A murder briefing sparks Jake Peralta's obsession with an archnemesis killer, and the positive example of downsizing police in the last episode opens the opportunity for Sgt. Santiago to present a plan on reformation.
The episode provides examples of:
- Affably Evil: Austin Grant seems like a friendly guy, he just so happens to be pitching "Predicted Algorithmic Policing" to the Police Plaza which Santiago points out is basically "High-Tech Racial Profiling".
- Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: Rosa suggests to Holt drinking to forget about Kevin which instead leads him to send Kevin a dick pic.
- Armour Piercing Response: Terry delivers an absolutley brutal one to Jake when he taunts Terry over not having an Arch Nemesis.Jake:This is why you don't have an arch nemesis, Terry, because you focus on all the wrong details.
Terry: Maybe, I don't have an archnemesis because I solve all my cases. [smiles smugly]
[beat]
[beat]
[beat]
Jake: That's a real f[beep]ed up thing to say to me. - Bittersweet Ending: Jake is bummed that he had to let Boyle become Franzia's nemesis and let his best friend arrest the perp. Similarly, Amy is disappointed when she finds out that she missed Mac hitting a milestone. On the other hand, Jake gets to see Mac pull himself up, and Amy's presentation is a success. They talk about it and agree that sometimes they have to let things fall through the cracks now that they have a kid.
- Call-Back: Franzia is briefly mentioned in the Season 5 episode "White Whale" as Jake's archnemesis (and someone that he apparently talks about constantly off-screen).
- Character Check: Santiago's competitive side that had been overshadowed by her nerdy and bookish side briefly reappears.Jeffords: Apparently there are several other groups presenting reform proposals to 1 Police Plaza and only one will get funded.
Santiago: Why would that make freak me out?
Jeffords: Because you can be a little competitive.
Santiago: Pfft, that's not true! No one is less competitive than me. No-one. - Contrived Clumsiness: Terry squirts his water bottle on one of Amy's competitors to ruin his immaculate appearance, on top of claiming he soiled himself.
- Everyone Has Standards: Boyle is as horrified as Jake is when Amy scream-suggests leaving Mac with the creepy babysitter. He agrees it's not a good idea.
- Expospeak Gag: After a night of heavy drinking, Holt discovers that he drunk-texted Kevin a "digital phallus portrait". It takes Rosa a moment to realize what that means.
- Fair Cop: Amy's competitor is the "HUD" (hot dud) Austin Grant.
- Flea Episode: Jake and Amy get lice from Mac after their daycare is closed due to an infestation. They try putting syrup on their hair to kill them... which also results in ants on their bed.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: The second of the interviewed nannies was the suspect Jake was looking for, putting a remote microphone in the stuffed lion he offered him.
- Irrevocable Message: While drunk, Holt sends Kevin a photo of his penis, so he and Rosa have to sneak into his home and delete it from his computer before he returns.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: As Jake is busy taking care of Mac, Charles becomes the serial killer's new adversary, resulting in genuine moments of suspense and danger that Jake only gets to hear about after the fact.
- Oh, Crap!: Jake has a horrified expression when realizing the "creepy babysitter" handling his child was the serial killer he was hunting and planted a bug in one of the toys. When Amy scream-suggests that giving Mac to the creepy babysitter would kill two birds with one stone, Jake has to point out that letting a serial killer watch their child is a recipe for disaster.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Amy with twenty minutes left to prepare her presentation shouts at Jake to let the creepy babysitter take Mac and when he says "I'm not leaving my child with a serial killer!" she says he'd kill two birds with one stone. It shows how stressed she is until Boyle calls a timeout during their argument.
- Repeat After Me: Jake tries to interrogate a suspect and care for Mac by feeding Boyle lines. This gets weird when Boyle repeats Jake's comments about his son's diaper to the suspect.
- Retcon : Jake having another nemesis than the Pontiac Bandit (with a less friendly relation than with the latter). Played for laughs and parodied, as according to Jake, he has been tracking Franzia since before the beginning for the show and even suspected Captain Holt to be Franzia throughout all the first season; out-universe, Franzia never was mentioned in the show before (outside of one quick joke in season 5)...meanwhile, this is one of the last Brooklyn 99 episodes; and in-universe, Jake is mildly angry that Holt doesn't pronounce Franzia's surname well or want to know any detail about it.
- Shout-Out: The killer leaves one of his clues at the Joker Stairs.
- Something We Forgot: Jake and Amy congratulate themselves for their awesome parenting skills as they're walking down the hallway... only to realize that they left their child inside the house.
- Stealth Insult: Amy's competitor in the reform proposals calls her disheveled appearance "Brave."
- Sweet and Sour Grapes: When faced with the choice to go off and chase down a serial killer or staying with his baby so Amy can make a pitch for major police reforms, Jake makes the decision to be with Mac. While he's bummed that he couldn't get to engage in an action-movie-worthy pursuit, he's ecstatic to have been present to see his child pull himself up for the first time and also happy to learn that Amy's presentation was successful.
- "Take Your Child to Work Day" Plot: With their daycare closed due to lice and no suitable baby sitters available, Jake and Amy have to bring Mac to the station.
- Taught by Television: Jake and Amy wanted to avoid giving Mac screen time until he was 2, but reluctantly attempt when left with no options. He immediately tosses the phone out of the stroller.
- Team Power Walk: Parodied. Jake and Amy walk into the precinct to the sound of a sick rock riff, with Jake pushing Mac's stroller, Amy carrying a large bag filled with baby daycare products, and both of them wearing disposable hair nets (because they put maple syrup on their heads to kill lice).
- Terrible Interviewees Montage: Among the three babysitter candidates are a lady who admitted to being arrested by that very precinct, a long-haired man with an unhealthy obsession with cuddling, and a nanny who sings a song about slapping kids. And then the cuddling babysitter turned out to be the serial killer Jake was hunting for during the episode.
- To the Tune of...: To keep Mac from waking up, Jake and Charles have to speak to the tune of Brahms' lullaby.
