S01.E05: The Vulture

[formerlyfreedom]

A detective (played by Dean Winters) from Special Crimes, takes over Jake’s nearly solved murder case and steals his thunder. Over a few drinks, Jake enlists the precinct to get revenge and find the murder weapon before “The Vulture” does. Across town, Captain Holt and Gina help Terry get re-certified to carry a gun.

 

[formerlyfreedom]

Another strong episode - I remember being a little nervous the first time I watched when Peralta was doing the 'slow-walking' early in the episode that it was going to be Andy Samberg schtick. But they snapped out of that, thankfully.

 

• Holt and Gina working together to get Jeffords re-certified was adorable.
• Andy Richter as the doorman - and the radioactive spider biting him on the penis - gold!
• Dean Winters. I love me some Dean Winters.
• Holt: "Yes, Boyle, I put that together. From context."
• Diaz: "What! You can hate people and still think they're hot. Case in point - Manual Noriega."
• "Scully traveling four blocks? That could take a week."
• Jake: "We're angry, We're getting revenge. We're a little bit tipsy. We should NOT be driving. We're taking the bus!" Boyle: "I LOVE the bus!"
• They actually take the bus!
• Santiago: "Okay, I want in. But I only want to stab you."
• Boyle in the trash shoot made me laugh out loud; Boyle coming out of the trash shoot - I spit my drink out for that one.
• Peralta: "Why does he keep touching my butt?"

 

Again, strong episode overall. I'm so excited about the new season, and rewatching the first season!

[thuganomics85]

This was the episode where I fell in love with the show.  Loved Dean Winters as The Vulture, and how he had the majority of the squad on the same page, and working together in an attempt to thwart him.  A good step at making Jake not be the "cocky loner", and realize that he does need the team.  Loved how all of them played a part in figuring out the case too (Rosa figuring out it was corkscrew, Amy figuring out it was magnetic, and Boyle finding it).  And then Jake giving it to The Vulture and taking all the heat was another good step for his character.  I liked how proud Holt was of him.

 

Terry's meltdown was still a classic!  Between him "forgetting" how to breath, claiming the target looked like a friend of his (loved Holt being completely baffled by that line), and, of course, recapping Top Gun to an annoyed Holt and an invested Gina.  And, then he finally takes the final shots because the idea of being "office buddies" with Gina for the rest of his life, was that scary.  Hee!

 

Also around the time I really started falling for Amy Santiago, because I remember thinking that a lot of shows would have either had her to try the stop the gang, or go along and just whine about it.  But the fact that she fully embrace Jake's crazy idea was just awesome, in my book.  Showed she wasn't just going to be a "stick in the mud", and help paved the way for all the hilarious and crazy stuff she does in future episodes.  Also really enjoyed the scene between Jake and Amy on the bus.  Andy Samberg and Melissa Fumero really play off each other very well.

 

And, yes, the way Andre Braugher delivered the line "Yes, Boyle, I put that together.  From context" was golden.  Then again, Andre can make the simplest line sound amazing.

 

I did wish we got a follow-up on Scully after he took off.  It would have been amusing if, after everything went down, he finally came stumbling in, with the hair dryer.  Of course, knowing Scully, he probably would have even screwed that up.

[Rinaldo]

One of the things I specially like in this episode, that lets us know smart people are in charge, is the flashback to three examples of the Vulture "swooping in to take credit when the case is 98% solved." That's actually kind of an abstract concept to sell an audience in a quick-moving comedy like this, even if we may understand it intellectually -- but once we've seen him repeatedly show up literally after others have done all the work, we get it, and we hate him as much as the regular characters do.

Edited June 18, 2014 by Rinaldo

[Inquisitionist]

• Dean Winters. I love me some Dean Winters.

 

First thing I ever saw him in was Homicide: Life on the Street, so it was great to see him turn up here.

[DXD526]

This is the episode that did it for me, as far as this show is concerned. So many classic lines -

 

Rosa: "My oldest collar was 78, but the PCP made her fight like she was 20."

 

Jake: "I work best alone, except when it comes to sex...actually, sometimes including sex."

