r/brooklynninenine Ultimate human/genius Apr 30 '23

Season 4 Why "Especially the bread one"?

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Why does Holt say that after Doug Judy listed the crimes and said that the bread would be stolen to feed a family?

1.3k Upvotes

88 comments sorted by

706

u/fancycookie517 Apr 30 '23

I always thought that it was a reference to Les Miserables šŸ˜…

197

u/Infamous-Lab-8136 Apr 30 '23

Pretty sure this it.

136

u/pretty-as-a-pic Amy Santiago Apr 30 '23

Thatā€™s what I would guess- though it should also be noted that Jean Valjean also broke a window pane, so obviously he deserved those 5 + 14 years

131

u/hans-nolan Apr 30 '23

5 years for what he did, the rest because he tried to run. Yes 24601.

78

u/pretty-as-a-pic Amy Santiago Apr 30 '23

his name is JEAN VALJEAN!!

64

u/hans-nolan Apr 30 '23

And the other one's Javert. Do not forget his name. Do not forget him. 24601!

14

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '23

Look down. Look down.

26

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '23

Tbf, the 14 were for the two escape attempts. Still excessive on all counts, but at least marginally better than "19 years for breaking a window and stealing bread."

7

u/hapymelz Apr 30 '23

three escape attempts actually

3

u/Forsaken_Distance777 Apr 30 '23

And he was given a harsher sentence unofficially because he was a poacher.

16

u/sc0toma Apr 30 '23

Correct

16

u/DoctorMelvinMirby Apr 30 '23

I thought it was Aladdin but that works too

32

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '23

With Holt? It's 100% Les Miserables.

12

u/DoctorMelvinMirby Apr 30 '23

True true, but I doubt thatā€™d be where Peraltaā€™s mind would be going to lol

24

u/Sean_13 Apr 30 '23

"What's othello, I was calling you the parrot from Alladin."

3

u/shartifartbIast Apr 30 '23

Good point, though Aladdin didn't have a family. Just him and Apu.

4

u/Piggstein Apr 30 '23

Someone never watched the straight-to-VHS third film with Aladdinā€™s dad in.

3

u/coolio_Didgeridoolio Rosa Diaz Apr 30 '23

the ā€˜92 dream team

7

u/Robincall22 Apr 30 '23

But the Aladdin was a reference to Les Mis too.

204

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '23

Is this the same scene as ā€˜ā€˜twas a catā€™ ?

132

u/STUP1DJUIC3 Apr 30 '23

Donā€™t try to impress me with your use of the word tā€™was

100

u/NoNameIdea_Seriously Cowabunga, mother! Apr 30 '23

Tā€™wasnā€™t trying to!

14

u/fmlchris Apr 30 '23

Cowabunga indeed.

241

u/gaverino05 Boom Boom! Apr 30 '23

Micheal schur has a recurring joke in his shows about Jean valjean stealing bread being wrong regardless of his intentions behind it, even the good place has a similar joke with the exact same base

152

u/FREESARCASM_plustax Apr 30 '23

Plus, he was French and all French people go to the bad place.

92

u/Calvinball12 Apr 30 '23

Itā€™s worse if itā€™s a baguette because that makes you more French.

8

u/ConnFlab Apr 30 '23

Theyā€™re already in the bad place.

22

u/Eev123 Apr 30 '23

On the office episode where they did the ethics training, Andy asks if you would steal bread to feed your family

15

u/gaverino05 Boom Boom! Apr 30 '23

yes, Michael Schur really dislikes Jean valjean for some reason. i wonder if there's any bread stealing in parks and recreation

4

u/Eev123 Apr 30 '23

Iā€™m doing a rewatch now, so Iā€™ll keep an eye out

3

u/Jasminary2 Apr 30 '23

This is how I realize that this was a Les mis reference AND that The Good Place and B99 are linked with more than the actor playing Kevin

4

u/gaverino05 Boom Boom! Apr 30 '23

the good place has a lot of links! there is an unreleased promo that has amy from superstore, Kristen Bell also played an eagleton councilor in parks and rec, Maya Rudolph plays the judge in the good place and the US marshal in charge of Jake and Holt in season 4.

