Brooklyn Nine-Nine: “The Pontiac Bandit Returns”
(Episode 2.10)

If you’ve been following the sequel pattern in Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s second season, then you probably walked into “The Pontiac Bandit Returns” with the lowest of low expectations. Neither “Halloween II” nor “Lockdown” even came close to touching the excellence of their progenitors; in point of fact, they’re two of the worst episodes in the show’s sophomore run (which is to say that they’re still funny, just totally incohesive in terms of their contributions to both character and narrative). So odds favor “The Pontiac Bandit Returns” falling far short of “Pontiac Bandit,” even in the face of Craig Robinson’s return to the precinct.
But here’s the funny thing: “The Pontiac Bandit Returns” is good, even if the opening verges on tastelessness, in light of recent highly publicized cases of race-fueled police brutality. (All discomfort aside, “This is what happens when you’re naughty!” is one of Season Two’s best sight gags.) More than that, it’s at least as good as “Pontiac Bandit,” and if we’re going full-hyperbolic, it might even be better. Robinson reprising his role as Doug Judy, the smooth-talking car thief who so thoroughly pulled the wool over Jake Peralta’s eyes when last they met, is only part of the package; “The Pontiac Bandit Returns” seriously ups the ante on last year’s ill-advised cops n’robber team-up, sticking to the formula that made that episode great, while applying little tweaks and upgrades along the way. Fool Peralta once, shame on you. Fool him twice, well, don’t give yourself too much credit, because it’s just not that hard.
Spoilers are as spoilers do, but “The Pontiac Bandit Returns” ends pretty much as anyone might guess, based on Jake’s and Doug’s last contretemps. All the better to bring Robinson back for next year’s “The Pontiac Bandit Rides Again,” of course—and c’mon, you didn’t really think Peralta would successfully put Judy in the slammer after just two encounters, did you? At least this time Jake has a smiling, gleeful Diaz to reassure him that they’ll get him next time; they’ve been more of a pair this season throughout the Giggle Pig plot, and her moment of triumph lets us savor the victory while snickering at what a genuinely cheery, happy Rosa looks like. (It’s kind of scary, but don’t worry, she’ll be back to scowling in a week’s time.)