Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Recent developments might make this show's intention of addressing current events harder (the New York Police's Union just threw their support behind Trump), at least if they planned to do it without blatantly criticizing the organization - something they're avoided in the past even when being socially conscious.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Aug 15th 2020 at 5:43:40 AM

Official French Quebec version of Brooklyn Ninety Nine.

This is so surreal to watch.

Probably not a whole lot different than the first episode of the US Office, which used basically the same script as the UK Office. Of course, the cinematography and characters were still dramatically different enough to feel like a fresh take ^note the UK version had an over-exposed, washed out look while the US version had a softer fluorescent look with more color variety. This is so close to the original Brooklyn 99 it almost feels like a fan recreation.

I don't even speak French (I assume?), but that looks ridiculously fun. I think it's the music that does it for me.

So this will be the final season...

So I'm planning to get into the show ?

How is it and what should I expect ?

Sad but I can't say I'm surprised given current events. It is pretty hard to reconcile the characters' lovability with...everything else. They should just soft reboot it where the characters are all the same but they're, like, middle school teachers or something.

As someone who followed from season 1, if you like sitcoms you'll like this one. The cast is very strong and the episodes don't take a whole lot of brainpower. It shares a lot of DNA with Parks and Recreation and The Good Place, if you've seen those.

Edited by Synchronicity on Feb 11th 2021 at 3:35:41 AM

Eh, I'm fine with things coming to an end. Shows that know they're ending always leave things better than shows that try and fail to get renewed.

Besides, 8 seasons are the perfect amount.

What are you talking about? They even made an episode about police profiling and they didn’t have a happy ending about it.

Shows that focus on cops are all under increased scrutiny following the BLM movement, and there's a whole debate about whether or not Brooklyn Nine Nine counts as 'copaganda'. A very special episode about police profiling and some Dirty Cops don't negate the that the show portrays them as the default heroes. From that article:

I don't 100% agree with that statement, but it effectively summarizes the current attitudes. It's also something I think the cast and crew realize; Beatriz donated money to BLM and the entire season was reworked to be more sensitive about the issue.

I think a lot of cop shows are actually pretty atrocious when you look at it, but that comment feels off to me.

"Prioritizes police perspectives over anyone else’s" - it's a cop show. Why would it not do this? Yes, you don't really want to do that when discussing real-world crimes, but this is a show which has a central setting and concept, and main characters. That's why it focuses on them.

I think most of the arguments against B99 are just arguments about all cop shows in general, and people are only talking about B99 because it's popular with the kind of people having these conversations.

He's not questioning the show's cop-centric viewpoint, but saying that it contributes to the overall heroic portrayal of cops in media.

It's not on the level of NCIS or similar. But the characters undeniably engage in a bunch of Cowboy Coppery that would be extremely sketch IRL, but the show makes us like them for it.

(To be clear: I like the show.)

Edited by Synchronicity on Mar 5th 2021 at 2:17:24 PM

Liberals (those who are more likely to watch B99) say cops are evil. Conservatives (those who are more likely to not) say cops are heroes. Nobody really wants an honest conversation about this.

But I do know one thing, though, if you get your idea on cops on tv, you need to open your viewpoint a bit.

Edited by HBarnill on Mar 5th 2021 at 12:22:23 PM

I think that's a bad faith argument. You can have a critical conversation about the role of police in media — one that the cast and crew has acknowledged — without ascribing it to liberal snowflakery.

But it's not something I want to get into here, either. I just wanted to respond to your question.

Well, yes. People arguing against B99 do not believe that cop shows should continue to exist. They do not want shows where cops are portrayed universally as the heroes until our real-world problems with cops are resolved. That's not B99's fault, per se, but considering we've got decades of pro-cop shows completely glossing over real-world problems, the show is unfortunately part of the problem.

B99 has done reasonably well with topics such as the institutional racism of the department, but there's only so much you can do when all your main characters are sympathetic cops. At best, the main characters end up as exceptions to the intrinsic racism of the institution, which still ends up looking like pro-cop propaganda. "Sure there are bad cops, but our cops are great."

I'm not sure I agree with the idea of never having any cop shows at all, but a cop show that really confronts these problems would have to be built around it from the ground up. If we use B99 as a base, then at the very least there would need to be more episodes emphasizing that our heroes are fighting against a seriously flawed system, rather than just running into a few bad apples here and there.

We'll see where the genre goes. I had an idea for an Internal Affairs show that actually portrays them as heroic for once, but that wouldn't be B99.

'ed twice.

Edited by Discar on Mar 5th 2021 at 12:28:58 PM

Yeah, it's definitely pretty poetic/fitting that the way this show's gonna end off on is a good look into the sheer fundamental corruption of this whole institution. I don't have too much to add on this, just hoping it sticks the landing and says something meaningful here.

Part of the reason Very Special Episodes about a character running into a racist cop don't quite cut it any more - especially in a show like this - is because the public is starting to get away from the narrative of "profiling and racism are isolated incidents that a few bad apples do" and more into confronting the systemic problems that are evident in the entire system.

For a show like Brooklyn 99 to really modify itself to really address the issue, it would more or less have to be about the characters being at odds with the whole force and its issues, and maybe confronting things about themselves (coughPeraltacough).

Which is something I do think they might do - hence the buzz about them rewriting the whole season - but it's also something that I imagine might going to make it difficult for them to continue on, both for in-universe status quo changes and out of universe controversy.

To be fair, Peralta confronting his own negative aspects has been done fairly well, for instance his hero worship of the "old school" reporter fading when he turned out to still be a hateful homophobe.

But yes, having the show present a narrative whereby these just happened to be the last good apples in a barrel of bad would be questionable.

@H Barnill That's not accurate. Leftist think cops, as an institution, are bad because they exist to uphold an unjust system based on white supremacy and classism. Liberals think that cops have problems, but by removing problem elements and adding reforms they can be made better. Conservatives think cops are heroes because they exist to uphold a righteous system based on white supremacy and classism.

Filming has wrapped.

There's the BBC series Line of Duty, though 'heroic' is probably stretching it a bit.

So, I began watching this show about a month ago and I am finally caught up. Can't wait for season 8. I just love the portrayal of the Jake/Amy relationship. How theyadore and encourage their little quirks instead of mocking them (there are enough comedy couples who do that). I hope we see Pimento in season 8 again, I love that guy. (Jason Mantzoukas is hilarious, I already liked him in The Good Place)

Regarding Gina, I enjoyed her but I get why people didn't. She is a Character that only works in fiction and would be insufferable in real life.

I don’t care all that much for Gina; she was funny but I thought the ensemble and dynamics survived just fine without her.

I miss her dynamic with Charles the most. I really enjoyed the Sister/Ex-Lover jokes.

Speaking of Charles, I like that he is not just a Butt-Monkey. He is an incredibly loyal friend, has a loving relationship with his Partner and his adoptive son.

The whole Boyle clan really, is like this. They are one big happy (if weird) family.