In Praise of Captain Holt
Andre Braugher gave us the gay TV character some of us didn't know we needed, and in doing so he changed TV forever.
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I was sitting on the couch watching TV with my partner when I got the news alert that Andre Braugher–star of the beloved sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, the gripping drama Homicide: Life on the Street, and much more–had died. At first I simply couldn’t believe what I was seeing. He was only 61, and as far as I’d known he wasn’t sick. As we all know, though, death is like that, stealing away those we care about when we least expect it.
At first glance it might seem strange to speak of a celebrity as someone that I emotionally care about, but that’s just the way I am. And I know that I’m not alone. As Emily St. James pointed out in the aftermath of the death of both Betty White and Bob Saget, “There is an intimacy to the death of the TV star that I’m not sure quite exists with the deaths of other artists.” And TV star death hits particularly hard when it’s someone like Braugher who, for eight seasons, played one of the most remarkable characters in sitcom history. Captain Holt of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Openly gay, no-nonsense, sometimes dour but with a genuine love and fondness for both his husband and his subordinates at the precinct, Braugher’s Captain Holt was arguably the best character on the show, and the actor himself deserves all the praise.
I’m old enough to remember when there just weren’t that many representations of queer people in shows that weren’t specifically focused on them. Even now, when there has been an explosion of on-screen LGBTQ+ representation, we’re always being reminded of how hard-won such visibility is, and how easily it can be taken away (see also: the cancellations of many queer-centric shows). From the moment that he appeared as a proud gay, Black cop, Captain Holt was the queer character that some of us might not have known that we needed but who would go on to charm the show’s legions of fans. It would be too simplistic, I think, to say that Braugher subverted gay stereotypes, mostly because I don’t think stereotypes are always a bad thing, being something of one myself. Instead I think it’s more accurate to say that he brought to life a
Take, for example, his marriage to his husband, Kevin Cozner, played with remarkable wit and deadpan aplomb by Marc Evan Jackson. While Holt and Kevin clearly love one another deeply, theirs is a relationship that endures its fair share of crises. There are times when Holt is too protective of Kevin–much to the latter’s anger and chagrin–and they come dangerously close to splitting up altogether. However, their love proved far more enduring than one might expect, particularly given that neither of them is especially comfortable expressing their feelings in the touchy-feely way we tend to expect from our on-screen couples.
Popular culture doesn’t always like to pay attention to middle-aged gays, and when it does it often depicts them as either in the midst of crisis or as being hardly able to stand one another (looking at you, Modern Family). It was thus all the more extraordinary to see these two men navigate mid-life together, even if the sailing wasn’t always smooth. Fortunately they did get their happily-ever-after, and watching them kiss in the rain, having ultimately overcome their differences and rediscovered their love. It’s one of the most swoon-worthy moments in the entire series.
As important as Kevin is to Captain Holt, however, he also develops a remarkably nuanced and emotionally deep relationship with the various members of the precinct, particularly Terry, Jake, and Amy. At many points throughout the series Terry and Holt bonded over their shared experiences as two Black men in an institution that has historically proven deeply discriminatory both toward those it's meant to protect and within its own ranks. Braugher excelled at showing the pain and the heartache Holt has endured as he’s worked his way up the institutional ladder. While it’s clear that he absolutely believes in helping the people of New York, he’s also not blind to the many flaws of the system.
For many, however, the most important relationship in the series is that between Holt and Jake Peralta. They were the quintessential opposites-turned-friends, for while Jake was always the fly-by-by-the-seat-of-his-pants type, Holt was very much by-the-book and wasn’t shy about his impatience with his brilliant but wayward detective. With each subsequent season, however, the two men grew closer, and their father/son dynamic–itself a source of significant humor–was remarkable to watch, in part because it’s so rare to see two male characters be allowed to be emotionally intimate with one another. When it came right down to it, theirs was a relationship based on trust on respect even if, at times, it could be strained by Jake’s unwillingness to respect boundaries and Holt’s unwillingness to open up. Each brought something unique to the table, and each benefited from the other, the hallmark of a great sitcom bond.
Kevin’s relationship with Amy, likewise, is one of the series’ highlights, and again there is remarkable on-screen chemistry between Braugher and Melissa Fumero. Like Jake, Amy sees Captain Holt as a father figure and the ideal police captain, even as she also can’t help but constantly stumble and get in her own way in her desperate desire to please. Once again, though, each character allows the other to grow, and Braugher excelled at capturing Captain Holt’s bemusement at Amy as well as his genuine fondness for her and his desire to help her to grow into the self-confident woman she was always meant to be.
In many ways Braugher’s performance as Captain Holt allowed him to be the moral and emotional center of the show. While the rest of the Nine-Nine was often a maelstrom of wackiness, you could always count on Holt to be the calm in the storm. This isn’t to say that he didn’t have his own fair share of zany and outrageous moments–who could ever forget the moment he broke into giggles, or his ongoing feud with Kyra Sedgwick’s Madeline Wuntch?--only that he was a source of stability for both the characters and the audience. He was the type of character that you wanted to spend time with, if only to find out more of what lay beneath that stern and stoic demeanor.
Captain Holt was bold and gay, sophisticated and smart, loving and blunt and, beneath that icily calm exterior there was a warm heart and a rich sense of humor. Braugher was truly a sitcom genius, and we were blessed to have him. Rest in peace, Captain.