Stakeout is the eleventh episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's second season.
A drop-point used by a rising captain of the Ukrainian mafia is discovered. Jake and Charles volunteer to go on stakeout to monitor the drop-point and the criminals who use it, which will mean eight days together in a small hotel room with no other company. Although confident that their friendship is strong enough to withstand the pressures, unfortunately neither Jake nor Charles are prepared for exactly how irritating they find the other man's habits.
Meanwhile, both Amy and Gina are prompted to do some soul-searching when the characters in a picture book Terry is making for his children seem to be similar to them in ways they don't quite appreciate.
Also, Rosa and Holt find themselves in an awkward situation when Rosa begins to take a romantic interest in Holt's nephew Marcus.
Provides examples of:
- Aesop Amnesia: In the Cold Open, it once again looks like Holt is finally going to realise that his feud with Wuntch is petty and silly and he can rise above it to be a bigger man... but nope.
- Analogy Backfire: When making up at the end of the episode, Jake describes himself and Charles as brothers because, while they may sometimes fight, ultimately they'll always come through for each other. The perp they're arresting decides this would be a good moment to point out that his own brother slept with his wife and fled to the Florida Keys, and the perp has every intention of murdering him for this one day.Jake: [Irritated] Just be arrested, man. We're trying to have a moment here.
- Berserk Button: The "No-No List" starts off as a list of these in order to prevent Jake and Charles from antagonising each other. Then they start adding more and more things to it...
- Call-Back
- Boyle's gunshot wounds continue to give him trouble. And he still calls them his "butt holes".
- One of the things Jake writes on the "No No List" is that Charles can no longer talk about ortolansnote , a topic Charles and Vivian bonded over when they first met in Season 1
- When Jake and Charles get back to the precinct having clearly fallen out, Hitchcock assumes he's next in line to become Jake's best friend. He was under this assumption in "The Jimmy Jab Games" as well.
- The name "DEREK" is scrawled on the "No-No List" in rather angry writing. Apparently Charles hasn't managed to get over his loathing for Derek, the criminal he seems to believe was Jake's "Mafia best friend" in "Undercover".
- "No Cwazy Kupcakes", "No Clubhouse" and "No Succulent" were all items on the "No-No List".
- Don't Explain the Joke: Yet again, Holt goes to the "Wuntch-sounds-like-lunch" well when looking for insults:Holt: I've been planning how to zing Madeline when she puts the medal on; have the perfect line. "Wuntch-time is over!"
[Peralta and Diaz stare at him, stone-faced.]
Holt: It's a play on 'lunchtime'.
Peralta: Yes, devastating burn, sir. - Failed Attempt at Drama: Terry chews out Amy and Gina over their reactions to his his children's book in the elevator. Unfortunately, he forgets to hit the button until after he's finished, and as Gina points out, instead of storming off impressively as the elevator doors open, instead he has to hang around in awkward silence with them.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: The "No-No List" has a lot of increasingly odd things on both sides, but many of them are not directly remarked upon and are quickly overlooked by the camera, leaving the eagle-eyed viewer to resort to heavy use of the pause button to find out exactly what's on there.
- Funny Background Event: While Gina and Amy are squabbling over holding the elevator door open for Terry, Scully and Hitchcock can be seen running for the elevator immediately after Terry manages to get inside. The door closes before they get to the elevator. No one inside the elevator even notices them.
- Ignored Epiphany: Gina doesn't take away the lesson from the fallout over Terry's book and her character's bitchy portrayal that she probably should have taken:Gina: I learned I'm perfect the way I am and should never change.
- It's implied that if Jake and Charles had just taken Terry's advice about "alone zones" on the first day and eaten their breakfast in separate corners of the room after they were getting grossed out by each other, the whole mess between them would have been avoided.
- Locked in a Room: Jake and Charles suffer this in the stakeout.
- Long List: The "No-No List" is initially quite short. Then it becomes one of these.
- Passive Aggressive Combat: The "No-No List" quickly becomes one of these, as Jake and Charles begin adding increasingly petty things to it.
- Tempting Fate: Charles rejoices in the presence of the "No-No List" because it means that "we've made it impossible to annoy each other!" He then immediately begins rhyming, which immediately annoys Jake...
- Unsportsmanlike Gloating: Double Subverted; Holt spends an entire evening planning the perfect zinger to put down Deputy Chief Wuntch with as she gives him a medal for meritorious service ("Wuntch-time is over!"), but Peralta advises him to be the bigger man and turn the other cheek. Holt takes this advice on board, but when the moment comes...Wuntch: Raymond. You won. Go ahead and gloat, you toad!
Holt: [Graciously] Thank you for this honor, Deputy Chief.
Wuntch: [Surprised] Oh. Okay... you're welcome.
[She begins to walk off, but as she does Holt suddenly yells loud enough for the entire hall to hear:]
Holt: Wuntch-time is over! BOOM! DID IT! HAD IT BOTH WAYS! No regrets.
