'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Season 8: Peralta suspended as show exposes unjust police unions
After reintroducing fans with one of the most beloved characters of the show in the previous episode, ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ took a bit of shift in the tone as it reverted to how cops can be wrong too and why they should be punished for their mistakes so that the system remains transparent.
In the latest episode, Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) arrests a man for a crime he never committed because he believed that it was a part of a greater conspiracy. However, it is soon found that the real culprit has been taken into custody and Peralta made a big mistake by arresting an innocent man. Captain Ray Holt (Andre Braugher) is really disappointed in him and thinks of taking action against him. Just as they were talking, Sullivan comes in and says that whatever happened was unfortunate.
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Peralta talks to Holt and his wife Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) about the issue and believes he has been set up by Sullivan so that he can force his wife to drop the reforms. They make a plan to get the truth out of him and call him for drinks. Amy and Sullivan drink hard while Diaz is listening to them while sitting in the washroom. But, they get so drunk that Amy is not in her sense, she switches places with Diaz as they try to know why he set up Peralta.
But it gets too much and everyone gets drunk so much that they are not in their senses. However, O’Sullivan reveals that he did not set up Peralta. On the other hand, Peralta is still behind the man he arrested and has doubts. Amy reaches the place where Peralta is waiting for the suspect and tells him the truth.
In the final moments of the episode, Holt says that Peralta would be suspended for what he did. But O’Sullivan enters his office and says there is no need for doing that because their jobs are so stressful that sometimes these mistakes can happen. So, there will be no suspensions. It's like turning a blind eye to someone’s mistake. Like we see in most of the police brutality cases these days, the police officer can do anything to anyone and still walk out freely because of the flawed system.
Holt gets really angry at what O’Sullivan commented and replied that this is the reason why people don’t trust the police. He also says that punishment is necessary for cops so that people come to us when they feel they are in danger. The rousing speech by Holt makes Peralta feel bad and he apologizes for what he did, admitting that what he did was wrong.
The episode ends with Peralta getting suspended for 5 months. And it would felt nice if, in real life, cops would have taken all this so sportingly. The episode gave us an insight into how police unions might do anything to cover up the things cops do during their shifts. It is highly unfortunate that common people have to face the brunt of bad policing while police officers can walk freely without facing consequences. A good episode with a great ending.
‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ Season 8 returns to NBC with a new episode every Thursday at 8 pm EST and 8:30 pm EST.
