Andre Braugher‘s Captain Holt from Brooklyn Nine-Nine is one of the most iconic characters on TV. And with the passing of Braugher being one week from today, December 11th, we wanted to sit down and honor this talented actor. Because there has always been something so magical about Captain Raymond Holt. And it’s not just because of Braugher’s impeccable timing and sense of humor when it came to this character.
It’s because you could tell that Braugher gave everything to this character. He was committed, looked to be having fun, and genuinely loved this openly gay Captain. Braugher also understood the nuance it took to tackle hard scenes and it never felt like a burden to watch him when his character came on screen. It was a delight. And even though it’s hard to look through these scenes now that Braugher is gone, we honor him, his characters, and the legacy he’s left behind.
Lyra: The final talk between Holt and Jake in the Brooklyn Nine-Nine series finale. Admittedly, I was thinking of putting my favorite moment as the conversation between Holt and Rosa when she came out. But then I stumbled across the final conversation between Holt and Jake and then burst into tears. So this was the right choice. This moment is by far my favorite with Captain Holt because it doesn’t feel like acting. It feels like watching two friends say goodbye to each other and realizing that they won’t be coming to work everyday and spending time together anymore on the regular. And in a way, it’s us saying goodbye to Andre Braugher as well.
Lizzie: There are a lot of Holt moments, from the heartfelt — I also really remember his reaction to Rosa coming out — to the hilarious, but the hula hoop incident with Jake, of course, might be my favorite. It’s not just that he wins in his eternal battle with Jake, one that at times he pretends he isn’t even fighting in …it’s that he seems to do it effortlessly. And the comedic timing between Braugher and Samberg is perfection, as always. What a joy to watch. What a loss.
Gissane: Both Lyra and Lizzie discuss two of my favorite and most memorable moments. I use “Everything is garbage. Never love anything” a ton as a meme, and it bears noting that no one would’ve delivered that scene as perfectly as Andre Braugher, but I have to choose one scene, then it’s his comment about ties in the “Pilot” – the first moment where the nine really become a team. It takes Jake a hot second to get why Holt is so adamant about them wearing a tie, resulting in him opening up about his previous precinct and why he wasn’t welcomed.
In a hilarious moment, Jake gets it, saying, “Oh my God! I just got the tie thing. Captain, I just figured it out. It’s a uniform! We’re a team and the tie is a part of that team’s uniform, right? […] It’s important to you because you were kept off the team for so long, and now you’re the coach, and you want us all to wear that same uniform. Boom! Nailed it!” He becomes like a fatherly figure to them from the beginning because, more than anything, Holt wants to make people feel included which goes to show the kind of captain he consistently aspires to be.
Julia: The Full Bullpen has always been my favorite cold open of them all. The squad is scared as Jake slides that Holt is going to be upset about their shenanigans. His semi-shocked look says it all – or does it? We don’t know until he triumphantly holds up Jake’s arm and celebrates with the squad. Andre Braugher formed a police captain that was not only a leader, but also a team player as well. The best part about Holt was when he was subtle, and then the sass and humor poured through, even in the most serious of looks. No one else could have pulled that off but Braugher. Nine-Nine!
Ashley T.: What to say about Captain Holt? No one got more laughs out of me on Brooklyn Nine-Nine than Andre Braugher’s perfect deadpan delivery, and no episodes got more laughs out of me than the Halloween Heist episodes. I think my absolute favorite though is just one simple line in episode 5×04, “HalloVeen.” Everyone remembers this one as the big deal episode because it’s when Jake proposes to Amy, but for me, it’s the one where we get the great Cheddar swap, and the line, “You’re not Cheddar! You’re just some common bitch!”
The double-entendre there puts me on the floor every time. It works because it’s Holt, saying the proper name for a female dog, which is a thing he would do, but it is in disgust, so it works for the common usage. It’s such a silly line, but I remember having to rewind the show the first time I watched it so I could catch what happened because I couldn’t stop laughing. I still can’t believe he’s gone. Guess it’s time to rewatch, eh? Rest well, Andre.
Rest in power, Andrew Braugher.
