Brooklyn Nine-Nine Review: The Overmining (Season 4 Episode 9)
This show is usually pretty excellent at using their guest stars just enough to make their appearance worthwhile without overstaying their welcome, so Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 4 Episode 9, “The Overmining,” is a rare episode where the guest star can’t leave fast enough.
C.J. (Ken Marino) is supposed to be terrible at his job and terribly annoying, yes. But even past guest stars who the characters have found terrible or annoying — Madeline Wuntch, The Vulture, Detective Lohank — were at least funny to the audience.
C.J.’s incompetence is just frustrating, which is how Jake and Holt feel, too, but their frustration isn’t entertaining to watch. The split-screen scene where C.J. will not stop talking while Jake and Holt are trying to do undercover work is cleverly done, but it’s hard to laugh when you just want to yell at him along with Jake and Holt.
The episode does provide an opportunity for a classic Jake-Holt team-up. Holt and Jake’s casual “What’s the plan, son?” / “Well, dad…” exchange is a particularly great little moment. They’ve reached the point where they both know Jake sees Holt as a father figure, and they’re both pretty comfortable with that.
Holt gets to be the straight man again after several episodes of him expressing his sillier side. His quiet, smart way of getting C.J. out of the precinct is extremely satisfying.
The first smaller appearances C.J. had this season were fun, and it’s understandable that the writers would want to use him more in his last episode, but it’s a relief to know he won’t be back anytime soon.
Aside from C.J., even the other storylines in “The Overmining” were underwhelming.
Seeing Rosa enjoy things that don’t seem very Rosa-like is usually entertaining, but the B-plot with her and Boyle getting amazing foot massages was a little boring. The highlight was their imaginary scenario where the mayor got murdered as a result of the foot massage place getting shut down.
Terry, Amy and Gina’s B-plot is a little more entertaining.
Similar to how “Skyfire Cycle” showed how great a friend Jake can be, Gina helps Terry out in her own twisted way. She’s said it before, she really does love these losers, and she really does care, even if she’s sneaky about showing it.
Plus, the battle of wills between Terry and Gina when she’s literally on fire is amazing. Their weird relationship is always a lot of fun, as is Gina and Amy’s.
So, naturally, one episode after I mentioned that I was enjoying the night shift, the Nine-Nine gets to go back to working dayside — which will be fine. The night shift provided a nice shake-up, but the show certainly won’t struggle without it.
What did you think of “The Overmining”? 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.
One thought on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine Review: The Overmining (Season 4 Episode 9)”
“…but it’s hard to laugh when you just want to yell at him along with Jake and Holt” could also mean that the actors, especially CJ, played their role really well, doesn’t it? It’s one of my favorite funny scenes in this series.
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