The Apartment is the eighteenth episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's first season.
The squad is called in on the weekend in order to complete self-evaluation forms for Captain Holt. Amy is beside herself in trying to show Holt, in concrete metrics, that she is an excellent detective.
Rosa is in a fouler mood than usual because Detective Lohank, a member of the weekend squad, shaves at their shared desk and clogs up the keyboard with stubble. Charles teams up with Rosa to give Lohank a taste of his own medicine.
Also, Jake and Gina head out to try and find a way to let Jake keep his late grandmother's apartment after his building voted to go co-op and, failing that, find him a new and affordable place to live.
This episode provides examples of:
- Analogy Backfire: Regarding the upcoming evaluations, Terry describes himself as "a proud mother hen" eagerly looking forward to seeing his baby birds fly. Holt points out that chickens infamously can't fly.
- Blatant Lies: When Terry and Holt catch Charles and Rosa in the middle of their prank, they attempt to justify by saying that they accidentally dropped their loose hair and shaving cream in Lohank's locker.
- Character Development:
- For Amy. Jake's speech to her at the end of the episode makes her realize that she's far too desperate for Holt's approval. In later episodes, she still seeks his approval, but eases off quite a bit.
- Also for Boyle, when he apologises to Rosa for his rather creepy infatuation with her all season.
- Dumbass Has a Point: During their combined self-evaluation, Hitchcock proudly points out that he and Scully managed a combined total of fourteen arrests in the previous year. When informed by Holt that this is not enough arrests, he defiantly points out that it technically doesn't matter what Holt thinks as this is a self-evaluation.
- Terry also use this in his What the Hell, Hero? speech to Holt later on, when he points out that while it's still a pathetic amount of arrests, it's actually better than they managed the year before.
- Either "World Domination", or Something About Bananas: Santiago reveals that she can lip-read, though she's not perfect:Amy: I was reading the Sarge’s lips through the window and he either said “bring in Santiago next” or… something about a San Diego nest.
- Freudian Slip: Peralta accidentally calls Holt "dad". He tries to brush it off, but everyone heard it (even the perp he's currently arresting), and no one will let him live it down.
- Hidden Depths: Gina is more responsible than she lets on. She has been saving money for years.
- I Meant to Do That: In his eagerness to roast Peralta's Freudian Slip, the armed robbery suspect admits that he was lying about his alibi. At that point, Peralta tries to claim his Freudian slip wasn't a slip at all, but a "crazy elaborate scheme" to trick the suspect into incriminating himself. Nobody buys it.
- Manchild: Jake shows that he is incapable of taking care of his own home as an adult. He has no self-control when it comes to making purchases and thinks going to a loan shark for a mortgage is a good idea.
- Last-Second Word Swap:Holt: Oh, these will be self evaluations, Santiago.
Amy: Why?! ...se, very wise, sir.
Jake: Nice save. - Meaningful Echo: Played With. Amy asks Jake what he thinks her biggest flaw is, and he starts rattling off the exact same list she had delivered to Holt from a notepad earlier. She is shocked, but then Jake reveals he found her notepad.Jake: But your biggest flaw is you suck at throwing away your secret lists.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Rosa and Boyle quickly rethink their plan to prank Lohank when they learn that his entire life has basically been carpet-bombed with disasters over recent months.
- Never My Fault: Jake doesn't think that it's his fault that his apartment is being sold from under him as he didn't know about it. However, Jake actually received plenty of warning letters that he was too disorganised to notice.
- Pride: When Gina offers a fair solution to Jake, he refuses because he doesn't want to have Gina as his landlady. Not because he doesn't like her or thinks that she would be a bad landlady, but because he resents the idea that Gina has her life more together than he does.
- Reading Lips: Holt decides to call in Santiago for her evaluation next, but she rushes into the office before Terry can even call her. Santiago explains she was watching through the window and reading their lips.
- Ship Sinking: Charles and Rosa have a moment where they decide that they are Better as Friends.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Terry calls Holt out for playing mind-games and undermining what his detectives achieved that year during the self-evaluation.
- Terry and Holt call out Rosa and Charles for pranking a very traumatized man, despite the fact they were not aware of Lohank's life difficulties.
- The Woobie: In-universe, Rosa's deskmate, Lohank is going through hell in life: his wife is addicted to painkillers, his dog was recently killed, and he himself has recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer. This causes everyone to turn against Charles and Rosa for plotting against him to prank him.
- You Answered Your Own Question: Rosa openly admits she has no idea why Lohank wouldn't just admit to his annoying habits... in such a way that makes it abundantly clear why he might be wary of admitting to Rosa that he does things that might annoy her:Boyle: Why don't you just ask him to stop shaving at his desk?
Rosa: He denies even doing it; I don't know why. Next time I catch him shaving, I'm gonna punch him so hard in the mouth, he bites his own heart.
Boyle: ... Could that be why he denies doing it?
Rosa: [as if this is a revelation] Oh yeah, you could be right, yeah. - Younger Than They Look: Lampshaded with regards to Jake's landlord. Jake is shocked to find out that his landlord is two years younger than him. His large bald spot plays a big role in this.Jake: But I call you 'sir,' and you wear a suit and... *gestures to his bald spot*
