Sterling K. Brown made a one-episode guesting stint in actors who previously appeared in The Office. So, it was a surprise when Brown was announced to appear in the series as a perpetrator.
The actor made his guesting in Brooklyn Nine-Nine season 5, episode 14 titled "The Box." Playing Phillip Davidson, a successful dentist who was questioned about the mysterious death of his business partner, the outing took a unique format compared to the sitcom's traditional offerings. In it, Jake Peralta and Captain Raymond Holt spent the night trying to pry any consequential information from Davidson who was accused to be the primary suspect of the murder case. However, the interrogation proved to be much more difficult than initially perceived as Davidson was both elusive and smart. Running against time, Holt and Peralta had to be more creative with their approach, otherwise, they would fail to crack the case.
Given its focused narrative and great all-around performance, "The Box" is This Is Us, where he plays the Pearsons' adopted child, Randall. Given this, it's curious how he's able to jump from the NBC family drama to the then-Fox police sitcom? It may have something to do with Brown's desire to work with Andre Braugher, who plays Holt in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. A fellow Stanford graduate, Brown had openly expressed wanting to share the screen with the seasoned actor. So much so, that he even mentioned his idol's during his Emmys 2017 speech where he won Lead Actor in a Drama Series, referencing Braugher's win 19 years ago for Homicide: Life on the Street. A year after that, Brown secured the guesting spot for Brooklyn Nine-Nine which doesn't seem like a pure coincidence.
Brown's stint in Brooklyn Nine-Nine was just a one-time thing. At the end of the same episode, Holt and Peralta tricked Davidson to confess how he executed his meticulously planned murder. Granted that Braugher's role as the captain of the 99th Precinct has a very different characterization to his Emmy-winning role as Detective Frank Pembleton in Homicide: Life on the Street, it must have been a thrill for Brown to sit opposite an interrogation table with his idol. Of course, Andy Samberg was there to deliver on the signature Jake Peralta humor, but the scenes between Brown and Braugher were so intensely acted, it's easy to forget that it exists in a sitcom.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine has had a lot of guests in varying degrees of involvement during its run. However, it’s safe to say that Brown is one of, if not the best guest that it has ever had. The episode's premise was simple and straightforward, but what made it so much special was the performances from everyone involved. It’s a shame that chances are that he won’t have the chance to come back to the show again as it is ending.