The best episodes of 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine', ranked

This is the earliest episode on the list, as well as our first entrant, a sign of a new comedy starting to find its footing. In the fifth episode in the run of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” we are introduced to the recurring character known as “The Vulture,” a detective from the Major Crimes division who has a reputation for swooping in at the last second to take all the credit for solving the case. It was the beginning of the fleshing out of the world of the show. Plus, Dean Winters plays “The Vulture,” which is smart casting.

Captain Raymond Holt is a serious man, but he has love in his heart. Some of it goes to his husband Kevin, but a lot of it goes to his beloved fluffy boy Cheddar the dog. Unfortunately, while he and Kevin are out of town Jake and Amy agree to housesit, and during that time Cheddar runs away. Now the precinct needs to put its skills to work not as police officers, but to find Cheddar before it’s too late.

Putting characters together in a confined space is classic sitcom fodder, and there’s more justification for it in a show about police officers than in other shows. Jake and Charles agree to take on a full eight-day stakeout in a condemned hotel, but quickly they start to get on each other’s nerves. This episode is mostly about two good friends slowly turning on each other due to proximity.

The relationship between Jake Peralta and Captain Holt is the crux of the show from its earliest episodes. Peralta sees Holt as something of a mentor/father figure, but they also often butt heads over procedural matters. Much like “Stakeout,” “9 Days” is about putting two characters together in confines. This time, Jake and Holt have to be quarantined while they have the mumps. The swelling in their faces and necks is a little unpleasant, but all in all, this is still a strong episode.

This is the most recent episode on this list, as it aired near the end of the seventh season of the show. We’ve mentioned Jake seeing Holt as a father figure, but that’s in part because his own dad is an unreliable factor in his life. In “Admiral Peralta” we meet Jake’s grandfather, who gives Jake’s dad his own issues. This episode is highlighted by the three Peralta men trying to clean up a cake mess with their eyes closed because it’s a sex reveal cake for Amy and Jake’s baby. It does not go well.

Is this a nod to the iconic music video for the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage?” Perhaps, because the comedic sensibilities of that video and the show are pretty similar. There is literal sabotage in this episode, though, as somebody is trying to take Jake down, and it’s up to the precinct to figure out who. Also, Gina gets to dance and Hitchcock and Scully actually do good police work.

Adrian Pimiento is an acquired taste, we know. Jason Mantzoukas’ insane character is not for everybody, since he’s about an 11 out of 10 in every scene. That being said, he’s good in small doses, and Mantzoukas is a very funny comedic performer. Of all the Pimiento episodes, “Paranoia” is the best, as paranoia is right up that character’s alley.

This is both the premiere of the sixth season and also the premiere of the show on NBC, as it had aired on FOX for its first five seasons. That meant they had to reestablish the premise and characters for a potential new audience to a degree, but they also went all out to try and make the episode dynamic and funny. Plus, they had the big event from the end of season five to work off of, which you can probably guess from the title “Honeymoon.”

In the pilot of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” it is established that Jake and Amy have a bet that, if Amy loses, will result in her having to go on a date with Jake. This seemed weird for a modern sitcom, but the show managed to make it work because it isn’t so much a date as it is a “date” where Jake is making sure Amy is having a miserable time. It’s one friend playfully messing with another friend. However, in the midst of their fake date – and a side adventure to solve a case – Jake starts to think that perhaps he might actually have feelings for her.

“Brooklyn Nine-Nine” likes to end seasons with events that change the landscape of the show. Take, for example, the third season finale. There are a lot of stakes in this episode, as the members of the precinct are on the run from a gangster’s crew while dealing with an uncooperative witness who the mob boss would be happy to see dead. Jake and Holt are successful, but then the boss calls Jake and threatens to kill him, Holt. Cut to the two in witness protection down in Coral Palms, Florida, living as Greg and Larry.

After the events at the end of the third season, the show spent three episodes in Coral Palms dealing with the fallout. That was maybe too much of a change, but the show also kind of deserves credit for not washing away everything that happened at the end of one season in a single episode. Given that “Coral Palms: Part 3” is the final episode of the three and brings things to their culmination, it gets the nod here.

The first season of the show came to a conclusion with “Charges and Specs.” It involves some big moments, such as Jake “getting fired” from the NYPD to go undercover with the FBI to take down a crime family, but telling Amy about his feelings first. It’s a big episode for the show as a police procedural as much as a comedy. Oh, and also Boyle and Gina sleep together, which is wild.

