by Niamat Dhillon
⚠️This post contains many spoilers for the TV show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine(until the very end of the show!).
The show, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, shows a variety of topics and conveys serious messages in a comical way. The sitcom revolves around the fictional 99th Precinct of the New York Police Department (NYPD). B99 shows amazing diversity and representation through its lead characters, Jake Peralta, Charles Boyle, Amy Santiago, Rosa Diaz, Gina Linetti, Terry Jeffords and Raymond Holt who show varying degrees of racial and queer representation. Scully and Hitchcock are additional characters who represent tenured characters who peaked in the 80s. Moreover, it would just be blasphemous to not refer to Doug Judy, our infamous “Pontiac Bandit”, as one of the main characters who offered as momentary comedic relief with his timely appearance each season..
One of the things that aren’t highlighted, but the viewer clearly sees them is the fact that the queer community is respected and pride is so vividly shown in and by the characters Raymond Holt and Rosa Diaz who identify as gay and bisexual respectively. Maturing for and while being in love is another thing that is indirectly shown by Peraltiago which is the ship name of the love that Jake Peralta and Amy Santiago share.
The show battles stereotypes. Captain Raymond Holt, his husband, Kevin, and his ex-boyfriend are all expressionless people and hardly charismatic. There isn’t a single camp gay man on the show, as they are in real life but the show tries to state that they aren’t everywhere and so society can stop portraying them that way. Talks about Holt’s domestic life in the precinct are incredibly normal and not notable, the way it really should be. The writers have made it a point to show that even the gay jokes aren’t offensive- even outside the set, any joke is okay as long as the other person isn’t offended or the joke doesn’t promote racism, homophobia, etc. B99 may just be one of the only sitcoms that doesn’t rely on jokes that are at others’ expense.
“Do you know what the worst thing about being a black, gay cop is? The discrimination… I believe that’s what they call observational comedy.”
~Captain Raymond Holt {01×17}
Women are often told that they need a man to protect them and that they are weaklings without a man, but Rosa Diaz, who is also regarded as a bisexual icon, has proven otherwise. Rosa is the biggest badass of all time- her assorted weaponry and black leather ensemble also contribute to her character sketch. When Rosa came out to Boyle, he kept it a secret and didn’t out her. Even Jake supported her when she was going to come out to her parents. When her parents rejected her, all the characters went to Rosa’s house for a “family game night” to show her their love and support.
Peraltiago really is a dream couple. One of the perfect examples of tentative friendship evolving into a budding romance(frenemies) – Amy and Jake. Their love is so realistic and rebuilds our trust in love and relationships. They respected each other’s interests even though they are themselves very different people. This resulted in their character development as they were always there, supporting and smiling with each other, through thick and thin. Amy is a very grounded person who only loses her cool when it comes to work. She is like Hermione Granger from Harry Potter and Monica Geller from FRIENDS. Even though none of her interests remotely matched those of Jake’s, she always spent time doing those things with him, and vice versa. One such moment is when Jake really didn’t want to buy a mattress but he did because he cared a lot for Amy. A similar thing happened when Jake moved in with Amy instead of Amy moving in with Jake.
The proposal, and why Jake decided to propose, brought tears to Peraltiago fans everywhere. Amy and Jake are equal and independent in their relationship. In Jake’s wedding vows he mentioned that their relationship has been through some crazy things but what is even more crazy is that he gets to be with a girl as awesome as Amy is. Jake confused the conversation of having children with going to a waterpark, but they eventually had a conversation like 2 adults should. Amy and Jake went through a rough patch in their marriage together when they tried to have children but they made it through, together. Mac Peralta’s parents really are soulmates.
Jake in Season 1 was very competitive and wanted to see Amy fail. That was until they weren’t romantically involved. He grew emotionally in the relationship and later encouraged Amy to pursue higher ranks and showed her that he really believed that she would be the most successful woman in the NYPD. They had childish fights because Jake is portrayed as immature but no unnecessary drama, just a whole lotta love.
In the end, they both grew in the relationship- the gave up the need to be right all the time, they took interests in each other’s interests, they always knew the right thing to do and say with/for each other, they saw the good in each other, were thankful for each other, had fun together, the went the extra mile when it came to the other and they always cherished each other.