S03.E05: Halloween III

[formerlyfreedom]

The third installment of Captain Holt and Jake’s Halloween heist culminates with a tie-breaking competition to claim the title of “amazing detective slash genius.” This year, Jake and Holt split the squad into two teams to help them win.

 

 

[jelaine]

Oh crap!  Who gets Amy?

[dusang]

I love that Holt is as into this as Jake.

[Rinaldo]

I'm almost afraid to utter this, but I'm secretly hoping that this is the right time for the return of Barley and Jimes, and the man in the yellow sweater.

[Galileo908]

That cold open was fantastic, I loved everyone's costumes. Of COURSE Scully & Hitchcock would come wearing the same costume.

 

Man, Boyle having living cockroaches in his pants was horrifying. I can take spiders, but a swarm of cockroaches pouring out of nowhere is where I draw the line.

 

"THAT'S why people throw away garbage!"

"Why are we together?"

 

Amy is awesome, but we knew that already.

 

Holt was acting very Jake-like tonight and it weirded me out.

[MrWhyt]

I knew as soon as Amy wasn't picked that she'd come out on top, but damm that was a great episode.

[Mama No Life]

Man that was good.  I love it when Holt goes out of character.  The physical pain of drinking the soda was awesome.

 

Best line of the night was "My waffle xylophone at the man of cheese" (paraphrased).  I cracked up.  Also the "Why is who even a word if you're never allowed to use it?"  Bwahahaha

 

Love this show.  And again, handling the Amy/Jake relationship JUST RIGHT.

[Kanner]

I really, really, really love this show. The cold open was brilliant. Harry Pop-tart. Elvis Stojko! Boyle's "No" and spin.

I knew Amy would win but it was fun watching it unfold.

I like the Gina and Boyle combo. Just when you thought it would work out, the twist at the end.

Cleavage!

[Maximum Taco]

It was fun I guess. But what I liked about the old Halloween episodes was that it was a bit of a question how Jake/Holt pulled off their heists.

This time it seemed obvious that Amy would win, which is fine, but how she won was also very obvious. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop and it never did. Just a little disappointing.

[Galileo908]

"Why are you yelling at my boobs?!"

[bethy]

For some reason it was especially funny to me that Holt ended up yelling at Amy's boobs, too. 

 

Holt: I'm sorry I said cleavage.

Amy. Mm-hm. 

[SeanC]

The ending with Amy was instantly predictable, but I thought the plot was well-executed. Holt seemed much less unflappable than usual this week.

 

Gina's reaction to learning that the guy was Charles' girlfriend's twin brother was hysterical.

[MBJ]

Just felt like fan service to give Amy-fans a very easy and boring win.

 

That's not exciting nor was it funny.  It's too bad.

 

It was incredibly obvious when the janitor was cleaning out the garbage that it was someone on the team (someone with a slender build, and I actually thought I could see cleavage!), but I didn't realize who.  When the reveal happened, I just found it such a let-down.  No tension there.  

 

Agree with Maximum Taco - both on the post and the username.

 

I've also voiced my opinions on vomit scenes on television about a billion times .... to sum it up, I'm against.

 

stacey, also saw a couple on The Mindy Project this week.  They showed it.  And it was kind of gross on this episode when Jake *spit* after.  Cringe.

Edited October 26, 2015 by Ms Blue Jay

[formerlyfreedom]

I've also voiced my opinions on vomit scenes on television about a billion times .... to sum it up, I'm against.

 

Generally, I'm with you. I appreciate they didn't actually show it!

[Bort]

Oh, Jake. You didn't instantly recognize your girlfriend's body, even though it was in a janitor outfit? I did, and I'm not sleeping with it.

[Dots And Stripes]

Amy pulling one over on the guys was obvious. I also recognized her as the janitor, which is a win for me because I usually am not paying close attention to things like that.

 

I agree that I can forgive obvious plots where the show is funny and well executed, as tonight was. I loved the past Halloween caper episodes too.

 

I don't recall the details of the past capers. Didn't everyone, including Amy, help Jake? I seem to remember he bribed them all. I also kind of wondered what was in this for the teams, other than just a night off. But yeah, I think a well placed bribe could have made Amy loyal to a team.

[hoodooznoodooz]

Loved the whom humor. The whomor.

Loved Jake's ab admiration.

Loved Jake's disappointment that Holt didn't sing with him.

