Brooklyn Nine-Nine Review: Ransom (Season 7 Episode 12)

Two Cheddar centric episodes back-to-back. Brooklyn Nine-Nine you are too good to us!

And our fluffy boy is just one of the many reasons Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 7 Episode 12, “Ransom,” is an absolute joy to watch from start to finish.

This penultimate episode uses the show’s colourful world of characters and a man’s love for his dog to craft one of the best installments of the season — and possibly the entire series.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine understands the only way for Cheddar’s ransom storyline to work on a comedic level is with complete and utter chaos. The kind Jake, Holt, and Kevin all lean into without a shred of dignity to spare by the end.

This episode goes all-in on saving our fluffy boy and that kind of tenacity is what the situation calls for. In fact, it is the absurd intensity Kevin and Holt bring to the table that allows “Ransom” to work so well. These men will not lose their best boy, not today!

Holt strapping grenades to a vest and beating Cheddar’s captor to a pulp in the middle of the street is exactly the kind of energy we need from this episode.

And not to be overlooked is the level of raw emotion Holt and Kevin display in these moments of distress. The two cold and calculating intellectuals are reduced to spiralling lunatics as they stop at nothing to save their family. Take notes Jake — this is how you parent.

Marc Evan Jackson is always a delight to have stop by the precinct.

But a desperate Kevin swapping outfits with Jake and buying a GPS tracker for every one of Cheddar’s limbs? That’s *chefs kiss* perfection.

The rhythm of banter between Holt, Kevin, and Jake is one we completely entranced by as Jake gets schooled on the essence of what it means to be Kevin and trades out his “cool, cool, cool” catchphrase for the much more dignified, “indeed, indeed, indeed”.

And Jake, being the perfect human being he is, then sacrifices himself to the gun-wielding criminal so Cheddar can escape to the safety of his dads. I mean this is truly some top tier stuff.

The only thing better than Jake being his best possible self is Holt being a complete badass.

Occasionally, something happens that manages to shake Captain Holt to his core and unleash the firey rage underneath his cold robotic exterior. It’s safe to say dognapping a fluffy little boy would do this to any man, but Holt — he goes full John Wick and it is amazing.

Holt: That’s weird, it’s sunny outside.
Jake: Why is that weird?
Holt: Because a shitstorm is about to rain down on that punk.

What proceeds is one of the most ambitious action sequences of the series as Holt gets thrown off the hood of a moving vehicle and beats the living crap out of the kidnapper as Jake looks on in awe. The epic fight concludes with Holt proclaiming, “You took the wrong fluffy boy”.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine doesn’t get much better than this.

The timing of this larger-scale showdown couldn’t have come at a better time too. With the season finale looming, the usual safety blanket of the show’s comedic storytelling gives way to worry that Holt could lose more than his dignity in this fight.

In the end, we get the best of both worlds with juicy stakes and justice for Cheddar

It’s not unusual to see the rest of an episode’s storylines fall flat when the Cheddar content is this good, but not with the sleuth sisters on the case.

Any pregnancy-related storyline instantly has our attention now that Amy is showing and Jake is learning to be a proper dog dad. So having an entire storyline dedicated to Rosa getting Amy the stroller of her dreams feels like winning the lottery. This is the female friendship content we could always use more of.

Whether you love to hate him or just genuinely hate him, Teddy is always a welcoming presence to any Amy related storyline.

His boring demeanour is fully formed by this point, so his talk of pilsners, mailboxes, and spicy Phoenix (San Diego is so yesterday) isn’t just welcomed — it’s encouraged.

Teddy proposing to Amy will never get old and thanks to his skills as the most boring antagonist, neither will this baby stroller storyline.

Unfortunately, our fluffy boy can’t quite carry this episode to perfection with the workplace bone buds standing in his way.

It’s a shame really. Inappropriate brand naming and gross liquids are entirely in Boyle’s wheelhouse, along with his continued delusion that he is more fit than Terry Jeffords.

This business start-up’s potential fizzes out faster than the storyline itself and we are left with a very forgettable endeavour from what should be an iconic pairing. It’s not Terry and Boyle’s fault that their business idea came in the middle of what is potentially the best episode of the season.

Their broth just doesn’t stand a chance of outshining the sleuth sisters and the triple threat that is the Holt household in a time of crisis. Brooklyn Nine-Nine tends to throw in these wobbly third storylines out of necessity and forgets to include some kind of incentive as a driving force.

Only Brooklyn Nine-Nine could take the concept of a dognapping and turn it into one of the best storylines of the series.

We love Cheddar but as it turns out, we also love chaos. After all, chaos is the perfect catalyst to show off the wonderfully unique characters this series has come to cultivate and their distinct comedic language.

Chaos is what has led “Ransom” and “Valloweaster” to victory and it will likely continue to push this season to new heights as we head towards a season finale with no idea how the nine-nine will be sending us into hiatus.

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 Thursday at 8:30/9:30c on NBC.

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