TL;DR – A fun episode from start to finish that played off each of the cast’s strengths.

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Review –

As the seventh season from Brooklyn Nine-Nine draws to a close in a couple of episodes, it has been really good to see them swing for the fences each episode. This week we get an episode that is quite small in scope but it pays off years of character developments.

So to set the scene, Jake (Andy Samberg) is in Holt’s (Andre Braugher) office because now he is captain again he is on a selection committee for a new city-wide task force called STOASRCEIUEO, which no shocker, Holt helped name. Everything was going fine, okay, Jake did his application in the form of a rap, so everything was not going fine. But things got worse when the precinct exploded. It seems that someone tried to prank Jake with a glitter bomb and it backfired. But who in the precinct could have done it? Well, there is one detective that Holt trusts to solve the case, Dillman (J.K. Simmons). Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole so you better believe that there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

You know, I didn’t realise what I needed this week was a zero stakes who done it mystery, but wow did I ever. Okay, yes there are some stakes down the line, but who pranked Jake was a great way of letting every one of the cast have a moment to shine. One of the real strengths of the last couple of episodes has been letting Stephanie Beatriz’s Rosa Diaz be there for other characters like an agent of chaos. It works so well because Stephanie knows the character to a tee and can play every moment for both comedy but also keeping it entirely in line with who her character is.  

We got to see this also with Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio) who turned into the heart of the episode with some deep moments about being a working father and also in how his relationship with Jake has shifted. It was a great redirect to put Jake as the centre of the episode when in fact he wasn’t him at all. This made the end of the episode work as well as it did because I did not see it coming even though, like a good who done it, they had set it all up in the first act.

While the show starts with a bang, this is a very contained episode using all the pre-made sets making it what we call in the business a bottle episode. Bottle episodes can be small affairs, or they can provoke creativity and here the latter is the case. To begin with, you don’t notice it is all in the same place thanks to a very red Norm (Joel McKinnon Miller) and the great comedic timing of J.K. Simmons who is, of course, a delight here. It also needs someone to know the characters and their motivations, and Kyra Sedgwick who you may know as Madeline Wuntch completely fit that role as the director.

In the end, do we recommend Dillman? Absolutely. This episode was fun from start to finish, and I needed some fun today. But more than that, it worked because the writers, directors, and actors know their characters so well, and that is always a joy to watch.        

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 – Kyra Sedgwick
Written by – Paul Welsh & Madeline Walter
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 J.K. Simmons, Katie Dalmas & Delpaneaux Wills