Boyle: I have spectacular taste in men!

Holt: It's delicious.

Jake: I don't buy it -- you're making the same face you made when you found a chocolate chip in your trail mix.

Holt: Alpha team, this is the Golden Sparrow. Rendezvous at drop zone Yankee.

Edited October 26, 2015 by hoodooznoodooz

[Maximum Taco]

I don't recall the details of the past capers. Didn't everyone, including Amy, help Jake? I seem to remember he bribed them all. I also kind of wondered what was in this for the teams, other than just a night off. But yeah, I think a well placed bribe could have made Amy loyal to a team.

 

In the first caper Jake offers to do everyone's paperwork for the week in exchange for their help, but since Holt had wagered Jake's paperwork in the bet, Holt ends up doing everyone's paperwork.

 

In the second caper everyone (except Boyle) agrees to double cross Jake and help Holt just for the fun of seeing Jake humiliated.

 

This time it seems they just wanted to have fun, and since Jake and Holt had done their work for the evening they figured it was fine to do so.

 

I'm not sure that a bribe would've gained Amy's loyalty, it really just seems like she wanted in on the fun this time and was disappointed when both her boyfriend and her mentor didn't trust her enough to include her. If either had chosen her at the beginning I think she would've gone along with whatever team picked her, if Jake or Holt had taken her on at her second urging instead of both yelling at her breasts I think she still would've helped them. But after the 4 rejections I think she was committed to humilating both of them.

Edited October 26, 2015 by Maximum Taco

[TheOtherOne]

I haven't been loving this season--way too much of Wunch and the Vulture being more aggravating than amusing, or amusingly aggravating, for me--but this brought back the love. Yes, the plot was obvious, and like so many others, I didn't care. It was just so much fun, so sheerly joyful, in a way that not enough shows are for me anymore. It was particularly welcome after all the crap the characters have had to deal with this season.

 

Santiago isn't even one of my favorite characters, so it wasn't fan service to me. I still loved seeing her win.

 

Yay, Amy!

Edited October 26, 2015 by TheOtherOne

[gpgurl50]

I was glad Amy got to win after being shut out.  This new dynamic provided a reason for her to be shut out.  I was hoping the twist at the end would be she also won Hitchcock and Scully's thing that she didn't care about.

 

Boyle likes to keep his dynamic with Gina just as gross as possible.

[VCRTracking]

Fun episode. I knew Amy was the janitor after she had been rejected by both Jake and Holt. Loved that they both thought she was hiding a camera in her cleavage. Holt: "Because the cleavage cloaks the camera with it's curves!"

[Dots And Stripes]

In the first caper Jake offers to do everyone's paperwork for the week in exchange for their help, but since Holt had wagered Jake's paperwork in the bet, Holt ends up doing everyone's paperwork.

 

In the second caper everyone (except Boyle) agrees to double cross Jake and help Holt just for the fun of seeing Jake humiliated.

 

This time it seems they just wanted to have fun, and since Jake and Holt had done their work for the evening they figured it was fine to do so.

 

I'm not sure that a bribe would've gained Amy's loyalty, it really just seems like she wanted in on the fun this time and was disappointed when both her boyfriend and her mentor didn't trust her enough to include her. If either had chosen her at the beginning I think she would've gone along with whatever team picked her, if Jake or Holt had taken her on at her second urging instead of both yelling at her breasts I think she still would've helped them. But after the 4 rejections I think she was committed to humilating both of them.

Thanks for providing the extra details. Part of my point was Jake should have been able to trust Amy to turn on Holt if she had done it before. The set up of no one wanting Amy didn't quite seem right given that history. I could see Holt being skeptical because Amy's relationship with Jake had newly changed.

 

That reminds me, extra points for this show not turning Amy not being picked into a relationship crisis for her and Jake. 

[Maximum Taco]

Thanks for providing the extra details. Part of my point was Jake should have been able to trust Amy to turn on Holt if she had done it before. The set up of no one wanting Amy didn't quite seem right given that history. I could see Holt being skeptical because Amy's relationship with Jake had newly changed.

 

That reminds me, extra points for this show not turning Amy not being picked into a relationship crisis for her and Jake. 

