'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Season 7 Episode 5 Review: Jake and Rosa's tiff evolves into acceptance towards Debbie
Spoiler alert for Season 7, Episode 5: 'Debbie'
It is that time of the season again where 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' takes time out to highlight just what dynamic duo detectives Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and his close friend slash coworker Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz) are.
When not sharing tragic backstories or getting into the elaborate details of what Rosa would do to international sex symbol Mr Bean, the two team up to confront precinct newbie Debbie Fogel (Vanessa Bayer) in her con by pretending to work for the same druglord she is clearly working for. Even some intense read off between Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) and their former captain Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher) back in the precinct can't distract us from the ever so adrenaline pumped ride that Jake and Rosa indulge in when they isolate Debbie in a hotel room and she dives headfirst into coke.
The episode kicks off with the precinct realizing that copious amounts of cocaine and ammunition were stolen from the premises and Debbie, in her skilled con-way, struts into the premises trying to find out who they are suspecting.
She goes into the women's washroom to speak to her boss about the con. While Hitchcock thinks he was onto some big bust when he overhears her, he was just casually using the women's loo, the old man finds out what the whole precinct has already guessed. However, it is Jake's conviction that Debbie isn't a bad person that sparks the first tiff between him and Rosa — the kind that we have seen several times on the show before. He believes that Debbie is just forced to con them out of some crisis.
Jake and Rosa do go way back and while they agree on about 70 percent of things, they couldn't disagree more on the things they don't see eye to eye. Like Debbie's case for example. Rosa believes even if Debbie is forced to act the way she is, she should learn from her own mistakes the way Rosa did when she snapped in ballet school and almost went to prison, and most definitely got kicked out by her parents. For Jake, it's something barely even tragic but he is convinced Debbie is innocent. This obviously proves to be a big mistake when they try to pretend to work for the same drug lord just to retrieve the drugs and guns from Debbie.
Bayer has been a treat throughout the season as Debbie, and once again she doesn't fail to take us with both surprise and awe at the easy fit the SNL alum is into the Nine-Nine. Be it her as Debbie casually flaunting her self defense skills she picked up at the women's gym or Debbie with a pound of cocaine in her system. She also unironically lusts over Mr Bean whom she considers an international sex symbol. Bayer is a classic example of recurring characters on the show who never fail to set their mark, crowning her with a spot in the leagues of the Pontiac bandit, detective Pimento or even the Vulture.
Jake and Rosa's whole plan is to catch the druglord Debbie works for and to achieve that they need to have her on their side, and this is where Jake's boyish charm comes into play. Debbie tells them she is working for the druglord Siuchi because he promised her money that she needs for her ailing father's treatment. For a brief moment Jake seems to have a win over Rosa but the joy is shortlived. Debbie's increasing maniacal behavior forces Rosa to try and arrest her and clearly Debbie's self-defense classes pay off. The change in Rosa's behavior forces Debbie to take them to a different location — a giant mansion which she claims is an Airbnb, but soon her mother walks in and uncovers the lies she has been feeding the two detectives.
Debbie is basically the financially erratic, unstable rich child of rather well to do people who instead of guiding her on the right path, only piled on criticism and strictness to show her what a disgrace she was to the family. This is something that Rosa can relate to. Thus, we see one of the most emotional moments in Rosa's arc as she tears up and talks about how she wishes that she received love and understanding instead of all the tough love she was showered with.
Rosa doesn't always talk about her needs but when she does, it is iconic moments like these that prove significant in the seven-year-old show's run so far. Rosa assures Debbie it's never too late and promises she will help her out in any way she can. Debbie pays back her kindness and solidarity by taking down the drug lord with her signature moves of self-defense. In short, don't grab Debbie because when not pining over the romantic dog couple from '101 Dalmatians' and being a total trainwreck that you can't help but feel sorry for, she will kick your ass.
'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Season 7 airs on Thursdays at 8.30 pm only on NBC.