Episode Recap: ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ Returns for Season 8
On Aug. 12, the eighth and final season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine premiered on NBC with two new episodes. The first episode, titled “The Good Ones,” tries to answer all of the questions fans could have come up with in the past year. Yes, the new season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine incorporates the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It also attempts to tackle systemic racism and police brutality while still being a show about a group of cops.
[Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for season 8 episode 1 of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.]
Rosa quits the police force in ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’
In the cold open of the Brooklyn Nine-Nine episode, Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz) attempts to tell Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and Charles Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio) something important. They insist her announcement can wait and instead show her all the different ways they have learned to high-five while still social distancing.
Once they finish their demonstration, Rosa reveals that she resigned. Jake’s reaction to Rosa’s shocking announcement inadvertently leads to a small fire and the power going out in the building.
After the cold open, the squad holds a party for Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero), as she is returning from her maternity leave. Captain Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher) notes that Amy’s maternity leave lasted longer than initially planned because of the pandemic.
As the group catches up, it is revealed that Hitchcock (Dirk Blocker) retired but still regularly FaceTimes Scully (Joel McKinnon Miller), and Rosa decided to become a private investigator to help victims of police brutality. Meanwhile, Charles has taken it upon himself to improve his allyship, annoying Terry Jeffords (Terry Crews).
Jake tries to prove a point to Rosa
Determined to prove that he can be a good person while remaining a cop, Jake offers to help Rosa on a case she is working on. Together they meet with Aisha Fulton (Shawntay Dalon), a Black woman who was assaulted by two officers after leaving a pharmacy only to be charged with assaulting the police officers.
Rosa and Jake go to the cops’ captain, Captain Lamazar (Rebecca Wisocky). She agrees the case is “problematic” and discloses that the officers in question have multiple complaints against them. Captain Lamazar agrees to help if Rosa and Jake can find proof of what really happened.
When Jake’s tactics of helping fail, he and Rosa get into an argument about being a police officer in today’s world. After their fight, Rosa illegally tries to get the evidence herself. When she is about to be caught, Jake shows up to cause a diversion.
Rosa and Jake take the footage of Aisha being assaulted to Captain Lamazar, but when she watches it she decides to erase it. Captain Lamazar then launches into a speech about how she is “one of the good ones,” but because of all the policies in place, it would be impossible to actually fire the officers.
The best Captain Lamazar can do is drop the charges against Aisha. Jake apologizes to Rosa, and he admits that he might be “part of the problem.”
Captain Holt discloses a personal matter to Amy in ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’
In the B story of “The Good Ones,” Amy notices something is up with Captain Holt. She spends the entire episode attempting to bond with him. At the end of the Brooklyn Nine-Nine episode, Holt confides in Amy that he was acting strange because he was trying to keep his co-workers from realizing something is wrong.
As they speak privately in his office, Captain Holt admits that he and Kevin separated months before, as the weight of the past year severely affected Captain Holt and his relationship.
Season 8 episode 2 of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “The Lake House,” premieres on NBC on Aug. 12.
