Charles Looks For Love On 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine'

Love is in the air on Brooklyn Nine-Nine , and for the first time this season, it doesn't have to do with Jake and Amy and their fledgling relationship. As much as I love seeing Jake and Amy together, I was glad we finally got a break from focusing so heavily on their new romance because if every episode was about them, it would get really old, really quickly. Instead, Sunday night's episode focused on another perennially lovelorn member of the Brooklyn Nine-Nine crew, Charles, and luckily, he had his bestie Jake right beside him to help him find that special someone.

Charles has been a little down and out lately over not having a lady in his life, so when he bumped into a woman named Genevieve who loves octopus balls and sleeping on the floor as much as he does while at the courthouse with Jake, he was incredibly eager to get to know her and see if she is in fact as perfect as she seemed. Unfortunately, we all know no one is perfect, and that was especially the case with Genevieve, who came out of the courtroom wearing handcuffs and explained to Charles that she had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for insurance fraud. Ooof. Talk about long distance.

This plot of a detective dating a criminal is so clever but also so obvious, that I was shocked that it took a little more than two seasons to work it into an episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. While I was glad to see it finally make it into the show, I was a bit heartbroken that it had to involve Charles, who is such a kind-hearted and adorable little man that I just can't help want the best for him, especially when it comes to love.

However, the silver lining to all of this is that we got to have a good-old-fashioned episode where Jake and Charles team up on one of their epic capers. After Charles dug a bit deeper into Genevieve's case, he put the pieces together and realized that she had probably been framed since she could have made more money on selling the art in the gallery she owned than making it look like it was stolen and collecting the insurance money. Jake agreed to help Charles crack the case and finally get the girl.

Although Charles threw in the towel when they thought Genevieve had set up a storage unit full of all of the stolen art, Jake kept going and eventually solved the case when he realized it was the assistant of Genevieve's ex-boyfriend that tried to frame her for the crime. That meant Charles could get together with Genevieve after all. Huzzah, I say!

Now don't get me wrong. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside when I realized that Charles may finally be able to attain that elusive love. However, I think the real heart of the episode can actually be found in the relationship between Charles and Jake.

Though Jake can often be selfish or not very self-aware, he's almost always willing to do whatever it takes to help Charles in his time of need. Charles is, of course, almost too eager to fix all of Jake's problems. These are two guys that really care about each other, and that's really delightful to see on screen. I mean, if performing a duet of a police work-related cover of The Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps" isn't love, I just don't know what is.

Images: John P. Fleenor/FOX; Giphy (2)