- For the character, see Keith Pembroke.
"The Vulture" is the 5th episode of Season One of the FOX television show Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It originally aired 15th October 2013 to 3.43 million viewers.
Episode Synopsis[]
Detective Pembroke from the Major Crimes Unit —known as "The Vulture" — takes over a murder case that Jake is close to and steals his thunder, so Jake enlists the precinct to get revenge and find the murder weapon before "The Vulture" does. Meanwhile, Holt and Gina Linetti help Jeffords regain his rights to carry a gun.
Plot[]
- For the episode transcript, go here.
The episode begins with Jake Peralta telling the others about the 81-year old drug dealer he brought in: the oldest collar of his career. Amy Santiago and Rosa Diaz talk about their oldest arrests: 96 and 78 years old respectively. Norm Scully asks if 50-year old twins count as a 100-year old, but the others say no. Charles Boyle enters, saying that his oldest was 68, and he was 20 at the time. The others are confused, but Rosa realises that Charles is talking about the oldest person he has had sex with, not his oldest arrest. The detectives laugh and tease Charles. Charles tries to cover up, but to no avail. (Credits roll)
At the briefing, Jake says that they are at the "one-yard line" on the Lincoln Street Murder. Captain Raymond Holt tells Jake to brief everyone on the case, which he does reluctantly. He introduces the victim, Fred Gorman, and his wife (and the primary suspect) Ann Hoert. He explains that to be able to arrest her, they need to find the murder weapon. Holt asks him if he needs any additional resources or personnel, and Jake refuses. Holt dismisses the meeting, and tells Sergeant Terry Jeffords to meet him at his office.
Amy and Rosa head over to Jake's desk and ask him what help he needs, but Jake insists again that he needs nothing. After a lot of persuasion from the two, Jake decides to let Charles help him, as he is least likely to steal Jake's thunder.
At Holt's office, the captain explains that he needs to work on his tactical skills, so he wanted Terry to accompany him. Terry is reluctant, saying that he hadn't shot any bullets since the incident. Scene cuts back to two previous incidents of Terry freaking out and emptying his gun at a mannequin and a piñata. Holt insists, saying that he only wants pointers from the best. He agrees to keep it low-key. Gina enters, pretending to fire bullets. Holt explains that he had allowed Gina to accompany them. Gina says that she wanted to get certified as there was a lot of crime in her neighbourhood, and indirectly insults the detectives at the Nine-Nine. (See Quotes)
Jake and Charles are questioning what appears to be a manager at a hotel about places where weapons could be hidden. The exasperated manager tells them that there was no such location, and records his voice so he doesn't have to say it again. He tries to play it, but accidentally starts playing his idea for a novel. Jake and Charles begin door duty. They meet a naked old lady, and a mother with a baby and a dog. While trying to handle the baby, Jake gets a call from Rosa. She explains that the weapon might not be a knife, and that it might be a corkscrew instead. Jake thanks her, but she suddenly tells Jake to return to the precinct.
Jake and Charles return and see another man sitting at Jake's desk and polishing his shoe. Jake is visibly frustrated. As Jake and Charles head to Holt's office, the man starts taunting Charles. At Holt's office Jake begs him not to give the case to the man, who is apparently nicknamed "The Vulture". Holt refuses, and reprimands Jake for not using the squad. Holt forces them to turn over the files to the Vulture, and Jake starts walking there extremely slowly in protest, but gives up after just two steps. As Jake is turning over the files, and the Vulture starts taunting him. He references an "impossible" extortion case that Rosa had been working, which he solved in just six hours, because the case was 98% complete. Amy enters, and the Vulture tries to flirt with her. He obviously fails. The Vulture leaves, slapping Jake's butt on the way out.
The squad is now at Shaw's Bar, and Jake is complaining about the Vulture. Rosa says that she thinks he's hot, even though she hates him. She says that this happens to the best of them. Scene cuts multiple times to the Vulture stealing almost-completed cases from the detectives. The cops start thinking about a revenge plan against the Vulture. Charles suggests calling him from a hospital and telling him his family is dead.
