White Whale is the twenty-first episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's fifth season.
It is now just one week before Jake and Amy's wedding and the two are planning on spending their day off finalizing their wedding plans (a very thick binder is involved). But when Amy sees that Sergio Mindar, a brutal gangster, has returned to New York after slipping through her and Rosa's grasp seven years prior, she immediately forgets about wedding planning and joins Rosa is trying to lock Mindar up once and for all.
Jake, meanwhile, turns to Terry for help in getting through the last of the wedding preparations. Although initially overwhelmed and panicky, Jake, with Terry's coaxing, digs deep and finds out that he has a "groom gut" that knows exactly what to do. However, Jake's groom gut also turns out to be a "fancy bitch" and Jake has to find ways to cut back on costs. Enter Hitchcock and Scully.
Back at the precinct, Holt learns that his rivalry with Olivia Crawford has resulted in the two of them splitting the vote for the NYPD's next commissioner, opening the way for John Kelly, the most conservative candidate, to take the role instead. Holt and Crawford try to pressure the other to drop out of the race entirely to give at least one of them an even chance. Gina and Charles suggest starting a whisper campaign against Crawford, but Holt rejects the idea, preferring to win or lose honorably.
This episode provides examples of:
- ArchEnemy: This episode focuses on Rosa's, a murderous drug lord who has been taunting her since she joined the force. It's also parodied with Jake mentioning that he's been matching wits with a playing-card themed serial killer for years. This is the first that either his fiance, his close friend or the audience have heard of this.
- Call-Back: Holt's power-walking is one to the first three episodes of season 4.
- Continuity Nod: Amy in the flashback has the same hair she had in the flashback earlier in the season.
- Dodgy Toupee: Hitchcock was apparently wearing one when Amy and Rosa first lost Sergio. He says it was reversible and it looked absolutely hideous.
- Don't Think, Feel: Terry tells Jake to trust his "groom gut" in making wedding decisions. It backfires when Jake ends up spending too much money. ("My groom gut turned out to be a fancy bitch!")
- Expansion Pack Past: Played for laughs. Rosa casually mentions that she went to both med school and business school and also has a pilot's license, but refuses to elaborate. That those parts of her life have never been mentioned before (and her colleagues are totally unaware of them) is entirely in character for her.
- Food as Bribe: Jake gets Hitchcock and Scully to make the gift bags for the wedding by giving them a candied almond after each one.
- Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow: In a flashback to when Amy and Rosa first lost Sergio, Hitchcock is shown with hair. Subverted when he then says it was a toupee.
- Handshake Substitute: Amy and Rosa have an elaborate handshake that they do twice, when learning of Mindar's reappearance and when they finally arrest him.
- Irrevocable Message: Both Holt and Olivia withdraw from the commissioner race by letter. They break into the mailroom to retrieve the letters. Holt gets his, but Olivia has already sent hers by e-mail.
- The Key Is Behind the Lock: Jake accidentally leaves the keys to Terry's SUV locked inside.
- Oh, Crap!: Holt, Crawford, Gina and Charles when they realize that because both Holt and Crawford have withdrawn from the commissioner race, they've just made John Kelly the new NYPD commissioner by default.
- Remember the New Guy?: Parodied. Jake compares Mindar to his own nemesis, Johnny Franzia, whom he constantly talks about. Neither Rosa nor Amy (nor the viewer) has ever heard of him.
- Shout-Out: The title refers to the white whale from Moby-Dick, referencing Captain Ahab's obsession with catching it.
- Shown Their Work: In a scene where Crawford and Holt are debating diversity and the merits of the NYPD having its first female or gay commissioner instead of the "straight white male" John Kelly, Holt being potentially being an African-American commissioner is notably unmentioned by the writers. However in real life, African-American commissioners Benjamin Ward and Lee P Brown had already broken this barrier in 80s and early 90s.
- Smug Snake: Sergio can't resist gloating to Rosa and Amy. Naturally, when they finally catch him, they're quick to start gloating, too.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Holt and Crawford trade barbs relating to their age and inexperience, respectively, even when they're on the same side.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Amy impulsively jumps off a terrace to try and catch Mindar and badly injures herself. Rosa notes that Amy's lucky to have only dislocated her knee.
- Olivia, who's only in her thirties, sends in her withdrawal letter via email, not snail mail.
- Swapped Roles: Jake and Amy swap roles for this episode, with Amy being the impulsive one while Jake (mostly) becomes the meticulous planner. As a sign of the characters' growth, they slip into these different roles easily without comment or needing an aesop to cap the episode.
- That One Case: Parodied. When Rosa tells Jake about Mindar, he brings up Johnny Franzia, who apparently leaves cards to taunt Jake. He "talks about him all the time", but even Amy doesn't seem to have heard of him.
- Troll: Sergio leaves behind a taunting message for Amy and Rosa, using atrocious grammar, which particularly gets under Amy's skin. It's entirely possible that he has done so on purpose.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Rosa chews Amy out for lying about the reason the perp got away from them seven years ago.
