Brooklyn Nine-Nine: The Worst Episode From Every Season
It seems Hitchcock and Scully might have written these ones.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine is about as close as a sitcom can get to being perfect. Every comedy show has glaring problems that keep it from reaching its apex, but the Nine-Nine's issues seem to be brushed under the carpet way more than most of its peers. It deserves its status as one of the best modern comedy shows. But, of course, it has still gone wrong many times.
The hit comedy keeps itself exciting by juggling compelling police drama and loveable/goofy characters. The cast keeps everything light-hearted and gets you laughing all the way, while the mysteries and crimes they need to solve keep the narratives interesting. However, the Nine-Nine doesn't always play it safe, switching up the genre and trying new things all the time. Sometimes this works, and sometimes it doesn't.
Each season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine has given us tons of laughter, plenty of emotion and a great time in general. With that being said, there's at least a minimum of one outlier episode in each one that makes you wonder if the writers were taking an off day.
As a quick note, Season Eight isn't included here, as that's yet to officially air in the UK.
7. Season One - The Tagger
Most shows don't get off to a good start; that's just a fact. Even classics like Blackadder, Parks & Recreation and The Office got off on the wrong foot, which is what makes the Nine-Nine so impressive. It made a good impression right off the bat, and while there were some teething problems, they were minute. Still, that didn't entirely save episode two of season one, known as "The Tagger".
In this outing, Captain Holt shadows Jake and puts him on the case of catching a graffiti artist, but things take a dramatic turn when they find out he's the son of Police Commissioner Podolski. Alongside this is a B-plot that shows Gina using her psychic friend to get into Boyle's head.
The episode isn't shy of plus points. The dynamic between Holt and Peralta gets off to a solid start here, and the challenge of keeping Jake in line is fun. But, it's in the Gina/Boyle narrative where things grow a little stale. Simply put, it is tacked on and pointless, with the psychic story feeling out of place this early in a cop show.
Adding to that, it's clear that the characters haven't found their groove yet, which makes them all seem like caricatures rather than real people.