TL;DR –  A great welcome back and set up for the rest of the season   

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Review – Sometimes there is a joy in just getting to sit down with old friends and chat and laugh and enjoy your time together. Well occasionally you can have TV shows that can feel just the same way and for me, one of those shows is Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Over the years there have been so many close calls, that any new episode is a moment of joy and today we get to look at the first episode of a seventh season, two more than I thought we would get.

So, to set the scene, in Sicko/Suicide Squad at the end of last season, the Nine-nine squad was successful in thwarting the evil police commissioner, but it came at a price. Captain Holt (Andre Braugher) had to step down as captain after letting slip that he never did his one-year mandatory time as a uniform beat-cop. All of a sudden, the power roles have been reversed and it is Jake (Andy Samberg) giving Holt the orders, and well that goes about as well as you expect it too. Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.      

There is a lot going on in Manhunter, which you would expect because as the first episode back they have to make sure you catch up with where everyone is in their lives. At the core of it though, is, of course, the titular manhunt, where an attempted assassination has taken place and it is all hands on deck trying to capture the would-be assassin before he strikes again. It is here where Jake’s father issues manifest a new turn as he has to order Holt around because Holt is not that good at his job. Holt, of course, wants to be the captain and soon oversteps, and then it all disintegrates form there. Brooklyn Nine-Nine always likes to start the season with a big dynamic shift that they through at the gang and this one is really interesting because it has helped reframe one of the key relationships of the show.

 While the manhunt was the core part of the episode, time was taken to make sure that everyone had their moment to shine. Hitchcock (Dirk Blocker) and Scully (Joel McKinnon Miller) because hotdog cart experts in a role they were born to play. Charles (Joe Lo Truglio) was there as a foil to the disfunction that was Holt/Peralta and Terry (Terry Crews) was dealing with his girls growing up in a very Terry way. The core other plotline that I really liked was Amy (Melissa Fumero) and Rosa (Stephanie Beatriz) dealing with the issue that Amy might be pregnant. It was so good to see Rosa immediately fall into that supportive role while losing none of her scariness. It was honest and caring and I really like seeing how far their bond has grown over the years.

In the end, do we recommend Manhunter? Yep. It was a fun diversion into a different world for a bit. Now, with only 13 episodes this season, I don’t think we will have to wait long to see Cap back in uniform, but I like the character development we are getting right now.      

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 comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all 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 – Cortney Carrillo
Written by – David Phillips
Created by – Dan Goor & Michael Schur  
Production/Distribution Companies – Fremulon, Dr. Goor Productions, 3 Arts Entertainment, Universal Television, NBCUniversal & SBS.
Starring in Season Seven – Andy Samberg, Stephanie Beatriz, Terry Crews, Melissa Fumero, Joe Lo Truglio, Dirk Blocker, Joel McKinnon Miller & Andre Braugher with Vanessa Bayer & Scott Vance