Recap / Brooklyn Nine Nine S 4 E 07 Mr Santiago

Mr. Santiago is the seventh episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's fourth season.

It's Thanksgiving and Amy is more uptight than usual because she's hosting dinner at her apartment and her father is coming to celebrate with her and the Nine-Nine.

Jake, knowing how much the day means to Amy and also wanting to impress Mr. Santiago, is on his best behavior. He even takes a page out of Amy's book and prepares an extensive dossier on her father so that he can knowledgeably (or at least pretend to knowledgeably) speak about various topics that interest Mr. Santiago.

Meanwhile, Charles is put in charge of food for the day and decides to purchase a live turkey so that he can slaughter and cook it immediately for his friends. Gina and Rosa object to this and decide to stage a protest by hijacking the turkey and complicate matters by opening the cage when confronted by the rest of the squad. Fearing for their lives, they then lock themselves in Amy's bathroom with no idea how they are going to get out.

Also, Pimento is depressed because the NYPD won't let him come back on the job, on account of his having disappeared for several months without having told anyone where he was going. Holt, feeling sympathetic, suggests that Pimento become a private investigator and quickly offers a loan of 2000 dollars. Pimento, wanting to immediately pay the captain back, then bets it on the outcome of a dog show, only to learn afterwards that the dog he bet on is a very long shot. Holt isn't pleased.

This episode provides examples of:

• Brief Accent Imitation:
  • In the Cold Open, everyone mimics Holt's trademark deadpan baritone while acting out how he'd respond to eating a marshmallow. Ironically, Charles, who gave a high-pitched giggle, actually nailed it.
  • Jake briefly adopts a British accent while describing Amy's dad (he felt that doing a Cuban accent would be "a little dicey").
• Celebrity Paradox: Boyle mentions feeling like Dexter, of which Jimmy Smits (Amy's dad) starred in the third season.
• The Cuckoolander Was Right: In the Cold Open, Jake holds a contest to see who can do the best Holt impersonation, having the others act out how Holt would react to eating a marshmallow for the first time. Charles chooses to have him giggle like a little girl, which Jake dismisses as ridiculous. Then Holt arrives and eats a marshmallow, and he indeed giggles just as Charles predicted.
• Cool and Unusual Punishment: When Terry scoffs at her extensive preparations, Amy threatens to reschedule his bathroom break so that it's right after Scully's break... which is scheduled for after dinner.
• Crazy-Prepared:
  • Jake decides that he'll be like Amy and extensively prepare in advance of Mr. Santiago's arrival. He puts together a thick binder of material on his target but, in classic Jake fashion, doesn't commit any of it to memory and has to constantly step out to review his information. Unfortunately for him...
  • Mr. Santiago prepared his own binder and, unlike Jake, committed the information to memory so he can spend the entire episode messing with Jake's head.
• Did Not Think This Through:
  • Pimento takes a 2000 dollar loan and immediately places a bet on a dog show despite not knowing a thing about dogs or the show circuit. It's only through sheer luck that the situation doesn't blow up in his face.
  • Gina sets the turkey free without considering what might happen. Of course she finds a way to try and excuse herself.
    Gina: How was I supposed to know there'd be consequences for my actions?
• "Eureka!" Moment: Jake and Mr. Santiago have one when Amy calls them both out for not including women in decisions, making them realize the daughter was behind the cold case.
• Flipping the Bird: When Amy demands that they give her "the bird", Gina and Rosa start miming the crank method for flipping her off.
• The Gambling Addict: Pimento, who immediately bets the money Holt lent him for a private investigator license on the dog show they were just watching.
• Grievous Bottley Harm: Pimento, and then Holt, threaten a bartender with a broken bottle unless he changes the TV to the Westminster Dog Show.
• I Need to Go Iron My Dog: Because Jake didn't memorize the binder about Mr. Santiago, he has to excuse himself to go to the bathroom so he can go look up information. Jake admits this makes him look like he has some sort of urinary condition.
• "It" Is Dehumanizing: Inverted when Gina tries to get Charles to not kill the turkey by naming it after his adopted son Nikolaj.
  Amy: The apartment will run red with the blood of Nikolaj!
  Charles: Please stop calling it that.
• Killer Rabbit: The turkey. It claws up Boyle's back and once it's out of gouda, the rest of the team freaks out.
• Like Parent, Like Child: Amy and her father are both tough cops with geeky interests. They even share the same difficulty quitting smoking and occasionally sneak away to have shame cigarettes.
• Low Count Gag: Jake thinks having a credit score of 100 is good, until he learns it's out of 850.
• Noodle Incident: For whatever reason, Jake is not allowed within 500 feet of Taylor Swift.
  Jake: That was a misunderstanding!
• Not Hyperbole: After Amy goes over her Thanksgiving dinner itinerary:
  Amy: (faux-cheerful) Don't be late or I'll slit your throats. (awkward laugh)
  Rosa: You don't have to fake laugh. We know you mean it.
  Amy: (glaring) Good.
• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Jimmy Smits slips in and out of the Cuban accent his character is supposed to have. Possibly justified, as Victor lives in America and has for long enough to raise a daughter in her thirties, more than enough time to muddle his accent.
• Serious Business:
  • Due to the amount of money Pimento placed on the dog show, Holt acts severely out of character throughout the episode. Not only does he threaten a bartender with a broken bottle, he even drinks beer despite being a committed wine drinker, and enthusiastically celebrates with Pimento when their pick wins Best in Show. Crosses over into Fridge Brilliance when you remember that Holt is a recovering gambling addict and competition in general tends to bring out his worst traits.
  • Subverted when Holt mentions his relationship with Kevin's parents, who he claims haven't spoken to him in years because of a mild mistake he once made identifying a piece of music... then adds that also they're huge homophobes who blame him for "turning" their son gay.
• Strange Minds Think Alike: Both Holt and Amy's dad remark that "jury's still out" on whether or not they like Jake.
• Twerp Sweating: Mr. Santiago spends the entire episode sizing Jake up while Jake does all he can to look good in Mr. Santiago's eyes. They both, in the end, have to concede that it's Amy's opinion that is most important despite continuing to posture in front of one another.
  Mr. Santiago: You're not good enough for my Amy. I don't want my only daughter dating a screw-up!
  Jake: Oh yeah?!?! Well I don't want my only girlfriend daughtering a jerk dad! Burn on you!
• What the Hell, Hero?: Amy calls both Jake and her father out when she finds out that they have been fighting over if Jake gets or not to date her. She tells them that they are ignoring the fact that it's her decision to make on whom she dates or not.

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