Nikolaj Boyle (formerly Irbe) is the adopted son of Charles Boyle and Genevieve Mirren-Carter.
In Bureau, it was announced by Genevieve through a phone call that she and Charles have successfully adopted a child. His name was first mentioned by Charles in Coral Palms Pt. 2.
Throughout the Series[]
Season Four[]
In Coral Palms Pt. 2, Amy Santiago announces to Rosa Diaz, Gina Linetti, and Charles that she's allowed to write a one-page letter for Jake. Charles says she should tell Jake about his new son, Nikolaj. He also states a few facts about him:
- He's four years old
- He's from Latvia
- He calls Charles “comrade”
In Coral Palms Pt. 3, Charles insists on bringing a book to Florida that has 4,000 essential pictures of Nikolaj he wants to show Jake. Charles records a video for Nikolaj in case he never sees him again. He also sings a song for Nikolaj.
In The Night Shift, Jake interrupts a phone call wherein Charles is discussing mixing Nikolaj's medicine in his food if he doesn't want to take it. Charles wants to be able to go home before Nikolaj wakes up so he can make him breakfast. Jake comes around Charles' apartment and meets Nikolaj. It is revealed that Nikolaj knows Jake from Charles' stories and that Nikolaj loves trucks.
By the end of the episode, Jake visits the Boyle residence once more with a toy garbage truck on hand to give to Nikolaj. After Nikolaj calls Jake silly, Charles has a dilemma whether to go and get his phone to capture the moment or stay watching so he won't miss anything between his best friend and son.
In Monster in the Closet, Nikolaj is seen scared in his bedroom, claiming there's a monster in his closet. Charles assures him that monsters aren't real though Nikolaj insists that he saw it and it was big and hairy. To try and prove there was nothing in his closet, Charles opens it, only to find Adrian Pimento inside. In the briefing room, he tells everyone that after the incident with Pimento, Nikolaj claims he's too afraid to sleep.
In Mr. Santiago, Charles advises Jake to just be himself when he meets Amy's dad. Jake reacts negatively and asks Charles if that kind of logic is what he's teaching Nikolaj. Then, to stop Charles from killing the turkey, Gina names it Nikolaj so it would be harder for Charles to harm the bird.
In Captain Latvia, Nikolaj is with Genevieve and Charles in the bullpen, Jake approaches them and Nikolaj offers him a cookie. Genevieve mentions that the potato brings out the vinegar in which Jake says aren't cookie things and returns it. It is mentioned that it was Nikolaj's first Christmas since the orphanage kept canceling it due to a blizzard, a fire, and lastly, famine. Charles also promised him a Captain Latvia action figure which was very difficult to get.
While in the process to try and retrieve the action figure, Jake realizes that Charles should just head home and spend time with Nikolaj since that would be the best present to give him. Due to the drug ring, Jake wasn't able to retrieve the toy in mint condition. Jake then hands Charles an already wrapped gift by the end of the episode. In the next scene, it was revealed that it was a cop action figure which Nikolaj plays with in delight as he imitates Charles.
While the rest of the squad are caroling, Nikolaj tells Charles that they are really bad singers.
In The Audit, Charles mentioned to Holt that he came into a lot of wolf urine and has been dousing Nikolaj's shoes with it to scare off bullies at his preschool. (Because supposedly wolf urine creates a scent impression that there are predators nearby.)
Season Five[]
In Kicks, Charles tells Jake to quiet down because if Nikolaj hears two men arguing in the other room, he'll think he's being sold again. Jake mentions that Nikolaj has a very sad backstory. This could imply he was involved in some sort of auction.
In Two Turkeys, Charles lies about Nikolaj's pallete and says his son has taken to food just like his papa. Later when Holt is accusing Charles of throwing away a perfectly-good pie, Charles lies again; this time saying he was at the grocery store buying goose feet for Nikolaj's dinner. Near the end, Charles expresses his sadness and upset about how Nikolaj is not interested in food as he only eats butter noodles, only drinks milk, and hates nuts, and Charles calls him "a basic bitch".
Season Six[]
In Hitchcock & Scully, Charles revealed to Jake that Nikolaj has an older half-brother, Dragomir, who is 34 years old and lives in Latvia.
In Gintars, Nikolaj's birth father, Gintars Irbe, has come from Latvia to New York City, NY, USA to meet him. When Nikolaj unknowingly meets his birth father for the first time, who's introduced as Jake's friend, Nikolaj says, "I love you." to him immediately after greeting this stranger. Jake comments that Nikolaj really is a Boyle. Charles does not want to let Nikolaj know about his biological father at first, but due to Jake's assurance to Charles that there's nothing to worry about, Nikolaj and Gintars are allowed to hang out together; for examples, play basketball together and go buy a jean jacket. Nikolaj starts calling his birth father "Daddy Gintars" which upsets Charles. Due to Nikolaj being so happy since meeting Gintars, Charles learns to get over it and is okay with them having a relationship. Unfortunately, Jake had set up Gintars to be arrested for counterfeiting and Nikolaj witnessed his birth father being taken away. This causes Nikolaj to feel like he's been abandoned all over again, according to Charles. Before Gintars is deported from the USA, Nikolaj gets to spend a few hours with Gintars at a restaurant.
In 'Return Of The King', Nikolaj joins Boyle during his lunch break as Nikolaj had a half day at school. Boyle tells him to go do some drawing whilst he and Holt has a chat. Holt is shocked when he turns around to see that Nikolaj has solved a complicated formula that was written on the whiteboard. He tells Boyle that his son is a genius.
Season Seven[]
In Ding Dong, Charles told Jake that Nikolaj loves to attend the Kwazy Cupcake movie premiere, as he loves the game. Later, Charles brings him to work in order to win Jake's affection, so he would give them the tickets. However, Jake berates him for using his son. Later, Jake decides to take Nikolaj, along with Cagney and Lacey, to the premiere.
In Pimemento, Charles asked the coffee guy to be his son's Godfather, since Jake didn't tell him about that he and Amy were trying to have a baby, which means he is Nikolaj's godfather.
Running Gags[]
Jake mispronouncing his name[]
There are episodes where Jake tries to pronounce "Nikolaj" only to be corrected multiple times with the same pronunciation.
Trivia[]
- He was nicknamed "Pee Boy" by his bullies in his preschool.[1]
- He is a picky eater. Buttered noodles and milk are some of the only things he eats and drinks. He also hates nuts.[2]
- Dragomir is both Nikolaj's half-brother and half-uncle. Dragomir's mother Anyuta and Gintars had a baby, who is Nikolaj. Also Dragomir is Gintar's half-brother, where they two have same father but different mother.[3]
- Nikolaj says "I love you" to everyone; even strangers.[4]
Goofs[]
- Somehow, Nikolaj becomes 6 months to a year older than he was previously written.
- Charles says Nikolaj was 4 years old in episodes Coral Palms Pt. 2 & Coral Palms Pt. 3, which aired on September 27, 2016 & October 4, 2016.
- The next time Nikolaj's age is mentioned is when Charles says Nikolaj is his 8-year-old son in episode Gintars, which aired March 14, 2019.
- Nikolaj's name is mispronounced. Like other languages in the region including German and Polish, the Latvian J is equivalent to the English Y. So Nikolaj's name should be roughly Nee-koh-lah-ee.
- This is not the mispronunciation Jake makes in the running gag. The running gag has Jake doing a short "ee" in the first syllable, i.e. "Nick-oh-laj" where Nikolaj and Charles pronounce it as a long "ee".