Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is what it has always been: Kind, quick, and very, very funny. The entire ensemble is working at the height of their abilities.

The first two episodes feature a characteristic blend of low-brow humor (a running gag involving novelty T-shirts, including one boasting a picture of a thong-wearing pineapple and the word slut), detailed deconstruction of said low-brow humor (“Is the pineapple the slut, or is it calling someone a slut?”), office comedy (a turf war erupts over the break-room microwave), and unexpected literary references (Jake reads Walt Whitman--who knew?). It’s smart, silly, good-natured, and very Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn Nine-Nine that premieres Thursday night on NBC is essentially the Brooklyn Nine-Nine you remember from Fox. That's a very good thing, indeed.

In the first two episodes, the humor is there, the heart is there, and the plot progresses much as it would've on Fox.

[The jokes are funny] but it’s a bit subdued. The upside is that the aforementioned emotional honesty comes through loud and clear, but one hopes that Nine-Nine will get a bit more of its usual pep in its step as the season progresses. If the writing and direction don’t always benefit from the subdued tone, the performances, and Braugher’s in particular, absolutely soar. Every member of the cast has timing that’s as good as ever.

If anything, the series feels more in a groove than it did when it was young and new and still surprising.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is still unmistakably itself.