S06.E12: Casecation

[formerlyfreedom]

Work is so busy for Jake and Amy that they end up celebrating their anniversary while standing guard over a comatose patient in the hospital.

Airing Thursday, April 11, 2019.

[Lady Calypso]

Oh man, this was such a great episode. It's not hard to get me on board when it's a Jake/Amy episode, with a cameo Marc Evan Jackson over the phone and a balance between serious and funny. 

I am a bit surprised, like Amy, about Jake not wanting kids since we know he's made jokes about his future children a couple of times, but it also really fits in with Jake's daddy issues and I loved hearing why he didn't want kids. It wasn't that he was opposed to having kids someday; he just wasn't ready now and had no plans to rethink that. 

Well, until Pam brought that bomb in. I will say, I love how they edited that scene. It was filled with tension, even when we know things would be fine. 

I am just thrilled Jake and Amy are going to decide to have kids, and the reason for Jake changing his mind. I mean, it's a bit quick but I don't mind because the episode was just really good. 

Also, the structure debate scenes were great.

[Spartan Girl]

I did NOT expect the old lady to be the assassin. This show...

Always love a Jake/Amy episode that handles a marriage issue well. And hey, we got an appearance by Kevin, even if it was via phone! Now when will Cheddar come back?

LOL at Terry reciting from Moana. 

[chitowngirl]

Jake and Amy are the best couple!

[bosawks]

Any episode of tv that leaves me humming the Go-Go’s is an automatic thumbs up!

[scarynikki12]

The whole debate scene made my night. 

[festivus]

Loved the return of the your butt is the bomb joke. That's one of my favorites.

[jmonique]

I find it hard to believe that Amy never covered kids in premarital talks with Jake.

But other than that, the only thing the show needed was more Kevin!

[Lady Calypso]

I will say, though, the fact that we don't know who the "Antonio Banderas" looking guy is yet who hired Pam means that he's going to be part of this season's arc, which excites me. I mean, if they can actually cast Antonio Banderas, that would be hilarious.

[scarynikki12]

1 minute ago, Lady Calypso said:

I will say, though, the fact that we don't know who the "Antonio Banderas" looking guy is yet who hired Pam means that he's going to be part of this season's arc, which excites me. I mean, if they can actually cast Antonio Banderas, that would be hilarious.

If not him I’m sure The Guardians Of The 99 could recommend someone. 

[Dots And Stripes]

I was happy to see a Jake and Amy episode because I feel like we haven't seen much of them together this year. Unfortunately I couldn't get past Amy not discussing kids with Jake before getting married, especially since it means so much to her. That was so out of character.

[formerlyfreedom]

JULIA SWEENEY! God, it was good to see her! And great role there - oh, Pam, so sweet.

[EtheltoTillie]

53 minutes ago, Dots And Stripes said:

I was happy to see a Jake and Amy episode because I feel like we haven't seen much of them together this year. Unfortunately I couldn't get past Amy not discussing kids with Jake before getting married, especially since it means so much to her. That was so out of character.

I was troubled by this too but I think the writers redeemed themselves with the water park misunderstanding. Silly, but I’ll take it. Loved the episode. Debate judge license numbers—ha. 

[tennisgurl]

"Atlas?" "Ohhh I do like Atlases." "Common ground." 

A Jake and Amy plot can never go wrong for me, and while I think its weird that Amy never followed up with Jake after the first kid talk, the misunderstanding about the water park was so very B99, I cant be too mad. Glad that they talked about the issue, and finally made a choice. I can get why Jake was nervous about being a dad, given his own dad issues, and while it came a bit fast, I am really happy that they decided to have kids. Jake and Amy would be really great parents. 

That whole debate scene was amazing, everything from the verbal Marc Evan Jackson cameo to the increasing number of people moderating the debate over the phone. "How many people are on this call?!"

Did not see the old lady being the assassin coming, well played, show.

"Mixed race children are so adorable!"

"Those are...words you said..."

[VCRTracking]

Julia Sweeney! Loved seeing her again.

I was as disappointed as Amy was when Jake said he didn't want kids! It makes sense with his dad issues but it's still a surprise. I can't believe they never discussed this before getting married.

