BROOKLYN NINE-NINE Season 3 Premiere Post-Mortem: Dan Goor on the New Captain Twist, Jake and Amy’s Decision, and More

[This post contains spoilers for the BROOKLYN NINE-NINE season 3 premiere. Please don’t read this interview until you’ve watched “New Captain.”]

BROOKLYN NINE-NINE brought in Bill Hader as the squad’s new captain…and promptly killed his character, Captain Dozerman, off in the season premiere.

The premature death wasn’t always the plan, but became a necessity due to Hader’s increasingly busy career.

“We didn’t have that much time with him,” BROOKLYN NINE-NINE executive producer Dan Goor shared. “And we thought this would be the funniest, most impactful use of him; we like what it did for the story. So were dealing with the production realities of casting him, but we kind of fell in love with the story, and the comedy. We were like, this works even if we don’t get Bill Hader [to guest star], but it works especially well with Bill Hader. We thought it was funny that he has a series of heart attacks, and then he dies.”

Though Amy and Jake, indirectly, led to Dozerman’s final, fatal, heart attack, they are “going to feel very little remorse,” Goor laughed. “What we tried to do — what I hope we did a good job of — was paint him as kind of a jerk. And explain he had a genetic disorder, which spells his doom, independent of Jake and Amy. So I think the amount of remorse they feel is pretty minimal. I’m sure in their heart of hearts they both feel incredibly sad he has passed away.”

Unfortunately for the Nine-Nine, they now have a bigger problem on their hands: the Vulture is their new boss.

“The Vulture is the worst,” Goor said. “And that is the best [for us]. It’s not good for the Nine-Nine. I think he’s explosively funny, and Dean Winters is so good in that role. It was such a joy to have him back. But it’s a tremendous complication, at first, specifically, for Jake and Amy, and then, throughout his tenure, for the whole Nine-Nine. He gets off on making life hard for those, as he says, turdballs.”

As the Nine-Nine goes through its turmoil, there is one bright spot for Jake and Amy — they have, officially, decided to give their relationship a go. But just because they’re now dating, don’t expect to see a massive change in the show’s dynamic.

“[That relationship is] showcased in the first couple of episodes, because it’s a major change in Jake’s life, and the life of the precinct,” Goor acknowledged. “But then as it becomes a more normal thing, we touch on it with the regularity we’ve always touched on their relationship — a few times a year. The show is an ensemble show, and we love stories with Jake and all the characters, and Amy and all of the characters. So, we haven’t in any way, changed the nature or direction of the show. It’s not, all of a sudden, a relationship show about Jake and Amy. It’s still a workplace comedy, set in the police precinct, that now also asks the question, what happens when one detective dates a fellow detective. That’s one of the questions [the show asks], along with all the others it has always asked.”

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What did you think of the BROOKLYN NINE-NINE season premiere?

Related:

BROOKLYN NINE-NINE: What You Missed on Your Summer Vacation
BROOKLYN NINE-NINE Boss on Holt’s Struggle, Jake/Amy’s High Stakes, and Guest Star Bill Hader
BROOKLYN NINE-NINE: Season 3 Cast Photos

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