As one of the two Latinx main characters on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Amy Santiago sees herself as an emblem of success for POC — and while this might seem egotistical, it is also an enormous undertaking for her. As of season 7, she has overcome incredible odds to achieve her goals, each with uncomfortably inflexible deadlines.
Amy is as competitive as her husband, Jake, but this doesn't mean that her superior organization wins the day all the time. Brooklyn Nine-Nine takes her role into considerable depths, delving into her intelligence and honor as much as it exposes her for her shortcomings.
Overrated: She Is Desperate For Praise
Amy likes being the best at everything, having been voted "most likely to befriend a school administrator" in her childhood, a fact she is proud of, for some reason. This desire to be noticed by her superiors is sometimes off-putting, especially the way she tries to cozy up to Captain Holt but ends up making herself look like a fool, most of the time.
Amy's behavior probably stems from her household, given her father's achievements in police work, as well as how much praise, justified or otherwise, her brother receives from her parents.
Underrated: Her Drunkenness Scale
The sheer breadth of Amy's renowned Drunkenness Scale is her testament to her warped psyche. A single drink results in minor disorientation, two causes her to yell out her responses, three convinces her that she can actually dance, and four transforms her into a hypersexual beast.
Continuing the trend, five drinks generate a bizarre level of self-confidence in her, six shifts her mood into misery and self-loathing, eight helps her ride police horses into swimming pools, and nine prevents her from speaking in any language other than French. The only mystery that remains is the Seven Drink Amy.
Overrated: Her Sense Of Hygiene
Unlike Jake, whose locker is so repulsive that Holt tricks him into believing that it looks like a garbage dump in the Philippines, Amy maintains strict control over her sense of cleanliness. Unfortunately, she takes it way too far sometimes, one example being her dental health.
When she pretends to have a tooth problem to get out of helping the captain, the dentist reveals that her "overbrushing" has caused more harm than good — basically having stripped off her enamel and produced seven cavities. Watching Amy's face as she comes to terms with this is a real treat.
Underrated: She Has An Unstoppable Attitude
Amy is nothing if not a dutiful sergeant, taking control of the station with a weird blend of shamelessness and elegance when both Captain Holt and Terry are trapped in a powerless elevator.
Although Rosa insists that she needs to go to the hospital after her water breaks, Amy delivers some spiel about the timing of her contractions in order to manage the blackout mess. Thankfully, Rosa decides to keep tabs on her labor, and finally has to practically force her out of the nine-nine so she can give birth in a less unsanitary location.
Overrated: Her Type-A Overreactions
Amy is so tightly wound up about everything that she undergoes the inevitable breakdown when pushed to her absolute limits. Unlike most people, her version of freaking out is known as Amy's panic scale, a three-step program that gets worse and worse.
In the first stage, she "stress braids" her hair until it resembles a mega-knot of frizz and tangles, which is followed by humming tunes from the Great American Songbook. The final level occurs when she begins to punish any appliances that are unfortunate enough to be in her vicinity, as seen when she totals the staff microwave.
Underrated: She Wins Against Herself
Amy's first day as a sergeant does not go as smoothly as she plans (which in itself is extremely stressful for her carefully organized brain.) Captain Holt makes her nervous by mentioning how much she has to lose if she fails to adequately "represent all Latino women in the police force."
On top of this, Amy has to deal with Gary Jennings, a subordinate whose enthusiasm grates on her nerves, largely because of how similar they both are. In the end, though, she learns that handling an Amy requires a very patient ear, a lesson that she successfully puts into practice.
Overrated: Her Emotional Eruptions
In addition to her anal-retentive attitude, Amy cannot cope with mounting pressure — which is usually the fault of her own high expectations for herself. She takes to smoking to deal with the stress, claiming that she only smokes one cigarette a month (a blatant lie).
In "Fancy Brudgom," Amy agrees to join Gina and Terry in their extreme diet adventure. Their first meal includes two pieces of fruit and three cashews. Hitchcock mistakenly knocks a single almond out of her mouth and onto the filthy ground, which he then shatters by stepping on it. Amy immediately explodes at him, inflicting a number of horrifying curses against his person.
Underrated: Her Life Ambitions
Amy has always wanted to be the youngest captain in NYPD history and has every step of her life designed in a way that will meet this goal. Her plans clearly work, seeing as she attains the position of sergeant rather quickly, and even shows how well she can handle the increased workload and its associated responsibilities.
Regardless of her adherence to discipline and protocol, Amy has proven, time and again, that she puts her friends' happiness over her goals. These deeds further cement her potential as a great leader.
Overrated: Her Sense Of Style
Given her highly specific needs, Amy is very direct and formal in most instances, even when it comes to her appearance. In fact, her fashion has been repeatedly mocked by Gina, sometimes with a little more cruelty than necessary, but accurately, nevertheless.
She refers to Amy's ponytail as resembling that of action star, Steven Seagal, and assumes that she lives with her grandma just because she has a lot of quilts in her home.
Underrated: The Wedding Gown Showdown
Amy finds browsing for wedding gowns anxiety-inducing, as it perpetuates certain (and completely false) stereotypes about working women. Rosa takes the uncharacteristic step of assuring her that she can be both badass and feminine, and goes with her to help pick out the ideal wedding gown.
In the midst of trying one on, Amy spies the criminal they are looking for and goes running after him at full speed, performing acrobatic stunts while wearing the dress — that she then chooses to get married in, because it turns out that she does like the sash, after all.