Edited April 12, 2019 by VCRTracking

[Mystery]

3 hours ago, jmonique said:

I find it hard to believe that Amy never covered kids in premarital talks with Jake.

But other than that, the only thing the show needed was more Kevin!

3 hours ago, Dots And Stripes said:

I was happy to see a Jake and Amy episode because I feel like we haven't seen much of them together this year. Unfortunately I couldn't get past Amy not discussing kids with Jake before getting married, especially since it means so much to her. That was so out of character.

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

"Atlas?" "Ohhh I do like Atlases." "Common ground." 

A Jake and Amy plot can never go wrong for me, and while I think its weird that Amy never followed up with Jake after the first kid talk, the misunderstanding about the water park was so very B99, I cant be too mad.

I thought they did okay with the "I thought we were talking about water parks" disagreement, but I certainly get these points. 

My favorite lines: 

“Oversight? AGREED.”

“Agree to disagree.”

I was pretty disappointed at the debate; even hyper competitive Amy would have chosen the discussion. But I should have known that my show would not let me down, and the debate would come back to help Jake.

I also loved Jake saying that he had daddy issues and suddenly it was:

Amy: “Holt.”

Holt: “Me.”

Kevin: “Raymond.”

This is the best show on TV. 

Edited April 12, 2019 by Mystery

[RobertDeSneero]

4 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

I did NOT expect the old lady to be the assassin. This show...

I was expecting her to be the assassin from the moment she first appeared because she would be if I were writing the show.

[thuganomics85]

Brooklyn Nine-Nine has returned and it is certainly bringing the Jake/Amy goodness with it!

Definitely was calling a little bit of a foul at first since I really didn't believe that Jake and Amy wouldn't have discussed having kids before their marriage and while the waterpark mix-up was a decent way to explain some of it, I still feel like Amy would have gone more into details about it (that said, I do love that Jake had been saving money this entire time for a waterpark trip.  Hee!)  But all in all, I like how they handled things and weren't afraid to address some of the serious issues like the possibility of them going their separate ways (no!!!), but overall, I find it believable that Jake will eventually be ready to be a father.  And while I totally understand his fears, I think he'll honestly be a great one.  If anything, I think his issues with his dad will drive him to be better and despite all of the immature jokes and goofiness, we've seen that he has truly matured in a lot of ways, and I have no doubt he will be there for his kid or kids.

Of course, I could always count on the show to make it humors too and did so with the structure debate!  I loved everything from Holt as the judge, Kevin's voiceover cameo (yay, Kevin!), Amy clearly in her element while poor Jake was at a loss, and it all ending with Jake almost pissing off the entire debating community!  I really want to know more about that organization!

The rest of the main cast was used well to, like Rosa supporting Amy and especially the Terry/Jake moment.  I continue to like how the show surprises me because as soon as Amy said she was hoping Terry would convince Jake to have children, I figured it would go the opposite way, but I liked that Terry wasn't trying to completely stop Jake from having kids, but he just didn't want Jake to do it if he truly wasn't ready, because that would cause a whole heap of issues that will likely never go away.  But it wasn't a case of Terry being "My life sucks now because I have children" that other sitcoms might have done, because Terry does and will always love his children, and doesn't regret it.  Even if they steal his cookies!  And he hasn't been able to finish Breaking Bad yet, but has pretty much memorized all of Moana (to be fair, that is a pretty good movie!  Even has songs from Amy's brother... err, I mean "Lin-Manuel Miranda!")

I figured the older lady would be in on the assassination plot, but I still enjoyed it and the resolution.  Assuming the guy she talked about will factor in later on, I'm thinking it will go one or two ways.  He will either be a) actually played by Antonio Banderas or b) he will be played someone completely different in every way, which would make her comparison hilariously wrong. 

In short, Jake and Amy continue to be one of the best couples on television.  Andy Samberg and Melissa Fumero really have created a great bond with these characters and their interactions are perfect.  And that is something I rarely say about couples on television.

[mammaM]

7 hours ago, Mystery said:

I also loved Jake saying that he had daddy issues and suddenly it was:

Amy: “Holt.”

