Entertainment

Charles Has Babies On The Brain On 'BK99'

by Laura Rosenfeld

A new year means a new day and time slot for Brooklyn Nine-Nine on Fox, and as the first episode of 2016 titled "Hostage Situation" shows, it also apparently means a new baby for Charles. You read that right. Just a few short episodes after Terry's wife gave birth to a bouncing baby girl, yet another baby may be born in the 99th Precinct before we know it. Well, not if Charles' ex-wife Eleanor, played by the always-wonderful Kathryn Hahn, has anything to do with it.

Earlier this season, Charles got together with almost-convict Genevieve after Jake discovered that she had been framed for insurance fraud. (It makes sense in the episode, so go watch it.) Flashforward two months, and things are going swimmingly between these two, so much so that they're wearing one scarf together and are thinking about having a baby.

Personally, I think Charles and Genevieve were taking things a little too fast. I mean, they had only been together a couple of months, and they met under unusual circumstances. Shouldn't they take some time out to really get to know each other before they dive into parentdom? Charles also doesn't have the best track record with women, which is made evident by his nightmare of an ex-wife Eleanor, who we have heard so much about throughout the series (none of it good) but have never actually met.

But the speed with which Charles and Genevieve had decided to expand their family proved to not be the problem; it was Eleanor. You see, Charles had frozen some of his sperm while the two were still together, which ended up being a very good move since he would later become impotent after a perp clubbed his crotch several times while he was on duty. Unfortunately, the account for Charles' sperm at the fertility bank was under Eleanor's name. After getting a call that Charles wished to make a withdrawal, Eleanor nabbed the "Boyle oil" for herself and decided to hold it hostage unless Charles used his position as a police officer to intimidate a 90-year-old priest she ran over into dropping his lawsuit.

Knowing that's illegal and unethical and a whole host of other terrible adjectives, Charles enlisted Jake's help to persuade Eleanor to hand over the sperm instead. I love me a Jake-Charles caper, and this one did not disappoint. It was filled with Jake's naive bravado and Charles' enduring optimism — that was until Eleanor tricked them and ended up pouring out one of only two remaining sperm samples right in front of the detectives after they had already used the only bargaining chip they had with her. That was Charles giving Eleanor sole custody of the hairstylist they shared, in case you were wondering.

At that point, Charles was ready to give up and force the priest to drop the lawsuit because he wanted to have children so badly that he would put his own beloved career in jeopardy. Luckily, Charles didn't have to do that because Jake tased him in the back just in the nick of time. When Charles came to, Jake made him realize that he doesn't need to share DNA with his child in order to be his or her father, especially since Jake's biological father is kind of a deadbeat. That pep talk gave Charles the strength to tell Eleanor off, and it looks like he and Genevieve are one step closer to making their dreams of having a baby a reality. But if some other obstacle comes along that prevents Charles from having a child, this episode proves that he and Jake will always be family.

Images: John P. Fleenor/Fox; Giphy (2)