TL;DR – A heartfelt story of love … in a hospital room … while they wait for a comatose patent to wake up   

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Review –

One of Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s strengths has always been its ability to juggle the comedy and drama. This is not an easy task as it can be a tightrope trying to balance everything without it coming off as half-assed. This week we get an episode that gets that balance right as it jumps from fun to real serious, real quick.

So to set the scene, we open in a hospital as Amy (Melissa Fumero) comes to meet Jake (Andy Samberg), thankfully he is not here on medical business but for the police as there is a mob boss that survived a hit and is now in a coma. The hope is that if Jake is there when he wakes up then the mob boss will give them the info they could use. However, Jake has an ulterior motive, because there is no idea when he will wake up, so he and Amy could share some time alone as it is there anniversary and with their work schedule this is the best chance they have. A case vacation or indeed a Casecation. Which is fine until a topic comes up that neither of them were prepared to hear the other’s response. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

There is only one topic that could rock the couple like that and that is whether or not to have kids. Part of why this works so well is that both characters have a history that we know of that helps support where their position comes from. Amy comes from a big family that while hyper-competitive was full of love. While Jake comes for a family of divorce, where their dad ran out on them after multiple affairs. He knows that bringing up kids is not easy, but more than that there are the fears that what if he is just as bad a father as his own dad.

What neither of them realises is that they didn’t have the kids talk before they got married and also that kids are a deal breaker, like find a new relationship deal breaker. So how do they deal with this, why of course with a structured debate chaired by Captain Holt (Andre Braugher). Which is at once the most perfect and also a ridiculous scenario that you could think of. It also goes about as well as you can expect, when Holt has to recuse himself because he is their superior but that’s okay because Kevin (Marc Evan Jackson) has been listening over the phone the whole time.  

While all of this is happening, there is still the case going on and a mob boss that is meant to be dead that is still alive. This means that he is still under threat of assassination, but no one saw it coming when the old lady (Julia Sweeney) with the twisted bowl (okay if you know the shop you saw this coming) is the one trying to carry out the deed. It is a fun little twist but it also allows Jake to realise that even when he is in over his head in a situation he is not prepared for he can still work through it. This means that he won’t be like his dad if he becomes a father.

In the end, do we recommend Casecation? Yes, yes we do. It was funny at times, sweet at times, and also full on at times. No matter where the episode went it worked, which is a testament of the writing team and the actors.             

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Directed by – Rebecca Addelman
Written by – Jeff Topolski
Created by – Dan Goor & Michael Schur  
Production/Distribution Companies – Fremulon, Dr. Goor Productions, 3 Arts Entertainment, Universal Television, NBCUniversal & SBS Viceland.
Starring in Season Five – Andy Samberg, Stephanie Beatriz, Terry Crews, Melissa Fumero, Joe Lo Truglio, Dirk Blocker, Joel McKinnon Miller & Andre Braugher with Marc Evan Jackson, Julia Sweeney, Brie Eley, Nikea Gamby-Turner & Cooper Mothersbaugh