Brooklyn Nine-Nine Review: Coral Palms, Part 3 (Season 4 Episode 3)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine has had a bit of an uneven start by opening the season with a multi-episode arc, and the conclusion of Season 4 Episode 3, “Coral Palms, Part 3” doesn’t quite stick the landing.
The way the storyline was spread out over three episodes is one of the arc’s biggest problems.
“Coral Palms, Part 1” was kind of slow and didn’t have a whole lot of action in it, but it was necessary to set everything up for “Coral Palms, Part 2.”
Episode 2 was just right — the balance between New York and Florida, and the pacing of the individual plots in each location worked really well.
Episode 3, on the other hand, ends up feeling rushed. A lot needs to happen to wrap the story up, so a whole lot goes down in a very short amount of time.
Fans have heard about Figgis’s reputation, and even heard his voice in earlier episodes, but he isn’t actually shown on screen until halfway through Season 4 Episode 3, and then he isn’t given much time to make an impression.
Since this whole arc began because of Figgis, it would have been nice to get to spend more time with him, especially since he was played by guest star Eric Roberts.
The Nine-Nine’s plan to capture him also feels very rushed.
We all know how TV shows work, so of course their plan doesn’t go perfectly and Figgis gets the upper hand. And of course the Nine-Nine regains control of the situation and catches him in the end.
But because this all happens within a matter of minutes, the stakes never really feel very high.
Yes, Figgis is in custody, and Jake and Holt can go home, but just because the ending of the “Coral Palms” arc wraps everything up neatly doesn’t make it completely satisfying.
While the pacing of the episode and the plot are rushed, the jokes are really the episode’s saving grace. The cold open with a Florida local news broadcast, Holt sewing his own wound up because Jake is grossed out, and everything about Holt and Gina’s determination to help the squad all provide laugh-out-loud moments.
One thing I was personally hoping to see in Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 4 was Boyle getting dad advice from Terry, but the show went in a different direction with the relationship between new-dad Boyle and father-of-3 Terry: Boyle not-so-subtly judging Terry’s parenting choices.
The Boyle-and-Terry pairing is one that isn’t seen on its own very often on the show, so hopefully they’ll continue to try to out-Dad each other in future episodes.
Jake and Amy’s reunion is also handled nicely. It makes sense that they would feel a little awkward around each other after not having any communication — at all — for months. On other shows, the strain and awkwardness might lead to a break up. But Jake and Amy get through it, confront the issue and exchange “I love yous.”
It remains to be seen if there will continue to be some lingering awkwardness between them in future episodes, but so far, the writers have been great at moving Jake and Amy’s relationship forward and not creating unnecessary tension just for the sake of shaking things up.
Things won’t go back to normal on Brooklyn Nine-Nine just yet; next week is the Brooklyn Nine-Nine/New Girl crossover. After that, though, fans can expect a return to the Nine-Nine we all know and love.
What did you think of “Coral Palms, Part 3” and the “Coral Palms” arc as a whole? Do you think the show should do more multi-episode arcs in the future? 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.