"Safe House" is the twelfth episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's fifth season.
Following on from the events of "The Favor", the detectives of the Nine-Nine dedicate all their effort towards keeping Kevin, Holt's husband, safe while simultaneously taking down the notorious crime boss Seamus Murphy.
Jake, feeling responsible for the whole situation, volunteers to stay with Kevin at the episode's titular safe house. However, the two men quickly begin chafing at the strict rules Captain Holt imposes (e.g. no phones, no internet, no standing, etc.). The pressure eventually starts boiling over and Jake begins fearing for the state of Kevin and Holt's marriage.
Meanwhile, Rosa goes undercover at the hair salon where Murphy's mistress works and, under Gina's guidance, takes on the role of a bubbly customer looking to get her hair done while also pumping her target for information on Murphy's whereabouts.
Also, Amy comes up with the idea going through Murphy's shredded documents to try and find clues. Unfortunately she and Terry find that the task is a lot more difficult than they anticipated. Surprisingly, Scully turns out to be quite skilled at puzzles.
This episode provides examples of:
- Actor Allusion: Jake's "pervert" act is much like his actor Andy Samberg's in The Lonely Island "Creep" music video.
- Added Alliterative Appeal: Jake explains to Terry why he should be the one that stays with Kevin in the safe house:Jake: We've got this whole tit for tat thing going, and it's my time to tit. It's my tit turn. My time to tit is today, Terry.
- Answer Cut: Terry asks Amy how many of Murphy's shredded documents do they have to riff through. Cut to her standing neck-deep in shredded papers, answering "A few."
- A Spy at the Spa: An Inverted example with Rosa trying to get information out of the hairdresser, rather than the other way around.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Kevin, as it turns out, is more than adept at self-defense and quite willing to drive a car through a wall if the situation calls for it. But he becomes downright terrifying when he discovers that Jake had Nicolas Cage movies that he would have enjoyed in lieu of the mindless blockbusters Jake made him watch.
- Big Damn Heroes: Just as Murphy is about to have Jake and Holt shot, Kevin drives the van through the warehouse wall and then knocks out Murphy with one punch.
- Birds of a Feather: Peralta, as usual, finds Holt and Kevin a match made in heaven:Kevin: I couldn't bring myself to call him a dirtbag.
Holt: And why would you? A dirtbag is a very useful part of the vacuum cleaner. Clearly, it's a compliment.
Jake: Wow, you guys are so perfect for each other. - Brief Accent Imitation: Jake imitates Nicolas Cage in this episode. Kevin is ashamed at the fact that he is now able to identify from which movie each of Jake's quotes come from.
- Bond One-Liner: Discussed by Jake after Kevin punches him in the throat, saying that Kevin's got to say a catchy one liner afterwards.Kevin: Ooh, how about: "Better get some corticosteroids to treat that laryngeal fracture."
- Brick Joke: As soon as we learn Kevin's Bond One-Liner (see above), we all wonder what it would be like if he actually got to use it. At the end of the episode, we find out.
- Car Fu: When going to rescue Holt from Murphy, Jake instructs Kevin to get in the car and drive to safety. Kevin's response is to drive the car through the wall, taking out Murphy's henchman in the process.
- Chatty Hairdresser: Double subverted. The Nine-Nine banks on Murphy's mistress Nikki being one, but turns out, she's not particularly talkative... until Rosa, undercover, claims her boyfriend is in prison. Nikki then feels safe revealing that her own boyfriend is into shady stuff, and they're able to go from there.
- Chekhov's Skill: Kevin's throat-punching skills really come in handy in the climax.
- Continuity Snarl: In this episode, Holt doesn't understand why calling someone a "dirtbag" is an insult, as a dirtbag is a highly useful part of a vacuum. In The Pontiac Bandit Returns, Holt calls the Brooklyn Broiler a dirtbag.
- A Day in the Limelight: This is Kevin's largest role in the show to date.
- Gag Haircut: Rosa gets her hair bleached and permed so as to keep Nikki talking long enough to find out where Murphy is hiding out.Rosa: This perm saved your life.
Jake: And I thank it for its service. - Gilligan Cut: When discussing about Jake accompanying Holt and Kevin for two months at the safe house, he assumes he'll still be able to keep in touch with the rest of the squad, only to be proven wrong in the very next scene.Jake: Relax. I'm still gonna be able to text and chat with everyone. It's not like I'm being totally shut-off from the outside world.
[Smash Cut to the safe house with Holt and Kevin, the latter demanding Jake's phone]
Holt: Say goodbye to the outside world. You're in the safe house, now. So I'll need your phone. - Hidden Depths: Scully turns out to be quite helpful to Amy and Terry in assembling the shredded papers, thanks to his jigsaw puzzle solving skills. He manages to assemble one in minutes, when it took Amy and Terry hours just to cobble together three words.
- Knuckle Cracking: Parodied.Gina: "Crackety-crack!"
- Metaphorgotten: Kevin and Holt have a conversation which isn't actually about oranges.Kevin: My orange is beginning to rot. That's happens when you leave an orange sitting around for too long, refuse to even let that orange go to a library for two hours so it can feel like a real orange again.
Holt: You know what really causes an orange to go bad? Getting shot. - Playing Cyrano: Gina coaches Rosa through an earpiece on how to talk to the hairdresser to get her to give away Murphy's location.
- Pop-Up Texting: Jake and Holt's texting on the bus is shown in this manner.
- Shout-Out:
- Jake namedrops We Need to Talk About Kevin and Kevin Can Wait, while the team is discussing what to do with Kevin.
- "I love him, too. Everybody Loves Raymond."
- When Linetti first sees Diaz' new hairdo, she compares it to "Phil Spector when he was on trial."
- Jake and Kevin spend their time in the safehouse going through almost all of Nicolas Cage's filmography, specifically highlighting Con Air, Face/Off, The Rock, National Treasure, Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), and Ghost Rider (2007).
- Spicy Latina: Invoked by Boyle and Rosa with the latter's chatty, fashionable, promiscuous undercover persona.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: Holt and Kevin are both puzzled about the idea that "dirtbag" is an insult, as a dirtbag is a highly useful part of a vacuum.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Played for laughs. Kevin becomes genuinely pissed when he learns that Jake didn't tell him about Captain Corelli's Mandolin and Leaving Las Vegas, Nicolas Cage movies that he might have actually been able to appreciate, even screaming and leaving the room in a rage.