 

The only counterpoint I might have is that Jake probably remembers that he had to offer Amy a weeks worth of paperwork to pull of the most minor portion of his first caper (all she had to do was tell Holt that Jake got arrested scaling the building) and she didn't even really have to lie to Holt, (Jake DID get arrested scaling the side of the building.) When conversely she betrayed him to Holt for nothing more then the pleasure of humiliating him.

 

Sure Jake and Amy are in a relationship now, but I think they still take delight in pranking each other.

Edited October 26, 2015 by Maximum Taco

[Tetraneutron]

Just felt like fan service to give Amy-fans a very easy and boring win..

 

I don't see that at all. They couldn't give it to Jake or Holt since then it would be like saying one is better than the other and the show will never do that. So it had to go to a third person and who else? Gina? And I really don't think these writers think in terms of fans or shippers. 

 

I like the way the show is handling Jake and Amy's relationship and honestly, I didn't think I would. I think they learned a lot from Jim and Pam on The Office, where OTP turned into a giant remora that took over the whole show, Ross and Rachel style, and turned their cool single-camera sitcom into a soggy romcom that may as well have starred Kate Hudson. So they decided to pull the trigger instead of dragging it out forever. And then they put it on the back burner. 

[thuganomics85]

Saw the twist coming, but maybe since I am a massive Amy-fan, I loved every minute of it.

 

First, I just thought it was well executed, and despite all the hi-jinks and wackiness, I bought all of it.  Usually Holt is the reasonable one and normally Jake would probably have been more trusting on Amy, but this rivalry of theirs on Halloween just brings out the paranoid side of them, and I could buy that both of them would think she was working for the other.  And I loved all the people they did pick for their teams: Boyle is an obvious choice and Jake had a bond with Rosa do to their academy days and stuff, while Holt always respects Terry, and say what you will about Gina, she does tend to help him out in the long run.  All that led to one of my favorite moments, of Amy enlisting Scully and Hitchcock to help.  Knew those two knuckleheads could be useful.

 

And I just thought it was funny.  Especially Holt.  I just love how this turned him into a competitive trash-talker, who could give it to Jake, just as well as Jake can give it to them.  And then everything else: his secret handshake with Terry, his horrified reaction to drinking a "soda pop" in order to maintain his cover, photobombing Jake and the twins, and the way he snarled "imbecile", to that lady in "Al's" apartment (sidenote: who was that?  Amy's mom?  Another relative?  Or just a friend?)  As I said it before too many times, Andre Braugher is just awesome at everything.

 

Mainly though, I just liked seeing Amy get a victory, even if it was over something goofy like this.  Her joy when she got to lay out what happen to everyone else, was just fun to watch.  And her reactions to both Holt and Jake assuming she had a bug in her cleavage, and yelling at her breasts, were perfect.  Melissa Fumero is just so damn awesome.

 

Wasn't sure what to make of the Boyle/Gina stuff, but the ending brought it all home.  Oh, Boyle.  Normally, I would think something is wrong with you, but it being at Gina's expense, makes me not care too much.  He is a weirdo though, to say the least.

 

The cold open was about as perfect as it could be.  I especially loved Rosa actually dressing as Bo Peep for the first part.  I guess she goes all in when it comes to pranking Boyle.  And Holt being involved continues to show that he has loosen way up since the early episodes.  Still can't believe how far they've taken this character.

[Bort]

Everybody was grossed out by the vomiting. For me, it wasn't even the fact that Holt drank the soda pop, it's that he drank a "used" soda pop that someone had left behind on the table. I was just so grossed out by that whole thing. The vomiting didn't bother me at all.

[Maya]

I didn't understand why they didn't just head to the building's main dumpster or wherever the trash usually goes and rummage around in there.

[biakbiak]

Everybody was grossed out by the vomiting. For me, it wasn't even the fact that Holt drank the soda pop, it's that he drank a "used" soda pop that someone had left behind on the table. I was just so grossed out by that whole thing. The vomiting didn't bother me at all.

I did keep thinking that it would be revealed to be Scilly or Hitchcock' s soda.

[hoodooznoodooz]

Did Boyle say that he wanted Gina to have someone to slow-dance with after Family Dinner? Hee, hee. I enjoy picturing Boyle and Rajskub, Steven Root and Sandra Bernhard slow-dancing while Gina curls up on the couch tweeting (and she wants someone to turn her tweets into a book).

The photobomb was indeed awesome!!!

