On September 16, 2021, the television show Brooklyn 99 concluded it’s eight year run on television. The show revolved around a police precinct in Brooklyn, and followed a tight-knit work family full of excellently crafted characters. The show became a pop-culture phenomenon with a massive amount of fans and supporters that loved it dearly. The conclusion of the show really impacted me and I felt very sad; to my surprise, the conclusion of a television show made me feel similar to how it felt when my sister first moved away for college. This got me thinking, ¨Why was I so deeply affected by this?¨. Perhaps, it had something to do with my deep connection with the show, and the feelings of comfort it provoked within me. I even found myself browsing through Twitter and YouTube looking for cast tweets and deleted scenes, like an Astronaut from the short film Scavengers, scavenging to experience something I loved again.
In the final episode, Jake Peralta tells his squad a beautiful message intended for the audience, that could not only be applied to the ending of the show, but with the parting of anything you love. He states,
“… Goodbyes are inherently sad. They mean that something is ending. And this one is especially sad because what we had was so great… but we’ll always have the memories of our times together”
To first understand why the ending of the show affected so many people, one must understand the magic of the show. This magic of the show was watching the characters develop, and watching the relationships in the show grow. In a sense, it felt like the viewer was a part of the precinct, and even a part of the family that they had spent so long watching. This made it all the more heartbreaking when the show concluded. As a “mega-fan”, it truly hurt watching the final scene, realizing that I would never watch another new episode again. The feeling I felt was exactly the same as that of Doc, in the Podcast: 99 Percent Visible, when he talks about the deep sadness he felt of the phone booth (something he loved) being taken away from him, and the sadness of never being able to experience it again. The ending of the show saddened me deeply, and not just me. This show was universal and a comfort blanket for so many people. As @sickaqua has explained on twitter,
Another example of the love and impact of this show that is much more clearly stated is by @kazoo_brekker on twitter, when she states,
Like the audience and the fans cited above, I was truly sad and distraught about the show ending. Although, after watching Jake’s Message, I realized that I shouldn’t be wasting time being sad on the ending, but should instead be happy I was along for the ride and be grateful for the memories I will always cherish. Brooklyn 99 brought many happy memories to me, and I am so grateful for the show for all the good times it provided me. I hope that at least one person who is going through something similar to me finds this post and reads Jake’s message regarding goodbyes; that one should just be glad it happened, and hold onto the memories instead of being sad it is over. I can be grateful that the show still exists and that in the future, it will still provide the same entertainment and comfort it did for my kids, that it did for me. Like Barry Lopez stated, “I can go now… knowing it need never be lost”. Farewell, Brooklyn 99.
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