Hostage Situation

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Season 3, Episode 11

Air date

January 5, 2016

Episode Details

Cold Open

Holt Battles a Street Dancer

Settings

99th Precinct
Shaw's Bar

Production

Film Locations

Written by

Phil Augusta Jackson

Directed by

Max Winkler

Episode Guide

Episode Synopsis

Charles and Genevieve decide to have a baby, but his ex-wife, Eleanor, claims Charles' sperm is legally hers. Amy asks Terry to write a recommendation letter but breaks his nose during a training. Holt and Rosa have no choice but to use Gina’s skills to crack a case.

Cold Open
Plot

Cold Open 03 11 — **Holt Battles a Street Dancer Cold Open**

Jake Peralta, Charles Boyle and Captain Holt are walking to work when a street performer accidentally knocks over Holt's coffee. As Holt tells the street performer to be careful, the situation becomes tense when the performer defiantly asks if he will be arrested for dancing. To Jake and Boyle's surprise, Holt asks the performer "You call that dancing?" and challenges the performer to a dance off to defuse the situation. Jake attempts to record the dance off but his phone is out of battery. Boyle offers his phone but he accidentally drops it, and by the time they manage to start recording, the dance off is complete as Holt tells them "Situation defused." Jake meets Boyle and Genevieve in the precinct parking lot, where they inform him that they are trying to have a baby. Jake recalls that Boyle was rendered infertile after an accident in the park, but as Boyle had a vasectomy previously, there are samples of his sperm in storage.

In the elevator, Jake asks Boyle if he is ready for a child, and the latter optimistically says that he is. In the bullpen, Holt and Rosa Diaz attempt to get a criminal named Steven, whom they caught shoplifting, to give information on the 200 cloned credit cards in his possession. Holt attempts to intimidate Steven by sharing on the inconveniences that the criminal will face while being processed, but Steven instead tells them he will only give them the information if his interrogation is handled by Gina.

Meanwhile, Terry tells Amy that he is disappointed that more people did not sign up for his self defense class, and realizes that Amy wants something from him when she begins to flatter him. Amy asks Terry if he would write her a recommendation letter for a mentor and mentee program, and he agrees.

As the class begin, Terry asks Amy to demonstrate how to defend herself, only for Amy to accidentally break Terry's nose in the simulation. As Jake wraps up a case in the bullpen, he sees Boyle's ex wife Eleanor has arrived and warns Boyle. Eleanor reveals that she is aware that Boyle is attempting to withdraw his sperm, as the account is under her name. She has already withdrawn the sperm samples and tells Boyle that she will only give them to him if he will use his position as a policeman to intimidate someone she hit with her car into dropping their lawsuit. Jake and Boyle go to see a lawyer to see if what Eleanor is doing is legal, only for the lawyer to be appalled that Boyle signed a prenuptial agreement that makes the sperm Eleanor's legal possession. Jake then smiles and tells Boyle that they can use their police training to solve this dilemma, by treating it as a hostage situation.

In the briefing room, Jake goes over any bargaining chips Boyle may have, only to discover that Eleanor owns their old house, both cars and 85% of Boyle's salary going forward. Boyle recalls that the only thing he got in the divorce was a hairstylist named Abigail, since the stylist was uncomfortable with having them both as a customer. Jake then tells Boyle they can use this as an attempt to negotiate with Eleanor.

In the bullpen, Amy apologizes to Terry for the incident, and asks if he finished writing the recommendation letter. Terry tells Amy in annoyance that the pain he is feeling makes it hard for him to get work done, but that he will still write the letter for her. Amy offers a cup of ginger tea to Terry to help with the pain, but inhaling the vapors causes him to feel pain in his broken nose. Amy attempts to take the cup away, but ends up pouring the scalding tea onto Terry, with her attempt to help further being stopped by Terry who tells her that he is now petrified of her.

Meanwhile, Jake and Boyle go to Eleanor's apartment building and offer to let her have Abigail, if she will let them up into her apartment to hear them out.

In the precinct, Gina prepares to take Steven's statement but declines to study the file on him. Gina then attempts to interrogate Steven, but is stopped by Holt when Gina tells Steven that she is willing to give him immunity. Gina then tells Holt that Steven asked to talk to her for a reason, only for Steven to reveal the only reason he asked for Gina was because they had went to high school together. Gina however does not remember him, causing Steven to appear hurt.

In Eleanor's apartment, Jake asks to see the proof that Eleanor has Boyle's sperm. As Eleanor leaves to retrieve the cup, Jake tells Boyle that they can just grab the cup and run away once Eleanor returns. When Eleanor hands them the cup, they attempt to do so, only for Eleanor to reveal that the cup she gave them was empty. Eleanor tells them that the sperm samples are in two cups, one of them is in a safe location while the other one is in her hand.

Jake and Boyle look in horror as Eleanor destroys one of the cups

To prove that she is serious, Eleanor proceeds to throw the cup in her hand into the garbage disposal.

