"Thanksgiving" is the tenth episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's first season.
The Nine-Nine's detective squad has the holiday weekend off and Amy invites them all over to her apartment for dinner in a barefaced attempt at sucking up to Captain Holt. Jake would rather be at home, alone, watching football but is ordered to join his colleagues. He's ecstatic when a theft at the precinct allows him and Holt to step away from dinner to investigate.
Meanwhile, the rest of the squad try to celebrate, only for Amy to continue to make thing worse.
This episode provides examples of:
- Alliterative Family: The persona that Jake creates for Captain Holt on this investigation has an Alliterative Name, and his dead wife has it as well with the same sound pattern: Gerald Jimes and Jane Jimes.
- Alliterative Name: Jake is in fine form, inventing exciting characters they will play during the case:
- Jake plays detective Bart Barley.
- Captain Holt is supposed to be his partner Gerald Jimes.
- Jimes' dead wife's name was Jane Jimes.
- Big Eater: Terry spends most of the episode moaning about how he's not getting his daily allowance of calories and how his not inconsiderable muscle mass is being digested to make up for it. He sucks down every edible thing he can get his hands on and even starts eating packing peanuts.
- Brick Joke: Boyle Bingo: Thanksgiving Edition.
- Call-Back: While going door to door, Captain Holt bup-bup-bup-bups Jake, proving right the latter's suspicion six episodes prior that he'd regret teaching it to the former.
- Cringe Comedy: Most of Amy's party can qualify, but of particular note is when Holt arrives and she calls him beautiful, then immediately regrets it with a pained expression on her face.Jake: Weirdest conversation ever! Nice work, you two.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Jake spends the entire episode making a fool of himself. Then he gets into a brawl with a Chinese gangster and takes the mook down with a couple of well-aimed punches.
- Dope Slap: The perp's mother does this when she finds out he stole money from a police station.
- Dysfunctional Family: The Joisey-accented family Holt and Jake talk to, trying to figure out who stole the money from the evidence locker. The mother isn't at all surprised when the cops show up looking for her son, simply asking, "What did you do?" The ensuing argument leads to an all-out brawl occurring, until Holt breaks it up.
- Facepalm: Captain Holt covers his face with his hand when he finds out that he and Jake have to continue in the investigation because the guy they caught bet the money on the football game. He starts facepalming as Jake excitedly keeps spinning his story about Captain's Holt undercover persona, telling us that Jimes's father was murdered by a bookie.
- Failed Attempt at Drama: Amy tries to prove she can act out as much as Jake by downing her drink at the bar and flinging the glass behind her. Unfortunately, said glass causes several other glasses to break and gets the entire squad kicked out of the bar.
- Food Fight: The Dysfunctional Family Holt and Jake talk to end up physically fighting, resulting in one of the sons pitching rolls at his brother. This actually turns out to be important; Jake notices he's throwing with his left hand, meaning he's their guy.
- Freudian Excuse: We find out that Jake doesn't like Thanksgiving because his mother was always working while he'd be alone watching football and eating mayo-nut-spoonsies (peanuts and mayonnaise by the spoonful).
- Funny Background Event:
- When Holt leans into Gerald Jimes' backstory and dramatically monologues about his wife's death, the look on Jake's face is priceless.
- Very easy to miss, but when the squad freaks out about the rats crashing from the ceiling, Amy can be seen standing on a desk with her gun drawn on the rats.
- The Killer Was Left-Handed: A non-murder variant; the evidence locker footage shows that the thief was left-handed, making it somewhat easier for Jake and Holt to find him. They just have suspects sign a form and check which hand they use.
- Last Resort Takeout: After Amy's cooking completely appalls everyone, Boyle orders various takeout meals from restaurants of various cultures when all the squad's other Thanksgiving dinner plans bottom out as well. In place of Turkey, Boyle has a Peking Duck with Veggie Samosa stuffing, the potatoes are substituted by Empanadas with Ethiopian Lentil Stew Gravy, and gelatin cups for dessert from the time Hitchcock had his colonoscopy as he ran out of money buying the rest.
- Lethal Chef: This episode reveals that Amy has absolutely no idea how to cook and considers baking soda and salt to be interchangeable. The squad clogs up her toilet while flushing down their helpings (including the entire turkey).Amy: But I'm a good cook! You all ate those brownies I brought in last week.
Gina: I thought they were erasers. - Misplaced Retribution: Holt scolds Jake for not wearing a jacket and tie to dinner as Amy requested - but neither did any other guest, including Holt himself (several wear jackets or ties, but not together). In the make-up dinner at the end, Jake is the only one wearing both.
- Mundane Made Awesome: Inverted; what looks like it's gonna be a spectacular car chase — complete with quick-edit pursuit on foot and the perp hijacking a flashy sports car — is brutally cut off when the perp immediately pulls into gridlocked New York traffic.
- Not So Above It All: Holt realizes that Jake's juvenile action cop fantasy can come in handy while trying to defuse a family brawl.Holt: (shouting dramatically) MY WIFE WAS MURDERED BY A MAN IN A YELLOW SWEATER! IT'S THE ONE CASE I CAN'T SOLVE! Don't fight with family; it can all go away so quickly. (back to deadpan) Sign this?
- Sibling Yin-Yang: The quick glimpse we see of Rosa's sister at a shared Thanksgiving event — and the fact that she's an irrepressibly cheerful Happily Married mother wearing a bright pink cardigan — suggests that this dynamic is at work between the Diaz siblings.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: At one point a perp tries to escape Jake by stealing a car, but is immediately confronted with the fact that New York is an incredibly busy city and therefore he is blocked by several cars and trucks.
- Thanksgiving Episode: It's in the title of the episode and the very first one of the series.
