Brooklyn Nine-Nine Review: HalloVeen (Season 5 Episode 4)

Step back New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, and Christmas. Grand romantic gestures have a new favorite holiday — Halloween!

Jake Peralta proposes to Amy Santiago as the ultimate heist on Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 5 Episode 4, “HalloVeen.” Once the giddy shrieks and joyful tears subside, it’s clear that Rosa Diaz is absolutely right: “Romantic epiphanies are dope.”

Jake delivers his marriage request as the culmination of his long-game plan to win the 99’s annual heist contest. After shouting out her victory brag about how well she knows Jake, Amy gets the trick (and treat) of her life when she reads the cummerbund’s fresh inscription: “Will you marry me?”

With that, Brooklyn Nine-Nine gives us the best TV marriage proposal episode ever. I stand by that. BEST EVER.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine fans look forward to the annual Halloween Heist episode just as much as the show’s detectives do.

Okay, that’s a lie. There is no way any fandom could love a show the way the 99 loves its heist.

The engagement is a gasp-inducing surprise. But from its opening sequence, Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 5 Episode 4 oozes with love for each character’s unique -isms.

This episode earns the superlative Best TV Proposal Episode because each second affirms how deeply and authentically the 99 team cherishes each other. The powerful relationship between Jake and Amy shines like a diamond.

No bit of dialogue is wasted, and the episode provides a full pillowcase of clever jokes.

At the top of the episode, it’s 3:00am when Jake rises from bed, ready to unfold his epic heist plan.

The camera pans to Amy, casually draped on the bed, already awake and dressed for action. She proclaims that she knows Jake too well for him to surprise her! Jake retorts that he, too, is already dressed — and he’s made eggs! But, gasp, the eggs are gone! The camera shoots over to the chair in the corner where Captain Holt sits, with a belly full of eggs.

The sequence closes with Jake exclaiming, “I love Halloween!”

Each second of this hilarious exchange is now tinged with a giddy glow because, in retrospect, we know these are the first few moments of Jake’s proposal plan.

The like-mindedness of the 99 is hilariously highlighted when not one, not two, not three, but six different people trick Terry into eating tracking devices by gifting him yogurt.

As the heist is no longer exclusive to past champions, the clever tricks and schemes can expand.

A group dressed as handmaidens from The Handmaid’s Tale surround the 99 staff. There are plenty of quips and zingers jetting back and forth across the stark and comical visual of the red capes circling. It is a dark joke that lands perfectly, because it’s Halloween and oppression is scary.

Amy Santiago delivers one of the stand-out lines of the episode when she looks at the sea of handmaidens, who have their entire bodies and faces covered, and confidently picks Jake out of the crowd, declaring “Hello, Ofamy.”

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is an unapologetic feminist force, and I love it.

None of the incredibly intricate heist moves would be possible if each person didn’t anticipate and understand each other.

Captain Holt knows Terry so well that he figured he’s put the cummerbund under the heaviest file case.

Jake knows Captain Holt so well he guessed that he would send his beloved dog to fetch the cummerbund.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine knows its audience so well that it makes a cummerbund joke an episode-long bit.

It goes on and on, each detail making us laugh but also revealing the fantastic bond the 99 has developed. It’s a game, but it’s also a love poem. 

In perhaps the most romantic part of the entire heist, Jake’s voice catches as he tells Amy she is the best detective he knows. Knowing Jake for the past five years, that is the grandest and most honorable of compliments. Also, her butt is top-notch.

It is ridiculous and over-the-top, but it also means something. These people can throw themselves completely into the silliest of escapades because of the true and binding trust they have in each other as friends and colleagues.

The inside jokes and subtle references draw fans closer, making us all feel like we, too, are on the Brooklyn Nine-Nine team.

The only reason this episode does not earn the full five stars is because I #StillMissGina and that wolverine-masked tease was a bit too much trick, not enough treat.

What did you think of this episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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Brooklyn Nine-Nine airs Tuesdays at 9:30/8:30c on FOX.

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