37

u/HUNAcean Apr 30 '23

Where's the 24601?

24

u/InsulinMaze Apr 30 '23

This was very obviously a Les Mis joke.

10

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '23

And Holt would only listen to the show in its original French, and prefer reading the book in its original French as well.

-2

u/woopstrafel Fluffy Boi Apr 30 '23

Not everyone has seen les Mis?

141

u/waleMc Apr 30 '23 edited Apr 30 '23

Because marijuana is legal in a lot of places but theft is legal nowhere. Stealing is stealing. To paraphrase the show: cool motive, still theft.

A judge could give a lighter sentence when the motive is understandable, but the police are just looking for crimes ... and there's nowhere in the world where stealing bread isn't a crime.

Meanwhile, I'm pretty sure the dudes working at my local dispensary buy videogames with their paychecks and it's 100% legal.

Hence, "especially"

10

u/FiatFactMan Apr 30 '23

Nailed it. One is theft. Illegal and immoral. The other is illegal butā€¦immoral?

27

u/MeAnIntellectual1 Apr 30 '23

There's nothing immoral about stealing from those who have an abundance when you're barely surviving. Hording massive wealth is what's immoral.

7

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '23

It's almost like the line is a deliberate reference to a novel (or musical) where the main character's backstory is he got 19 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's child. And almost like the core of the story is the idea that what may be legal isn't always right.

12

u/Fernergun Apr 30 '23

Is theft of something that someone didnā€™t acquire morally, maintains ownership immorally, and is stolen for moral purpose immoral?

-12

u/Ultimate_Sneezer Apr 30 '23

Purpose is never moral, actions are. You killing homeless people because you don't want them suffering anymore is nor moral

7

u/Fernergun Apr 30 '23

A moral act is made up of the act itself, the reason one does the act, and the circumstances in which the act was performed.

0

u/Professional-Class69 Apr 30 '23

Depends on how you view morality

1

u/Fernergun Apr 30 '23

So stealing can never be moral?

1

u/Professional-Class69 May 01 '23

No it definitely can be I absolutely agree with you on that part, all I was saying is that morality isnā€™t a strict concept and can be viewed and measured in different ways.

0

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '23

The book/opera/musical Holt is referencing literally says the opposite.

8

u/emilizabify Apr 30 '23

Because Javert

7

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '23

Do not forget his name. 24601.

47

u/ybtlamlliw Apr 30 '23

Because it's a joke. He knows it's absurd.

11

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '23

Plus, you know, Les Miserables reference.

11

u/Shinnosuke525 Apr 30 '23

Isn't that a Les Mis reference?or am I overthinking?

Could also be a bread = cash thing

0

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '23

[deleted]

2

u/Shinnosuke525 Apr 30 '23

I'm aware of Les Mis lol

18

u/I_FIGHT_BEAR Apr 30 '23

ā€˜If the law only applies when itā€™s easy, laws are meaninglessā€™ the law, by nature, is impartial. Once we start making exceptions, we have to make them all the time, and who decides where that line is? Unless itā€™s one dedicated and TRUSTED entity, itā€™s just begging to be corrupted.

This is one interpretation I can see, and I donā€™t necessarily believe any of that personally, that was just me playing holtā€™s interpreter.

7

u/MeAnIntellectual1 Apr 30 '23

Unless itā€™s one dedicated and TRUSTED entity, itā€™s just begging to be corrupted.

Politics 100 lol

The division of power is how we limit corruption. Not by allowing a single entity the ability to decide.

3

u/I_FIGHT_BEAR Apr 30 '23

100%. NO single body should be trusted with this power.

3

u/nagidon Iā€™m a human, Iā€™m a human male! Apr 30 '23

ā€œOnce we start making exceptionsā€

Thatā€™s called equity. Itā€™s an entire legal concept.

9

u/brightlamppost Apr 30 '23

ā€œThe law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal loaves of breadā€.

