Yippie Kayak

"Yippie Kayak" is the 10th episode of Season Three of the FOX television show Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It originally aired on December 13, 2015 as the 2015 Christmas special.

Episode Synopsis[]

Jake, Charles and Gina are involved in a real-life “Die Hard” situation while off-duty on Christmas Eve, and Terry must leave his family celebration to try to save his squad. Meanwhile, Amy tries to prove she’s just as tough as Holt and Rosa.

Plot[]

Amy looks in horror as the precinct is evacuated

Amy Santiago tells Jake Peralta that she has bought Captain Holt a Christmas present, finding a way around Holt's no gift policy by tricking him into opening it. Amy placed the present inside a cardboard box, with the words "Open Now" scribbled by her non writing hand, so that Holt would not suspect it is a present nor recognize her handwriting. Jake however surmise that Amy essentially "left an unmarked package on a police captain's desk on a random Monday, with a suspicious message written on it that looked like it was scrawled by a crazy person", and moments later after entering his office, Holt yells out that there is a bomb in the precinct. As the alarm is raised and the precinct is being evacuated, Jake chuckles to Amy that this was a great gift.

Jake Boyle and Gina discover that the store is being robbed

Charles Boyle arrives at the precinct and hands Jake his Christmas gift: a soda unavailable in the United States that cost Boyle "a lot of time and a lot of money" to obtain. Boyle also informs Jake that he has another present for him tomorrow, before leaving. Jake then admits to Gina Linetti that he forgot to get Boyle a present as he was focused on his Christmas gift for Amy. Gina agrees to help Jake choose a present for Boyle at Goodwins, on the condition that Jake take a picture of Terry Jeffords coming out of the shower. In the break room, Amy learns that Holt and Rosa Diaz plan to do the polar swim together, and is offended that they did not invite her as they did not think she would be able to endure the cold water. Amy insists on going with them to the polar swim, as Rosa looks at her skeptically. In the bullpen, Terry announces that he will be heading home for the next 2 days, and tells them not to contact him for anything other than an emergency, as his brother in law Zeke was judgmental when Scully called him 50 times by accident on Christmas morning. Gina informs Boyle that she will be late to the Boyle-Linetti Christmas dinner, as she has to help Jake shop for a gift. Boyle then asks who Jake forgot to get a present for, and Jake lies that it was Amy that he forgot. Boyle initially tells Jake to give Amy whatever gift Jake had bought for him, but then insists on going with Jake and Gina to Goodwins to pick a present for Amy. Gina tells Jake she can distract Boyle easily once they are at the store, but when they arrive the store has just closed it's doors. Boyle points out that there are still people shopping inside, and Gina informs them that it is retail store policy to let customers still in the store after closing time have 15 mins to finish their shopping. They proceed to then sneak into the store from the back, upon which Gina has managed to distract Boyle while Jake purchases his present. Boyle however insists on seeing what Jake bought for Amy, and is puzzled on why Jake would buy Amy the cologne that Boyle himself wears. Just then, they hear glass shatter and see that the store is being robbed. They attempt to leave to call for backup, but find that the robbers have sealed all the exits. Jake then excitedly tells them that they are in a real life Die Hard scenario.

Boyle and Jake are worried that they both do not have their guns, ignoring Gina's suggestion that they use the lighter she has with hairspray as a flamethrower. Boyle has called in for backup, but was unable to contact anyone from the squad. Left with no choice, Jake calls Terry, who initially tells Jake in anger that there better be a gun to his head, before regretting his choice of words when he learns of the situation. Terry informs them to keep Gina safe while he is on the way, and informs his family that he has to deal with an emergency. Zeke then mockingly asks if one of Terry's detectives "lost his head up his own butt", prompting Terry to angrily stand up to Zeke and point out that Zeke himself has been unemployed for a very long time. In the store, Jake, Gina and Boyle have found an area for them to hide from the robbers. Jake instructs Boyle to keep Gina safe, as he decides to do some reconnaissance on the robbers. Meanwhile at the polar swim, Amy, Holt and Rosa have a toast before they begin but Amy interrupts the toast so that she may quickly consume the alcohol for warmth. As they begin to enter the water, Amy immediately runs away after barely stepping into the sea, as she cannot stand the cold. Terry arrives at the store's perimeter, but learns to his horror that the Vulture is in charge. At the store, Jake assigns the robbers nicknames from Die Hard, and is annoyed to learn one of them is simply named "Matt". As Jake returns to Boyle to explain the situation, they discover that Gina is missing. Boyle and Jake then look on in horror as Gina was attempting to retrieve a pile of hairspray to make a flamethrower, but is then captured by the robbers.

