Unsolvable is the twenty-first episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's first season.
Jake is on a roll, having solved 23 cases in a month and setting a precinct record in the process. Holt insists that Jake take the weekend off and take a break but Jake comes back and asks Terry to help him solve Case 52ABX-32QJ, a cold case that had been labelled unsolvable by the NYPD. As they retrace their steps from several years prior, Terry realizes that Jake isn't trying to solve the case for the challenge but because of a much deeper reason.
Meanwhile, Charles is going through a difficult time in his relationship with Vivian. Out of sympathy, Rosa introduces him to "Babylon", a secret bathroom that she and Gina use unbeknownst to anyone else in the precinct.
Also, Amy plans on going on a romantic weekend getaway with Teddy but suddenly remembers that she also promised to help Holt. Panicking, she lies to Holt and says that she has a dental emergency. Wanting to be helpful, Holt offers the services of his dentist brother-in-law. Hilarity Ensues.¨
This Episode Contains Examples the Following Tropes:
- Analogy Backfire: Jake doesn't think abandoning their difficult case is manly; however, he doesn't choose a good metaphor.Jake: A real man doesn't run from a challenge. I mean, do they run from the bulls in Pamplona?
Terry: Yeah. That's the whole point of it.
Jake: Seriously? That seems lame. - Blood Oath: Rosa demands blood when she swears Charles to secrecy regarding Babylon. She pulls out a knife and pricks Charles' finger before he can react.
- Cannot Keep a Secret: Boyle is terrible at keeping secrets. A flashback shows him telling Gina—out of the blue, without any prompting or prodding from her—that the rest of the squad is planning a surprise birthday party for her. He's slightly better at keeping "Babylon" a secret, but when Hitchcock and Scully pressure him to reveal its location, he folds almost immediately.
- Cut Himself Shaving: The prisoner whom Jake and Terry interview is in intensive care. He claims that he slipped and fell onto a shiv, got up and fell backwards onto another shiv, then had a shiv fall from the ceiling onto him. They offer to transfer him to a cell block without so many shivs lying around, if he'll give evidence in the case they're working on.
- The Dentist Episode: Amy lies to Captain Holt about having a dental emergency. As a personal favour, Holt asks his brother-in-law who is a top dentist and oral surgeon. Turns out she really has some teeth issues, and she has to admit to Holt that she was lying.
- Drowning My Sorrows: After their (and primarily Jake's) epic solve, Terry talks to Jake about what's been truly bothering him. Through a Meaningful Look Terry figures out Jake has still feelings for Amy who sits at the bar with her boyfriend Teddy. Terry suggests having a drink over it. Jake says another drink will not help... but that several drinks with a friend might.
- Epic Fail: Apparently in one flashback, Holt deleted an entire hard drive with just a button click during a presentation.
- Faking the Dead: Turns out this is why the cold case seemed so unsolvable: the supposed victim actually faked his death, and was the murderer.
- Fell Asleep Sitting Up: Terry is called into work early and is met by an extremely sleep-deprived Jake sitting at his (Jake's) desk who tells him that he's made a major break in the case and to come with him... but instead of actually getting up, he remains seated and appears to stare blankly at Terry. Once Terry snaps him out of it, Jake remarks that he fell asleep for a second.
- Fingore: Nate Dexter made everyone think he was dead by cutting off his own middle finger and planting it at the scene of the crime.
- Guilty Pleasures: It's revealed through a lie detector that Jake loves Taylor Swift but is kind of ashamed of it.
- Has Two Thumbs and...: Jake shows up in the precinct handcuffed to someone he just arrested.Jake: What has three thumbs and just made another arrest? This guy! (to the criminal) It doesn't work unless you put your thumb up.
- Hidden Depths: Hitchcock and Scully actually can be good detectives, as they're the ones who figure out that Boyle's been given access to Diaz's secret bathroom. Boyle wonders, since when were they so observant, and the answer is that they're only good at finding hidden bathrooms.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Amy lies to Holt about needing dental work done to get out of doing a presentation with him, but when they're both at the dentist, she reveals the lie in a panic, and it's revealed soon afterwards that her thorough brushing has resulted in seven cavities.Holt: I have to say, I feel like you deserve this.
- Lie Detector: Peralta and Jeffords subject the victim's wife to a polygraph test. She passes (five times). Peralta subjects himself to the test to prove that the machine is broken (it is not).
- Love Overrides the Law: Defied for laughs. When Jake is doing The Summation for Terry, the perp claims that he did it "for love". Jake's response is a succinct "Cool motive, still murder."
- Pinky Swear: When Rosa and Gina insist that Charles absolutely needs to keep Babylon a secret, he offers a pinkie swear to prove he's serious. But Rosa insists that isn't enough, and nothing less than a Blood Oath will suffice.
- Pull the Thread: Holt does this almost unwittingly to Amy's "dental emergency" lie, ruining every excuse to wait for the weekend until she's forced to go along with his offer to see his dentist brother-in-law. Gina takes pleasure in watching Amy crash and burn.
- Revisiting the Cold Case: Jake digs up their hardest case they couldn't solve and convinces Terry to join him and investigate with him. It's a murder of one Nate Dexter, a small-time crook. His boat was blown up and there is no evidence except one charred finger and the victim's melted torso.
- Sleep Deprivation: Jake mentions that he's severely sleep-deprived when Captain Holt praises his work ethic and grants him a weekend off. However, Jake opts to work on a cold case and even pulls an all-nighter.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: After her lie about a dental emergency is exposed, Amy says that her teeth are perfect because she brushes them six times a day, three times the required amount. She is immediately informed of the opposite; her excessive brushing has actually stripped away much of the protective enamel around her teeth, leaving her with six cavities.
- Waxing Lyrical: In the conversation where Amy lies to Holt about why she's going to be unavailable all weekend, everything she says keeps turning into Simon & Garfunkel lyrics.
- Wondrous Ladies Room: "Babylon", the secret bathroom that Rosa and Gina maintain in an unused corner of the precinct. It's got three-ply toilet paper, a bucket of those fancy aromatic crystals, and perfect mobile phone reception.
- Workaholic: Jake works on his weekend off to solve this case, but it's more to distract himself as he still has feelings for Amy.