At the gun range, Terry is helping Holt with his shooting stance. Gina, meanwhile, is goofing around, and Terry is trying to help. Terry eventually takes the gun and starts shooting. Holt and Gina try to count his shots without him realising, but he gets to know what was going on: Holt was trying to get him recertified, Gina was there as an official witness and he needed eight shots to get recertified, of which he had made seven. Terry gets ready for the final shot, but starts freaking out.
Back at Shaw's, the squad has come up with the following ideas: wrap his motorcycle in plastic wrap and melt it with a hairdryer (suggested by Charles), steal his kidney, burn down his house, replace his aloe tissues with regular tissues (suggested by Charles), leave a dead cat in his cedar closet (probably suggested by Rosa), sneak into his apartment and burn popcorn in his microwave (suggested by Charles) and mashed potatoes (not an idea, just a request from Scully). Jake chooses Charles' motorcycle idea as a default winner. They head over to the Vulture's home, which Rosa surprisingly knows the address of.
The squad is now at the Vulture's house, and have finished wrapping his motorcycle. Jake asks Amy and Rosa for a hairdryer, but they are shocked that he thinks women carry hairdryers with them. Scully leaves for a drugstore to get one. Jake phones Gina to ask for a hairdryer, who unlike Rosa and Amy, has one, because she's "not an animal". Holt realises that Jake is asking about the Vulture, and tells him that the only way to prevent this from happening again is to team up and solve the cases before Major Crimes can step in. This gives Jake the bright idea of teaming up and solving the case right then, or "out-vulturing the Vulture".
The squad is now taking a bus to the crime scene, and Jake is telling Amy about what seems like one of his cases. Amy explains to him that just like him, they all want to be the best, but he doesn't have to be such a "butt-head" about it. Meanwhile, Rosa sits next to Charles at the back, because of Hitchcock farting.
Meanwhile at the gun range, Holt and Gina are still waiting for Terry to take the final shot. He keeps giving excuses to not take the shot. The squad, now at the crime scene, do role-play to figure out where the corkscrew would be. The obvious answer was the trash chute, but they had checked the trash chute earlier and found nothing. During the roleplay, Amy comes up with the idea that it was a magnetic corkscrew, meaning that it would be stuck to the wall of the trash chute. They send Charles down to find the corkscrew. However, they get caught by some other cops. Holt gets to know, and leaves the gun range, where Terry still hasn't taken the shot.
Holt and the squad are back at the Nine-Nine. The Vulture is complaining to Holt in the office, while the detectives are waiting outside. However, Jake reveals that they did find the corkscrew in the trash chute. Scene cuts back to Charles slipping down the chute, while finding the corkscrew. Scene cuts back to present, Terry and Gina are arriving back, and Terry tells Jake to come outside. He reprimands Jake for his actions. Jake enters the office, and gives the Vulture credit for the case. The Vulture leaves, slapping Jake's butt again.
The Vulture leaves, and attempts to flirt with Amy again. I'm pretty sure we know how that worked out. The squad is about to leave, but Holt comes in and scolds the squad. However, Jake lies that he was the only one who was there. This made Holt happy, and he allowed everyone to go home. Terry shows Holt the target, proof that he had taken, and made, the final shot. Gina claimed that she was the reason for this, and she was technically right. While at the gun range, she creeped him out so much that he took the shot with no hesitation.
The next morning, Jake and Charles are discussing the incidents of the previous night. Jake explains that sometimes, it's best to take the high road. A timer rings, revealing that they were preparing a mold of Jake's butt, which the mailed to the Vulture.
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 |
| Dean Winters | ... | Detective Pembroke (aka The Vulture) |
| Andy Richter | ... | Doorman |
| Jacquie Barnbrook | ... | Martha |
| Jerome Ro Brooks | ... | Uniformed Cop |
| Makeda Declet | ... | Calista |
| Annie | ... | Korzen |
Quotes[]
Holt: Sergeant Jeffords. My office.
Gina: Uh oh. He probably wants to talk to you about how your shirts aren't tight enough. Prolly.
Gina: I wanna get certified [to carry a gun]. There has been a ton of crime in my neighborhood, and the cops in my precinct are very bad.
Holt: You live in our precinct.
Gina: Yeah. I know.
Santiago: Oh my God, you guys, we out-vultured the vulture! *caws*
Peralta: What the hell was that?
Santiago: What? It's a vulture.