Holt: “Me.”

Kevin: “Raymond.”

This is the best show on TV. 

I was coming here to say this. And, yes, best show on TV

[Lady Calypso]

11 hours ago, Dots And Stripes said:

I was happy to see a Jake and Amy episode because I feel like we haven't seen much of them together this year. Unfortunately I couldn't get past Amy not discussing kids with Jake before getting married, especially since it means so much to her. That was so out of character.

It was definitely something that, upon reflecting on this morning, didn't really work for me.

I think there are things in this episode that they definitely could have changed to make it less out of character. I agree that Amy would have talked about it with Jake at some point before this. Amy's the type to have a binder just on their future kids and the plans for that. Jake not stumbling across that binder at some point wouldn't make much sense. 

I think it could have been better if we found out that Jake/Amy actually have been talking about kids vs no kids over the last few months. Perhaps this could have been the final straw to get Amy to finally push for them to have a serious talk about it. I think them having Amy tell Jake that he had to decide now was not the smartest move either. I totally get the ultimatum aspect, as kids are a big dealbreaker; either you want them or you don't. And I get the logic in Amy wanting an answer sooner, since the longer it takes to make a decision, the harder it would be to make the choice to separate. But I still feel a bit uncomfortable with how they played it. 

Also, I wasn't THRILLED with one of Amy's arguments being that kids are fulfilling.  

I still liked the episode but, as much as they tried to make it in character, it felt like it wasn't quite there. There was something off with it because they were trying to force the idea that Jake/Amy would have never had this conversation and one scene of the water park misunderstanding was the extent of their kids conversation. 

There was just different ways they should have handled it. The idea worked; the execution was off.

[hendersonrocks]

Quote

Amy: “Holt.”

Holt: “Me.”

Kevin: “Raymond.”

This is the best show on TV. 

1000%.

I called Pam as the assassin as soon as everyone left the room, because Julia Sweeney does not show up merely for a twisted bowel.

Even though it was quite clear from jump where Jake and Amy would end up on the whole baby thing, I thought how they got there was fairly well done.

[chitowngirl]

11 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

"Atlas?" "Ohhh I do like Atlases." "Common ground."

And then the look they gave each other as the elevator doors closed!

[Traveller519]

13 hours ago, jmonique said:

I find it hard to believe that Amy never covered kids in premarital talks with Jake.

Exactly, Amy really turned me off this episode. Her character is supposed to be one that a) understands Jake, despite his emotional issues and b) thoroughly prepares for all situations.

That conversation would have happened before they got married, and if somehiw the water-park discussion was accepted by her as the end of it, she wouldn't be giving him an ultimatum in that scenario. What kind of Selfish crap is "I don't want to be starting-over" when your partner tells you they're not ready for kids now, but are at least open to the possibility as their life continues to evolve? That's not the Amy we know. She's not someone willing to dispose her partner because they don't represent an absolute avenue to a hypothetical next step.

Terry's advice to Jake was spot on. If he's not 100% on board with kids at the moment, he shouldn't be taking a leap of faith just to placate Amy. It's very disappointing that when he presented his reasons to her she dismissed them and then threaten to walk away if he didn't accept.

[JenLily]

"Hello. This is Captain Raymond Holt. I can come to the phone right now."

I just love him so much.

[arachne]

I guess it's normal for a newlywed couple to be discussing kids. Just hoping pregnancy doesn't become this season's cliffhanger. That would be a cheap, uninspired move for a show of this quality. 

[doodlebug]

1 minute ago, arachne said:

I guess it's normal for a newlywed couple to be discussing kids. Just hoping pregnancy doesn't become this season's cliffhanger. That would be a cheap, uninspired move for a show of this quality. 

It would be completely out of character for Amy to have an unplanned pregnancy.  She's a belt and supenders kinda gal.

[iMonrey]

Quote

"Hello. This is Captain Raymond Holt. I can come to the phone right now."

