a.k.a. a bastardization of Robert Frost's "Nothing Gold Can Stay"
B-9-9's pilot first is gold,
A status hard to hold,
But early laughing power
Might hold a mere half-hour.
Rounded cast shrinks back in lieu
Of limited character's view.
So solid show doth stray,
Nothing gold can stay.
Well, the healthy balance of the pilot went a bit out of whack in this, the second episode. In "The Tagger," Brooklyn Nine-Nine breaks the cardinal rule we established in the pilot: do NOT spend too much time on Andy Samberg. You've got a great cast, focus on the whole thing. In this episode, Peralta's trials, travails, and growth is basically the entire episode. It's exhausting. I enjoy Holt's attempts to reel him in and the dry comebacks he uses towards that end, but come on. Move away from Peralta.
At least the show is still uses some fantastic comedy actors. I was delighted to see Artemis Pebdani as the hack psychic in the B-plot. Eagle-eyed fans might recognize her as Artemis from Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Marvelous. Even if the subplot about Doyle believing in psychics was too ambitious for writers to try on characters we don't love yet. Keep working there, writers. You'll get there.
Eh. Let's hope yesterday's episode featured more than Samberg being goofy. I enjoy that for about five minutes, but twenty makes me sleepy.