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Brooklyn 99 Is Underrated AF

BROOKLYN NINE-NINE: Cast L-R: Stephanie Beatriz, Joe Lo Truglio, Andre Braugher, Andy Samberg, Terry Crews, Chelsea Peretti and Melissa Fumero. BROOKLYN NINE-NINE premieres Tuesday, Sept. 17 (8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2013 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: FOX

Disclaimer: I love this series to bits but my only complaint is that it’s based on the American police force which in reality, is extremely problematic and not as cool as they’re portrayed to be in this series. Regardless, I do think that the series is very progressive and almost serves as a model to how the law enforcement should be. It also satirizes the problematic aspects (to an extent) which I admire.

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is an American police sitcom. The show gets a lot of things right. It stars Andy Samberg, Stephanie Beatriz, Terry Crews, Melissa Fumero, Joe Lo Truglio, Chelsea Peretti and Andre Braugher. The main cast itself includes a majority of persons of colour. Four out of seven of the main cast are POC’s. And their portrayal does not disappoint either.

Andy Samberg may play the carefree detective Jake Peralta and he may be the straight white male lead, but his character is quite the feminist. Jake may be immature in his behaviour in general but he respects women, he doesn’t think his colleague Amy owes him shit when she refuses to date him all because he likes her. He also refuses to put up with homophobia in any form, going to the extent of punching his literary idol in the face for being insensitive toward his gay Captain.

Captain Holt happens to be the best part of the show. He’s an openly gay black man who repeatedly talks about the struggles of being black and being open about his sexuality in an otherwise racist and homophobic American police work force, but his colleagues at the 99 don’t make a single homophobic joke in three seasons, they in fact oppose homophobic cops (and people) otherwise. Detective Sergeant Terry Jeffords is just adorable, and his characterization runs contrary to the ‘angry black man’ stereotype. Jeffords is 6’3” and extremely muscular, he also happens to be fantastic at his job and he is an absolute caring sweetheart who repeatedly voices his love for his twin daughters. He also projects that love into his protectiveness and leadership qualities toward his squad and doesn’t conceal his feelings about anyone and anything at any point. Detective Charles Boyle is the dimwitted detective who (almost) idolizes Jake and is possessive of him. He also has an unrequited crush on his colleague Rosa Diaz which does get borderline stalker-ish and creepy but he does apologize for that.

The badass women of Brooklyn Nine-Nine couldn’t get enough appreciation no matter how hard I tried. The writers of the series nail the characters to the ground and restore my faith in American series and their writing of female characters. Two out of three are WOC. Detective Amy Santiago is a latina and probably the best detective on the squad. She’s disciplined, hard working and likes to follow the rules. She directly clashes with Jake in terms of their personalities. Despite there being unspoken tension and banter between the two, the writers made their relationship happen organically instead of forcing a heteronormative relationship from the very beginning.

Rosa Diaz (also a latina) portrays the feeling-less, mysterious, tough woman who couldn’t give two shits about anyone and anything. Except this trope is very characteristic of males (especially in cop shows.) Rosa refuses to deal with anyone but does care about her colleagues. Gina Linetti portrays the eccentric civilian administrator of the 99th precinct. She’s the only non-cop of the main characters who hilariously mocks the squad while also being of great help when needed. (We all love Gina)

The show also beautifully presents friendships instead of always focusing on romantic relationships. The polyamorousness amongst the ladies is a major highlight of the show.

The humour of Brooklyn Nine-Nine is almost never insensitive. There are no sexist jokes, racial slurs, homophobic or transphobic gestures or mentions. The show is too good to be true honestly, it gets almost everything right. Therefore, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is progressive and underrated AF.

 

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