The hit comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine proves that Andy Samberg has come a long way from the days of crass jokes on SNL. The writing is unparalleled, unbelievably funny while deeply moving. Each character has their own layered personality and story arc, possibly none more so than the Nine Nine's resident tough girl, Rosa Diaz. Introduced initially as just the unsmiling brute, Rosa's grown into one of the most beloved in the series. For the cold, unsmiling demeanor, she provides some of the biggest laughs of the whole series. We've compiled the top ten of our favorite Rosa Diaz moments, so we can all relive them together.
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Arlo The Dog
One of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's greatest strengths is how each character manages to surprise us throughout their journey. Season's 3 "9 Days" was one of those amazing moments where we remember that Rosa isn't so heartless all the time. After making fun of Charles for the entire episode for being sad about his dog dying, she redeems herself and shows us that she's actually a big softie. She throws the departed a proper doggy funeral and introduces us to a puppy named Arlo, who is a very good boy. It gives us an iconic Rosa Diaz line:
"'I've only had Arlo for a day and a half, but if anything happened to him, I would kill everyone in this room and then myself."
Breaking Up
Most thirty-minute ensemble shows have the same challenge, only certain characters interact with each other on a regular basis. Any attempt to give those characters storylines with each other feels hamfisted. Not so with Brooklyn Nine-Nine, where we got to delve into the relationship between Captain Holt and Rosa Diaz when Rosa began dating Holt's nephew Marcus. Of course, it was too awkward for everyone involved to last very long, and eventually, Rosa had to break it off. For some reason, she turns to Holt for advice and he runs her through a roleplaying scenario.
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Rosa: "Marcus, I think we should break up."
Holt: "That makes me feel sad. I am sad."
Rosa: "Your sadness is noted."
A Lesson In Flirting
When Rosa and Marcus' romance was first budding, we got to see a glimpse into how she goes about her personal life. In the episode 'Beach House', the gang takes a weekend trip to Boyle's beach house to unwind, relax, and butt into each other's business too much. Rosa is texting Marcus when Boyle decides she needs a little bit of help along the way. Her brashness isn't exactly romantic and Boyle knows a thing or two about romance... right? This episode gives us one of Rosa's best lines, which captures her personality perfectly.
"It was a joke. I was insulting him. You know, flirting."
Girl Power
In theory, Rosa Diaz and Amy Santiago would always be at odds. They're polar opposites and a lesser show would have them pitted against each other constantly. Not Brooklyn Nine-Nine. In the first season, Rosa turns down a promotion at a suburban New Jersey precinct. After Amy's jealousy over it comes out, Rosa doesn't mince words to make the point that there's power in women sticking together in this world.
Rosa: "We work in a police force full of dudes. We have to have each other's backs"
Amy: "So you're saying you have my back."
Rosa: "Yeah, I got your back. Don't smile, I'm still mad at you."
Amy: "I thought we were having a moment."
Rosa: "Moment's over."
Her Amy Impression
Rosa's friendship with Jake Peralta is one of the most entertaining of the show. There's never been any sort of romantic tension between the two, they're just very good friends. In Season 2, Jake gets to meet and work with a top NYPD detective, Dave Majors, but is disappointed to find out Dave wants to ask Amy out. Rosa's there to tell Jake there's still hope, as Amy hasn't done the double tuck yet. What's the double tuck? Rosa demonstrates how when Amy likes a guy she gets nervous and tucks both sides of her hair behind her ears while giggling. Jake cannot unsee it and neither can we.
Priorities
The first season's "Tactical Village" is one of Rosa's best overall episodes, with plenty of awesome moments to choose from. Maybe that's because the environment, a paintball simulation of new police tech, is just as badass as Rosa. She is fully in her element. While there, Amy runs into a former boyfriend Teddy, and gossips with Rosa about it. As usual, she offers her completely unfiltered opinion and proves she's basically the coolest person ever.
Rosa: "Right, that's the guy you said the lame stuff about. Like he's a good listener."
Amy: "Sorry, what do you look for in a guy?"
Rosa: "Real stuff, like the shape of his ass."
The Toast
It's not just Amy and Jake who have a great relationship with Rosa, the Captain's admin, Gina Lenitti also considers Rosa a dear friend. Well, maybe. It can be hard to tell with Gina. Still, when she announces her departure from the Nine-Nine, the whole crew is feeling the effects of seeing her go. Amy's full of emotions, creating a big scrapbook of all of Gina's tweets and crying on multiple occasions. Rosa, of course, is cool, calm, and collected. At their ladies' brunch, she made the most Rosa toast possible.
"Bye."
As Gina said, it was perfect.
Self Defense
To be fair, it's not always warm and fuzzy between Rosa and Gina. In the first season, her apartment is broken into and she leans on Rosa and Amy for support. As two of the toughest chicks ever, they have a hard time empathizing with Gina's fear.
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It takes a while for them to come around to the idea that Gina's just acting weird because she's scared. Before the payoff and character development though, Rosa gets in a classic one-liner. Her affinity for blades over guns comes through full force.
"What kind of woman doesn't own an ax?"
Slashing The Patriarchy
Rosa is never one to stand for the patriarchy. Anytime it rears its ugly head in Rosa's life, she slashes it with her aforementioned swords, knives, and axes. In the second season, the Nine-Nine goes wild with the Jimmy Jab Games, a bizarre Olympics including various outrageous tasks. One of the games includes dressing up in a disguise and trying to get past the police officers downstairs without being recognized. Rosa gets herself eliminated because she can't stay in character when the cop she encounters calls her "sweetheart."
"Sweetheart? Seriously Hank? Is that how you talk to women who come in here?"
Coming Out
Few storylines in Brooklyn Nine-Nine have matched the emotional journey we've gotten to go on with Rosa's love life. Initially, Rosa came out as bisexual because Boyle can't seem to mind his own business. She gets to take back that agency in 'Game Night' when she chooses how and when to come out to her parents. The writing and performance were so on point, allowing her to be vulnerable but never fully give up that Rosa Diaz grit. Stephanie Beatriz, who portrays Diaz, is bisexual in real life and was brought into the writing process to reflect the experience in an authentic but ultimately positive way. It really comes through in the episode, which feels supportive but not sugar coated. You go Rosa!