TL;DR – Gina is back, and she
brings her hectic world with her.
Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Review –
When it was announced that there was going to be a new season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine there was a sense of
jubilation that was only tempered slightly by the fact that it was also announced
that Chelsea Peretti would not be doing the full season, but she would be back
for guest appearances. Well, today we get the first of those as we get a little
insight into the crazy world of Gina Linetti.
So to set the scene, at the end of Four Movements
Gina left her job at the 99 to better find herself. Since that time she has been
apparently blowing off her former friends, not that Jake (Andy Samberg)
notices. But meanwhile, she has built a large media empire and brand that has
been exploding across the internet. Well, she is back in New York, so she invites
Jake and Terry (Terry Crews) come meet her, only for it to be a work thing. For
you see someone has been sending her death threats, and this time it might be
serious. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode
as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

There
is quite a lot I liked about this week’s episode and a lot of that is the crazy
energy that Chelsea brings to the show, and also what the writers can get away
with when you have Gina as a character. More than that, it felt like a natural
reintroduction of the character, as well as how the different characters would
react to it. From the show, we know that Jake and Gina have a long history
together going back to when they were kids. So I was happy to see that the
emotional core of the episode was based around their relationship.
There are times when they reach difficult places because neither one of them is
being honest with each other. Gina is becoming more successful and she does not
know how to juggle that with her life, but also she shouldn’t have to apologise
for that. On the flip side, Jake is feeling hurt that he is missing his friend and
because he is Jake he either refuses to see that there is an issue until it becomes
such a problem that he can’t process it. This creates a strong dynamic for the
two to play off as the episode progresses and we find out that the threat is
real and both actors make the most of every moment.

As
well as this, I really liked the B-story of Holt (Andre Braugher), Charles (Joe
Lo Truglio), and his son Nikolaj (Antonio Raul Corbo). Holt is trying to do a
statistical analysis of the precinct and Nikolaj solves his equation. From the
outset, I don’t think it will be difficult for people to see where the story is
going to head because they make it may be a bit too clear in the outset. However,
what this story does is allow the show to have some really good character
moments. There are the awkward interactions between Holt and Nikolaj, the
touching moments between Charles and his son, and also the far too real moments
when describing the state of modern academia.
In the end, do we recommend Return of the
King? Yes, we do. It is another solid episode with great character beats.
They work Gina’s return into the story organically, allow Chelsea and Andy to
play off each other to give the core of the episode, and also it just really
funny. It does what you need a Brooklyn
Nine-Nine episode to do.
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.
Have you seen Brooklyn Nine-Nine yet ?, let us know what you thought in the
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our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.
Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Directed by – Melissa Fumero
Written by – Phil Augusta Jackson
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 Chelsea Peretti, Antonio Raul Corbo, Miranda De Meo, Emma Fassler, Josh Fingerhut & Marcy Jarreau.