"Admiral Peralta" is the tenth episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's seventh season.
Jake and Amy reveal to the Nine-Nine that they're expecting a baby, but everyone knew already. One thing no one knows, however, is the sex of the baby and the expecting couple are throwing a "sex reveal party." Jake decides that this would be a good opportunity to help Roger, his father, reconnect with his own father: Admiral Peralta. However, tensions and grudges run deep in the Peralta family and Jake struggles with trying to reforge family connections.
Back at the precinct, the DA's office is demanding progress on a case flagged by the mayor. Amy and Rosa step in to make sure the case gets closed. Unfortunately, Amy assigned the case to Hitchcock & Scully! She and Rosa find themselves trying to salvage things from the mess those two left behind.
Meanwhile, a flautist's position opened up in the NYPD band and Terry decides he wants to try out. He turns to Holt, a flute aficionado, for help, but the captain turns out to be a brutal taskmaster.
This episode contains the following Tropes:
- Anti-Climax: Terry's sub-plot builts up to a dramatic audition. Instead, he's immediately selected because he's the only flautist to have come in.
- Breaking the Cycle of Bad Parenting: Roger believes that Jake will break the cycle of horrible Peralta fathers because he makes genuine efforts to be a good dad, such as reading parental books and hosting a gender reveal party, even though his baby hasn't been born yet.
- Call-Back: To "Two Turkeys" and Roger accidentally slicing off his thumb in that episode.
- Carrying a Cake: The "sex reveal cake" is knocked over when Roger tries to catch a beer can thrown by Walter. With Boyle's help, they make a new one, but an accident with the food coloring made the inside green.
- Fainting: Jake is disappointed that no one was surprised by his and Amy's announcement, noting that he at least expected Boyle to faint; Boyle tries but can't faint on his own. Later, Jake says they're having twins just to make Boyle faint for real.
- Fingore: Roger accidentally slices off his other thumb while slicing cake.
- Freudian Excuse: Peralta fathers and sons have been clashing for generations, each passing the bad relationship down to the next.
- Has Two Thumbs and...: Roger is in the hospital, recovering from having his thumbs reattached and congratulating Jake on his impending fatherhood. But then:Roger: Hey, who's got two surgically reattached thumbs and is super proud of his son?
Jake: Oh, you don't have to...
Roger: This guy.
(Roger points his thumbs at himself, then screams in pain) - Hidden Depths: Hitchcock and Scully are well aware that undocumented immigrants are often unable to testify in court, even if they witnessed a crime, because then they risk being deported by ICE, and choose to protect the witness' identity, even though it means their case comes to a standstill.
- Hide Your Pregnancy: Invoked. Amy's shown hiding her belly behind boxes, newspapers, and a hazmat suit, lampshading how the show has been having fun trying to obscure Melissa Fumero's real pregnancies.
- Inelegant Blubbering: Implied. Boyle gives himself one minute to process being asked to help with the sex reveal cake. Cut to one minute later, and Boyle's face is soaked with tears as he apologizes for the strange noises he makes when sobbing.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While even he acknowledges it doesn't really excuse what a terrible father he was for Jake, it turns out Roger is not unjustified in saying that his own father is a heartless jerk.
- Lampshade Hanging: The squad are less than blown away by the news of Amy's pregnancy, since they'd all already figured it out. A quick montage shows Amy attempting to cover up her bump with boxy objects and baggy clothing, lampooning the ineffectual
Hide Your Pregnancy techniques used on TV shows (and which had been used on B99 during both of Melissa Fumero's pregnancies until this point). - Mundane Made Awesome: Charles' efficient manner of cleaning and abilities in the kitchen become ridiculously badass with the help of some good camera-work and a guitar riff.
- Shout-Out:
- Jake invokes Bird Box when suggesting that the Peralta men clean the kitchen blindfolded.
- Charles showing up to help clean the kitchen and bake the cake in under two hours is lifted straight out of the Wolf's entrance in Pulp Fiction.
- Terry and Holt's sub-plot is reminiscent of Whiplash.
- When the inside of the cake turns out to be green because the blue food dye got mixed with the yellow batter, Amy still happily says that she and Jake will love their "Shrek baby" either way.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- In the most hilarious way. While the Peralta men try to bond, the "sex reveal cake" accidentally falls off the counter and splatters on the floor. So as not to see the color of the cake and hence ruining the reveal, the three of them try to clean the kitchen blindfolded. Turns out that cleaning while you can't see anything is doomed to failure and the only thing the three accomplish was to smear the cake all over the floor, kitchen counter, and even the cabinets, practically painting the kitchen blue.
- Amy and Rosa's case only has one witness and Hithcock & Scully withheld his identity deliberately to try and protect him from immigration authorities. Without his testimony, the case folds and the prosecutor is furious.
- Unless you're very careful with your amounts, yellow cake batter + blue food coloring = green cake, which Boyle and the Peraltas learn too late.
- Unishment: For not writing the name and contact information of an important witness on a report (because he was undocumented and would have risked deportation), Amy gives Hitchcock and Scully a paid suspension, essentially rewarding them for their integrity with vacation time.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Rosa isn't happy when she learns that Amy handed off an important case to Hitchcock & Scully.
- Younger Than They Look: ADA Kurm looks middle-aged but is only 25.