Remember when we first met Kevin, and it turned out that Raymond is actually the "funny" one? I think that's actually true. Like the way he answered the phone here, that had to be his idea of a joke, even if delivered with a straight face. Also? The novelty t-shirts he was wearing when he horned in on Jake and Amy's honeymoon. He's actually quite funny, it's just that his delivery is so dead-pan nobody notices and just thinks he's being weird.

I don't think I've seen Julia Sweeney in anything since SNL.

[andipandi]

I Didn't think it was the old lady, because there was a mysterious uni officer outside the door we'd never seen before, and I didn't think they had that much staff.

[meep.meep]

15 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

The whole debate scene made my night. 

True confessions time:  my kid did Lincoln Douglas during high school, and I had to judge.  It was a nightmare.  Luckily they moved me on to the ones that are more like acting after a year.

Anyone who didn't figure that Pam was going to be more than a kindly old lady in the hospital needs to watch more TV.  It was clearly a "gets paid too much to be a bystander" situation.

[Sandman]

On 4/11/2019 at 10:24 PM, saoirse said:

JULIA SWEENEY! God, it was good to see her! And great role there - oh, Pam, so sweet.

So great! Although I almost didn't recognize her as Pam -- I recognized her voice first, thinking "Hey, that sounds like Julia Sweeney." The Mysterious Uni Officer caught my eye, too. Didn't see Bomber Pam coming. Well played, Nine-Nine!

A wonderful episode -- I was actually worried for Jake and Amy for a little bit, there. (Sidebar: Jake is pursuing therapy, right?)

On 4/12/2019 at 4:02 AM, thuganomics85 said:

... or b) he will be played someone completely different in every way, which would make her comparison hilariously wrong. 

This seems (a) very appealing; and (b) very like this show.

Edited April 14, 2019 by Sandman

[Kanner]

When they started with the having children storyline I was disappointed in B99. I was like my show is better than this. It is definitely One of my least liked tv tropes. But they turned it around so well. They had discussed it. And every thing was gold after that.

One nitpick- I need to SEE Kevin. 

[Lugal]

This was a good one.  I too was surprised that the kids discussion never came up (and I liked Terry's highlighting of it).  I can forgive the writers by covering with the waterpark misunderstanding. And that Amy actually likes waterparks but didn't want to give up her leverage.

I also called the old lady being the assassin, because you knew she had to have a part in the main story.  I loved the debate, but really who think's that's a good way to settle things.  But it was nice to hear Kevin again, along with all the other people on the call.

Amy worrying that Jake can change his mind about kids when he's sixty and get a 28 year old.  "Amy, with the money I make I'll never afford a 28 year old."

And another note: Rosa taking down the guy with that sliding leg sweep was fucking awesome!

[iMonrey]

I have to admit I thought it was a little out of character for Rosa to enter the room dancing to "Case-cation." Terry, sure, but Rosa? 

[formerlyfreedom]

I feel it could have been better handled (overlooking the 'kids discussion') if we'd gotten a montage of Jake and Amy having misunderstood conversations - ALWAYS somehow related to waterparks? I mean, it works in my head, but I can understand that they shorthanded it for the purposes of the episode. It's a bump in an otherwise better-than-average-television show - I'll take all of B99 over most of the stuff out there!

[peeayebee]

Such a great ep.  I don't really care whether or not Amy and Jake should have had this discussion before they got married, or that it's out of character for Amy not to have brought this up before -- in a more direct way, not in a confusing kids/waterpark way. Everything worked for me.

15 hours ago, Mystery said:

I also loved Jake saying that he had daddy issues and suddenly it was:

Amy: “Holt.”

Holt: “Me.”

Kevin: “Raymond.”

This was perfect. The whole debate was great. Holt, Kevin, and Gail reciting their debate moderator license numbers was hilarious.

I also loved the marriage highlight reel part. Jake putting socks on her feet during the night was really so sweet.

It took me a couple of minutes to recognize Julia Sweeney. She was fantastic as Pam. What a great, funny, sweet character. I didn't suspect her until Rosa said they needed to be on the lookout for someone coming to kill the comatose guy.

[biakbiak]

Yeah I didn’t like this one becuase not only could I not get over the fact that they hadn’t discussed this in a real way before not a misunderstanding over water parks I thought Amy immediately upon learning this jumps to “I don’t want to have to start over with someone else,” it felt over the top manipulative. 

