10 Things We Want From Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 4

Season 4 of Brooklyn Nine-Nine starts in just a few weeks, and there have been a few hints during the hiatus about what to expect, including plenty of guest stars and a crossover special!

With those hints in mind, here’s what we hope to see in the FOX comedy’s upcoming season.

1. More excellent guest stars

There are already quite a few guest stars lined up for this season; Entertainment Weekly has announced that Maya Rudolph, Ken Marino, Jorma Taccone, and Rhea Perlman are all set to appear early on. Based on past seasons, we can expect plenty more guests to drop in throughout the year.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine has been pretty good at balancing a fun roster of guests with their main cast so far, and hopefully they’ll continue to do so in the Season 4, bringing in just enough guest stars to have some fun without overshadowing the ensemble.

2. The return of some fan favorites

The show’s roster of guest stars also includes a number of recurring characters, including “The Vulture” (Dean Winters), Doug Judy a.k.a. “The Pontiac Bandit” (Craig Robinson), and Holt’s husband, Kevin (Marc Evan Jackson).

“The Vulture” is fantastic as an adversary for everyone on the squad, Doug Judy’s frenemy-esque relationship with Jake is always a great source of comedy, and Kevin brings out a very entertaining lighter side to Holt. One downside to recurring characters is they sometimes vanish if the actors get bigger roles on other shows or their schedules don’t line up with when the show would need them, but hopefully, these actors will be available and show up again this year.

3. More female-led episodes

There have been a number of episodes in the first three seasons with B-plots that involve Rosa, Amy and Gina and plenty of episodes that feature one or two of the women in the A-plot, but with the hilarious, strong female leads this show has, you can never showcase them enough.

It would be nice to see all three women involved in an A-plot, and it seems like there would especially be an opportunity for this to happen in the upcoming season during Holt and Jake’s absence.

4. Some low-stakes competitive fun

A couple of hilarious episodes in previous seasons have involved the entire squad united against a common enemy, even if it’s just for some light competition or the “enemy” is really more of an annoyance than an actual threat. Seeing Terry or Boyle riled up over a minor situation or Holt getting in someone’s face to defend the squad is always funny.

We’ve seen them go up against the fire department, the Nine-Eight, and even individuals like Deputy Chief Madeline Wuntch. After the way last season ended, it would be nice to see everyone blow off some steam and work together for some low-stakes, competitive fun.

5. Don’t keep Holt and Jake away for too long

The descriptions of some guest stars’ characters confirm that at least one or two episodes, possibly more, will be spent with Holt and Jake in the Witness Protection Program in Florida. This storyline is bound to be hilarious and entertaining, but at the same time, you don’t want it to get stale.

A lot of the show’s best moments come from the entire precinct working together or from throwing together different combinations of characters. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait too long to see Holt and Jake reunite with the rest of the squad.

6. Wrap up the Jimmy Figgis story in the first half of the season

When Brooklyn Nine-Nine focuses on a particular case, it’s usually a case of the week, with the exception of Season 2’s “Giggle Pig” drug task force storyline. But the Jimmy Figgis storyline affects the Nine-Nine more directly. It’s a serious case for the squad, even though they still find ways to make it humorous.

It will be interesting to see how the show handles what could potentially be a long-term arc, but it’s hard to imagine the case lasting the entire season. Wrapping up the case before the winter hiatus will allow for either another arc in the spring or a return to more standalone episodes.

7. An entertaining, non-clunky crossover

Last month during the Television Critics Association press tour, FOX announced that a crossover special between Brooklyn Nine-Nine and New Girl will air in October. It will be interesting to see how smoothly the two shows can mesh with each other, from the characters’ interactions to how the episodes are directed.

New Girl creator and executive producer Elizabeth Meriwether lightly joked about crossover specials when the announcement was made, saying, “New Girl and Brooklyn Nine-Nine will proudly and humbly go where few shows have gone since the 1990s.” I have hope that the New Girl and Brooklyn Nine-Nine teams will go into the special with a certain amount of self-aware humor, and the crossover will be well-received.

8. “The game is True American.”

One specific hope for the crossover? The Nine-Nine playing True American. If you don’t watch New Girl, True American is a game the main characters play that’s described as a drinking game with a “loose, [life-sized] Candy Land-like structure to it.” Also, the floor is lava.

We’ve seen the Nine-Nine let loose, have a few drinks and have some competitive fun in the past, so True American definitely seems like something they would be into. Plus, it could mark a return for the many stages of drunk Amy, who would undoubtedly excel at a drinking game that requires a knowledge of American history. That is, if True American even actually does require a knowledge of American history. The rules and gameplay still aren’t totally clear, which is half the fun.

9. More smooth sailing for Jake and Amy

Jake and Amy spent the entire third season in a pretty stable relationship. Any hurdles they faced were presented at the beginning of an episode and overcome by the end. The two exchanged “I love you”s, reached their six-month anniversary and brought up the idea of moving in together in the season finale.

Their relationship has been a refreshing change from the many will-they-won’t-they relationships on other TV shows. Hopefully, the time spent apart while Jake is in Witness Protection won’t put an irreparable strain on their relationship, and the writers won’t break them up just for the sake of shaking things up.

10. Introduce us to the Santiago family

We’ve been introduced to Jake’s parents, Boyle’s dad, Gina’s mom, Terry’s wife and kids, and Holt’s husband and sister. We got a very brief glimpse of Rosa’s sister in a flashback once, but given Rosa’s aloof and mysterious personality, it’s not surprising we haven’t seen more of her family. That just leaves Amy.

We were told in the pilot that Amy has seven brothers, but in three seasons, we’ve yet to see any of them, her parents or anyone else from her family on screen. As previously mentioned, she and Jake have been dating for a while now and if their relationship continues going as well as it has been, it seems like an appropriate time to introduce her family.

What do you want to see in Season 4? Share in the comments below!

Brooklyn Nine-Nine returns on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 8/7c on FOX.