Ava

For the character, see Ava Jeffords.

"Ava" is the 8th episode of Season Three of the FOX television show Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It is originally aired on November 22, 2015 as the 2015 Thanksgiving special to 3.88 million viewers.

Episode Synopsis[]

Terry leaves Jake in charge of entertaining his pregnant wife, Sharon, while he and Rosa head to Rikers to learn more about the Douglass Street murders. But when Sharon's water breaks sooner than expected, crisis ensues at the precinct. Meanwhile, due to an internet outage, Amy and Charles must process all the paperwork by hand to avoid the bullpen from overflowing with perps and Holt is forced to confront his ex-boyfriend, Frederick.

Plot[]

Charles Boyle enters the precinct on Thanksgiving day in a turkey costume, having come from the Thanksgiving day parade. Boyle refuses to listen to Jake Peralta until he is addressed as his costume persona, "Tommy Gobbler." When Jake finally does so however, he reveals that a family is here to see Boyle to ask about their missing grandmother. Boyle immediately drops his persona to solemnly tell the family that he has bad news.

Terry Jeffords announces to the squad in the bullpen that he and Rosa Diaz will be heading to Rikers Island to interview a prisoner for information on a murder case. Before leaving, he tells Jake in private that he and Sharon Jeffords will be having a weekend getaway, and asks Jake to watch over her if she arrives at the precinct before he returns. He also tells Jake to keep Sharon away from Captain Holt, as he makes her feel tense. Meanwhile, Holt tells Amy Santiago and Boyle that since the internet for the precinct is down, paperwork will need to be done by hand, and asks them to stay late to help make sure the bullpen does not become more overcrowded. In the bullpen, Jake asks Gina Linetti for help in keeping Holt away from Sharon and she agrees. As Sharon arrives, Holt attempts to greet her, but Jake and Gina are able to distract Holt and hide Sharon inside the interrogation room. As the two congratulate themselves on their success, Sharon informs them to their horror that her water has broken.

Sharon calls Terry who assures her that he will be back soon. Terry tells Jake to keep Sharon comfortable in the meantime, and to not take her to the hospital as they had a horrible experience when Cagney and Lacey were born, and to instead call a Doula, a midwife who will support Sharon through the birthing process. Holt then enters and remarks that he hopes Sharon does not contract an infection, before being rushed out by Jake. Holt informs Jake that he could help Sharon as his ex boyfriend was an OB-GYN doctor, but Jake tells Holt that he makes Sharon uncomfortable and asks Holt to keep his distance. Holt is offended but agrees to keep his distance. At Rikers Island, Terry tells Rosa that Sharon's water broke, but decides to interrogate the prisoner one more time before they leave. Terry tearfully tells the prisoner that his wife is giving birth and he might miss the birth of his child, causing the prisoner to break down in tears as well and give the information Terry requested. At the precinct, Sharon is resting inside Holt's office while Holt himself is at Gina's desk, but both her Doula and backup Doulas are unavailable. Jake attempts to retrieve CDs to play for Sharon, but he is besieged by family members who have relatives that were arrested. Jake tells Amy and Boyle to speed up the processing of criminals, but they are facing difficulties with only one fax machine. Scully informs them that there are more fax machines in the precinct storage room, but he and Hitchcock start a fire when they plug in all the fax machines into one outlet. As the fire alarm blares, Jake asks Holt if there is a switch to turn it off. Holt informs him that there is an override switch in his office, but still offended that Sharon is specifically avoiding him, sarcastically offers to wear an opaque visor so that he can enter the office without Sharon seeing him. Jake attempts to turn the alarm off by himself but is unable to, and instead activates the sprinklers in the office.