[bethy]

20 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

"Atlas?" "Ohhh I do like Atlases." "Common ground." 

This was especially funny to me in the context of all the other names and Amy's reactions to them. 

[Irlandesa]

9 hours ago, Traveller519 said:

What kind of Selfish crap is "I don't want to be starting-over" when your partner tells you they're not ready for kids now, but are at least open to the possibility as their life continues to evolve? That's not the Amy we know. She's not someone willing to dispose her partner because they don't represent an absolute avenue to a hypothetical next step.

It was brusque but practical for the reasons Amy laid out.  She doesn't have the time to wait a few more years for Jake to figure out whether or not he wanted to have kids with her. Even if she were to decide to try and get pregnant alone (if he still didn't want kids) after a few years, it'd be harder for her to get pregnant.  She'd be waiting even longer if she would prefer to do it with a partner.  If she were in her 20s, it might be different but she's not.

I didn't see her as selfish any more than Jake not wanting to have kids was selfish.  I saw it as realistic that it's the one of the few things people disagree about that can put an end to a relationship--and likely would have resulted in them not marrying. This is not a step she can take while still married to Jake if Jake doesn't want kids. 

3 hours ago, saoirse said:

I feel it could have been better handled (overlooking the 'kids discussion') if we'd gotten a montage of Jake and Amy having misunderstood conversations - ALWAYS somehow related to waterparks? I mean, it works in my head, but I can understand that they shorthanded it for the purposes of the episode.

Ooh I do like this.

Edited April 13, 2019 by Irlandesa

[biakbiak]

7 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

It was brusque but practical for the reasons Amy laid out.  She doesn't have the time to wait a few more years for Jake to figure out whether or not he wanted to have kids with her. E

I don’t find that at all a reasonable first response to the first time they are actually having this conversation and the same with the debate being the way it should decided for a gazillion reasons. The more I think about this episode the more I hate it. The only person I thought made even a least bit of sense was Terry.

Edited April 13, 2019 by biakbiak

[Dots And Stripes]

12 hours ago, Traveller519 said:

Exactly, Amy really turned me off this episode. Her character is supposed to be one that a) understands Jake, despite his emotional issues and b) thoroughly prepares for all situations.

That conversation would have happened before they got married, and if somehiw the water-park discussion was accepted by her as the end of it, she wouldn't be giving him an ultimatum in that scenario. What kind of Selfish crap is "I don't want to be starting-over" when your partner tells you they're not ready for kids now, but are at least open to the possibility as their life continues to evolve? That's not the Amy we know. She's not someone willing to dispose her partner because they don't represent an absolute avenue to a hypothetical next step.

Terry's advice to Jake was spot on. If he's not 100% on board with kids at the moment, he shouldn't be taking a leap of faith just to placate Amy. It's very disappointing that when he presented his reasons to her she dismissed them and then threaten to walk away if he didn't accept.

I saw it differently. I didn't think Jake being open to maybe someday was a real compromise.  He was still a no, just with a possibility of changing. Amy was right that if she waits for years and he never gets to the point of being ready, he will have made the decision for her. I don't think that it was wrong for Jake to not want kids or for Amy to want them, but if they were decidedly on opposite sides of this issue then maybe they shouldn't be married. 

Knowing some of Goor and Schur's other work, I didn't think this show was actually going to have Jake and Amy split over this.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

18 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I get the logic in Amy wanting an answer sooner, since the longer it takes to make a decision, the harder it would be to make the choice to separate.

When she told him that he had a month to decide, I was worried she was going to say that she was already pregnant so thank goodness that she isn't (yet).

16 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I don't think I've seen Julia Sweeney in anything since SNL.

I just saw her as the main character's mother on Shrill a few weeks ago! I hadn't seen her in anything else recently though so it was fun to see her pop up again on my tv so soon.

[Ceindreadh]

Did I miss it or did they ever finish their top 5 countdown?

