Charles Boyle is about the best deuteragonist one can have in a sitcom, as his presence is largely responsible for the absurdism prevalent in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He doesn't love food as much as he obsesses over it — every texture, every color, smell, sound in the culinary world delights him, even if it's something as vague and unappetizing as "hoof soup."
Charles is very picky about a few things, like his relationships with his friends, but for the most part, he just lets life flow past him, which is truly an admirable philosophy. Except that it often results in various, easily avoidable complications that a simple change in attitude could have fixed. His life isn't sad per se, but there are too many moments that could be defined as gloomy.
Depends On Jake's Friendship
Jake Peralta isn't so much Charles' best friend as he is the whole world. The latter would do anything for him, and the reverse is true as well. However, there is a lot more dependency on the relationship exhibited by Charles.
It gets to the point of pathetic on several occasions, such as overreacting to any man who enters Jake's life (or just happens to be around him at any given time.) This jealousy far exceeds normal buddy boundaries, and Jake has to constantly remind Charles to rein it in a little bit.
Allows Jake To Walk All Over Him
The other side of this friendship is extremely questionable, albeit in a different way, as Charles' idolization leads Jake to use him as per his needs. In fact, there is a very clear demarcation of dominance/submissiveness between the two of them, and it works spectacularly to Jake's advantage.
It's very embarrassing for everyone in the vicinity when Charles regularly refers to his friend as "the greatest man that ever lived," while the latter misuses this devotion in order to benefit himself.
Being Left Out Of The Group
Charles Boyle has a serious problem with reading the room, especially when it comes to interacting with the 99. His perennial bombarding with random trivia, pointless tangents, and excessive texting can lead the others to sort of ostracize him from team activities.
One prominent scenario is when he is unceremoniously thrown out of the group chat for sending message after message of gibberish. Rather than tell him directly, the gang decided it was best to tell them that the chat didn't exist anymore. Thankfully, this changes when Gina and Amy help Charles' control his over-eagerness.
Lives With His Ex-Wife For Too Long
Even for a man who doesn't mind being used as a human doormat, this is below degrading. Charles at the start of the show used to live with his ex, Eleanor Horstweil, and her new husband, Hercules Thikalonos, which is already sad enough. Then he reveals that he actually stays in their basement, and that she takes a massive portion of his pay.
Further, Eleanor's treatment of Charles only worsens after he moves out, seeing as she holds his frozen sperm hostage in exchange for him to clean her record. Who knows what else she did when they were married.
Is Mocked For His Culinary Eccentricities
Charles loves food so much that he reviews various cuisines on his personal blog, and possesses a vast knowledge of the culinary arts. In fact, this obsession helps him land a relationship with Vivian Ludley, a noted food writer and critic.
The squad doesn't enjoy the diversity of taste he brings to the group, unfortunately, preferring standard fare to Charles' strange dishes (such as employing a frosting composed of habanero for his wedding cake.) They often display a visceral disgust towards his interests, but at least it doesn't dent the man's enthusiasm.
Inability To Maintain A Healthy Friendship
Terry keeps talking about loving love, but he's certainly not preoccupied with it every living moment of every day. Charles, on the other hand, is: the borderline predatory interest he displays in Jake's love life doesn't improve much after he starts dating Amy.
Actually, to be honest, it worsens. Charles imagines himself playing a lot of integral roles in the marriage and parenthood, which simultaneously upset and terrify the couple (by forcing them to imagine the inevitability of their future.) Charles ought to take a breather every once in a while and think about himself for a change.
Gets Shown Up By A Horse
Charles Boyle receives the prestigious medal of valor from the NYPD, except that he shares the ceremony with a horse named Peanut Butter (whose sergeant status outranks his.) Naturally, he's annoyed that his day is taken away from him, especially since everyone present cheered for the horse a lot more and a lot louder.
Charles has been jealous of a lot of things, but to hold a grudge against an innocent animal is nothing short of pitiful. He clearly has nothing exciting going on in his life.
Way Too Emotional Sometimes
The great thing about Charles is that he refuses to subscribe to (and many times fails to comprehend the nature of) the toxic masculinity of his generation. He isn't ashamed of revealing his innermost feelings to random strangers, so confident is he in his identity.
Nevertheless, Charles is a little too emotional on occasion. For instance, look at the time when he channels his rage against Amy and Gina in his food truck or yells that Jake he wouldn't understand the love between a parent and their child because he would never be a father. It's okay to express one's feelings, but not when it means you risk hurting those closest to you. Boundaries need to be put in place.
Refuses To Stop Bothering Rosa
Initially, Charles is enamored by his colleague, Rosa Diaz, and "bravely" tells her how he feels about her, consistently asking her to go out with him. However, it's easy to see why Charles ended up making a mistake here.
He denies the possibility that Rosa might genuinely not be interested in him and continues to pursue her. In other words, he doesn't take "no" for an answer. This character trait was at odds with the rest of his personality, though, so it wasn't surprising to see the writer's attempt to change his behavior quickly.
Gina Is Embarrassed By Him
Although Charles and Gina embark on a secret sexual escapade, the story eventually leaks out. He is proud of their relationship, but she cannot be more mortified. Gina, being the self-centered megalomaniac that she can be sometimes, continues to add various limits and terms to their bedroom agreement.
Charles, as mentioned already, doesn't mind either version of the story, but Gina's unnecessary vitriol following the disclosure is unfair. It's not something he should have been subjected to.