Brooklyn Nine-Nine Recap: 'Jake And Sophia'

Jake, Sophia and Terry

In this week's episode, the driving focus is both a trial that Terry and Jake are a part of and the fact that, as Jake puts it, dating hasn't been going well and he's definitely going to die alone. Jake's romantic life has been a major part of Season 2 so far. Things didn't go well with Amy and so he's trying to put himself out there, which is clearly the show just stalling until Jake and Amy end up together. But this has still provided for some pretty funny moments involving how bad Jake seemingly is at dating.

Terry advises Jake that his problem might be that he needs to talk about things other than work, and apparently cool police stories is all Jake ever talks about on his dates. I love the fact that unlike most sitcom characters who generally despise their jobs, Jake is actually super into his to the point where it's his entire life.

So Jake takes Terry's advice and hits it off with a girl at the bar. The two sleep together, a fact which Jake brags about to literally everybody, only to find out that the girl, Sophia (Eva Longoria), is the defense attorney in the trial, and that he has just literally slept with the enemy.

The relationship between Jake and Sophia actually works pretty well here in the short time we spend with it, and though the two really hate one another's profession, we can oddly kind of see how they would work together as they steal each other's catchphrases and are both equally passionate about what they do.

And Sophia ends up being a worthy adversary for Jake, winning the case and outmatching him. Thus begins the relationship of Jake and Sophia, which I could actually see working for a good chunk of this season. But Eva Longoria has only signed on for three episodes, so either much of their relationship will take place off screen, or this will be a relatively short distraction from Amy before Jake inevitably realizes his feelings for her are still there.

Still, this storyline ends up working pretty well, and it's fun to see Jake and Sophia's dynamic once they're pitted against each other, almost like a light version of Holt and Wuntch from throughout the season. Terry doesn't have a whole lot to do except for provide romantic advice for Jake throughout, but it's kind of sweet to see the two friends there for each other throughout this season.

Santiago, Rosa, Scully and Holt

Meanwhile, union rep elections are happening, and we find out that Scully has held the position for years with no opposition and is pretty terrible at it, still pronouncing "union" as "onion." Rosa realizes both that Scully needs to be ousted and that Santiago would be great at the job, so she basically forces her into running.

But when Santiago doesn't want the position, afraid of upsetting her superiors when she so desperately wants to become captain someday, Rosa basically aggressively forces Santiago into running. She prints up flyers all around the office and sets up a debate, both of which Santiago tries to sabotage.

It's been great to see the friendship between Santiago and Rosa develop throughout the season, and it's kind of similar to April's relationship with Leslie on Parks and Recreation. Rosa is pretty tough and seemingly uncaring, but she actually does have a spot in her heart for friends. And I love the dynamic of someone basically aggressively, angrily helping someone achieve their dreams, as Rosa does in this episode.

Meanwhile, we also get some great Holt moments, mostly involving him turning around in his chair. He can't get involved in the union, but breaks the rule because he also realizes that Santiago would be great at it. The relationship between Holt and Santiago has also been a great point this season, and I love the idea that it's kind of a big deal for Holt to be breaking this rule for her, even if literally nobody else really cares that he's breaking it.

In the end Amy wins, and it's great to see a little victory for her and for her to be slowly gaining some more power. Holt smiles on at Santiago as if looking on at a daughter achieving great success and being proud of everything she's achieved. Hopefully we see more of Amy as union rep this season and that the union stuff doesn't just disappear into the background again.

Gina and Boyle

Despite breaking up, the Gina and Boyle storyline is still happening, as Boyle had a hotel room booked for them which now only one can have. They both want it, obviously, and so their storyline this week is all about them trying to sabotage each other for it.

I'm happy the show has ended the Gina and Boyle sleeping together storyline, because there's only so long that can go on for, but seeing the aftermath is pretty funny, and these characters do undeniably have a pretty great dynamic. I love seeing them both equally as into something, as they can both actually be pretty passionate, ruthless people when they need to be.

As it turns out, trying to sabotage each other ends up working against both of them, with Holt forcing both of them to work the night. This leads to a pretty weird ending where Gina and Boyle's parents both stay at the hotel room and presumably are about to sleep together. This is probably just a throwaway gag, but how weird would it to be if the show followed up on a storyline where Gina and Boyle's parents are now sleeping together?

Overall, "Jake And Sophia” is a pretty funny episode which gives Jake a formidable opponent, gives Amy a little victory, and continues the seriously messed up relationship of Gina and Boyle. Some of the plot is a little derivative, especially the whole "star crossed lovers/romantic fling gone wrong" thing, but if not one of the best episodes of this season, this was still a pretty funny half hour that fits in with an overall incredibly strong season of television.

Other funny moments
-Another great cold open with Amy being late and everyone trying to guess why. Holt gets in it on guessing she's in line at the bank, a pretty boring guess which ends up being right, getting Holt more excited than we've seen him in a long time.
-Rosa tells Santiago she's into nerd stuff like writing things down, while she just forgets stuff like a cool person.
-"I heard about a guy who died while eating hot wings. He was terminally ill beforehand, so it was unrelated."
-Gina on her relationship with Boyle: "It was slightly less gross than I expected."
-Scully apparently considered Diaz to be his best friend, which is actually really sad.
-Jake apparently plays ping pong with Sophia, which is hard since she didn't have a table or paddles and they used avocados instead of balls.
-"Now you've done it. You've made me turn my chair."
-I love the implications that Jake is probably really bad at sex, referring to it as "colitis."
-"Says the guy who uses a sunglasses case as a wallet." "Stuff can be two things!"
-"You think John Adams was just an idiot?" "No, it was a miniseries I didn't watch because it looked like a book."
-Another great Holt flashback to him rebelling against his superiors by saying "I strongly disagree."

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