The team is excited to spend the weekend at Charles' beach house for a detectives-only getaway, until Jake ruins the fun by inviting Captain Holt. Meanwhile, Charles helps Rosa send romantic texts to her new boyfriend, and Gina tries to get Amy drunk simply for her own enjoyment.
The detectives on Brooklyn Nine-Nine get into so many wacky hijinks. Do they really need a weekend getaway to relax? They are never seen as the productive and rule-following bunch. Yes, they do solve crimes and lock up criminals. But they always want to have fun in their office interactions. The entire precinct at this point feels like a family. And yet, it's important to remember that this is still an office setting with rules that must be followed.Jake and Holt have become friends - to the point that Holt will offer his desk as a way for Jake to hide the fact that he's not wearing any pants either. At the start of the series, Jake wouldn't have been conflicted about Holt never being invited to an outing like this. Because they are now friends though, Jake makes the offer. And yet, the beach house setting was always imagined as a fun and lazy setting to the detectives. With Holt being there, it puts everyone on edge. They don't quite know how to act around their boss when they are suppose to be on vacation. And what does Holt on vacation actually look like? Terry is their boss too but he gets invited because he can relax and provide more alcohol.
Everything works out in the end when everyone agrees that this weekend is simply just an outing for "joshing around." The precinct can make fun of Holt while still including him in their activities. It was painfully awkward though watching them try to appease Holt and his simplistic ways. I actually wasn't sure how to react to Jake's line about the two parties being "separate but equal." That almost went too far but at least he caught it right away. Holt is a man who deserves respect. This outing wasn't meant for him to attend. And yet, they eventually found a way to have fun together and unify the precinct again. The resolution makes the camaraderie amongst the precinct stronger moving forward.
The thing that makes this episode so hilarious though is the frequent cutaways to "how Holt sees the world." Birthday candles are pointless! Only a conman smiles for more than a second and a half! All wheel drive is the same as four wheel drive! They say it's bad to have a TV in the bedroom so he doesn't! Only children need bubbles in their bathes! All of these things were smart and Andre Braugher delivered them wonderfully.
The perception of people by both themselves and others was a theme in the two subplots as well - neither of which had a whole lot to them. Rosa needs help from Charles sending texts to her new boyfriend while Gina hopes a drunk Amy could be her friend. Drunk Amy was easily the second best thing about the episode. It's particularly amusing what kind of drunk she becomes after each drink - spacey, loud, dancer, pervert, confident and ultimately sad. And then, Gina takes care of her in the end which just shows that she likes Amy no matter what she frequently says. That was nice.
Some more thoughts:
- "Beach House" was written by Lakshmi Sundaram & David Phillips and directed by Tim Kirkby.
- Will we ever see Charles' ex-wife? Or will she remain a character frequently referred to but never seen? Like the mayor on Parks and Recreation?
- That cold open was pretty great as both a self-contained story and a way to showcase the current dynamic between Jake and Holt. But why didn't Jake just ask Gina if Holt wasn't wearing any pants? I'm sure she would tell him.
- In the episode-concluding game, I like that even Holt gets the first question wrong. It's nice knowing that he doesn't remember everything that he has said either.
- Holt: "I said it and I meant it!"
