"Nine onions? Oh, Amy..."
Nine Days is the twelfth episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's third season.
Captain Holt is noticeably depressed due to Kevin being on sabbatical in Paris. Hoping to snap him out of his funk, Jake dusts off an old case file and tempts Holt with a difficult puzzle to solve, an opportunity Holt eagerly grabs onto. Unfortunately, the investigation leads the two being exposed to the mumps and having to be quarantined for nine days. Unfazed, they continue to work the case from Holt's house despite being delirious with fever and blitzed out of their minds on cold medicine.
In Holt's absence, Terry takes temporary command of the precinct and tries to enact some meaningful change during his stint in charge. Unfortunately, due the precinct being the way that it is, things do not go according to his plans.
Also, Charles' beloved dog passes away and Rosa attempts to comfort him in her own blunt way.
This episode provides examples of:
- Badass Boast: A typically odd one from Amy: when the doctor warns her that she probably shouldn't be in such close proximity to Jake and Holt while they have the mumps, she calmly replies that she's so up to date on her shots she's probably immune to things he's never even heard of.Holt: But not immune to braggadocio.
- Body Horror: Jake and Holt develop enormous goiters during their quarantine.
- Calling Your Attacks: "Double Poke!"
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Amy is temporarily this to both Jake and Holt when a combination of high fever and the medicine they've been chugging renders them even more odd than usual.
- Cuteness Proximity: Rosa doesn't understand Charles' attachment to his dog until she keeps the dog she bought for him and falls in love with it. She doesn't show any emotion in public, but she does threaten a murder-suicide if anyone harms the dog.
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: Terry slams the door on Holt's office so hard it breaks every window and causes the ceiling to collapse.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Holt is angry at Jake for giving him a "pity case" to keep him busy while Kevin is away.
- Drunk with Power: Played with. After taking over from Holt, Terry does institute his to-do list of things he wants to change and at one point does rant about how he seems to be the only person keeping the precinct together, but otherwise doesn't seem particularly affected by this trope. Gina does try to egg him on, however, by comparing him to an eager young dancer who's been given a chance to seize the spotlight after pushing the experienced old pro down the stairs.
- "Eureka!" Moment: When they read the recipe Amy used for her revolting ziti and see the ridiculous amount of ingredients used, Jake and Holt realize that it's actually a coded message, and the break they needed to solve the case.
- Inherently Funny Words: Jake thinks so about the word "mumps", even when he is told he got the infection.Jake: Ha ha, mumps. Still a funny word. Beat Are we going to die?
- Lethal Chef: Yet again, Amy's food is revolting. This time she follows a recipe to the letter, but knows so little about cooking that she doesn't realize that the amounts listed are simply ridiculous.Jake: Wait. Did you actually use all of this salt and eighteen cups of oregano?
Amy: Back off! I solved the case!
Holt: Nine onions? Oh, Amy...
Amy: How am I the bad guy here?!
[Jake and Holt just stare at Amy] - Madness Mantra: At one point Holt is writing the word "case" over and over on the window and eventually starts misspelling the word with a "k". He eventually signals Jake and points to his work, exclaiming "Case!" with urgent enthusiasm.
- Meet My Good Friends Lefty and Righty: Jake and Holt name their goiters. Jake's is called Simon, Holt's is Balthazar and, after he gets a second one, Penelope.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The detectives are concerned at how the normally meticulous Holt doesn't care about a stain on his clothes.
- Precious Puppy: Rosa and Charles's B-plot involves an adorable Golden Retriever puppy.
- Replacement Goldfish: Rosa buys a puppy for Charles to replace his dog. Charles is insulted because he feels his dog is irreplaceable.
- Revisiting the Cold Case: Originally just an excuse to keep Holt busy but in the end they actually found new evidence.
- Sick Episode: For Jake and Holt.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: Both Holt and Jake consider forks to be incredibly strange. It's unclear how much of this is due to fever and being high on cough medicine however.
- Team Power Walk: Parodied; Holt and Jake seem to be doing this when on their way to follow up a potential lead... except when Amy follows them out moments later, it turns out that they're just walking agonisingly slow instead of the footage being in slow-motion. And they're dressed in ridiculously ineffectual improvised "biohazard" suits.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Amy upbraids Holt for his petulant reaction to Jake lying about the case being reopened, pointing out that Jake was well-intentioned in trying to keep him company and give him something to focus on while his husband was away.
- Jake also begins to tell Holt off for ingratitude after Holt reacts with disgust to Amy's cooking. This is subverted, however, since after Jake actually tries the food he immediately changes his tune and agrees with Holt.
- Wimp Fight: Jake and Holt exchange blows but, due to being weakened by their symptoms and having such tempting targets, said blows are limited to poking each other in their goiters and slapping the other's hands out of the way.
