The highly anticipated season finale is here! After leaving us on such a juicy cliffhanger at the end of the prior episode “Sicko” we get to see the crew of the Nine-Nine work alongside their long-time enemies (and part-time nuisances) to take down the big bad that everything has been building up to. Things are in full swing, and one can only imagine how our heroes will fumble the catch.
The Run Down
Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg), Charles Boyle (Joe Lo Trugilo), and Captain Holt (Andre Braugher) confront their nemeses “The Vulture” Keith Pembroke (Dean Winters) and Madeline Wunch (Kyra Sedgwick) and their ex-captain “C.J.” Jason Stently (Ken Marino). Before long Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) is in on the plan and Captain Holt is back to being wary of Wunch, recruiting Terry Jeffords (Terry Crews) and Rosa Diaz (Stephane Beatriz) to keep an eye on her.
Naturally, things fall apart and fast. A complicated scheme to get Commissioner Kelly (Phil Reeves) to use his “patented” Dark Knight machine is constructed so that the crew fakes a kidnapping of C.J. only to have to C.J. mistake it for an actual kidnapping, leaving Jake with a roughed up face that adjusts his mask so that every witness gets a glimpse. The Vulture puts his “worst” detectives on the scene to mask the evidence left behind, but both end up being extremely competent. And the icing on the cake? Just as Wunch is about to plant the bug on Kelly she catches wind of Holt’s spies and backs out on the plan.
Coupled with this (though on a lighter note) Terry is in complete denial about leaving the Nine-Nine. Despite Rosa’s prodding he continuously mentions working at the Nine-Nine until retirement and all the crazy fun he’ll have along the way. Seeing, as Rosa puts it, it’s only “quietly self-destructive” the crew focuses on putting out the rapidly growing fires of Jake’s incredible plan.
Nevertheless, Jake manages to get Wunch back on the team by forcing Holt to apologize for all of his insults and a suspicious “Michelle Obama incident” (which is revealed as Holt having pushed Wunch into Michelle from behind). Continuing forth with the plan, Jake and Charles come up with the idea to make a kidnapping video of C.J. to ensure Kelly’s use of the machine while Wunch and Holt pose as lovers to meet up with Kelly at a party and finally plant the bug. However, what smoldering remains of their brilliant plan come crashing down to ashes when Wunch reveals she has sided with Kelly and C.J. has such trouble recording his lines that before they can finish the video a SWAT team led by The Vulture shows up to arrest the lot of them.
As Jake puts it, this is “rock bottom” with The Vulture and Wunch backstabbing them and C.J. being bought off with games of Madden. As Wunch and Kelly gather with Holt to gloat over his failure, the phoenix springs forth from the ashes as Wunch tricks Kelly into getting his unlocked phone (supposedly to take a picture of the defeated Holt) and uploads the information of his machine to a private server as Jake shouts out a happy surprise. They reveal that a new plan was made when Wunch almost walked out but was kept secret from Holt as his trust issues of Wunch were evident.
Thankfully all ends on a cheerful note. Kelly is taken down, Holt shows pride in Jake’s ability, and after some negotiations with Wunch as the now acting Commissioner even manage to let Terry stay at the Nine-Nine. Of course, Wunch forces Holt to make up for his skipped beat cop duty (mentioned in one of their previous fights this episode) and takes him out of the precinct for a short time. We end the episode seeing him as a traffic patrolman.
Speculations
While the episode itself was a roller-coaster, it does provide a bit of portent for the upcoming Season 7. Holt’s life as a beat cop is the most notable change to the show’s structure, but the Nine-Nine has survived without his presence a few times before, and I have little doubt they won’t be able to now. It will also be interesting to see who ultimately fills the void of Commissioner in New York City. Will Wunch keep the job and continue to make Holt’s life hell? Or will Kelly’s shoes be filled by an even worse officer, be they incompetent or corrupt? There’s a lot of potential here, and while I would like to see Wunch take over the position of Commissioner, I have my doubts that Dan Goor will do so. It’s a ripe position for potential conflict, something all writers crave, and while Wunch would certainly provide many a headache for Holt, it is something we’ve seen before. An opportunity for a new villain could arise from this, which in itself would be an interesting thing to see, though perhaps demeaning of the Nine-Nine’s victory. As always, though, time will tell.