Return to Skyfire
Jake and Terry revisit the Skyfire author; Holt's forensics course goes wrong.
"Return to Skyfire" is the eighth episode of the fifth season of the American television police sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and the 98th overall episode. It was written by Neil Campbell, directed by Linda Mendoza, and aired on Fox in the United States on November 28, 2017. The episode features Jake, Terry, and Rosa investigating a stolen manuscript for author D.C. Parlov, while Holt, Amy, and Boyle attend a forensics course.
Quick Facts
- Series
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- Season
- 5
- Episode
- 8
- Director
- Linda Mendoza
- Writer
- Neil Campbell
- Photographer
- Giovani Lampassi
- Editor
- Jason Gill
- Production
- 508
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Jake and Terry convince Rosa to investigate the theft of D.C. Parlov's latest manuscript, which has been partially leaked online. The blackmailer demands $500,000 to prevent further release. Jake became a fan of the Skyfire Cycle books while in jail, and Terry found Parlov to be a nice person. They go undercover as cosplayers at a fantasy convention where Parlov is speaking; Rosa reluctantly participates, dressed in her usual attire that resembles a steampunk character.
At the convention, Parlov's rival Landon Lawson also had his manuscript stolen, and the two authors accuse each other. Jake discovers that Terry wrote a fantasy novel and has Parlov read it, but the novel is terrible. When Parlov compliments it, Jake and Rosa realize he is lying and that both authors stole each other's manuscripts for attention. They arrest both men, and Jake reassures Terry after learning Parlov found his novel terrible.
Meanwhile, Rosa unexpectedly becomes a fan of the steampunk novel. Separately, Holt and Amy attend a forensics course by Dr. Ronald Yee, hoping to earn a field lab for the precinct. They are forced to bring Boyle, who cannot stop digressing about his family. They use him as a cast subject but forget to lubricate it, trapping him. After struggling to keep him quiet, they return to the course for help, losing any chance of getting the lab.
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Return to Skyfire" was seen by an estimated 1.73 million household viewers and gained a 0.7/3 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research. This was a slight increase from the previous episode, which had 1.66 million viewers and a 0.6/2 in the 18–49 demographics. The episode was the third highest rated show on Fox for the night, behind The Mick and Lethal Weapon, fifth in its timeslot, and twelfth for the night.
The episode received mixed reviews from critics. LaToya Ferguson of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "C−" grade and wrote that the episode lacked the strong reminder of how strong the Nine-Nine is together, calling it an outlier. Alan Sepinwall of Uproxx wrote that much of the D.C. Parlov story felt like a rehash of jokes from the first one, citing the characters speaking in unison about book details and a scene where Jake and Terry inadvertently broke up a family as mean and awkward.
He noted that parts worked due to the enthusiasm of Samberg and Crews and the interlocking sounds of Fred Melamed and Rob Huebel's voices, but overall it felt like diminishing returns on the original concept.
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