Edited October 26, 2015 by hoodooznoodooz

[peeayebee]

I didn't understand why they didn't just head to the building's main dumpster or wherever the trash usually goes and rummage around in there.

Because they saw the janitor actually take the crown. I can't remember where she put it, but they saw that the janitor was keeping it for "him"self.

 

Loved this ep. I have no complaints about it being obvious that Amy was the janitor or that she was going to best Holt and Jake. Getting there was all the fun.

 

Loved the cold open with everyone in costume pranking poor Charles.

 

Loved the division of teams and that Holt is so into the game. For some reason, when Jake sang, "And so into the briefcase goes the crown," I just cracked up.

 

"The cleavage cloaks the camera with its curves" was such a perfect line deliver perfectly by AB, of course. But the soda pop scene was even better than that.

 

Holt: Of course we're looking for Al, you imbecile!

 

Andy Samberg is great. 

 

Jake: Pull the security tape. I'll distract them. Hey! Look at this! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

 

Jake, looking at security tape: But which janitor. Looks like I'm gonna have to squint.

 

I usually hate vomiting scenes. Really hate them. I don't even like seeing drool coming out of someone's mouth. But Jake throwing up repeatedly was hilarious. Of course it helps that we didn't see anything.

 

The secret handshakes were fun. The cockroaches -- shudder -- were gross but funny.

 

I hope Gina's new boyfriend provides some laughs in the future because I wasn't impressed yet.

[Trillium]

Loved everything about it, even the obvious reveal. It was fun to see how Holt and Jack didn't catch on it was Amy. Plus Everything Holt said was hilarious. "It was worse than a fruit forward Resling"

[mansonlamps]

I didn't buy it from the beginning that both teams would have left Amy out, so it started out weak and out of character for me.  And her being the janitor couldn't have been more obvious, as was the ending (that Amy was going to win).  There were some funny moments, but all in all I thought it was a weak episode.

[hendersonrocks]

"Because the cleavage cloaks the camera with its curves!" is perhaps my all time favorite Raymond Holt line. 

[MsNewsradio]

"Because the cleavage cloaks the camera with its curves!" is perhaps my all time favorite Raymond Holt line. 

 

My family wound up rewinding that scene four times because his line reading cracked us up so much. His enunciation and gestures just sold the hell out of it. 

[Schweedie]

"Because the cleavage cloaks the camera with its curves!" is perhaps my all time favorite Raymond Holt line.

 

 

My family wound up rewinding that scene four times because his line reading cracked us up so much. His enunciation and gestures just sold the hell out of it. 

To quote Jake - aww, samesies! *g* I laughed so hard at that.

 

Amy beating everyone was telegraphed from pretty early on (I did notice that Hitchcock seemed to be doing some bad acting when he came barrelling into Holt's office, but didn't realise why), but I didn't mind because everything was so hilarious. Andre Braugher has done wonders with this character.

[hoodooznoodooz]

Man that was good.  I love it when Holt goes out of character.  The physical pain of drinking the soda was awesome.

 

Best line of the night was "My waffle xylophone at the man of cheese" (paraphrased).  I cracked up.  Also the "Why is who even a word if you're never allowed to use it?"  Bwahahaha

 

Love this show.  And again, handling the Amy/Jake relationship JUST RIGHT.

Holt really did look pained, didn't he!?!

Waffle xylophone: too funny. Enjoyed Amy trying to imitate Holt's way of speaking and also Holt's reaction to waffle xylophone. [thought bubble, perhaps, "I don't remember saying that . . . "]

[Rinaldo]

Waffle xylophone was also a great help with the part of my mind that was wondering "Wait, Amy is now suddenly this champion lip reader?" Answer: no, she may be better than average but she's far from perfect.

 

I now kinda wish they would reshoot a couple of the actor bits in the opening credits to match the characters' current look and behavior: specifically Andy Samberg and Chelsea Peretti. They look and act better now.

 

The costumes in that cold open killed me, all the more because they weren't underlined or pointed out. Terry's Popeye was to die for, and Rosa as Bo Peep wasn't far behind.

[Traveller519]

I agree that I can forgive obvious plots where the show is funny and well executed, as tonight was. I loved the past Halloween caper episodes too.

 

Exactly, I think the same of last year's episode. It's telegraphed, but the way it all plays out is fantastic with jokes all along the way. I love that Halloween brings out the zany in everyone, especially Holt.

