***Contains spoilers for this episode***
There are four heroes in this episode: Jake, Terry, Charles, and Amy (not necessarily in that order.)
Terry states at Christmas dinner that his family is his number one priority. But when he hears that the detectives are in danger, he rushes to their aid, leaving his biological family behind. He goes head to head with The Vulture, who is motivated only by his own ego and hell-bent on making a dangerous move which could put Jake, Charles and Gina in more danger. To protect his squad, Terry makes a decision that might cost him his job. He heroically overpowers The Vulture, and to hell with the consequences – because the Nine-Nine are also his family. His number one priority, even higher than his career. This is another instance if the chosen family theme which is one of my favorites and which I will discuss at length another time.
#terryjeffords #chosenfamily
Jake’s hero move comes when he lets himself get taken hostage to allow Charles to escape. Of course this also allows Charles to rescue the hostages later – Charles’s epic hero moment – but Jake didn’t know that would be the outcome, and was even held at gunpoint before Charles showed up. Jake risked his life to protect his best friend. Season-one-Boyle did this, but would season-one-Jake have done the same thing? I don’t know. In any case, good job, grown-up Jake.
Jake forgets to buy Charles a Christmas present, but Charles recognizes his sacrifice as “The best Christmas present ever.” Sometimes I wonder why Charles likes Jake at all, but if there are enough exchanges like this between them, then I guess their friendship is doing okay.
#charlesboyle #jakeperalta #friendship
And it wouldn’t be fair to do this without mentioning Amy running into the freezing cold water to alert the captain and Rosa to their emergency situation. Good job, grown-up Amy!
#amysantiago
Liora Sophie 