Brooklyn Nine-Nine Review: Bad Beat (Season 5 Episode 5)

Our favorite detectives make bad bets on Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 5 Episode 5, “Bad Beat.” It’s a joy to watch, even as they “flop” while “down the river.”

Rosa bets on herself to reign victorious in the Buttlympics with chair-sitting champions Hitchcock and Scully. Amy bets on Charles’s balls-to-the-food-truck-walls business venture. And Holt can’t stop making bets, even on toddlers in tiaras.

The episode is light on the serious and heavy on the fun — a perfect follow-up to the emotionally demanding Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 5 Episode 4, “HalloVeen.” Rather than trying to top the Best TV Proposal Ever, the episode smartly pivots back to the prank-y procedural structure.

It is good, classic Brooklyn Nine-Nine: an ace in the hole.

“Bad Beat” has three concurrent storylines that allow us to see less-typical pairings working together.The actors thrive as they showcase their skills, sharpened by the atypical interactions.

We already know Andy Samberg and Joe Lo Truglio sizzle together. It is delightful to see them branch off and have different (but equally funny) chemistry with other actors.

This works especially well because we are sated by precinct-wide fun at the top of the episode, when Peralta pops the BM (Best Man) question to Charles Boyle. Boyle’s inexplicable animosity towards a sparkler-toting Jeffords has me in a giggle-fit before the opening credits.

It is starting to feel like Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 5 can do no wrong!

Hitchock and Scully, often given little that is worthwhile to do, help to showcase Rosa’s silly side. The three engage in a battle of the butts: a contest to see who can remain sitting with both cheeks on their chair for the longest.

The trio throws chair conventions out the window and roll all the way down to the sidewalk to get hot dogs. On the way down, in the elevator, we see Rosa smile her biggest smile of the season, perhaps of the series. The hot dog joy is contagious, and I feel myself squirming with giddiness as the elevators doors close.

Amy and Charles have an equally endearing journey through the episode.

I am sold on Charles’s idea of a murder-themed food truck. It is working in the podcast world — why not true crime food trucks, too?

It is a solid Brooklyn Nine-Nine choice for Amy and Charles to come together and bond this episode, rather than engage in any competition or jealousy. The formulaic response to the Best TV Proposal Ever would be to have Jake’s two great loves be at odds, but having them together in a partnership is both funnier and evidence of the show’s ability to seamless move against tropes.

The main plot line involves Jake going undercover as an expert poker player, and we learn that Holt has an intense gambling issue.

Although gambling addiction is a serious thing, it is treated with gentleness. This works because it is featured as an issue Holt has worked through in the past and is in recovery for, so it doesn’t feel quite as imperative to give it more weighty consideration. It also works because of the quirks.

The poker-centric plot provides a setting for some of the most creative, random, and funny lines of the season. Here are some of the stand-outs:

• Terry’s addiction to food, especially ham. He calls out Captain Holt, saying “he is deep in the ham crate.”
• Jake butchering poker terminology.
• Terry’s tell being his right pec bouncing.
• Holt’s tell being his use of contractions.
• It is unrelated to the poker plot, but Amy loving Charles’s balls is a great moment.
• Jake declaring, “You might as well face it, you’re addicted to math.”
• And the absolute best moment in the episode is when Holt whispers, “There was a pooper.”

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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