[Rockstar99435]

It was obvious from the beginning that Amy was going to win the whole thing, but the sincerity from both Holt and Jake when they said that she was the best detective/genius while she was wearing a cape and crown made it for me.

[Scott]

You went here:

Loved the whom humor. The whomor.

 

but not here:

 

Loved Jake's ab admiration.

 

The abmiration?  :-)

 

Back to the show, I have to wonder if we all recognized Janitor Amy so easily because we knew she was going to end up with the win.  Even with that being so obvious, I really enjoyed this episode.  Holt loosening up, while still remaining Holt, makes for some really great comedy.

[atir]

I'm in the midwest, so I was so hoping that "soda pop" can wasn't someone's spit can from their chaw. Ewww

[Julie23]

Kinda knew Amy was the janitor, but didn't care. Was a fun ride to get there!

[Texasmom1970]

Great episode, so glad Holt is back at the 99, things were not the same without him!

[HyeChaps]

If they re-do the opening credits, they can make Holt bald.  He no longer has the fuzzy white hair.

[Danny Franks]

This show makes me so happy sometimes. Last week was a dud, this one was anything but.

 

The cold open was great. Them pranking Boyle about holidays never gets old, even if it was totally obvious what the gag was going to be. I like that Holt was in on it... unless he genuinely did think Charles was that Canadian ice dancer.

 

Rosa's catburglar act was hot as hell, I have to say. Much better than Boyle's Great Escape cockroach gig. That was just disgusting. But it's completely believable that he'd be jazzed about it when Jake explained it as something cool.

 

Poor Amy, left out again. She's just such a dork, and I love her more than any of them. Her face after, "because the cleavage cloaks the camera with its curves" is the funniest thing I've seen in a while. So glad that she won in the end, and that both Jake and Holt were fine with it. Holt is capable of being such a selfish jerk, too. "Ah, Santiago. There's my protege." He knows how much that would mean to her. How could he be so cruel?

 

Loved her explaining how she won, complete with bad Holt impression and "not flawless" lip-reading. Also loved how impressed Rosa was with it all.

 

Jake and Amy are still being handled really well. No drama, no fuss, no stupid miscommunications. Just wit and warmth. Jake looked legitimately thrilled (and a little turned-on) with how smart Amy was in besting them. I can definitely understand that. Smart girls are the best.

 

Holt being childish and competitive is always fun. When it's with Wuntch, it works with the absurd bitterness, but with Jake and the squad it's endearing. He must have so many crazy stories to tell Kevin! He drank a mouthful of soda pop! So many shows wouldn't think they could have the uptight, rules abiding captain be a part of something silly like this, so it would be done behind his back and make him look stupid. But these writers recognise that Andre Braugher has the ability to make anything they might want Holt to do work.

[Dandesun]

Amy winning was obvious from jump but that's why it worked for me. Jake and Holt are so involved in their convoluted schemes to best one another that they missed out. Also, I rather love that she established her agency as her own self... not Holt's protege, not Jake's girlfriend. I think that's kind of important. A lot of times when a female character gets involved with another character she's reduced to 'girlfriend' and ceases to be herself anymore.

 

So that made me happy.

 

Plus, I loved her coronation and becoming the queen with a royal robe AND the janitor's suit still on.

 

And the costumes at the beginning were great. I LOVED Terry as Popeye.

[NutmegsDad]

Jake and Amy are still being handled really well. No drama, no fuss, no stupid miscommunications. Just wit and warmth. Jake looked legitimately thrilled (and a little turned-on) with how smart Amy was in besting them. I can definitely understand that. Smart girls are the best.

 

 

Any other show would have mentioned Jake sleeping on the couch. They are treating the relationship aspect well.

 

And props for remembering Amy is a smoker.

 

The "how she did it" made the "she was the real thief" oh so worth it.

[tennisgurl]

I love how chipper Holt and Jake were about losing. It made up for them being kind of jerks (although it was in character. Halloween always brings out the competitive pettyness in them). Amy really is the Queen.  

[AbsoluteShower]

Some great lines in this show: Holt's “Sergeant, are you familiar with the Hungarian fencing term ‘Hosszü Gorcs’?”, to which Terry's reply was "You must realise my answer is no"

 

Also, Santiago's exasperated "YOU'RE a detective!" to Hitchcock.

[Sandman]

"Why does the word 'who' even exist if you're not allowed to say it?"