Terry physically removes the Vulture from the scene

Jake informs Terry that Gina has been captured and learns that the Vulture plans to storm the building so that he can end the situation quickly. Knowing that the hostages could be at risk if the Vulture carries out his plan, Jake tells Terry to try to convince the Vulture. Unfortunately, the Vulture refuses to listen and instead plays off Jake's concern as an attempt to grab the limelight. Terry asks the Vulture to give Jake a chance, but the Vulture still refuses as he insists that this is his "Liam Neeson moment." In the store, Jake and Boyle assemble several store items and are able to quietly apprehend 3 of the robbers. Jake is appalled to learn that the robbers are Canadian instead of German like the villains from Die Hard, when one of the robber's walkie talkie begins to receive a message from their leader, asking to meet in the service corridor as there is a situation with the hostages. Terry tells the Vulture that Jake has found the hostages and needs 15 more minutes to handle the situation, but the Vulture refuses and decides to order the raid to begin. Terry however snatches the Vulture's walkie talkie away and refuses to let the Vulture carry out his plan, as members of his squad are at risk. Terry then ignores the Vulture's orders to stand down and physically carries the Vulture over his shoulder away from the scene. At the polar swim, Amy apologizes and asks if Holt and Rosa think lowly of her now, with Holt informing her that he does while Rosa is indifferent. As Holt and Rosa enter the water, Amy checks her phone and learns of the hostage situation. Unable to yell to Rosa and Holt from dry land, Amy enters the cold water and informs them of the crisis before the three of them rush away. Jake and Boyle discover that the hostages are heavily guarded, and Boyle wonders how they could rescue the hostages without a gun fight. Jake suggests they use the air vents, but their attempts to unscrew the vents draw the attention of the remaining robbers. Jake then instructs Boyle to hide while he distracts the guards, and is rendered unconscious by the guards just after Boyle has managed to escape.

Jake awakens tied up next to Gina and the hostages. Jake assures everyone that the robbers will leave once they have the money from the safe, only to learn from the manager that the robbers had the money hours ago, puzzling Jake on why the robbers would have brought in drilling equipment otherwise. The leader of the robbers then enters and tells Jake that he hates police, and prepares to kill Jake. Before he can pull the trigger, Boyle emerges from the airducts and knocks the leader unconscious with a pipe, and incorrectly quotes the catchphrase from Die Hard as "Yippie Kayak other buckets!" Jake tells Boyle that they need to stop the robbers from escaping, but Boyle informs them that escape should be impossible since Terry has the building surrounded. Jake then realizes the drilling equipment was not for the safe, but so the robbers could escape through the sewers below, and they inform Terry of the situation. As the robbers emerge from the sewers, Terry along with Hitchcock and Scully manage to arrest them, while the hostages are safely recovered from the store. Amy arrives and passionately kisses Jake, admitting that while she was worried, she is kissing him for warmth after entering the cold water. Holt informs Terry that he believes Terry performed well in this high pressure situation, and recommends that he take the lieutenant's exam so that he can become a Captain one day, but also informs Terry that he is suspended for one week for throwing the Vulture into the garbage. Boyle tells Jake he found a replacement gift for Amy and Jake admits that he forgot to get Boyle a present. Jake apologizes for being selfish, but Boyle points out that Jake sacrificed himself for his safety, and gave Boyle his "John Mclane moment". As one of the robbers escapes custody, Jake hands Gina a can of hairspray and she uses her makeshift flamethrower to subdue the robber. Gina then excitedly yells that her flamethrower idea worked, and maniacally continues to fire it into the air to the alarm of the surrounding police officers.

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
Merrin Dungey	...	Sharon Jeffords
Jamal Duff	...	Zeke
Dean Winters	...	The Vulture
Tom Billett	...	Matt
Phil Levesque	...	Klaus
Brandon Morales	...	Ramon
Tripp Pickell	...	Lucas
Sean Poolman	...	Lorne
Max E. Williams	...	Grant

Trivia[]

The title is a reference to Boyle botching the catchphrase of Die Hard as "Yippie Kayak" instead of "Yippie Kayay".
Terry finally stands up to Zeke after being afraid of him, first seen in "48 Hours".
Last appearance of Zeke.
Last on screen appearance of Sharon Jeffords.
Boyle and Gina discuss their family Christmas dinner, as the two of them became related since "Boyle-Linetti Wedding".

Soundtrack[]

Slam by Onyx plays while Jake and Charles assemble their inventory from products in the store.

Goofs[]

During the "Dr. Goor Productions" card after the end credits, we hear "Shh, Not a doctor," instead of the usual "Not a doctor, shh"
When Amy reads her texts from Jake, they are listed as '1m ago' and 'now'. It should read around 30m ago, since Jake is already very aware the robbers are Canadian, and not German.