhead) since the man is so contemptible and mean; having the Janitor be the real thief makes for nice misdirection and confirms that being an antagonist to our heroes doesn’t make someone a villain. Plus: it allows Kevin a moment of victory when he causes his own “kerfuffle” by lambasting the Dean in defence of his husband in front of his colleagues.

Six seasons in and Brooklyn Nine-Nine still has new angles on these familiar characters to explore. It bodes well for the continued health of the series.

The rest of the show’s cast is caught up in the kind of low-stakes hijinks that Brooklyn Nine-Nine loves to trot out on occasion. This time it’s Amy (Melissa Fumero) vs Terry (Terry Crews) in a game of escalating lunches that verges on the ridiculous (it’s a big leap to go from a Creperie to a rented limo and hot dogs at Coney Island to a personally customized zombie paintball experience with New York actors as extras). This is an extremely silly B-plot that seems to exist solely to give the rest of the cast something to do while Holt and Jake are away on the case.

The problem is that the increasingly insane antics between the two team leaders to “snazz” up lunchtime for their respective squads dissolves under even casual consideration. Who was paying for these outrageous excursions?! When Terry and Amy use the money to purchase a new fridge and deck out the break room at the end of the episode, the reparations appear thoughtful, but it doesn’t clarify whether they used the departmental budget (apparently quite tight under Commissioner Kelly’s watchful eye) or if they used their own funds (which Terry can’t possibly have much of with the twins!).

Bottom line: the storyline is mildly amusing (albeit repetitive), but it doesn’t really make much sense.

Random Thoughts:

• Kevin with facial hair could get it. It reminds me of Marc Evan Jackson’s devilish role on The Good Place, but I’m not upset about it.
• Kevin and Jake’s proximity in the bathroom stall? That’s what you call hella intimate.
• Quite a few callbacks to previous episodes, including the third Halloween Heist and last season’s enjoyable Jake/Kevin episode, ‘The Safe House.’ Cue the Nic Cage references!
• Jake confesses that he has been learning Spanish so that he can understand his in-laws and, as a result, has developed his own sense of inadequacy about his height. Thankfully, according to the 1940s census, he is actually above-average!
• There is a lot of “normally subdued people yelling” in this episode as both Holt and Amy give their loud voices a test drive. I quite liked Amy’s increasing exasperation with Gary (Drew Tarver), especially in the final scenes when he keeps whining after she accidentally shoots him with the paintball gun.
• I would NOT enjoy an university acapella group that sings about Harry Potter, regardless of how apt their lyrics are.

Best Lines:

• Holt (describing his insecurities about Kevin’s colleagues): “It would be nice to show them I’m more than just a dumb, hot piece of ass.”
• Holt (after knocking over a vase a second time): “Why are there always flowers here?!”
• Holt (completing the New York Times crossword puzzle “game”):  “Yes, yes, play me my dunces tune!”
• Amy (to Rosa, after Gary complains about being shot): “I shot my husband with a real bullet two years ago and it comes up way less than this.”
• Jake (when Holt and Kevin clasp hands as foreplay): “Y’all are hella specific.”