Brooklyn Nine-Nine review: Amy and Jake take on an important case

When a case brings sexual assault conversations to the detectives of the 99, Jake and Amy have to help solve the case on this week’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Mike Schur has a gift with tackling hard issues in a fun way that still leaves his trademark heart and this week’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine was a prime example of that. When Jake and Amy have to take on an assault case, they quickly learn that it isn’t as cut and dry as they thought.

A woman ends up breaking her coworker’s penis when he tries to sexually assault her and so Amy convinces her to press charges against him rather than taking a deal that would give her 2.5 million dollars. Losing herself in the case, Amy can’t seem to break free from trying to prove that the man sexually assaulted his coworker.

Rosa points out to Amy that in these kinds of cases, 90 percent of the time the woman who doesn’t take the money has her name and career dragged through the mud and the man still gets away with the crime. It’s two steps forward and one step back. But, because she convinced her to press charges, Amy is determined to solve the case.

Eventually, she opens up to Jake about her old boss at the 64 before she transferred. He gave her all the best cases and helped get her her detective badge and then, when she became a detective, he took her out and tried to kiss her because he thought he was owed something.

While, as a woman, this episode isn’t surprising, it does a great job of showing what men should be doing in these kinds of situations through Jake Peralta. He is taking note of what Amy is telling him, learning from the case and becoming aware of what women have to go through on a daily basis.

In the end, they solve the case and prove the victim was sexually assaulted but she has to quit because of the work dynamic changing, which makes Amy feel like a failure. But, when they return to the 99, another coworker is there to report a sexual assault and, as Rosa said, two steps forward, one step back — this means that there is one step forward.

On the other side of the 99, Holt is faced with his old foe, the Disco Strangler. He thinks that the Strangler framed his death, even though he is well into his 80s and very old. Terry and Boyle try to convince him that the Strangler is, indeed, dead but, as we learn throughout the episode, he surprised and escaped to come back and kill Raymond Holt like he always said he would.

Obviously, he didn’t succeed because well, he Heis still an elderly man. But it gave Holt back that fire to feel young again. Overall, this was an incredible episode and a directorial debut for our own Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz)!

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