Brooklyn Nine Nine 3x6 'Into the Woods': When Robots Cry

Brooklyn Nine Nine 3x6 is a tad uneven with re-treaded character ideas but remains hilariously on top of its game.

Reviewed while relaxingly listening to 'After Rain' and a ton of other stuff by Nuage. And getting reacquainted with Grimes.

When I was in college, I participated in a friend's computer science experiment. Without getting into all the details, I was led to believe I had made a robot cry (in truth it was just a friend impersonating a robot, but I had no way of knowing that). I felt pretty shitty. Going in with the perception that the 'robot' is impervious to feelings and pain, only to learn that it only makes them fall harder when hurt is just... unpleasant.

Except in 'Into the Woods.' In case it wasn't obvious, the 'robots' are Captain Holt and Rosa, the latter of whom needing help on how to properly break up with her boyfriend. And the journey goes from both agreeing a break-up text while said boyfriend is sleeping is sufficient, to Holt pretending to be an 'emotional' Marcus in a mock break-up ('I feel acknowledged'), to... well, robots crying. The fear of being alone, because even robots want a companion in the world. It's technically the B plot of the episode, but it was far and away its best. Brooklyn Nine Nine is a brilliant comedy because 1) it has a beautiful melting pot of peculiar characters who simultaneously clash and complement each other in consistently hilarious ways, and 2) it knows its characters, on almost every facet. Terry would believably view a camping trip as only a cesspool of tick-related diseases, and Jake would absolutely forget even the basics of camping, like, food. Amy has no public charisma but thinks she does, and Gina is perpetually tapped into the street-side of the world's zeitgeist. A good team for a product presentation.

And Rosa and Holt simply don't understand basic human emotion. Despite their attempts at robotic detachment, they are both humans and experience human emotion, but they don't understand what they feel. That's why it's a hilariously touching moment when they both break down at the end contemplating the consequences of wariness to commitment. Even Holt, who is in a committed relationship, doesn't really dwell on the finer details too much, so when confronted the hypothetical prospect of Rosa not having her own personal Kevin in her life, he breaks down. But they're still Rosa and Holt, and their way of handling this rush of emotion is to 'acknowledge' it and comment on how good they think they are at this newfound concept of tapping into your feelings. They're not sociopaths, as Kevin apparently claimed. They're just emotional adolescent machines, and they're learning.

The only caveat to Brooklyn Nine Nine's intimate knowledge of its characters is that sometimes it takes their peculiarities a bit far. A joke that runs too long. Like Charles getting stuck in a pit an repeatedly trying to tell himself 'It's a hole, not a pit,' four or five times (Admittedly even the Rosa/Holt plot suffered from this with Holt's overlong detail of a web address). The A plot of Jake, Terry, and Charles going to the woods was a bit uneven all around, although Matt Walsh proves once again that Veep-style humor can often work seamless into any comedy (He's basically Mike McLintock in a different show, and the writers knew how to balance that). It has solid moments, undoubtedly driven by the show's firm grip on the three amigos, but it just wasn't as compelling as it could've been. Primarily because the moral of the plot, that Terry worries too much and needs to relax, has been explored multiple times in previous episodes. Characters rarely grow in comedies, but when we re-tread old lessons the plot can seem stale. Indeed, the woods thread mainly came off as very familiar ground with all three characters.

The Amy/Gina plot was similarly uneven but came off fresher. Amy, being the wonderful bookworm at the expense of social etiquette she is, has an idea for a shoulder booklight you don't have to hold, but, being the socially inept bookworm she is, has no idea how to sell the idea to the NYPD. It's Gina's time to shine (cuz she doesn't already have enough of those). Again, it felt a bit familiar when Gina resorted to making fun of Amy's awkwardness, but overall the plot highlighted how well these two opposites can work together, which is a comedy's bread and butter, and they clearly know it with Gina's self-referential line at the end of the episode that social butterflies like Gina will always need the innovators behind the curtains like Amy. A bit of a bumpy ride getting there, and not as funny as Rosa and Holt-bots, but a nice reminder of the show's core strength.

Brooklyn Nine Nine has created a glorious world of various characters who are so blatantly different from each other, but need each other. The symbiosis and chemistry of the cast can always bail out even the weakest episode. And 'Woods' is in no way weak. It maintains a sufficient level of humor and entertainment, even if more focused in a few plots than others. Rosa and Holt can often deliver a solid funny line in a pinch, even if Andy Samberg's Jake is a bit off his game as he was this week. It's balancing act, and 'Woods' proves yet again that the diverse and uniquely engaging ensemble have each other's backs every episode. Whether I'm struggling a bit with the men in the woods, or traumatically reliving making a robot cry while watching Rosa and Holt let it all out, I feel warm and cozy watching this show every week. And that's how comedies are supposed to make us feel.

Grade: B+

When I got sidetracked

-I would totally buy Amy's Shoulder-Nova. Do you know how amazing that would be as I plow through Robert Jordan's endless Wheel of Time (There are no endings to the Wheel of Time. Apparently Jordan took that a bit literally).

-I'm not kidding. The Rosa/Holt cry out brought back some bad memories in a white room and a perfectly lovable little robot.

-The cold open with Jake eating a nutrient bar for breakfast was hilarious and also a good reminder that I need to buy more Eat Natural Bars (so I had to pause and set a reminder).