Fred Gina Holt — Frederick advices them to bring Sharon to a hospital

Having changed into new clothes, Jake clears out the people in the briefing room so that Sharon can rest in there instead. As Sharon's contractions get worse, Jake asks Holt for help. Holt takes this in stride but immediately refuses when Jake asks him to contact the ex boyfriend he mentioned earlier, as things did not end well between them. Holt regardless goes to see his ex boyfriend Frederick, who immediately slams the door in their faces. Meanwhile, Terry and Rosa are running on foot to the precinct but decide to commandeer a police motorcycle instead. Terry screams that he is terrified as he clings onto Rosa who drives them to the precinct. In the precinct, all the fax machines are broken and there is still no option to email the paperwork to other precincts. Scully informs Amy and Boyle that there are pneumatic tubes that connect every precinct in the basement, and Hitchcock inadvertently proves that the tubes are still operational, as his arm is accidentally sucked into a tube. At Frederick's house, Jake explains to Frederick that Sharon needs his help. Frederick agrees to help, but only if Holt admits that he threw away a wooden duck he owned years ago. Holt insists to Jake that he did not, but is convinced to put his pride aside and lie that he threw the duck away. Frederick goes with them to the precinct where he assures them Sharon is mostly fine, but gives his professional opinion that she needs to go to the hospital. Jake tells Sharon what Frederick thinks, and while she once again refuses to go to the hospital, she begins to relent as she is in a lot of pain and is worried about the baby. As Terry is uncontactable due to dropping his phone while on the motorcycle, Sharon tells Jake that he needs to make the decision as the baby's Godfather.

A younger Holt throws the wooden duck off the bridge

Terry arrives at the hospital, and angrily asks why Jake defied his instructions. Jake tells him that Frederick is tending to Sharon at the moment, and Terry rushes into the delivery room. Holt confesses to Jake that while he did not throw Frederick's wooden duck into the garbage, he did throw it over a bridge. Holt explains to Jake that he did so out of pettiness, and apologizes for being similarly petty earlier. Amy, Boyle, Hitchcock and Scully arrive as well having completed the paperwork for the precinct already, and needing to get Hitchcock's mangled arm medical attention. One hour later, Terry informs the squad that the baby, named Ava Jeffords, has been born and is perfectly healthy. Terry thanks the squad for all they have done and asks Jake to follow him into Sharon's room, wanting him to be the first member of the squad to meet Ava. Terry apologizes for his anger earlier and tells Jake that he made the right decision. Terry then asks Jake if he wants to hold her, and Jake hugs Sharon before awkwardly realizing Terry meant Ava.

Cast[]

Actor		Character
Andy Samberg	...	Jake Peralta
Stephanie Beatriz	...	Rosa Diaz
Terry Crews	...	Terry Jeffords
Melissa Fumero	...	Amy Santiago
Joe Lo Truglio	...	Charles Boyle
Chelsea Peretti	...	Gina Linetti
Andre Braugher	...	Captain Ray Holt
Dirk Blocker	...	Michael Hitchcock
Joel McKinnon Miller	...	Norm Scully
Nick Offerman	...	Frederick
Merrin Dungey	...	Sharon Jeffords
Kaliko Kauahi	...	Brenda Hix
Tom Proctor	...	Rake

Cultural References[]

There were several Lord of the Rings references
- Ray Holt is compared to a judgmental tree call an Ent.
- Jake says a doula is sort of like a vaginal Gandalf, who's a wizard and considered to be an emotionally and physically supportive character.
Jake tries to calm down Sharon with a Barry White voice
- Barry White is a musician known for his deep voice and his music to create a calming mood.

Goofs[]

In this episode, Holt said things did not end well between his ex-boyfriend, Frederick, and him. But previously in episode Charges and Specs, Holt had said all of his breakups have been completely mutual.
- A mutual breakup means that both parties agree that they should end things. Holt and Frederick both decided to end the relationship due to their disagreement.

Trivia[]

The cold open for this episode is the shortest so far in the entire series, lasting approximately 31 seconds.
Gina mentions clicking a link saying that "'Balloon Boy' grew up hot", likely referring to the Balloon boy hoax from 2009.
- "Balloon Boy" could also be referring to the Poptropica character.
The hospital where Sharon gives birth is Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, the same hospital where Charles gets taken after being shot in the behind in Christmas.
The subway station Rosa and Terry emerge from is Queensboro Plaza station which in reality is an elevated station not an underground station.
The 'duck' referred in this episode is a species known as the Dutch Hookbill. The species was later referenced in season 4 when Captain Raymond Holt was stating 'The worst kind of duck'. A possible or allusion to one of Raymond Holt's failed relationships.
Scully and Hitchcock identify their deeds together as Hitchcock says "Scully and Hitchcock save the day" despite not doing anything and saying they are a "package deal."
A running gag in this episode is Holt interrupting Boyle when he attempts to say what he is grateful for, even when others have already done so before him.

Ava

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