The crew attend an evening meeting where the Captain goes over the most recent threat to the city; pedal cab bars that are popular for bachelorette parties. They are responsible for an uptick in public female urination. Before they adjourn, Holt reveals it will be Amy’s last meeting before she goes on maternity leave. Afterwards, the Peraltas discuss with Charles what they’re son will call him. Boyle is hoping for Uncle Chee Chee since he’ll probably say it sooner. All of a sudden, the power goes out in all of Brooklyn. Based off of the sounds of accidents, gunfire and screams, it’s going to be a long night
[SPOILERS FOR 7.13 AHEAD!]
The Nine-Nine’s leadership, Holt and Jeffords, happen to be taking the elevator when the black out occurs. The Captain begins to have a panic attack since he has a fear of elevators tracing back to a childhood trauma. He read the municipal code before bed one time and found that they only do rated-load testing on them every five years. Plus, they have to rely on their arch enemies, the fire department, to save them. To distract Holt, Terry decides to teach him some 80’s hip hop dance moves straight from Salt-n-Pepa’s “Push It”.
That leaves Amy, the highest-ranking officer so she takes charge. She sends her husband and Boyle to the power station to work with ESU and get an ETA on when the power can be restored. They learn the main transformer was hit by a probable drunk driver since they found an empty bottle of vodka in the car. The detectives follow a blood trail and catch their guy.
Back at the precinct, Amy is holding down the fort and coordinating the efforts. She’s doing a great job until her water breaks. The Sergeant feels she isn’t close to giving birth yet and can still continue with the crisis management. Rosa is a bit concerned and begins timing her contractions. Then she radios Jake about the situation.
New York during a citywide black out is utter chaos. Jake and Charles are stuck in traffic trying to head back. They also get sidetracked by helping out random citizens along the way. Their group begins to grow from initially the detectives and their perp to including a racist old lady and a concussed man. To travel faster, they hitch a ride on a pedal cab bar adding a bachelorette party and an Aquaman look-alike. The perp lets slip that he purposely crashed into the transformer because his crew are planning a bank robbery. Yet another diversion the detectives have to take care of before getting back to Amy.
The power comes back on and Amy brings Terry and Holt up to speed on the events. Unfortunately, she’s close to giving birth and must have her baby at the precinct rather than a hospital. Jake still isn’t close so Charles calls in a favor from his nemesis, the horse, Lieutenant Peanut Butter. Scully and Hitchcock help Santiago out by converting their nap room into a birthing suite.
Because of the situation, Amy must have a natural birth without an epidural. To keep her mind off of things, Terry and Holt perform the dance routine they were practicing in the elevator. Jake makes it back in time to see his baby’s birth. The new parents definitely have a story to tell when he asks about the day he was born. In the safety and comfort of the hospital, the rest of the gang meet little Mac. He’s not named for the dude from Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out but for Jake’s idol, John McClane.
“Lights Out” is a great way to end the season. We’ve followed along Jake and Amy’s journey as they build their family. It began with the struggles and frustration of just conceiving to the pregnancy to finally giving birth. And at every step there were the very real thoughts and doubts of being good parents. Whether Mac will become the 6’7” number one draft pick of the Knicks or a leading name in the library sciences, he’s in good hands with the Peraltas.
The episode combines all these different independent elements really well. There are entertaining callbacks to what initially seemed as random throwaway lines like the use of the pedal cab bars (and the disturbing and funny public female urination), Charles’ rivalry with Lieutenant Peanut Butter and the page numbers in Jake’s pregnancy book to reference Amy’s present “downstairs” labor state. It was all very nicely tied together.
While there were great lines, the physical comedy really stood out. Melissa Fumero does most of the heavy lifting trying to mask her contractions. Then the Jeffords/Holt dance is a cute gesture but even more hilarious scene. There are plenty of videos out there of Terry Crews dancing that you can find on YouTube but who knew how well Andre Braugher could move? So quality.
Well, that concludes Season Seven. It was a fun ride but a bit short for my tastes. I wonder how much they’ll age McClane Peralta when we return for the next season. Will he become as best friends with Nikolaj as their dads are? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
My Favorite Lines
Scully: She gets three months off? Can I take a maternity leave?
Jake: Are you giving birth to a baby?
Scully: I’m having a seven-pound mass removed from my abdomen next week.
Charles: But that’s Sergeant Peanut Butter’s unit. No one wants to work with that condescending dick.
Amy: Okay. First of all, he’s a horse so he can’t be condescending.
Charles: Oh, he’s got you people fooled.
Amy: Secondly, he’s a lieutenant now.
Rosa: You two are the worst people to have around during an emergency. I literally can’t imagine a scenario where you would be helpful.
Scully: Murder at a Cinnabon. Who would you call?
Rosa: Someone who wouldn’t be distracted by the frosting.
Scully: Yeah, I do love that frosting.
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