You could almost feel the ripple of shock when the news broke that Andre Braugher had died.
A Shakespearean actor originally, Braugher had a long and diverse career, bringing heft and acting prowess to every room he walked in.
But perhaps his most recognisable role, and certainly his most iconic, was playing Captain Raymond Holt in Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Holt is an African American, openly gay man — something that hadn’t made life easy for him in the police force, and perhaps helped us all connect with him more emotionally than we might another police captain.
He is also a militant grammar obsessive with an almost insane level of utilitarianism — “If it were feasible, my diet would consist entirely of flavourless beige smoothies containing all the nutrients required by the human animal” — who almost always keeps his face in a rigid blank mask.
But he is also a caring and gentle character who mentors everyone expertly, complemented by his similarly stiff but highly lovable husband Kevin (Marc Evan Jackson) and adorable corgi Cheddar (more on her later). And he is possibly the funniest character in the whole show.
Here are his best moments.
Jake’s station Dad
“The beauty of being an adult is you can make a new family, with new traditions.”
How many of us can relate to Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) on his eternal quest for validation from Holt? Holt is the father figure Jake needed after being abandoned at age seven by his own biological father (played by a perfectly flaky Bradley Whitford).
Holt’s mentorship of Jake is careful and specific, he sets him tasks that he thinks he needs, even if a highly childish Jake doesn’t alway see it. A charming familial tension is there from the moment the characters meet, when Holt insists on Peralta wearing a tie to work, and plays out til Jake and Amy’s wedding in season five.
For his part, Jake brings Holt into his Gen X gamer slacker orbit with lingo, snacks and selfies. It’s a beautiful and very funny to-and-fro.
Holt v Wuntch: A rivalry for the ages
“Captain Wuntch, good to see you. But if you’re here… who’s guarding Hades?”
Everyone has a mortal enemy and Holt’s was Captain, then Commissioner Madeline Wuntch. Whether Holt was calling Wuntch a pile of worms in a suit or they were fighting over who embarrassed who in front of Derek Jeter, their fiery back-and-forth was one of the most delicious rivalries on sitcom television.
Wuntch passes away in season seven, and the last act of her life is to set up an elaborate prank to embarrass Holt in front of NYPD officials. But in a Brooklyn Nine-Nine classic emotional twist, Holt realises at the last second that their mutual loathing made them both better officers.
Cheddar will always be Holt’s ‘Fluffy boy’
“You’re not Cheddar! You’re just some common bitch.”
No one loved Cheddar, the adorable white and brown corgi, more than Holt (although, Kevin might come close). But Cheddar was no ordinary pup, capable of stealing not just your heart but a championship-winning cummerbund. AND he knows Latin!
One of Cheddar’s daring escapes was even at the centre of one of Holt’s big emotional moments where he confesses to Jake and Amy that his relationship with Kevin is on the rocks. Leading to one of many of Holt’s classic facade-dropping, heart-warming emotional moments.
Cheddar’s only foil? Amy’s severe and often ignored dog allergies.
#StraightHolt
“I’m not Captain Holt. I’m Joe Wozniak, here to see my girl in prison. And, to help me pass as a straight … Kevin’s rose-shearing hat.”
Holt trying to pass as a straight man is how I imagine myself trying to pass as someone with an interest in sports. As hard as he tried, the delivery was … not convincing.
There were several instances of #StraightHolt appearing throughout the show’s eight seasons, and every time Braugher delivered his lines with deadpan brilliance.
When Holt is undercover as Wozniak in episode 2, season 5, during an undercover stint in Florida with Jake, he aims to convince a prison guard that he is indeed a heterosexual man, visiting his “female wife Crystal” in prison and going on to describe how much he appreciates women with “heavy breasts”.
To really pull off #StraightHolt, he starts talking up the female thigh gap.
“That’s my favourite part of a woman. There’s nothing more intoxicating than the clear absence of a penis.”
Oh Holt, points for trying.
VINDICATION!
“There’s no form more graceful than the arch, no object more whimsical than the balloon.”
As steadfast and serious as Holt almost always was, he had a little weirdo inside him just like the rest of us. It comes out periodically throughout the series, but perhaps in no episode was that made clearer than in Season 4, Episode 6, when Rosa and Pimento decide to get spontaneously married. Holt is given the task of decoration. And his choice? A balloon arch.
When Amy — stressed out about planning the wedding — is surprised that he made the arch he responds: “Made? No, I birthed her.”
Most delicious is the call back at the end of the episode, when you’ve almost forgotten about the arch entirely. Rose stands wide-eye and in awe when Holt finally shows her his creation.
His cry of “VINDICATION!!!!” will forever be the only way to respond when your little inner weirdo is proven right.
I’m not crying, you are
And let’s not forget all those little glimmers of tenderness that he let leak out at just the right moment.
A personal all-time favourite of these is when he’s comforting Rosa, who’s parents aren’t accepting of her bisexuality.
It’s this heart that Braugher brought to the role of Holt, and it’s this heart that will make us all miss him greatly.
Vale Velvet Thunder.