Brooklyn 99 Ending Explained

Here’s what happens in the ending of Brooklyn 99 and what it means. The police sitcom follows the detectives of Brooklyn’s 99th precinct, Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg), his wife Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero), Captain Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher), Lieutenant Terry Jeffords (Terry Crews), Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz), and Charles Boyle (Joe Lo Truglio). Throughout eight seasons of solving cases and engaging in hijinks, other members of the Nine-Nine have also become significant including Gina Linetti (Chelsea Peretti), Norm Scully (Joel McKinnon), and Michael Hitchcock (Dirk Blocker).

Season 8 of Brooklyn 99 sees Holt and Amy present a police reform program which gets instituted city-wide, leading Holt to be promoted to deputy commissioner and bringing Amy up as his number two. The series finale is called “The Last Day,” and it promises to be the most elaborate and hilarious of the show’s famous heists, featuring all manner of hilarious deception and double-crosses.

Every heist episode in the series has been wrought with betrayals as each character tries to establish themselves as the precinct’s premier “detective/genius.” Relationships, both personal and professional, are set aside and replaced with a self-indulgently hilarious lust for victory. The finale takes this to the extreme with the winner of the final competition being crowned the Grand Champion of the Nine-Nine, and the characters’ duplicity more than rises to the occasion.

The Double-Crosses In Brooklyn 99’s Finale Explained

Before season 8 of Brooklyn 99, heist double-crosses have been executed purely with the intent of victory, but the last episode’s multitude of betrayals feature a number of alternate motivations. The first deception is the motivation for the heist itself, which Jake quickly reveals is not a farewell to Holt and Amy, but actually an elaborate scheme to orchestrate his own perfect goodbye. This comes as a shock to even Amy who knows that detective has always been Jake’s dream job, but while she uses her genuine emotion to validate her complicity in his scheme, she’s actually hatching a plan of her own.

The next major double-cross comes as Amy chloroforms and dupes Jake in a con reminiscent of Mission: Impossible. Believing his perfect goodbye destination, the Brooklyn Bridge, to be arbitrary and meaningless, she plans her own farewell party at the team’s favorite bar. In perhaps the most clever scene in Brooklyn 99 season 8, Amy employs her ex-boyfriend, Teddy (Kyle Bornheimer), and plays on Jake’s insecurity to convince him that he has been in a coma for seven years to get the location of the heist target. This betrayal is particularly characteristic of Amy because it showcases her love and prowess for detailed planning — of both the party and the ruse.

The final double-cross is Holt’s, who leads the team to the site of their first arrest under him. This twist is what allows Bill (Winston Story) to betray the whole team and lock them in a storage container, ultimately leading to Hitchcock’s surprising win. While Hitchcock becoming the Grand Champion of the Nine-Nine by buying the prize for $40 doesn’t seem very satisfying, it’s actually the perfect twist for the show’s ending. Because all the double-crosses led to the most unlikely and least worthy victor, there still isn’t a true two-time heist winner in the Nine-Nine. The dissatisfaction serves as the ideal setup for the characters to reunite every year for yet another heist.

Who Gets A Promotion?

Holt and Amy’s promotions in the finale are obvious, but other characters’ advancements are more subtle. For starters, Terry does get promoted to Captain of the Nine-Nine despite having been double and then triple-crossed with a fake job interview. It’s also noteworthy that Charles gets a promotion in the form of his new partner and their dynamic. The last scene of the episode shows Charles’ new partner suggesting a series of undeniably cringe-worthy nicknames which Boyle coolly rejects. Charles has been promoted to the “Jake” role in the partnership, a position he previously idolized. Brooklyn 99’s Jake Peralta also gets his own personal promotion to his new dream job, that of a great dad. This advancement is especially significant to Jake who has struggled throughout the show with issues related to his philandering absentee father.

Where Every Character Ends Up (& If They Get A Happy Ending)

With many of the characters receiving very different conclusions, it’s difficult to keep track of where everyone ends up and who gets a happy ending. Holt becomes a deputy commissioner, finally realizing his dream of joining the NYPD upper administration, and his police reform program marks the pinnacle of his ambition to restructure the department and improve equality and justice. Jake leaves his old dream job of detective to work towards his new aspiration of being a great dad, and after receiving validation from Holt, his primary father figure, he rests assured that he has made the right choice. Brooklyn 99’s Amy also gets promoted and continues her promising climb up the NYPD ladder while still getting to work directly under her mentor.

Rosa’s perfect ending is shown through her final conversation with Amy in which she asserts that she doesn’t need a romantic partner or any attachment to be happy. Since she ends the show as a PI, working by herself for herself, she gets the independence she has always thrived on. Charles gets his happy ending, remaining at the Nine-Nine, but finally gaining the confidence to become the cool detective in his partnership. Lieutenant Jeffords gets promoted to captain at the end of Brooklyn 99. Terry is the perfect fit for this position since he has often filled the role in Holt’s absence and has earned the team’s respect countless times. Although most of the characters end up different places, each one gets a happy ending based on their individual strengths and aspirations. Even Hitchcock and Scully get the satisfaction of reuniting, presumably to continue their slothful employment at the Nine-Nine.

The Real Meaning Of Brooklyn 99’s Ending

The theme of family has always been prominent throughout the show, and the series finale ties this together perfectly. The whole episode is a well-established family tradition for the Nine-Nine, but it also stresses some specific points of the familial theme. The end of Brooklyn 99 highlights the importance of accepting your family members for who they are and what they have to do as individuals. This is brought to the forefront in the final exchange between Amy and Rosa in which Amy struggles to understand Rosa’s contentment with solitude. By the end of the conversation, however, the two accept their differences, causing Rosa to uncharacteristically express her affection for Amy. The last conclusion between Jake and Boyle contributes as well, with Boyle finally accepting that being a father is what Jake needs to focus on and that it doesn’t mean an end to their friendship. The whole Brooklyn 99 team comes to accept one another for who they are and what they have to do with their lives, and the family values are driven home at the very end with one final exclamation of “Nine-Nine!“

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