Brooklyn Nine-Nine Review: Coral Palms, Part 1 (Season 4 Episode 1)
On Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 4 Episode 1, “Coral Palms, Part 1,” the show gets some necessary, but kind of ‘meh,’ action out of the way to get to the good stuff.
The latter part of the title of Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 4 Episode 1 is really the most important part when it comes to judging “Coral Palms, Part 1.”
An entire episode about Jake and Holt’s witness protection lives in Florida doesn’t quite work for the same reasons that Jake and Holt don’t enjoy their witness protection lives in Florida: it’s not what they’re used to, they miss their friends, and they’re a little bored.
But at the same time, it’s hard to be too harsh on an episode that’s just the first part of, according to SpoilerTV, a 3-part arc.
“Coral Palms, Part 1” gets some necessary information out of the way: Jake and Holt have been living in Florida for the past six months. They haven’t been allowed to be in contact with any of their friends or family. The authorities don’t seem to have any real leads on Jimmy “The Butcher” Figgis, so they’re stuck in Florida indefinitely.
Also, surprise, Jake’s been secretly investigating Figgis himself.
The episode has bits that usually work pretty well in other episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Jake finds out something surprising about Holt, and Holt refuses to talk about it (in this episode, Holt has a tattoo), Jake and Holt have undercover identities…
These situations are always funny, but they usually only last for about half of the episode. Since the entire episode is focused on Jake and Holt in Florida, and there’s no B-plot involving other members of the Nine-Nine, it falls just a little flat after being stretched out for the entire episode.
The main driving point of the episode comes when Jake and Holt get hit by go-karts at their undercover job, and a woman films it on her phone and says she’s going to post it online which, of course, could possibly lead Figgis straight to them. This is the closest we get to a police-work-ish plot.
Jake and Holt agree to pay the woman thousands of dollars so they can delete the video. They don’t actually have thousands of dollars, so Jake gives her a briefcase full of mostly fake money, but even when his trick is found out, he manages to switch her phone.
It’s not the most exciting action the show has ever had, but again, it spurs everything into action.
Holt, who reprimands Jake earlier in the episode for doing his own investigation and risking their covers, says that negotiating with the woman who took the viral video was the first time he’s felt alive in months. He and Jake decide to post the video online to use themselves as bait, hoping Figgis does see it and come after them so that they can finally catch him and return home.
The end of the episode promises more excitement, higher stakes, and more action (closer to what we’re used to seeing on Brooklyn Nine-Nine) on the episodes to come.
Had Season 4 kicked off with a 2-episode, 1-hour premiere, maybe it would have worked better.
Standing alone as a season premiere, “Coral Palms, Part 1” is just okay. It has some funny bits and one-liners. It’s entertaining, but maybe a little boring. Kind of similar to how Jake and Holt feel about their witness protection lives.
What did you think of the Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 4 premiere? Did you miss the rest of the squad? Share with us in the comments below!
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Brooklyn Nine-Nine airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on FOX.
Katie Houlis
Katie is a recent college graduate who spent most of her free time at school binge-watching shows like Battlestar Galactica, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Fringe, and Hannibal. She has watched every single episode of Lost at least ten times each (yes, even “Stranger In A Strange Land”). Current favorites include a bunch of comedies, lots of superhero shows, and a few shows with quite a bit of murder in them.