1 New Sitcom Borrowed A Very Specific Plotline From Brooklyn Nine-Nine (& It Reveals A Lot)

Charles Boyle was one of the least violent characters in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, but specific triggers could bring out a different side of him — something that Going Dutch is getting inspiration from. When Captain Holt asks Boyle to help him win a squash doubles tournament in “The Swedes,” Boyle taps into his competitive side to become "The Beast," a nickname he earned in his collegiate squash days when he ate a squash ball just to psych out his opponent. Going Dutch borrows this maniacal sports persona plot line in episode 4, “Korfball.”

Going Dutch follows arrogant U.S. Army Colonel Patrick Quinn (Denis Leary) when he is reassigned as a punishment to a peaceful service base in the Netherlands where his estranged daughter is captain. Colonel Quinn and his daughter, Maggie Quinn (Taylor Misiak), disagree on the best way to run the base, with her caring more about community relations than having their soldiers up to code. Going Dutch borrows from Brooklyn Nine-Nine as one of the best sitcoms of the 2010s when Quinn encourages Maggie to embrace her competitive side and become “The Rocket” so they can win an annual sporting match.

Maggie Quinn’s “The Rocket” In Going Dutch Is Just Like Charles Boyle’s “The Beast” In Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Maggie And Boyle Need A Nicknamed Persona To Tap Into Their Aggression

In one of Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s funniest episodes, Boyle enters the squash double tournament with the mantra that it is just for fun, trying to keep The Beast bottled up so as not to embarrass himself in front of Captain Holt. However, when Holt finally communicates that winning is far more important than fun, Boyle transforms into “squash's unhinged lunatic,” ramping up the trash talk, intensity, and aggression. Boyle and Holt win the tournament but are permanently banned. A decade later, Going Dutch uses a similar psychological tactic to make a fun-seeking Maggie rediscover her intensity.

Going Dutch Episodes
Episode Number	Logline
Season 1, Episode 1, “Pilot”	Colonel Quinn is sent as punishment to a service base in the Netherlands where his estranged daughter was acting commander.
Season 1, Episode 2, “Tanks for Nothing”	Maggie is determined to prove her worth when her father decides to steal a tank.
Season 1, Episode 3, “CIA”	The Colonel does not approve of Maggie dating a man in the CIA.
Season 1, Episode 4, “Korfball”	The Colonel pushes Maggie to become The Rocket to win a local sporting match.

The Stroopsdorf army base in Going Dutch has an annual friendly game of Korfball — a “worse version of basketball,” with a local team to boost community morale. Like Boyle, Maggie’s objective is to have fun, but when she learns that her absentee father was proud of her winning basketball tournaments as a kid as her aggressive alter ego, she revives The Rocket, becoming a much more cutthroat player focused solely on winning. Both Boyle and Maggie had shelved their competitive personas until their father figures encouraged them to bring that intensity back.

What Maggie Becoming “The Rocket” Says About Her Relationship With Her Dad

A Part Of Maggie Still Craves Colonel Quinn’s Approval

Colonel Quinn and Maggie smiling in Going Dutch

Going Dutch is built around Quinn and Maggie’s fraught relationship, with her not seemingly craving her father’s approval. Maggie takes joy in reminding him that the Stroopsdorf cares more about its cheese than guns, relishing pointing out that he is such a has-been his past operations are literally in the history books now. Nevertheless, when the Colonel’s second-in-command tells her that he used to frame articles about The Rocket, something shifts inside Maggie, who becomes a drill sergeant at practice and a ruthless player on the court.

New episodes of Going Dutch air Thursdays on FOX at 9:30/8:30c and stream next day on Hulu/Disney+.

Suddenly, Maggie willingly throws away years of community relations efforts to win her father’s approval. Like many of the best sitcoms of all time, there is a twist to the Going Dutch storyline: after dominating in the first half, Colonel Quinn decides they need to tank the second half, so he and Maggie work together to ensure defeat. Despite Maggie’s outward behavior, she is not as closed off to her father’s affection as she might want to be. In a sweet full-circle moment, Maggie proudly notices her father hanging an article about her unhinged behavior on the Korfball court.

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