In the precinct carpark, Jake attempts to stop Boyle from going through with intimidating the man Eleanor hit, who happens to be a 90 year old priest. Boyle pretends to have been talked out of it by Jake, but then handcuffs Jake to a police car and drives away. In the bullpen, Amy learns that she has been rejected from the mentor/mentee program and assumes that Terry must have written her a bad recommendation letter. Amy confronts Terry in the breakroom, who is insulted that Amy would question his integrity, and shows her that he sent a glowing recommendation letter for her. In the carpark, Jake manages to get Hitchcock to help uncuff him and proceeds to go after Boyle. In Holt's office, Gina asks for a second chance to talk to Steven, and admits she made a mistake by not reading his file beforehand. Holt agrees to let her try again, but she ends up only asking Steven if any of the athletes from their old high school had an interest in her. Holt decides to end the interrogation, but Rosa slyly tells Holt that they should let Gina continue. Meanwhile, Boyle meets with the 90 year old priest and learns that he was sitting on a bench on the sidewalk when Eleanor hit him. Boyle attempts to intimidate the priest, but before he can, Jake uses a taser to render Boyle unconscious.

Boyle sits in the precinct holding cell and tells Jake that he has no choice but to break the law. Jake tells Boyle he couldn't let Eleanor turn him into a bad person, and reminds him that DNA is not the only thing that makes someone a father, pointing out that his own biological father was terrible. Jake asks Boyle if he wants this to be how he becomes a father, with Eleanor controlling his life and ruining his career, and tells him that he will be a great father no matter what. As there is still time on Eleanor's deadline, Jake unlocks the holding cell so Boyle can make the choice himself, only for Boyle to immediately run out of the precinct.

Meanwhile, Terry tells Amy that the reason she did not get into the program, was because he sent the letter to those applying to be a mentor, while Amy was applying to be a mentee. Terry tells Amy that she is ready to teach others, and has called the program to make her a mentor. Amy tries to hug Terry to thank him, but he insist that she keep her distance as he is still afraid of her. In Holt's office, Rosa reveals that she finally got Steven to talk, by bonding over their complaints regarding Gina, who is offended and tells Holt that she will not help with any more cases. At Shaw's bar, Boyle arrives with Genevieve to tell Jake that he stormed off to tell off Eleanor.

Jake and Boyle learn Jake's father is a sperm donor

Genevieve tells Jake that they plan to use a sperm donor, and the three of them look at possible sperm donors. Jake discovers in alarm that his own father is on the list, and tells Boyle not to use his father, as Boyle excitedly realizes his son could be Jake's half brother.

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	...	Raymond Holt
Dirk Blocker	...	Michael Hitchcock
Joel McKinnon Miller	...	Norm Scully
Kathryn Hahn	...	Eleanor
Mary Lynn Rajskub	...	Genevieve Mirren-Carter
Kyle S. More	…	Steve Henderson
Gee Alexander	…	Jay-Jay
John O'Leary	…	Franklin
Steve Tom	...	Kellan Heller

Cool Cool Cool Things

Trivia

Amy had never been rejected from anything before SAM SAM.
Scully forgot to put on the seat belt on a flume ride in Topeka, Kansas and was ejected from the ride.
Hitchcock has handcuffed himself to a car before.
Genevieve and Boyle decided to have a child after 3 months of dating.
Jake's father never played catch with him nor taught him how to ride a bike.
Jake learned how to shave by watching the movie, Home Alone.
Jake's father donated sperm to a sperm bank at some point in time.
This is the first episode where Charles' ex-wife Eleanor appears after being mentioned as an unseen character since the first episode.
Eleanor said "I suppose" instead of "I do"
Charles wanted to have a child with Eleanor.
Charles and Eleanor divorced in 2010, which is 6 years before this episode.
Eleanor drove up on to the curb and hit a 90 year-old priest who was sitting on a bench, fracturing his hip.
Charles is a hugger, not a shaker.
Charles was in charge of taking 3 of his grandparents off of life support.

Soundtrack

Freak-a-zoid by Midnight Star plays in the cold open
A Whole Lotta Rosie by AC/DC plays while Jake's driving

Running Gags Mentioned

Featured Relationships

Videos

Boyle's Ex-Wife, The Destroyer of Worlds

Holt Plays Bad Cop With a Criminal

Amy Breaks Terry's Nose

Goofs

When Amy walks into Terry's office to confront him about his letter of recommendation, her hair bun transforms into a ponytail.

Behind the Scenes

The director who directed this episode is Henry Winkler's son. Henry Winkler appeared in Michael Schur's previous show, Parks and Recreation.

Known Filming Locations
Filming Location	City, State	Details	Scenes
NYPD 78th Precinct	Brooklyn, New York	Building exterior	Establishing shots meant to represent the 99th Precinct
South 5th Street	Brooklyn, New York	Next to river, beneath Williamsburg Bridge	Ensemble walking down the street in the Title Sequence
CBS Studio Center	Studio City, California	Stage 12	Scenes that take place in the 99th Precinct
		Stage 10	Scenes that take place inside Shaw's Bar
		NY Street Backlot	Establishing shots meant to represent Shaw's Bar
The Talmadage Apartments	Los Angeles, California	Exterior and Interior	Jake and Charles talking to Eleanor on her balcony Inside her apartment
Immanuel Presbyterian Church	Los Angeles, California	Back entrance	Charles talks to the 90 year old priest and Jake tases him