Brooklyn Nine-Nine doesn’t waste too long taking Jake Peralta and Amy Santiago from workplace rivals to unexpected friends and straight into the hands of each other as a couple. It consistently delivers one memorable scene after another, proving to viewers why the two of them are not only meant to be a couple but why they are meant to last. And in Season 2, Episode 23, “Johnny and Dora,” the show delivers the perfect fake dating scenario, allowing Jake and Amy’s first kiss to take place in a moment where they’re both not only ready for it, but bursting with profound longing.
Technically, Jake and Amy’s first kiss isn’t a conventional “first” for them. But it’s the first real one. In a single episode that explores the idea of “third time’s the charm,” the one that occurs at the 99th Precinct, after they’ve both gotten bad news about Holt’s departure, is the one that’s right. Perfect. Real. Judging by the undeniable strings tethering them together, we know that Jake and Amy both enjoyed the kisses while they were undercover, but they aren’t as achingly moving as the one that occurs while they’re alone. Up until this moment, their love has bloomed carefully, loudly, and with a lot of deflecting. Here, they hold nothing back.
Anyone familiar with the fake dating trope knows that there’s often a moment where the words spoken aloud are simply truths rushing to the surface that aren’t part of the role they’re playing. When Amy says, “he makes me laugh,” she isn’t saying it out of obligation—but it’s the truth about Jake. He makes her laugh, even while they’re at each other’s throats and even as he constantly drives her crazy. And when Jake says, “There’s really no one else’s opinion I care about more than hers,” he unapologetically reveals Amy’s significance in his life. We know that Jake also values Holt’s opinion, yes, but with Amy, it’s different. She’s the one who challenges him. She’s the one who brings out the best in him. She’s the one he’s trying to tirelessly impress. She’s the one he wants to continue becoming a better version of himself for.
That’s why, when they’re both dealing with the shock and heartbreak of Holt’s departure, they can’t help but fully lean on each other. Jake, especially can’t. He tells her that he’s deflecting in the same way he did when his dad left, but the brief beat that stretches between them nudges him to see what he can’t push aside is the fact that he wants to kiss Amy for real this time. There’s no one around them. They’re back in the place where they met, and this time, when Jake and Amy’s first kiss happens, it isn’t for show. It’s because they need it. It’s because they can’t hold back. It’s because, for a fleeting moment, it’s crystal clear that if they don’t lean on each other, they will fall apart.
It’s vulnerable, passionate, and simultaneously so tender that it faultlessly reflects the type of couple they grow to become, leaning on each other in every way they need it as they consistently take on every obstacle as true partners.
Holt’s departure also allows them to see that come tomorrow, everything could change again. Their world can look a lot different considering their jobs, and neither of them wants to spend another second pretending that they aren’t in love. (Sure, those words come later, but the sentiment is true.) Jake and Amy’s first kiss occurs at the right time, between two people who’ve loved each other longer than they realize.
There’s also something exceptional about the performances from both Andy Samberg and Melissa Fumero as they ensure that viewers also have a clear understanding of all the words that aren’t said aloud. With a single look, Jake shows us that he’s about to kiss Amy again before he does it. After they part, Amy reveals how this is exactly what she’s wanted and needed, too. The chemistry between Samberg and Fumero is always fantastic when Jake and Amy banter, but it’s the soft vulnerability and the achingly realistic sincerity that are present in moments like this that make Jake and Amy so precious as a pair.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine is currently streaming on Peacock. What are your thoughts on Jake and Amy’s first kiss? Let us know in the comments below.
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