 

Jake: "Do you carry a hair dryer in your purse?"

Gina: "Of course, I'm not an animal!"

[teixeira]

Jake: "Do you carry a hair dryer in your purse?"

Gina: "Of course, I'm not an animal!"

I loved the looks that Jake and Amy exchanged during that call.

I try to follow the 5 episode guide before quitting a show but this was getting hard. I was ready to drop this show because of Jake Peralta. It was becoming a chore to get through and this sat in my PVR for 2 weeks until I was bored enough to watch and couldn't move as my pets (parrots) were napping on me. Of course, I laughed so hard that they woke up and one started to laugh with me which just made the whole episode funnier. 

I have loved Dean Winters forever (Dennis Duffy will always be my favorite character) and delighted in scenes where he swooped in. And the look on Terry's face when he realized that he'd be spending the rest of his days with Gina was classic. I appreciated the teamwork instead of lone wolf approach to the case.

[Danny Franks]

 

Also around the time I really started falling for Amy Santiago, because I remember thinking that a lot of shows would have either had her to try the stop the gang, or go along and just whine about it.  But the fact that she fully embrace Jake's crazy idea was just awesome, in my book.  Showed she wasn't just going to be a "stick in the mud", and help paved the way for all the hilarious and crazy stuff she does in future episodes.  Also really enjoyed the scene between Jake and Amy on the bus.  Andy Samberg and Melissa Fumero really play off each other very well.

 

Definitely. It was really the first time that it became apparent that they were not going to go the easy, clichéd route of 'disapproving mother figure/love interest' with Amy. She was solidly with the rest of them in wanting to come up with ways to get back at the Vulture, and even though she was still more of a voice of reason than the others, she was with them all the way. I also really liked the way Melissa Fumero played tipsy. Talking in that overly loud, precise-but-slightly-slurring voice that sounded so much like someone who's just had a few drinks.

 

The scene with her and Jake on the bus was the first time I bought that there might be something really good there. In the pilot, she was painted as his reluctant love interest, and then they gave her different storylines in the next couple. But this one, you could see the chemistry was there between them, but for the first time I think you really saw that they do like each other. The affectionate 'you don't have to be a butthead' and him making fun of her insult, was a nice, warm moment that I think a lot of other shows would have played in more adversarial fashion.

 

The camaraderie between the squad as a whole was on show in this episode too. With them at the bar together, commiserating and then plotting, and then working together to figure the case out. It's one of those times when you realise that you don't have to have a regular character be the asshole who no one really likes to create drama. You can throw in an outsider who unites all your principles, and lets them show the audience why these people enjoy working together. Noticeable here, of course, is that Gina was isolated from the rest of the group, because her presence always undermines the friendly relations of the rest.

 

The Vulture himself is a creation of comic genius. Such a colossal douchebag, and he's so aware of it and doesn't care one tiny bit. The montage of him stealing their collars (and Boyle's coffee) had me rolling, and I imagine Dean Winters just had a blast working on those. I hope he comes back again and again, and becomes more ridiculous every time.

[Tabbyclaw]

The camaraderie between the squad as a whole was on show in this episode too. With them at the bar together, commiserating and then plotting, and then working together to figure the case out. It's one of those times when you realise that you don't have to have a regular character be the asshole who no one really likes to create drama. You can throw in an outsider who unites all your principles, and lets them show the audience why these people enjoy working together.

 

This is a huge chunk of the appeal of the show for me. When I was talking it up to someone recently one of my big bullet points of recommendation was "the characters who are supposed to be friends actually act like they like each other."

 

Noticeable here, of course, is that Gina was isolated from the rest of the group, because her presence always undermines the friendly relations of the rest.

 

And this is why I can't stand Gina. The others are characters who are occasionally awful, but Gina is awful and occasionally becomes an actual character.

Edited June 20, 2014 by Tabbyclaw

[dusang]

And this is why I can't stand Gina. The others are characters who are occasionally awful, but Gina is awful and occasionally becomes an actual character.

 

I see the complaint, but this episode is always my Gina-redeeming rebuttal -- she scratched her nose with a loaded gun to help a friend.  How awful can she be?