"Brooklyn Nine Nine" Review: "Full Boyle"

Shepard Price ‘17 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

This week’s episode of Brooklyn Nine Nine focuses on Detectives Peralta (Andy Samberg) and Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio). It shows a new, more confident side of Boyle, and this is because of his new relationship with Vivian (guest star Marilu Henner), his older girlfriend. As those in the office start noticing Boyle’s change in attitude, we see them develop more as friends, thinking that it is good that he is showing off, and allowing him to have this new found confidence instead of tearing him down. This is especially impressive for Peralta, as throughout the episode he starts acting like a good friend and true wingman to Boyle.
As the episode continues on, Peralta starts worrying about Boyle because of his prior relationship problems (referred to as going the “Full Boyle”) that have sprung from being over-committed. Peralta wants the date to go well, so he begins trying to help Boyle stay away from the Full Boyle. Boyle is especially prone to going the “Full Boyle” now because of his pent up emotions due to Detective Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz), as this is his first relationship since starting to go after her. Peralta agrees to let Boyle make this a double date, taking some of the pressure off, and Peralta will keep his eyes out for Boyle to keep him sane. Unfortunately, Vivian’s pick for Peralta’s date is perfect, and Peralta becomes distracted and allows a few not so sane moments to leak through.
After the date, and seeing that Vivian has not been scared off by Boyle’s insanity, and is in fact insane about Boyle, Peralta tells Boyle to go after Vivian “Full Boyle.” Thus, Boyle and Vivian become engaged, which could lead to some interesting future development. This engagement is especially impactful on the Rosa – Boyle relationship, which has been building since the beginning of the show. It will be up to the next few episodes to see where the Rosa & Boyle pairing goes from here.

We also get a new sense of the Peralta – Santiago (Melissa Fumero) relationship that has been building recently because Peralta passes up the perfect date to take care of Boyle, something he wouldn’t usually have done. This may mean two things: he is either now fully committed to having Boyle as his best friend and seeing him happy, or he is thinking more about Santiago romantically. It may also be some of both. After the date, we get some glimpses of Santiago and Peralta, and while it seems not so different on the surface, there is some newer chemistry between the two.
The secondary arch of the episode focuses on Detective Santiago and Detective Diaz dealing with not so sane civilians. After dismissing a vigilante (Nate Torrence) who has critical information, Sgt. Jeffords (Terry Crews) makes the two female detectives learn a lesson by taking away a big case for the two that they have been working on for months and giving it to Scully (Joel McKinnon Miller) and Hitchcock (Dirk Blocker), who listened to the vigilante. Terry wants to teach Santiago and Diaz that they have to deal with the civilians better, especially because that is part of the job description. As the two try to figure out how to apologize to the vigilante and get him to cooperate, they also figure out strategies of dealing with all civilians, and not just the sane ones. This is also figuring into the future of the show because it will be interesting to see how Diaz and Santiago deal with the public from here on out. It appears as if they have learned their lesson, especially after losing a very important case to clumsy and not so observant Hitchcock and Scully.

The tertiary arch is focused on Captain Holt (Andre Braugher) who is coming to terms to being accepted by the Police administration. As somebody runs against him for the LGBT Police Organization President for the first time in 25 years, Holt must come to face the fact that he is no longer the only gay policeman, and that now he is accepted for who he is in the administration, and no longer needs the Organization he founded as a safe haven. He must come to terms with the fact that there are others who deserve the chance to make their impact following his own monumental impact, and that he must allow the new generation’s impacts and welcome them as after effects of his. After initially deciding to destroy his opponent, he eventually pulls his name out, allowing this to be the first impact made for the community after his own, but he also threatens the new President that if he fails, Holt, as founder and writer of the by-laws, knows how to kick him out of office, so Holt keeps a tight leash on the community, but allows it some room and some space to breath.