"Balancing" is the 4th episode of the
eighth season of the American television
police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest a ...
sitcom
A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...
series ''
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' is an American police procedural Television comedy, comedy television series that aired on Fox Television Network, Fox, and later on NBC. The show aired from September 17, 2013, to September 16, 2021, for a total of eight ...
'', and the 147th overall episode of the series. The episode was written by
Evan Susser and
Van Robichaux
John Vance Robichaux, III (born May 8, 1984) is an American comedy writer and television producer. He was the co-writer of the film ''Fist Fight''. He was a writer and producer for the NBC primetime series ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine.'' He is also inv ...
and directed by Daniella Eisman. It aired on August 19, 2021 on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...
, airing back-to-back with the previous episode, "
Blue Flu".
The show revolves around the fictitious 99th precinct of the
New York Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...
and the officers and detectives that work in the precinct. In this episode, Jake and
Amy try to balance their job with their parent life as taking care of Mac proves to be far more difficult than it appears. To complicate matters, Jake finds that a serial killer he has been pursuing for 10 years is close to him and Amy must work to make a new police reform. Meanwhile, Holt moves in with Rosa but soon becomes a problem when he only talks about Kevin.
According to
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
, the episode was seen by an estimated 1.48 million household viewers and gained a 0.3 ratings share among adults aged 18–49. The episode received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, with critics expressing criticism at its "formulaic" and "uninspired" main story.
Plot
Jake (
Andy Samberg
Andy Samberg (born David A. J. Samberg; August 18, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, musician, producer and screenwriter. He is a member of the comedy music group The Lonely Island and was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2005 ...
) investigates a murder committed by Johnny Franzia, a serial killer he has been trying to pursue for 10 years and is deemed his "white whale". However, Holt (
Andre Braugher
Andre Keith Braugher (; born July 1, 1962) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Detective Frank Pembleton in the police drama series '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1993–1999), used car salesman Owen Thoreau Jr. in the co ...
) removes him from the case, citing that he and
Amy (
Melissa Fumero
Melissa Fumero (née Gallo; born August 19, 1982) is an American actress. From the age of ten, she aspired to become an actor and later attended New York University, from which she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drama. She made her ...
) may want more time taking care of Mac. Both convince Holt to retain their hours, saying they can take care of Mac and still properly work.
Their plans quickly go awry when there is a lice outbreak at Mac's daycare and without babysitters available, they are forced to have Mac at home and at work. Jake and Amy also contract lice. Jake's
home remedy
Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...
of covering their hair in maple syrup to suffocate the lice causes Amy's hair to become unmanageable. When they have a lead on Franzia, they leave Mac in Scully (
Joel McKinnon Miller
Joel McKinnon Miller (born February 21, 1960) is an American actor who is best known for portraying Don Embry on '' Big Love'' and Detective Norm Scully on ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine''.
Life and career
Joel McKinnon Miller was born in Rockford, Minn ...
)'s care, but Scully injures himself, forcing the couple to take care of Mac themselves. Amy has an important meeting at
1 Police Plaza to pitch the new police reform idea and is stressed when she must present it earlier than planned while looking sloppy. This coincides with Jake finally discovering Franzia's identity. Jake agrees to let Boyle (
Joe Lo Truglio
Joseph Vincent Lo Truglio (; born December 2, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, writer and producer. Best known for his role as Charles Boyle on the Fox/NBC sitcom ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'', he also was a cast member on the television series '' ...
) go after Franzia and Amy successfully pitches her reform to the police. While Boyle explains what happened, Jake is happy to see his son stand up for the first time. Later, he and Amy talk and despite both losing an important moment in their lives, they agree that working together is a better choice.
Meanwhile, after failing to progress in couples' therapy with Kevin (
Marc Evan Jackson
Marc Evan Jackson (born August 21, 1970) is an American comedian and actor. Some of his roles include Sparks Nevada in the '' Thrilling Adventure Hour'', Kevin Cozner in ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' (he also hosts a podcast based on the sitcom, titled ...
), Holt moves in with Rosa (
Stephanie Beatriz
Stephanie Beatriz Bischoff Alvizuri (born February 10, 1981) is an American actress, model and singer. She is known for playing Detective Rosa Diaz in the Fox/ NBC comedy series ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' (2013–2021), and voicing protagonist Mir ...
). However, Rosa is annoyed when Holt only talks about Kevin and she takes him out to drink. Holt stops talking about Kevin but they find that while drunk, Holt sent an
obscene picture to Kevin. They infiltrate Kevin's house to delete the message but Cheddar's barking exposes them as Kevin arrives early, but they manage to escape with an excuse that Kevin buys. Later, Rosa says that Kevin's reaction seemed sad, indicating that he misses Holt. Holt decides to talk with him by sending him the picture again and Kevin responds back with a
scatter plot
A scatter plot (also called a scatterplot, scatter graph, scatter chart, scattergram, or scatter diagram) is a type of plot or mathematical diagram using Cartesian coordinates to display values for typically two variables for a set of data. ...
(his way of flirting), indicating that their relationship is stabilizing.
Production
Development
In August 2021, it was announced that the fourth episode of the season would be titled "Balancing" and that
Evan Susser and
Van Robichaux
John Vance Robichaux, III (born May 8, 1984) is an American comedy writer and television producer. He was the co-writer of the film ''Fist Fight''. He was a writer and producer for the NBC primetime series ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine.'' He is also inv ...
would serve as writers while Daniella Eisman would direct.
Reception
Viewers
According to
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
, the episode was seen by an estimated 1.48 million household viewers and gained a 0.3 ratings share among adults aged 18–49. This means that 0.3 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode.
This was a 27% decrease over the previous episode, which was watched by 2.01 million viewers and a 0.4 ratings share.
With these ratings, ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' was the highest rated show on NBC for the night, fourth on its timeslot and sixth for the night, behind a ''
B Positive'' rerun, a ''
The Neighborhood'' rerun, ''
Holey Moley'', ''
Beat Shazam
''Beat Shazam'' is an American television musical game show which premiered on Fox on May 25, 2017. The show is hosted by Jamie Foxx, who is also an executive producer on the show along with Jeff Apploff (who created the show with Wes Kauble). On ...
'', and ''
Big Brother''.
Critical reviews
"Balancing" received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. Vikram Murthi of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cr ...
'' gave the episode a "B−" rating, writing, "Unfortunately, the second episode this week features a tired premise around work/life balance and 'having it all' that's been done better many times before. Jake and Amy struggle to parent their son, Mac, while maintaining the pressures of their respective careers."
Brian Tallerico of ''
Vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North a ...
'' gave the episode a 3 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "An episode that highlights one of the many arguments for defunding the police is followed by a goofier, more personal episode about how Jake and Amy will balance police work with raising Mac. It's broader in tone than the most recent episodes, leaning into physical humor like hair nets full of maple syrup and dick pics, but it does center the relationship between Jake and Amy in a way that’s satisfying."
Nick Harley of ''
Den of Geek
''Den of Geek'' is a US and UK-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a bi-annual magazine.
History
''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ...
'' wrote, "Similarly to last week, the night's second episode leaves a bit to be desired. 'Balancing' is a classic new parents sitcom episode filtered through the ''BK99'' lens. This is the exact kind of story that I was not looking forward to when it was revealed that Jake and Amy would be parents. While the show was incredibly inventive telling pregnancy stories, so far, the parenting stories have been cliché."
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balancing (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)
2021 American television episodes
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (season 8) episodes