The Destroyer of Worlds (aka Charles's ex-wife Eleanor) and her 'hostages'.
"Hostage Situation" is the eleventh episode of the third season of Brooklyn Nine-NineCharles Boyle and his girlfriend Genevieve have decided that they want to have kids, meaning that Charles — sterile ever since an unfortunate encounter with a very enthusiastic baseball bat wielding perp — must access a sample of sperm he provided to a sperm bank before his divorce. Unfortunately, his waspish ex-wife Eleanor (Kathryn Hahn) won control of said sperm in the divorce. Even more unfortunately, she not only refuses to hand it over, but in fact intends to destroy it unless Charles abuses his authority as a cop in order to get her out of a lawsuit. Recognising that this situation has all the hallmarks of a hostage stand-off, Jake tries to help Charles recover the "hostages" without Eleanor destroying them or Charles being forced to compromise his ethics.
Meanwhile, Captain Holt and Rosa try to get a perp to crack and reveal his connections to a credit card fraud ring, only for the situation to become complicated when the perp announces he will only talk to Gina. And Amy tries to get Terry's recommendation for a mentoring program she's trying to sign up for, but can't seem to stop accidentally injuring him while doing so.
This episode provides examples of:
- Artistic License – Law: When Eleanor says that Boyle either intimidates someone into dropping the charges against her or she'll destroy his sperm, Jake and Charles should have arrested her on the spot for attempting to extort an officer.
- Berserk Button: Apparently, accidentally receiving Charles's mail is a major one for Eleanor.
- Department of Redundancy Department: From the Cold Open, we have this line:Charles: D'oh, my hands are covered in butter from making butter!
- Divorce Assets Conflict: Charles apparently lost this bad when divorcing Eleanor (something which apparently wasn't helped by the fact that his divorce lawyer ended up marrying her). In their divorce agreement, she got the house, both cars, 85% of his salary going forward, ownership of the sperm he donated to the sperm bank, and his dignitynote The only thing he appears to have managed to keep was their hairdresser, Abigail. A lawyer even outright tells him that he can't believe Boyle signed the contract.
- Entitled Bitch: Being the diametric opposite of her Extreme Doormat ex-husband Charles, Eleanor is a Jerkass who took nearly everything in their divorce — both cars, the house, most of his salary, ownership of his sperm, and even his dignity (literally) — and is now extorting him to get him out of an open-and-shut assault charge, threatening to destroy his donated sperm and deny him ever starting a family with someone else if he doesn't comply.
- Failed Attempt at Drama: Jake's attempt to race to stop Charles from intimidating the priest while listening to AC/DC's "Whole Lotta Rosie" is foiled when the GPS on his phone interrupts the song to helpfully inform him that in 4000ft, he should remain on his present course.Jake: You interrupted the song for that?!
- From Bad to Worse: Played for laughs; the more we learn of the motor accident that's led to Eleanor being the subject of a lawsuit, the worse it becomes. First, we learn that the victim was a ninety year old man. Then we learn he was a ninety year old priest. And eventually:Priest: She came up onto the sidewalk and fractured my hip.
Charles: ...You were a pedestrian?
Priest: Are you technically a pedestrian if you're sitting on a bench? - Freeze-Frame Bonus: The whiteboard that Jake and Charles use to plot their 'hostage negotiations' with Eleanor. All of the photos with Charles and Eleanor reveal her either glaring stonily into the camera or distractedly looking away while Charles gamefully makes an effort to look happy (most notably with their wedding photos), and the various notes and annotations Charles has added suggests a rather miserable married life.
- Groin Attack: Why Charles is unable to have children. A perp hit him in the junk with a baseball bat, and when he was on the ground, just kept hammering on him with the bat.Jake: Gonna be honest, I still don't know why you went in groin-first.
- Hate Sink: Eleanor is a cruel and abusive person to Boyle during their marriage and has mistreated him after the divorce which is very loathsome considering how Boyle is a such a sweet gentleman that it makes her look a monster.
- Jerkass: Eleanor is not a very nice person. She blackmails him with his own sperm as she trying to get a 90-year priest to drop his civil suit against her after she hit him with her car.
- Missing the Good Stuff: After a breakdancer accidentally knocks Holt's coffee off his hands, Holt defuses the situation by busting some moves of his own. Jake tries to take a video of it, but his phone isn't working, and by the time he gets Charles' phone Holt has finished dancing.
- Mood Dissonance: Between the silly voice Charles uses to impersonate his ex-wife and the rather horrible things he repeats her saying:Eleanor: I have all of your sperm.
Charles: But you don't even care about it, Eleanor! Remember?! "Oh hey, Charles! I'll never have a baby with you, because I don't love you, and a child's not going to fix that!"
Jake: [Taken aback] Oof. When he started doing the silly voice I thought it was going to be more fun, but... wasn't. - Overly Long Gag: The perp with the baseball bat spends way longer enthusiastically whaling on Charles's crotch than is necessary to accomplish any possible objective he might have.
- Running Gag: Once again, Jake's Big "NO!" gets interrupted by the format of the episode (this time the credits).
- We Used to Be Friends: It turns out that the perp in Rosa and Captain Holt's case went to high school with Gina, which was why he wanted to talk to her. Gina doesn't remember him — which ends up helping Rosa, since she and the perp eventually bond over what a narcissistic and crappy friend Gina is.Perp: She didn't even know who I was. And we were good friends!
Rosa: On more than one occasion, she's called me 'Gina'. That's her own name.
Perp: [Appalled] No she didn't.
