Brooklyn Nine-Nine Review: Admiral Peralta (Season 7 Episode 10)

Jake’s character can very much be defined by two traits, his complicated daddy issues and his love for Die Hard.

So it seems fitting that Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 7 Episode 10, “Admiral Peralta,” would bring together three generations of Peralta men just so Jake can practice the techniques from Bruce Willis’ parenting book, Cry Hard with a Vengeance.

Even better Amy and Jake finally let the Nine-Nine in on the baby secret. Sadly, their announcement is met with little fanfare.

The season’s strongest cold-open ensues as everyone point’s out Amy has been anything but discreet as she tries to hide her baby bump using a variety of objects, including a hazmat suit. The bit finishes beautifully with a fainting spell from Charles after Jake jokes about having twins.

As great as Bradley Whitford is at playing floozie Captain Peralta, Jake’s daddy issues usually work better when spoken about indirectly. Often, adding his father to the mix has us idly twiddling our thumbs as Jake attempts to reconcile with how gross his father’s pilot stories can get.

Something we find ourselves doing as Jake introduces his grandfather into the mix and we fall back into the same mildly entertaining bit. At least the Peralta men are consistent in their parenting styles.

Slowly Brooklyn Nine-Nine begins to tie this supposed curse into Jake’s own insecurities about being a father. He assumes that like all the Peralta men that came before him, he too will set a terrible example for his child. Even for our loveable detective, it’s a valid concern given the situation.

In the end, it is Jake’s determination to be a better father and a gender reveal gone horribly wrong that looks to make something out of this father bonding session.

Which brings us to the highlight of this episode: Jake thinking he could nail a Bird Box-style clean up of his gender reveal cake after his father sends it crashing onto the kitchen floor.

The disaster escalates quickly as the men take off their blindfolds to reveal a kitchen bathed in blue icing. They wonder where it all went wrong and brilliantly, Brooklyn Nine-Nine shows us in a brief flashback where Jake can be seen confidently waving a mop coated in cake around the room.

It’s a scene that should have us screaming over the fact that Jake and Amy are having a boy. Instead, we find ourselves unable to stop laughing long enough to let the news sink in. 

Thankfully, Charles’ tear-soaked face does an adequate job of expressing how we are feeling right about now.

From the start, Terry’s determination to join the precinct’s band as their latest flutiest feels like filler material. Then, just as quickly as the rest of the episode beings to pick up momentum, this subplot goes from subpar to superb.

This innocent hobby of Terry’s turns into the Whiplash parody we didn’t know we needed — and just one episode after a memorable guest appearance from J.K. Simmons himself!

Holt taking to calling Terry the garbage man after each rendition of “The Muffin Man” really brings the insulting nature of this bit home.

It’s a subplot rounded out nicely by Hitchcock and Scully’s latest mishap. The mishap isn’t anything worth noting but these two messing up deliberately to protect the identity of an undocumented immigrant is certainly a nice surprise. Who knew Scully and Hitchcock were so woke?

Jake and Amy are having a boy and we couldn’t be happier for them!

Partially because the Jake and Amy content has been rather sporadic this season. Never knowing quite when a big milestone will come along for them and how long it will last, we will happily devour an entire episode devoted to their baby’s sex reveal party.

Jake and Amy having a second reveal where Hitchcock eats the cake and the crumbs on his face reveal the gender is so on-brand for Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Yet so is the beautiful message this episode manages to pack into Jake’s journey as a soon-to-be father.

Other Cool Cool Cool Thoughts:

• The best line of the episode goes to Captain Peralta: “I bird boxed a woman in Sweden once.”
• Of course, Charles would have some disgusting alternative to their baby reveal cake.
• Sir should always refer to Elton John exclusively.
• Jake seems incredibly invested in his side dream of developing segments for Ellen. As he should, that haunted house makeover sounds real dope.
• Anyone else real concerned by how many Peraltas died in that fire?

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Brooklyn Nine-Nine airs Thursdays at 8:30/9:30c on NBC.

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