Brooklyn Nine-Nine Review: He Said, She Said (Season 6 Episode 8)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 6 Episode 8, “He Said, She Said” is a tender and timely step forward in how TV portrays the impacts of the patriarchy on women at work.
The first move the episode makes is to have Hitchcock sit this one out. This choice helps me keep the faith in Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
I am so over Hitchcock and the jokes about his perverted and line-crossing behavior. Those jokes, whether they are about Hitchcock or come from Hitchcock, add nothing to the show.
It would be hypocritical and would cut against the entire impact of “He Said, She Said,” to have Hitchcock on screen.
I am thrilled Brooklyn Nine-Nine recognizes that and lets us enjoy this episode without any hangups. Now, if the show would just nix all the prostitute jokes, that would be great.
Peraltiago is an amazing ship.
This episode not only continues to prove that getting a couple together doesn’t make them boring.
It also shows us how a couple can talk about sexual assault and systemic sexism in a way that is centered on the woman’s experience and the couple can grow closer as a result of the discussions.
Incredibly, the dialogue and filming (by the inspiring rookie director Stephanie Beatriz) manage to be sincere, realistic, and entertaining.
Sometimes Brooklyn Nine-Nine is pure magic in how it covers tough social justice topics.
Amy and Jake pull off that magic trick on “He Said, She Said.”
AMY: I didn’t speak up becasue I felt like maybe I didn’t actually deserve my poromotion and if I said something maybe I wouldn’t get any more promotions.
Importantly, Jake doesn’t question Amy’s experiences or compare them to his own.
He is far too smart to “not all men” his wife, but he takes his communication a step further away from toxic masculinity by doing his research.
After Amy shares some of her experiences with low-key sexism, aka implicit gender bias, Jake watches a Netflix documentary all about feminism. The moment is a quick second on the episode, but the significance of the interaction is much grander than that.
Jake doesn’t burden Amy with explaining feminism to him. That’s not her job.
Instead, Jake takes responsibility for himself and makes sure he knows about this thing that is impacting the love of his life. It might be the most romantic thing I have seen on TV.
I am not one to put ships on a pedestal or out there as an example to follow. They are fictional after all.
But, I think it is safe to say that Peraltiago is not just #Goals, they are also legitimate role models for viewers.
I just snap away during my favorite part of the episode: the snippets of low-key sexism Amy can think of off the top of her head.
The mini-vignettes are perfection.
The one that hits me the most is the guy asking for a police officer, failing to realize that Amy is an officer, and recognizing Jake as an officer even though he is in plain clothes.
It feels like some kind of catharsis to have this called out and shown so succinctly and accurately!
I love that this one gets a bit of an extension in time so we can enjoy Amy’s affinity for wearing her uniform.
I could watch an entire episode of those vignettes and be pleased as punch.
That brings me to the weakest part of the episode, the boring b-plot.
It is far from horrible and it does give a few laughs, but the Captain Holt-centric story feels as repetitive as Holt’s stories about Ernest Zumowski.
It is a waste of precious time because there are other characters who we haven’t spent as much time with, but who deserves more development.
Yes, I am talking about Terry. For all of Season 6, Terry has been incidental to the other characters on the show. On Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 6 Episode 7, “The Honeypot,” we got a glimpse of a Terry-focused story. But it was too brief and shallow.
The show would definitely benefit from letting Terry be the main story on an episode or two.
The meh, but still funny, b-polt on the episode is its only flaw.
And the strength of the wonderfully executed story about sexism and feminism in the workplace earns the episode five stars.
Rosa’s realism mixed with Amy’s idealism is a gorgeous portrait of how nuanced our ideas and discussion can be when it comes to sexual assault.
The place they come to it important.
AMY: We can be different and still have the same cause.
ROSA: Two steps forward and one step back is still a step forward.
The 99 precinct continues to deliver the laughs and lessons that we crave from our comedies. I am so excited and relieved that the show has been picked up for a seventh season.
That gives me hope that TV will continue to take these important steps and support Brooklyn Nine-Nine as it leads the way.
What did you think of this episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Brooklyn Nine-Nine airs at 9/8c on NBC.
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Janelle Ureta
Janelle Ureta is equal parts Veronica Mars, Raven Reyes, and Rebecca Bunch, but she aspires to add some Tammy Taylor to the mix. An attorney turned teacher, Janelle believes in the power of a well-told story. She is currently exploring how to tell short stories, 140 characters or less, on twitter. She loves to talk about TV, and right now she can't shut up about Timeless, Dear White People, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The 100, or Younger.
4 comments
the episode was boring and dumb
It really resonated with me and I found it very fascinating, never boring. I think this season is doing a good job of having a lot of variety between episodes, so there’s something for everyone!
This episode was incredibly boring and completely ridiculous. The insulting way it portrayed the majority of men as thoughtless misogynists and the women as helpless victims was just garbage and a weak attempt to pander to radical feminists (the only crazies who see the world this way). Easily the worst episode of BB99 I have ever seen, Holt’s hilarious side story barely kept me watching. Less cringey virtue signalling and more classic Peralta banter please.!!
PS Hitchcock is a far more humorous and interesting character than Amy “im a victim” Santiago…
I agree with Tim. This episode was unwatchable garbage. The writers took Jake (“I’m now such an oh-so-perfect feminist it hurts”) Peralta and Amy (“I’m now a victim, but at my previous precinct I happily used my sex to secure all the best cases and a promotion”) Santiago and completely changed their characters in order to push a boring men-are-irredeemably-bad leftist agenda.
It’s a shame. This show is usually funny.
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