Payback is the thirteenth episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's second season.
Terry is suddenly riding Jake hard to get back the thousands of dollars Jake owes him. Jake realizes that it's because Terry is expecting another baby and is facing mounting expenses so he happily repays a good chunk of his debt, only to be caught doing so by the other detectives. Sworn to keep the pregnancy a secret (because doing so puts him in the running to be a godfather), Jake ties himself in knots trying to repay his other debts through favors.
Amy is ecstatic about being able to partner up with Captain Holt while reinvestigating one of his old arson cases. The day seems to go exactly as she'd hoped, but then things take a turn for the worse.
This episode provides examples of:
- Anti-Climax: Amy is hoping for a long and grueling case that would let her truly bond with Holt. Unfortunately for her, Holt figured everything out before Amy can even get started and the half a day they spend on stakeout ends with them finding out that the man they're after died two weeks previously.
- Awesome by Analysis: Jake once again shows that he is a top-notch detective by deducing that Terry is expecting a third child just through little clues, starting with the fact that Terry's been visiting the "dentist" more often than normal.Jake: I know your secret!
Terry: What do you mean? I don't have a secret.
Jake: Oh, really? Fact the first: after years of not caring about my debt now. That implies to me that there is a sudden, unexpected expense.
Terry: Or I got sick of waiting for you to do the right thing.
Jake: Not plausible! You have endless patience for my shenanigans. Fact the second: You've had dentist appointments twice in the past two weeks. No one goes to the dentist that much. I haven't been in seven years.
Terry: You should go to the dentist, Jake.
Jake: Probably. My teeth hurt all the time. Fact the third: I really like this 'fact the' thing. I think I'm going to stick with it. Fact the fourth: I found this on your desk!
Jake brandishes a sheet of paper
Jake: It's a list of names. 'Nathaniel Jeffords', 'Alexa Jeffords'...
Terry: Those are my cousins' names.
Jake: Lies! There's but one conclusion. You, Terry Jeffords, are pregnant. The names are baby names. The dentist: an obstetrician. And the money is for baby things! Like diapers.
Terry: I don't know what you're talking about...DAMMIT! - Brick Joke: Yahoo!Answers.
- Briefcase Full of Money: Jake gives Terry $1200.00 this way because he thought it'd be cool. The sum has to be given in singles, though, because it actually takes a lot of cash to fill a briefcase.
- Call-Back:
- Holt still doesn't have much interest in food beyond simple nutrition. His idea of stakeout food is a flavorless "Nutrition Brick" (though to be fair, he had original no flavor and whole wheat no flavor bricks to choose from).
- Terry loves yogurt.
- Terry is expecting another kid because Jake made him realize he didn't really want a vasectomy. Also, Jake still doesn't have any idea what a vasectomy actually is.
- Boyle brings his dogs to Jake to bathe and walk. Two of his dogs are the now full grown puppies that Holt gifted him in the first season while recovering from his shooting.
- Savant, the hacker from the first season, is still around the Nine Nine as the precinct's IT guy.
- Facepalm: Jake facepalms for a really long time when after all the effort the whole office made Captain Holt congratulates Terry and Sharon and reveals that the secret is out.
- Fair for Its Day: Holt fondly remembers his partner from when he first worked the Brooklyn Broiler case. He notes that he was "homophobic, but not racist," which for the time was pretty good.
- Godzilla Threshold: Jake decides that Terry expecting a new baby is important enough for him to sell his beloved Mustang in order to pay off his debt to make sure that Terry has some extra cash.
- Humiliation Conga: Jake does a lot of work for nothing.
- When the rest of the squad demands that Jake pay them all back, Jake offers to work off the debt, instead of taking back the money Terry needs or revealing that Terry is having a third child. After Jake has finished, he accidentally sends an email revealing the secret to everyone.
- To prevent Terry from finding out he revealed the secret, Jake has to distract Terry while the others hack his email. Jake does this by working out with Terry until he collapses... only for Holt to enter, and reveal that everyone knew Terry was having a third child, as noone had informed Holt it was a secret.
- Mundane Made Awesome: Only a show like this can turn a desperate search for a private bathroom into an epic driving scene.
- The Password Is Always "Swordfish": Terry's password is "yogurt". Terry loves yogurt. Downplayed, as it took quite a lot of trial and error before the squad figured it out.
- Potty Emergency: Consuming tainted Street Meat leaves Holt with a bad case of diarrhea.
- Scary Black Man: This episode is one of the few times that Terry intentionally uses his strength to intimidate someone. In this case, it's Jake who gets scared.Jake: Do I even weigh anything to you?
Terry: No. It's like holding a couple of grapes. - Spanner in the Works: Jake's plan to keep Terry ignorant of how he'd accidentally told the entire squad about the secret pregnancy is thwarted by Amy and Holt returning early while he was keeping Terry busy in the gym.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Amy is loving being able to work a case with Holt while drinking bad coffee and eating "street meat". Unfortunately, Holt's digestive system reacts in the way many do when dealing with food from dubious sources.
- This Is Going to Suck: Jake has to keep Terry in the gym until the others delete the email, so he complains about the workout so far being a cakewalk.Terry: Oh, you want me to make this harder?
Jake: (clearly regretting every word he's saying) Yes. That is what I want. More harder exercise.