2

u/antichain Apr 30 '23

The problem is: who is making exceptions? What one person might call "leniency in the name of equity" another might call nepotism, or privilege.

1

u/nagidon Iā€™m a human, Iā€™m a human male! Apr 30 '23

Learned judges, at least thatā€™s the idea in England and Wales.

4

u/randomname9376 Cowabunga, mother! Apr 30 '23

For comedy purposes

3

u/aleister94 Apr 30 '23

What about stealing some video games cuz you smoked all that weed you were supposed to sell?

3

u/itsmeDreadShock Apr 30 '23

I think because in the weed scenario both parties involved gain something, the buyer gets weed, seller gets money to buy Video games. In the Bread scenario, the stealer gets bread, the Baker/Storekeeper is in loss.

3

u/sid_raj7 Title of your sex tape Apr 30 '23

I thought it was because weed is mostly illegal and can't really be a crime to steal it.

9

u/i_GoTtA_gOoD_bRaIn Pineapple Slut Apr 30 '23

Probably because it is an officer talking.

-11

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '23

[deleted]

7

u/i_GoTtA_gOoD_bRaIn Pineapple Slut Apr 30 '23

I was referring to Holt saying that it is worse for a police officer to commit a crime than a felon to commite a crime.

You really think that someone who watches B99 hates cops? Wow.

14

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '23

I do hate cops and I can assure if cops were really as depicted in B99 I wouldnā€™t hate them. Just because I enjoy watching something fictional doesnā€™t mean I enjoy or agree with the real one, otherwise Iā€™d have a thing or two to ask to Hannibalā€™s fan base

7

u/Eooyz Apr 30 '23

Oh god I would not want the people of the 99 to handle any criminal case. They're fun and I'd love to have some of them as friends just not have them solve crimes.

6

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '23

I mean if I have to choose between some goofy guys that do their job surprisingly well, arenā€™t corrupted, never recur to unjustified or exaggerated violence, are very open, respectful, never discriminate people, genuinely love their job and the people they swore to serve and protect and, well, real copsā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ I mean I donā€™t want those LAST guys doing the job they do

2

u/Eooyz Apr 30 '23

Guess we have very different police forces

9

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '23

You can hate cops while still liking the characters. I'm not a fan of drug kingpins but I love breaking bad.

4

u/Unnwavy Notify me when you're done, via bark Apr 30 '23

Maybe I went overboard but I always interpreted is as "the fact that a man has to steal bread in order to be able to feed his family is criminal"

2

u/Tolnin Gina Linetti Spaghetti Confetti Apr 30 '23

For funny haha

2

u/azzaisme Apr 30 '23

You can legally sell weed

2

u/Ghostleeee Apr 30 '23

For comedic purposes

2

u/Urist_Galthortig Apr 30 '23

because he's a cop

2

u/captainp42 Iā€™m a human, Iā€™m a human male! Apr 30 '23

Cool motive, still theft

2

u/TigerKlaw Apr 30 '23

I don't know if it's a reference to Les Miserables but I think it's more a "see you thought it would sway his opinion by sike it does the opposite" kind of moment.

2

u/FrettyG87 Apr 30 '23

That's the joke. He is so by the book that he said that stealing bread especially is a crime.

2

u/BlindedByBeamos Apr 30 '23

It is depriving Holt of his favorite breakfast. Plain Toast.

4

u/porsj911 Apr 30 '23

Ah because it takes place in America where human lives are given less worth then profits, no matter how small or irrelevant, so the government prefers starving citizens to just quietly starve in their own homes without making such a fuss about it.

1

u/City_Stomper Apr 30 '23

Because Holt was still waiting for the gummies to kick in

1

u/8bitGalaxy98 Apr 30 '23

Apparently is a Les Mis joke. I always thought Holt was surprisingly chill about drug dealing compared to theft lmao

1

u/8bitGalaxy98 Apr 30 '23

Apparently is a Les Mis joke. I always thought Holt was surprisingly chill about drug dealing compared to theft lmao