Over the course of its eight seasons, Brooklyn Nine-Nine perfected its classic structure. In a typical episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) stirs up chaos and ruffles feathers with his unconventional methods, but he usually ultimately ends up correctly solving a case or pulling off some other clever plan. Rounding out these episodes are the show’s fantastic ensemble of characters, who often either assist Jake or butt heads with him on the case of the week.
There are many excellent episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine that utilize its tried and true structure, including “HalloVeen” and “The Fugitive.” Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s best episode, though, is one that completely breaks structure. Season 5, Episode 14, “The Box,” is a bottle episode that takes place almost entirely in an interrogation room where only Jake, Captain Holt (Andre Braugher), and their number one suspect in a murder case – a successful dentist named Dr. Philip Davidson (Sterling K. Brown) – are present. “The Box” is unlike any other episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and that’s ultimately why it stands out as a true masterpiece.
‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s “The Box” Is a Bottle Episode With Heightened Stakes
Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s “The Box” opens with Jake greeting Captain Holt, who’s getting ready to leave for the night and go to the opera with Kevin (Marc Evan Jackson). Jake explains the situation at hand: a dentist named Robert Tupper was murdered, and his business partner, Philip Davidson, looks very guilty and even has a flimsy alibi. Still, there’s just not any real evidence against Philip, so they have to get a confession out of him now, or he will never be found guilty. Holt ditches the opera to help Jake with the interrogation, and the bulk of the episode consists of the two of them asking Philip questions. They try a number of techniques, like “smart cop / dumb cop” and Jake’s iconic scream-singing, but Philip is very calm under pressure, and they get nowhere with him. Finally, while Jake is alone with Philip, he gets Philip to admit that he knows where Robert’s body was found.
Still, though, this isn’t enough to convict Philip, and Jake wants to trick a confession out of him by lying and saying he was spotted at the crime scene. This is when the conflict starts to escalate between Jake and Holt. Jake wants to prove to Holt that he can do this on his own, but Holt is trying to keep Jake from flying too close to the sun. Philip picks up on the tension between Jake and Holt, and he uses it to his advantage. Philip points out that Holt doesn’t trust Jake to do this by himself, and he suggests that Holt doubts Jake’s intellect as well. This causes Jake to lose his temper, and he even goes off-book and lies to try to get a confession out of Philip.
Just when it looks like Jake and Holt have failed to get Philip to confess to the murder, Jake changes tactics with only eight minutes left before they’ll have to let Philip go. Jake accuses Philip of the murder by walking him through what Jake believes happened, step by step. Jake intentionally gets the murder weapon wrong, telling Philip that it was all a spontaneous kill, and that he was lucky he didn’t get caught. Finally, angry at being underestimated, Philip blurts out a detailed confession. Holt then expresses his admiration for Jake, and the two realize that it’s already time for work the next morning.
‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s “The Box” Uses the Limitations of Its Structure to Heighten the Tension
“The Box” is Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s best episode for two main reasons: it has a fascinating central murder plotline, and its structure forces the unspoken emotional conflict between Jake and Holt to the surface. Although Jake and Holt believe throughout the episode that Philip is guilty, there’s still the chance that there could be a twist where it’s revealed that he’s not the killer. Brown’s acting sells this perfectly, as Philip is calm and collected throughout the episode, and he often even makes Jake and Holt look unreasonable. This is why Philip’s actual confession feels so shocking, yet it also makes a lot of sense for this character. It’s a perfect moment, as Jake is able to get Philip to explain the details of his perfectly planned murder, all down to the act of melting down the murder weapon and reusing it for a patient’s dental care.
“The Box” could have worked as a fun departure episode, but what makes it so excellent is how Brooklyn Nine-Nine uses the structure of a bottle episode to address the underlying issues in Jake and Holt’s dynamic. By Season 5 of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Jake and Holt are extremely close, and Jake even sees Holt as a father figure. This is why Jake cares so much about what Holt thinks of him, and why he’s so insecure at the thought of Holt doubting him as a detective. Holt skips the opera for the interrogation because he misses this part of the job, but Jake misinterprets this as Holt not trusting him enough to get a confession out of Philip. The two butt heads throughout the episode, because they both believe that their tactic will be the thing that works on Philip. Finally, in order to get a confession out of Philip, Jake has to put his own ego aside in order to attack Philip. It’s the perfect way to combine the physical and emotional arcs of this episode into one resolution, as Philip ultimately confesses, and Holt gives Jake the triple “Oh damn” that he had been hoping for all along.
