NBC's Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Episode 6.05 "A Tale of Two Bandits"
Terry believes the Pontiac Bandit is stealing cars again, but Jake is convinced his friend wouldn't do that. The rest of the squad fights to keep Shaw's a police bar after some fireman stake their claim to it.
In 2018, there were 495 scripted shows airing amongst the linear channels and streaming services. The way people are consuming content now is so different than it used to be. It happens according to one's own schedule. As such, there is less necessity to provide ample coverage of each specific episode in any given season from a show. Moreover, it is simply impossible to watch everything. As such, this site is making the move to shorter episodic reviews in order to cover as many shows as possible. With all of that being said, here are my thoughts on the next episode of NBC's Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
"A Tale of Two Bandits" was written by Luke Del Tredici and directed by Cortney Carrillo
There are certain episodes that the audience has come to expect in every season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Those annual events include the Halloween Heist and Craig Robinson's appearance as Doug Judy. Now, it's still unclear if this season will be producing a Halloween Heist episode considering it premiered at midseason. Also, the last Halloween Heist was so memorable it may be better to go out on a high with that particular story. Meanwhile, the Doug Judy episodes have followed a similar pattern across the years. At times, it's a story that works incredibly well. Other times though, it can feel too repetitive without adding anything to the idea of Jake being friends with a criminal who keeps saying he has changed his ways. Now, the number of Doug Judy appearances has allowed him to interact with many different members of the precinct. Here, he deals with Terry for the first time. That's a nice shake up of the central premise. However, it's a much more inspired idea to introduce Nicole Byer as Doug Judy's sister, Trudy Judy, who also happens to be in the family business. The previous Doug Judy episode concluded with Doug Judy claiming that he was out of the criminal life for good. It's something that Jake inherently believes. He doesn't want to accept that his friend could lie to him once again. But the evidence is pretty damning here. Either Doug Judy is back to stealing cars or the Pontiac Bandit has a copycat on the loose. Of course, Jake and Doug Judy are more than comfortable looking solely into the idea of someone copying the success of the Pontiac Bandit. Terry has much more skepticism about people being able to change. And yet, the show ultimately does stick to the idea of Doug Judy being a changed person. Sure, he fakes his death here because other criminals have put a hit out on him. However, he is still DJing the Bar Mitzvah circuit without any concern of someone recognizing him. Instead, the threat comes from his sister who is more than fine being the new rebel in the family. Trudy Judy is essentially who Doug Judy was during his first appearance in the series. That's different because it means that Doug Judy is now the one who is lured into a false sense of hope only to be betrayed by someone he trusted. His sister isn't anything like what he wants her to be. She's actually a hardened criminal who won't face any charges even if they are reduced because of a deal negotiated by Jake and Terry. But all of this means that Doug Judy is still keeping to his word despite everything he puts his family through with his funeral. Elsewhere, the rest of the precinct gets into a fight with some firefighters over who can control the identity of Shaw's bar. Now, there was never any real threat to the show losing that central location. It is one of the standing sets after all. But it is still amusing to watch as all of the characters get to be outrageously drunk while trying to win this competition. Sure, it may be completely beneath Holt to participate. But he is the reason why the Nine-Nine ultimately wins. Plus, he joins in on the throwing up as well. Of course, all of this makes it seem like Rob Riggle and Nicole Byer could just be one-off guest stars. There is more room for them in the ensemble now that Gina is gone. But there are still some tremendous comedic performers vying for attention in the individual stories as well.
