Tolkien References Project: Brooklyn Nine-Nine

In this third installment of the TRP I took the chance of revisiting one of my all-time favourite shows: Brooklyn 99. I'll write a little more about why I like this show further below but here are my findings first.

Please note This is a part of a longer series on films, series and other media where Tolkien’s life and works get a mention - or as is often the case, the adaptations of his works.

Also available Community (Opens in a new window) | Chicago Fire (Opens in a new window) | Firefly Lane (Opens in a new window) | Scrubs (Opens in a new window) | Gilmore Girls (Opens in a new window).

TRP episode one was Gilmore Girls (Opens in a new window) if you feel like doing a quick comparison.

First mention

Season 2, Episode 7, Lockdown.

SERGEANT JEFFORDS: Fine, we'll go to my house. Or as Zeke calls it, Tiny Terry's Hobbit Hole.

The original air date was November 16, 2014. And obviously making fun of people who happen to be 6"3' in real life is always worth the effort.

Season 2, Episode 8, USPIS.

JAKE: That's our list of suspects. We shall call them 'The Fellowship of the Key.'

The original air date was November 23, 2014. I quite like this allusion as I do appreciate snail mail very much - without it the present as we know it today would never have happened!

Fun facts: In Season 2, Episode 9, The Road Trip, Jake Peralta orders two maple-tinis - see my Scrubs references post.

Season 2, Episode 17, Boyle-Linetti Wedding.

GINA: (...) Give me the ring.
JAKE: Ha, you sound like Gollum.
GINA: That means nothing to me. I don't see those movies. I am too pretty.

...

GINA: (...) And you're a weirdo. I'd call you a hobbit... Yeah. A human pile of mashed potatoes... Mm-hmm. But you are no coward, Lynn Boyle. 

The original air date was March 1, 2015. Again, the allusion is on the 'nerds don't ever look good' side of things but at least she has heard about Gollum. And the movies.

Season 3, Episode 6, Into the woods.

AMY SANTIAGO: Well, when I was a kid, I invented a magnetic flashlight clip so I could read under the covers. This clip and I went all around the world together -- the Shire, Sweet Valley High, Terabithia.

The original airdate was November 8, 2015. As always Amy Santiago is the only one appreciative of both reading in general and reading fantasy specifically. Bridge to Terabithia is the children's novel by Katherine Paterson, Sweet Valley High (Opens in a new window) a series of young adult/ children's fiction stories. To have the Shire as the only non-US-related mention here is quite impressive.

Season 3, Episode 8, Ava.

SERGEANT JEFFORDS: (...) Keep Captain Holt away from her.
JAKE: Really? Why?
SERGEANT JEFFORDS: He's always weird around her and it stresses her out. She says he reminds her of those judgmental trees from "Lord of the Rings."
JAKE: They're called "Ents." Get a life, dweeb.
SERGEANT JEFFORDS: I don't care.

...

SHARON JEFFORDS: A doula is someone who supports you emotionally and physically and coaches you through the process.
JAKE: I see. So sort of like a vaginal Gandalf?
SERGEANT JEFFORDS: Stop saying that word!
SHARON JEFFORDS: Ooh, that's actually a pretty good analogy.
JAKE: (...) So I'm gonna go get your birth plan and then summon your wizard.

The original air date November 22, 2015, as the Thanksgiving special. I did not know that ents were judgmental but then again it is nice to see that Jake obviously loves watching the films and his wife Amy loves to read the books. 'Vaginal Gandalf' should definitely be a t-shirt.

Season 3, Episode 15, The 9-8

JAKE: Let's not be hasty.

The original air date was November 8, 2015. This line made several appearances throughout the series and can, of course, be a general statement to show some patience - but with the Ents getting a mention I would love for this to be a LotR allusion, book or otherwise.

Season 4, Episode 8, The Skyfire Cycle

JAKE: Halitosis Frodo's got to be our guy, right?
SERGEANT JEFFORDS: Oh, yeah. "A message in blood" is a reference to book one. Page 843. After Wendivil betrayed Prince Clevang, murdered him, and used his blood to write letters to his children.
JAKE: Do you talk about this stuff with Sharon?
SERGEANT JEFFORDS: No. She hates it.

The original air date was November 29, 2016. Now, with this and the following episode on fantasy authors writing really crap fantasy stories we get insights to nerd life. I am not quite sure whether they are trying to make fun of it or whether someone on the writing staff is an actual fantasy/ nerd culture fan who has actually been to conventions - the depiction is rather to the point, tbh. I am also not quite sure whether Prince Clevang is a pun on Lee van Cleef or maybe someone on staff or Wendivil just a 'went evil' spelt wrong but hey - it is Brooklyn Nine-Nine, not the Iliad. P.S. Why Frodo would suffer from halitosis I cannot even begin to fathom.

Season 5, Episode 8, Return to Skyfire

ROSA DIAZ: Why do you think these guys are in it together? They hate each other. They spent an hour arguing over the name of the dragon in "The Hobbit."
DC PARLOV: "Smog."
LAWSON: "Smowg."
DC PARLOV: Smog!
LAWSON: Smowg!
DC PARLOV: [yelling] Smog!
LAWSON: [yelling] Smowg!
JAKE: It's "Smowg," by the way...

The original airdate was November 18, 2017. Now, that is an incredibly clever joke on Stephen Colbert, often cited as the uber super mega hyper fan or - goodness! - a Tolkien expert who was not quite clear on how to pronounce the name and who did an interview with 'Smaug' on December 11, 2014 (Opens in a new window) in which the dragon angrily corrects him. Andy Samberg and Stephen Colbert did a 'Tolkien' section in this interview (Opens in a new window) from March 2021; Samberg noted that his father read The Hobbit to him as a kid.

Season 6, Episode 6, The Crime Scene.

ROSA DIAZ: We have no idea what our killer looks like.
JAKE: Well, that's not totally true. We now know that the killer might look like Seth Myers, Winona Ryder, or Bilbo Baggins.
...
CAPTAIN HOLT: I overheard you mention a Bill Bo-Baggins. Should we bring him in?
JAKE; Well, as much as I would love to meet him, he is not a suspect.

The original airdate was February 14, 2019. Bilbo Baggins is a burglar so having him - or in this case, Martin Freeman - appear as the drawing of a suspect is to the point in a crime drama. Fun fact: Seth Meyers is Andy Samberg's best man. 

To sum it all up - all allusions to Tolkien names, characters and/or places are to the films except for one occasion when Amy reveals herself to be the voracious reader she has always been. As Brooklyn Nine-Nine has just finished its run after eight seasons we will not be getting anymore - the last episode was shown on Sept 16, 2021, and it was another heist, of course. I have always liked those episodes best so I am happy they ended the series on this fun note.

Picture credits: (c) NBC (Opens in a new window) .

This post was originally published (Opens in a new window) on September 18th, 2021.
It was made available to the public on December 3rd, 2023.