Brooklyn Nine-Nine Review: The Big House Pt. 2 (Season 5 Episode 2)

It happened. It finally happened. A sitcom got through an entire prison arc without making a single, solitary, rape joke!

In all seriousness, Brooklyn Nine-Nine broaches soap, showers and homosexuality in the prison context without ever making a joke about sexual assault. I could cry I feel such relief and a blossoming trust in Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s writing team.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 5 Episode 2, “The Big House Pt. 2” builds upon the quirky, dark, heart it has developed over the years.

It is at its absolute strongest when it gently pushes on its characters’ core traits, such as when Captain Holt has to pretend to be a horny straight man and he accomplishes this by donning his husband’s baseball cap (which he hilariously calls a “rose-shearing hat”) and chats up a security guard about his make-believe mistress’s heavy breasts.

The basic plot of the episode is actually pretty tired as it follows Rosa and Jake navigating being in prison because of a frame job orchestrated by last season’s Sergeant Melanie Hawkins, played by Gina Gershon.

The predictable plot doesn’t matter, though, because in the end that’s not why we love Brooklyn Nine-Nine. We love Brooklyn Nine-Nine because of its unique and careful quirk.

“The Big House Pt. 2” manages to deftly overlay nuanced and heartening propositions, like the ability for imagination to provide an outlet for rage, onto safe and formulaic scenarios such as a drug smuggling gang operation. The relationships and characters are memorable, even when the specific plot points are not.

Jake Piralta, Rosa Diaz and the rest of the Nine-Nine manage to use their wits to get to a check-mate by the end of the episode.

Caleb, a guilty to the roof tops cannibal, befriends Jake and the relationship formed manages to be actually funny, without stepping over the line into trivializing the gravity of horrific crimes. It is a true testament to the talent of Tim Meadows, who plays Caleb, that this character adds to the power and effectiveness of the season.

A cannibal turned BFF could have easily slid into an uncomfortable zone of gruesome or shock value humor. Caleb’s face is so soft and contrary to the reality of his actions that we feel cozy embracing him as an admittedly troubling friend.

Rosa’s journey is likewise true to her character as an antisocial warrior. We don’t see her making friends, but we do see her true friends in the Nine-Nine going to the library and elsewhere to get justice for her.

The result turns out somewhat unexpected, as it’s not the team’s ingenuity, but Captain Holt’s side deal with Seamus Murphy, that secures the acerbic goddess’s release.

Each scene that gets to the happy result of Rosa and Jake being released from prison is punctuated by tender, witty moments.

Gina is the missing element and the attempt to fill that void with an outlandishly sexualized Hitchcock’s is Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 5 Episode 2’s only big fail. By the end of the episode though, this is made right when Hitchcock’s character once again find its sweet spot as a slightly creepy, ever so incompetent officer.

The Big House Pt. 2 also delivers another episode long satire bit that delights. Boyle, still blonde, is producing a true crime podcast and the little digs and subtle references to the community of true crime podcasts and podcasts listeners is nothing short of spectacular.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 5 Episode 2, “The Big House Pt. 2” covers truly morose material but the feeling we are left with is just joy.

Holt’s last scene on the episode presents a delicious first glimpse into what the Captain looks like with a chink in his armor. Especially because it marks a departure from only utilizing humor to highlight Holt’s identity as a black, gay cop, we are delighted to discover where this exploration of character and ethics takes us!

This show is at its absolute strongest when its a full on ensemble. Now that the Nine-Nine is back together, minus Gina, #FindGina,  we are looking forward to an even stronger episode next week!

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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