"The Lake House" is the second episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's eighth season. It aired back-to-back with "The Good Ones".
Jake arranges for everyone to take a trip to Holt's lake house (which isn't actually near a lake) ostensibly for a relaxing weekend spent bird watching. However, he has an ulterior motive. He rearranged Holt and Kevin's shared calendar to bring them together to the same location in an attempt to get them back together. But no one supports his plan and urges him to just let it go. Undeterred, Jake continues trying to get Holt and Kevin to realize they still love each other with some dubious help from Terry — who's hedging his bets so as to look good no matter the outcome.
Meanwhile, Amy is struggling to deal with Mac, who is very fussy and refuses to sleep. Charles takes over to try and show her that her insecurities and stress are having a negative effect on the baby's well-being. Unfortunately, Charles ends up accidentally locking Mac inside a bedroom and he tries to sort out the mess before Amy finds out and gets even more stressed.
Also, Scully is bummed that the house doesn't have wireless access so he can't video chat with Hitchcock for a best potato chip showdown. He eventually finds a playmate in Rosa, who is cheerful thanks to some marijuana gummies.
This episode provides examples of:
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Jake proves this to Holt by pointing out Kevin knew he was doing the wrong bird call, but responding and going towards it anyway. This motivates Holt to call Kevin and still say he loves him; Kevin admits the same, and that he was scared the spark had gone out of their marriage.
- Brick Joke: Jake's plan involves giving Kevin a dribble glass so he'll have to change his clothes. Later, he tries to warn Holt that he's drinking wine from the same glass, but Holt is too distraught to care.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: Amy tells Charles that as punishment for leaving Mac locked in a room for three hours, he has to cook all of Mac's meals until the kid is in college. Charles grins at the challenge, as well as for being that involved in Mac's life.
- Divorce Is Temporary: Jake succeeds in rekindling the relationship between Holt and Kevin, with the former announcing they would be going into marriage counseling.
- Drugs Are Bad: Trope is named by Rosa after agreeing to a road trip with Hitchcock and Scully while high.
- "Eureka!" Moment: After his plan to reunite Holt and Kevin fails, as Jake talks to Amy about it, he plays the mating call of the rare bird they spotted and realized that when Holt made the wrong bird call, Kevin responded to it anyway. This makes Jake realize that Kevin knew it was Holt and still had feelings for him, otherwise he would have called him up on the erroneous bird call.
- Fanfare: Holt and Kevin loudly announce when they enter a room to avoid interacting with each other.
- Freud Was Right: While explaining his Kids Play Matchmaker plan, Jake admits he sees Holt and Kevin as his dads. He also calls Santiago (his wife) his mother.
- Gratuitous German: Holt calls out Peralta for trying to set up him and Kevin by mentioning "Das doppelte Lottchen" to which he shockingly replies "I'm only half!"
- Hope Spot: After spending some time together on the trail, it seems like the spark between Kevin and Holt remains. Then Holt announces that they're finalizing the divorce.
- Innocent Innuendo: Charles as always. He calls his parenting tips "nip tips", as in "tips that nip problems in the bud."Amy: Why not just call them tips?
Charles: "Just the tips"? Interesting.
Amy: Come on, man! - Insistent Terminology: Knowing that everyone is wary of his schemes, Jake decides to call them stratagems instead.
- Intergenerational Friendship: A stoned Rosa bonds with Scully over his potato chip tasting competition.
- Intoxication Ensues: Rosa pops some edibles before heading out and spends the rest of the episode high as a kite before coming down and realizing, to her horror, that she's agreed to go on a road trip with Hitchcock and Scully.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Terry starts running for Kevin's EpiPen, thinking he can do cardio after 20 years. He starts complaining after the first few steps.Terry: How hard could it be? (Beat while he starts running) It’s immediately awful!
- Kids Play Matchmaker: Double Subverted. Jake mentions his plan of "Parent Trapping" his father figures Holt and Kevin, and almost succeeds in engineering a romantic moment that just might make them get back together. But then it falls apart and Kevin leaves. But then Jake realizes Kevin also wants to get back together and convinces Holt of the fact; he turns out to have been right and Holt and Kevin agree to give it another shot.
- Mama Bear: Upon seeing that her baby is locked alone in a room, Amy smashes her way through a solid wooden door.
- My Beloved Smother: Amy's been fussing over Mac, who has trouble sleeping as a reaction to her stress. Charles helps her learn to be calm around her baby.
- Nonindicative Name: Turns out Holt and Kevin's "lake house" is nowhere near a lake; they actually named it after its former owner, scholar Kirsopp Lake.
- Playing Both Sides: Terry only wants to take credit for aiding Jake when things work out, "hedging" by his own admission.
- Plot Allergy: Kevin to bees, with the swelling in his brow blinding him.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: Terry does not understand it when Jake compares him to Sonic the Hedgehog and himself to Dr. Robotnik.Jake: You never played a video game or watched a movie, Terry?
Terry: Get a life, dude! - Precision F-Strike: Boyle claims to Amy his experience raising his nephews made him a natural mother. Amy responds with "Yeah, natural motherf***!"
- Zany Scheme: Jake's plan to get Holt and Kevin back together. Being familiar with Jake's schemes, no one wants in on it, except for Terry, who admits he's just hedging his bets in case if works. It does end up working, albeit in a messy, roundabout way.
