Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 6 Episode 2 Review: Hitchcock & Scully

This Brooklyn Nine-Nine review contains spoilers.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 6 Episode 2

How did we go six seasons without diving into Hitchcock and Scully’s collective past and how long are we going to have to wait before revisiting their ‘80s heyday? Fittingly, the cold open for this week’s episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “Hitchcock & Scully,” opens with a flashback to the eponymous duo, where they are played by Alan Ritchson (Titans) and Wyatt Nash (Dear White People). These actors are so hunky that when Peralta and Boyle see a photo of them, it elicits a hearty “Meeeoooowww!” from the pair. 

Back in 1986, the “old studs of the nine-nine” took down drug kingpin Gio Costa, and now in the present day, Internal Affairs is digging into the case because of a reported missing duffel bag of money that was spotted at the crime scene but never made its way to evidence. Peralta and Boyle, the “new studs of the nine-nine” are chosen by Holt to investigate.

While investigating two other best friends, Peralta and Boyle are forced to work through the differences that they have as detectives. Jake is typically too suspicious of people, while Charles, highlighted by the fact that he is nearly deceived into adopting a middle-aged man, is too trusting of others. By investigating Hitchcock and Scully, both men learn to take a page from the other, as Hitchcock and Scully are revealed to be hiding something, but with good intentions. Before that’s revealed, however, the pair of dodos lead the detectives through their financial records and an investigation of Scully’s creepy old “Beaver Trap” van, with lots of jokes made at Hitchcock and Scully’s weight, their laziness, sloppiness, and deep love of a restaurant called Wing Sluts. Basically, if you’re a fan of the fleeting Hitchcock and Scully joke or bizarre line-reading in a typical episode, this installment will leave you rolling with plenty of material to choose from.

Peralta and Boyle’s investigation leads them to where else but Wing Sluts, where it’s revealed that Gio Costa’s wife and Hitchcock and Scully’s former informant, Marissa, is working. It turns out that back in ’86, Marissa Costa wasn’t granted access into the witness protection program, so Hitchcock and Scully used one bag of the recovered money to help Marissa get on her feet and away from the trappings of her old life. However, the real twist is that Internal Affairs were never looking into the old case. It was a rouse concocted by the recently released Gio Costa to have the Nine-Nine lead him to the whereabouts of his snitching ex-wife. Costa arrives at Wing Sluts shortly after Peralta and Jake with too many for the pair to take on alone.

read more: The Best Brooklyn Nine-Nine Episodes

Thankfully, Holt and Santiago arrive on the scene before any rash escape attempts are made, but Gio Costa is still able to take two parting shots at his ex-wife, which Hitchcock and Scully deflect with buckets of Wing Slut’s Slut Sauce. The old studs are able to capture a moment of their former glory, and better yet, since they were actually guilty of stealing a duffel bag of cash, IA sentences them to a year of desk work, which they couldn’t be happier about.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Nine-Nine is dealing with the blowback from Holt’s official complaint against new commissioner John Kelly. The entire Nine-Nine is forced to work on one floor, where Sgt. Santiago and her uniformed officers begin to clash with Sgt. Jefford’s normal crew. Things get petty and chaotic quickly, with Holt refusing to step in formally due to the stress he’s under preparing for a big TV interview. The whole thing mostly comes to boil over access to a microwave, and anyone who’s worked in a large office will know just how big of an issue microwave maintenance and access can be. All and all, it’s a great way for the rest of the cast to all be involved in the B-plot and to highlight the Nine-Nine’s new antagonist John Kelly. Also, the funny “downstairs people” pejorative is a sly way to talk about prejudice. 

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is two for two on its new network, where the only noticeable change is the ability to use bleeps to give jokes an extra punch when necessary. With Chelsea Perreti’s planned departure coming up soon, Brooklyn Nine-Nine will have another substantial shake-up, but if it’s handled with as much grace as this network move has been, there’ll be nothing to worry about.

BK99 Blotter

– The cramped new status quo doesn’t work for Terry, who’s shoulders are too big for small spaces, and Rosa, who has now been forced to say excuse me more times than she has in her entire life, but Boyle, who’s desk is now basically on top of Jake’s, is loving it.

– Gina had previously worked with not Elon Musk, but Ellen Musk, Season 1 winner of VH1’s Queen Bitch.

– Santiago’s fake British accent, even when it’s meant to be condescending, is delightful.

– Scully uses some of the President’s favorite buzz words, “witch hunt, fake news, SAD!” which is clearly the language of an innocent person. 

– “This whole room is a f**king Dutch oven.” – Hitchcock

–  Hitchcock and Scully used to have the very toit nicknames of Flat Top and The Freak, respectively. 

– “He’s one of those friendly villains like the Verizon guy that defected to Sprint.” – Gina

– Jake has a Freudian slip when he’s saved by Amy and Holt. “My wife and Dad are here!”

Nick Harley is a tortured Cleveland sports fan, thinks Douglas Sirk would have made a killer Batman movie, Spider-Man should be a big-budget HBO series, and Wes Anderson and Paul Thomas Anderson should direct a script written by one another. For more thoughts like these, read Nick’s work here at Den of Geek or follow him on Twitter.