Brooklyn Nine-Nine “Four Movements” Spoilers Ahead
An eventful TV week kicked off with the emotionally packed Outlander season finale, and a solid episode of Madam Secretary. The Screen Actor’s Guild Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role went to Emily Blunt for A Quiet Place and I’ve been beaming since then. Riverdale wasn’t at its best, but it did give us some answers I wasn’t expecting this soon. And The Magicians not only reiterated that our sweet Julia Wicker is a goddess, but our favorites are one step closer to defeating the monster that’s governing Eliot’s body. However, it was unsurprisingly Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s heartfelt episode dedicated to Gina Linetti’s departure that takes the crown.
Gina Linetti has always been one of the most intricately crafted characters in TV history, and there are very few words in the English dictionary to describe the human form of the “100 emoji.” There’s a huge chance this episode will also be featured in Year-End reviews by December because that’s how well “Four Movements” was executed. I want to talk about the episode in its entirety, (It’s taking everything in me not to.) but for now, the important thing to discuss is what this exit did for Amy Santiago, and by extension, me. Much like Amy, I’m a crier. I cry when I’m happy. I cry when I’m sad. I cry when I’m angry. I cry when I feel whatever emotion excessively. Heck, I even cry when something’s just flat-out too adorable for words. I don’t even know how my tear ducts haven’t dried yet. That’s why when Gina tells Amy that the sole message she’d like to leave her with was the blessing to be herself, it hit me like a ton of bricks, too. I mean c’mon, if something makes Rosa Diaz cry, we’re all crying at that point. So often people believe that criers are weak, but this is the kind of moment that showcased otherwise beautifully.
Gina and Amy were never best friends like Gina and Jake, or even friends like Gina and Rosa. Gina, being Gina didn’t understand Amy, and Amy being Amy never knew how to really bond with Gina. Nevertheless, despite not understanding one another, ample respect for one another has always been a silent presence between them. Thereby when Gina leaves Amy with the message to embrace herself as she is, crier and all, it means everything. It means everything because it’s coming from somebody who’s confidence in herself is her greatest skill. It means that nobody has a right to tell Amy not to cry because it’d be the same as telling her to change who she is, and Gina Linetti is not about that kind of nonsense. And it’s as simple as the women crying in a group hug with Gina calling them her babies that turned me into a blubbering mess. That’s the thing with Gina, she’s ridiculous, but she’s never meant harm, and reminding Amy to be proud of herself, to embrace the tears and the book with Gina’s tweets was her reiterating just how much she cares about the people around her. And most importantly, just how much she loves them as they are. They’re all human forms of the “100 emoji” and Gina Linetti just wants them to appreciate and understand that. The same message comes through when she tells Jake that she never needed Mario Lopez to come to her goodbye party, she just needed them. They’re enough, perfect, and more than enough.
Thank you, Chelsea Peretti for five years of incomparable genius and laughter. If Gina Linetti’s taught us anything it’s that we’re all pretty darn great in this world, flaws and all. And I’m sure I speak on behalf of many when I say that this character will be sorely missed.
And three, two, one … here come the tears again. I just wanna scream and cry about the perfection of this entire episode but I’ll hold off for now. (When she tells them she loves them through the video. Lol. Goodbye. The emo ship has sailed and I’m captaining it. And we love you.)
What are your thoughts on Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s “Four Movements?”