Brooklyn Nine-Nine is one of the best sitcoms on TV today. For the first five seasons, it aired on Fox but was canceled after the fifth season. Fortunately, NBC stepped in and picked it up for at least three more seasons. A key reason why fans love the show is because of the great characters, including Detective Jake Peralta.
As amazing as he is at his job, he seems to enjoy being ridiculous even more. To paraphrase what a waitress once said to him, he’s way too old to act the way he does. Even his arrests are frequently ridiculous.
The Therapist
When a pair of murders leads Jake and Boyle to a therapist, Jake’s mistrust of therapy leads him to suspect Dr. Tate. But he doesn’t have the evidence to back it up and Boyle doesn’t trust him because he’s a much bigger fan of therapy. Not surprisingly, Jake’s theory turns out to be correct and Dr. Tate admits to being responsible for murdering four of his own patients.
He kidnaps Jake with plans of killing him. Peralta manages to save himself by engaging the doctor in an impromptu therapy session while doing a terrible job of no-look texting Boyle for help.
The Oolong Slayer
One of New York’s most infamous serial killers on Brooklyn Nine-Nine is called The Oolong Slayer. Why is he called that? Because he kills, steals nothing and stages a tea party. Despite being relegated to misdemeanors by The Vulture, Jake finds a lead and starts working the case.
He gets Holt and Gina’s help even though they no longer work in the department. Jake tracks the Slayer down but Holt no longer wants to work the case. The showdown is insane as it goes down in a super creepy mannequin factory. Holt comes to the rescue but the whole thing is insane.
Serve & Protect
Jake and Rosa get summoned to the set of the police drama Serve & Protect. A laptop containing sensitive information has been stolen from one of the show’s actors. Immediately star-struck, Jake starts paying more attention to the Hollywood lights than the actual case.
Rosa is not as enamored, immediately suspicious of the whole situation. They eventually discover that the show’s lead actor, who thinks he’s an actual detective after years on the show, is guilty. Unfortunately for Jake, he makes a huge fool out of himself to the producers before working that one out.
Seamus Murphy
When Jake and Rosa went to prison for crimes they didn’t commit, Captain Holt made a deal with the notorious gangster Seamus Murphy for information to get them out. After screwing Murphy on the favor he owed him, Murphy came after Holt’s husband Kevin.
Jake had Kevin in protective custody for two months before Murphy finally caught Holt and eventually Jake when he tried to rescue his captain. Naturally, Kevin had to rescue them, allowing Jake to arrest Murphy. Not his finest moment as a cop.
Adrian Pimento Arrives
Adrian Pimento was a detective in the 99 who has been undercover for 12 years, so long that only Hitchcock and Scully were around when he was last there. Being in the mob for that long changed Pimento, making him an irrational and paranoid man. Well, he might have been like that before he went undercover.
Jake asked to team up with him on a case but had trouble trusting him due to his frightening and absurd behavior. When they finally found their perp and went to arrest him, Pimento turned it up to 11 and went crazy.
The Right Guy At The Wrong Time
While investigating a jewelry store robbery, Jake immediately suspected a criminal he once arrested named Dustin Whitman. His methods matched the crime perfectly. But Jake made the decision to arrest Whitman on-site and without evidence, giving him 48 hours to find what he needed to make the charges stick.
That, and avoid a lawsuit. While Jake did find the evidence he needed, his interrogation of Whitman to get him to break before he found it was amazing. He attempted to get Whitman to talk by singing horribly, an outstanding move that absolutely did not work.
Evil Kittens
Before Terry transferred to the 99, he worked in a different precinct where he made a huge mistake on a case. When the perp unexpectedly confined to a wheelchair didn’t work out, he attempted to blame the crime on his cat. Years later, his old squad still sends him kittens to make fun of him.
Jake helped him solve the case when he realized that the perp was not, in fact, disabled. He and Terry arrested the guy. To celebrate, Jake suggested a variety of ways to get back at Terry’s old precinct, including letting rats loose. Terry said no, but Jake had already done it.
Return To Skyfire
D.C. Parlov, Jake and Terry’s favorite fantasy author returned with a new problem. This time, someone had stolen his new, unreleased book and was threatening to publish it online unless a ransom was paid. Parlov suspected his main competition, Landon Lawson, but he was in the same predicament.
Jake and Terry went undercover in full Skyfire gear and dragged Rosa with them, which might have been the funniest part. The team figured out that Parlov and Landon staged the whole thing, then arrested them. It was amazing to watch Jake and Terry geek out the entire episode.
Winning The Bet
A huge part of the first season was Jake and Amy’s bet. Whoever has the most felony arrests by the end of a specific time period would win it. Amy came in at the last minute with an arrest only to find that Jake completed a prostitution sting that resulted in several felony arrests.
His win meant that Amy had to go on a terrible date with him. Two things happened on this date. First, Jake realized that he had feelings for Amy. Second, they used an absurd and unnecessary ploy to arrest two criminals, one that makes those criminals hope for Jake and Amy’s future together.
Santa Catches The Pontiac Bandit
Jake’s greatest nemesis/best friend is Doug “The Pontiac Bandit” Judy. Their relationship has been built over years of Jake chasing Judy who then screws Jake over and gets away. It’s a fun relationship. On a stakeout looking for Judy, Rosa watched from a distance by her motorcycle while Jake was dressed as Santa on the street.
He stops Judy, who then ran into a Christmas tree lot. Jake captured Judy but not before setting the lot on fire and screaming at a group of children, all while being dressed as Santa and holding a gun. Christmas memories.
