Mike Schur shows have consistently been, for me, about the characters. Sure, there are overall plot points and things that you have to know in order to understand the show you’re watching, but they’ve always been more about the characters and what they’re going through.
That has never been more clear than in this most recent season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, especially with Jake and Amy. Starting with Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) and Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz) working together to get Amy a pregnancy test, the first few episodes of the season have all been focused on Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and Amy trying to start a family.
Unlike The Office and Parks and Recreation, Amy and Jake’s struggle to start their family got an entire episode arc. With couples like Jim and Pam getting pregnant before they were married and Ben and Leslie easily having triplets, it was a nice change of pace to see Jake and Amy actually trying to get pregnant and showing that struggle that many couples face.
With the episode showing that struggle unfold over many months in order to display the toll it can take on a couple, Jake and Amy didn’t have her pregnancy easily thrust upon them. They tried, they struggled, they came up with outlandish schedules to try to get pregnant according to what doctors say, and still, they couldn’t get pregnant.
What was so heartwarming about this arc was that it wasn’t ever something that would completely ruin their love for each other. Jake even says to Amy that if they never have kids, it’ll be okay because they’re each other’s family. They are a family already, with or without kids, and I think that’s an important message that often isn’t featured in television.
Very rarely do we see a struggle to have kids, especially in comedies. The only one I can really remember is on Friends when Monica and Chandler decide to adopt. Seeing Jake and Amy actually go through everything, learn that it isn’t as easy as they thought, and talk to doctors about hormones and whatnot made it very real for a comedy.
Often, our most dramatic and tear-jerking moments come from our favorite comedies, especially when Mike Schur and Dan Goor are behind them. They’re the kind of creators who want to show the joy in life while also making it real. Life isn’t always funny, it’s not always easy, and a Mike Schur/Dan Goor comedy shows that. Yes, they find the humor in the dark stuff, but it’s still there to keep us going, and that’s exactly what Jake and Amy’s storyline was doing this season.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine has taken this season to focus almost entirely on the relationships between their characters, and it’s a nice change. I can’t wait to see where the rest of the season takes us.
(image: NBC)
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