[Trillium]

I’ve been around parenting websites for long enough to know that people do in fact get married before discussing having children, which baffles me but it happens. I’ve even seen women who have kids and their partner doesn’t want another but they do, get divorced because they untimely decide that they want the potential for another child more than they want to be married to their current partner. 

 Amy Santiago not having a binder of indepth questions and scenarios to go over before marrying is preposterous.  But everything else was hilarious and ultimately they ended on the same page so I’ll forgive it, a little. 

[perkie1968]

On 4/11/2019 at 9:38 PM, jmonique said:

I find it hard to believe that Amy never covered kids in premarital talks with Jake

This. Wasn't there an episode a few years ago where they babysat Terry's kids.  You'd think it would come up then. 

On 4/11/2019 at 9:38 PM, Lady Calypso said:

I mean, if they can actually cast Antonio Banderas, that would be hilarious.

Who do I have to pay to see this, because that would be fantastic.  

[hoodooznoodooz]

I liked Jake telling Terry he wants to be able to watch movies for adults. And teenagers. 

[Sandman]

12 hours ago, Trillium said:

 Amy Santiago not having a binder of indepth questions and scenarios to go over before marrying is preposterous.

This is true; but I guess it's possible that Amy thought they were planning for kids, and not waterparks?

12 hours ago, perkie1968 said:

This. Wasn't there an episode a few years ago where they babysat Terry's kids.  You'd think it would come up then. 

Didn't it, sort of? It seems I remember something like at least the beginning of a conversation about kids one day? Or am I turning into Charles?

[biakbiak]

On 4/12/2019 at 9:14 PM, Dots And Stripes said:

saw it differently. I didn't think Jake being open to maybe someday was a real compromise.  He was still a no, just with a possibility of changing. Amy was right that if she waits for years and he never gets to the point of being ready, he will have made the decision for her. I don't think that it was wrong for Jake to not want kids or for Amy to want them, but if they were decidedly on opposite sides of this issue then maybe they shouldn't be married. 

Here is the huge main difference for me. Jake’s entire reason for not wanting to have children is the fact that his father abandoned him and Amy after not having a real conversation, the debate was bullshit on logic, feelings, and debate rules, with her husband gives him an ultimatum of having to tell her within “maybe” a month of whether he wants to lose her or agree to have a kid is targeting his greatest fear which is being abandoned by the person he loved and she is giving him a crazy ultimatum that would lead to her abandoning him because he wasn’t “good enough”. That’s over the top shitty and not the same thing as him being “unsure” because in the end she came around to agreeing they both had to be ready at a date yet to be determined.

Usually on shows with the same writer DNA they improve on storylines when they repeat them but this struck me as a worse version or April/Andy from Parks and Rec who famously discussed nothing before getting married and than years later thought more about there differing view points and listened to others and found their way to a mutual decision that worked for them both when one it came to having children*. The issue I have is neither the premise or how they “solved” it were true to Amy/Jake. 

*I am not saying that I agreed with the logic there but it made sense for the characters this didn’t feel the same.

Edited April 14, 2019 by biakbiak

[Brandi Maxxxx]

On 4/13/2019 at 5:32 AM, iMonrey said:

I have to admit I thought it was a little out of character for Rosa to enter the room dancing to "Case-cation." Terry, sure, but Rosa? 

Rosa is full of surprises.

I noticed in the first scene Hitchcock was reading "Persons" magazine.

[Kel Varnsen]

On 4/12/2019 at 1:52 AM, RobertDeSneero said:

I was expecting her to be the assassin from the moment she first appeared because she would be if I were writing the show.

Yea as soon as they mentioned a mystery assassin I figured it was her. It was funny though so I didn't mind.

On 4/12/2019 at 11:13 AM, JenLily said:

"Hello. This is Captain Raymond Holt. I can come to the phone right now."

That was the funniest part for me. Would be great if I heard that again from Captain Raymond Holt.

On 4/12/2019 at 12:41 PM, meep.meep said:

True confessions time:  my kid did Lincoln Douglas during high school, and I had to judge.  It was a nightmare. 

What was your debate moderator license number?

[meep.meep]

I had none!  They gave me the forms and a set of really complicated directions, pointed me at the room, and it was on.