ok ok listen i know a lot of people have been bringing up the fact that they dont like brooklyn nine nine because they feel like it’s a “pro-cop show” and it’s “idolizing a gross system” but like?? please try to understand that that is not the point of this show at all?? they have explicitly stated the problem with the police system in one of the episodes, where amy lists real concerns and holt puts up a poster that says “tell us how we can be better.” this is one of the very few shows who i see actually addressing real problems like gun control issues, homophobia, racism, and transphobia (it was just a mention, but still way more than any other show), while still being lighthearted and hilarious. just because this show is set in a cop setting does not mean they are praising anything?? please don’t diss an genuinely funny, good show so quickly because of that. it’s not perfect but it’s trying so much more than anything else on tv right now.
It should also be noted that outside of the squad itself, there are many, many policy officers that are depicted as corrupt, racist, and otherwise not at all praised or glorified. Both narratively and explicitly through character dialogue, the world of the police force that the characters exist in is criticized and challenged – not romanticized. And the point of the show, at the end of the day, is not the great acts of heroism these cops do. It’s about the deeper bonds between the characters and their completely zany quirks; cop stuff is just like, On The Side. So idk just … i completely understand aversion to any cop rhetoric in media that isn’t obviously negative, but maybe before you write off b99 as inherently disgusting or condescend any of its viewers who dare to praise it, maybe actually become familiar with the show itself?
this is important and also just to add on, this is one very small squad (one captain, one sergeant, and like 6 detectives) in one precinct, in one city in the us. it’s known by the characters that, by and large, cops are not like them, and they kind of acknowledge that while they can’t change that, they can themselves be “good cops”. notice how they hate the vulture and wuntch who are portrayed as bad people but also seen as being the kind of cops/captains that the 99 squad wants nothing to do with. notice how in coral palms the cop they run into is all the negative stereotypes of a cop and it truly bothers jake and holt. they know they are not the standard and the show, i think, makes that very clear.
Well from some cursory looks into the tag, there are already so many detailed, well-written analyses about what makes this ship so amazing so I’ll just be repeating what so many people have said but essentially it boils down to this
1. They are functional and healthy
2. Neither of them lose their personalities even when they get together.
3. Yet because of number 1, number 2 does not hinder them from growth.
1. They are functional and healthy
For me, I realized we weren’t going down the typical route with Peraltiago when Jake and Rosa have this conversation
Because this is a typical trope in fiction period, someone likes someone else but doesn’t do anything about it because of insecurity or whatever else and yet feels entitled to their crush and justified in their possessiveness of their crush and the show 1) addresses that trope and its toxicity through Jake essentially commenting on how ridiculous it is 2) [re]-establishes the respect that Jake has toward Amy which is a respect that is seen throughout their relationship
and that respect and affection also manifests itself in different ways, such as making an effort (and not begrudgingly) to invest themselves in the other’s interests to better know and communicate with each other:
(I mean look at how happy Amy is that she’s making Jake happy with this)
and when there are arguments and when there is tension, which is realistic, they can’t be perfect all the time, the argument leads not only to an apology but an awareness of what the argument/tension is about and they grow together because they aren’t too proud to apologize to each other and communicate
And seeing a healthy, functional relationship on TV is actually quite radical and refreshing.
2. Neither of them lose their personalities even when they get together
When Jake and Amy finally get together, they don’t morph into a personality-less couple whose plotlines only ever revolve around each other and their relationship, they’re still individually autonomous characters and do the things, act the way they did before they got together
while of course taking on each other’s habits in a way that’s actually adorable and contextaluzied within a scene
and there are moments in which they actively express that, like during the annual Halloween Heist
and even when they have an influence on each other, they’re still very much themselves in the way they interpret said influence
which is important because it doesn’t feel like we’ve lost Jake and Amy as who they were before their relationship so there isn’t any sense of the relationship ruining the fabric of the show.
Yet because of number 1, number 2 does not hinder them from growth.
Which can be funny
and funny as well important. When Amy points out the sexism her father and Jake are exhibiting when they meet, Jake takes that to heart — and it actually helps him solve a case
and their faux-arguing about things that on paper should drive the other crazy actually endears them to one another and they recognize the healthiness and beauty of that balance
So that’s a summation of three reasons why I think they’re great 🙂
ifesbob 