Debbie, played by Vanessa Bayer, shows up in the seventh season of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and burns brightly. After misinterpreting some advice, the shy police officer decides to steal some cocaine and machine guns from the evidence room. This episode sees that all come to a head, and also involves Debbie doing a lot of cocaine.

There are two recurring storylines that repeat themselves within the world of the show. One is the Halloween heists, and the other is the ballad of Doug Judy, aka the Pontiac Bandit. We only wanted to include one of these episodes on this list, and we’re going with the first one. Craig Robinson is great as Doug Judy, and it’s fun to watch the dynamic between him and Peralta, who are both friends and enemies at the same time.

Isn’t it nice to be able to get an Oscar winner to do a guest spot on your sitcom? That’s what “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” got when J.K. Simmons shows up as Dillman, the best detective that Holt knows. This, of course, makes Jake jealous, so he competes with Dillman to try and find out who sent a glitter bomb to the precinct. Simmons is, naturally, fantastic.

This episode is about a cop convention in that most exciting of cities, Rochester, New York. Holt is excited because he’s giving a presentation, but then his laptop gets lost during a party that the rest of the precinct throws. That leaves them scrambling to figure out what happened, which is tricky given how much drinking went on the night prior.

This episode is fully a gimmick, as it’s all taking place in real-time with a race against the clock. However, it works. It made the show feel fresh and also added some extra stakes and tension. Plus, they don’t skimp on the jokes just because they have a gimmick to rely on.

When criminal Seamus Murphy resurfaces, there is trouble for the Nine-Nine. In fact, things are so serious Holt’s husband Kevin has to be placed in a safe house. Jake agrees to stay with him, but those two don’t exactly have a lot in common. Also, Holt is being super strict and keeps them from having phones or the internet. All they have is Nicolas Cage movies for two months. And Jake doesn’t even think to show Kevin “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin,” the only one he might have any interest in.

The first Halloween episode is only the sixth episode of the show, and that makes it a real leap forward and a showing of future promise. Jake and Holt have a competition to see if Jake can steal Holt’s Medal of Valor by midnight to be declared the greatest detective/genius. It’s a ton of fun and began a series of several episodes in the same vein that have gotten increasingly bonkers. This one is simpler but still tremendous.

Did you like the “Office Olympics” episode of “The Office?” Then you will probably love “The Jimmy Jab Games.” It’s basically the same thing taken to the next level because the competition is more serious and also there are anti-bomb suits involved. Also the eating of expired Chinese food, which is very intense in its own way.

Jake Peralta’s favorite movie is “Die Hard.” He talks about it all the time and would love to be a John McClane-style cop. “Yippie Kayak” is a Christmas episode, so it is naturally also a “Die Hard” episode. Jake, Boyle, and Gina are in a store while it is being robbed, letting Peralta play cowboy, even if there is no Hans Gruber.

Before doing a comedy version of a police show, Andre Braugher was a standout on the dramatic procedural “Homicide: Life on the Street.” “The Box” is basically like a comedic twist on “Homicide,” which really works when you have Braugher at the helm. It also helps to have the outstanding Sterling K. Brown as a dentist who may or may not have killed his partner. Brown even got an Emmy nomination for his performance.

Much of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” involves spending time in the office and working on cases. There is none of that in “Beach House.” The detectives are going to Boyle’s ex-wife’s beach house for the weekend to drink and party. However, Jake invites Holt because Holt never got invited to such events back in his day. This makes everybody feel awkward, as Holt is their boss, but it adds to the quality of the episode.

Hey, a wedding episode! What a novel idea. Look, we have seen many wedding episodes over the year, but they tend to be eventful and if they are handled right they usually end up on lists like this. “Jake & Amy” really knocks it out of the park. They add stakes by having a bomb threat called into their wedding venue, but in the end, we get the wedding and the fun and celebration, and that’s nice sometimes.

It’s fitting that the best episode of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” is a Halloween episode. However, it marries those episodes – and the escalating chaos of those heists – with another major element of the show. That would be, of course, the relationship between Jake and Amy. We just named their wedding episode the second-best episode. Well, this Halloween heist episode ends with Jake proposing, and that helps it get to the top of the list.