Season 6 of Brooklyn 99 had major changes when longtime series regular Chelsea Peretti left her role as Gina Linetti.
Peretti became a fan-favorite on Brooklyn 99 after her debut in 2013 as Gina Linetti, Captain Raymond Holt's assistant who never shied away from mocking people and skating around her job duties
Gina experienced plenty of wild incidents during her time on the show, including being hit by a bus. Linetti even took a short break from episodes in early Season 5, as her character was pregnant.
Why Did Gina Leave Brooklyn 99?
Brooklyn 99 Season 6 saw Chelsea Peretti leave the series and her role as the 99's administrative assistant, Gina Linetti.
At the end of Episode 3, Gina decided to move on her from position at the 99 after talking with Andy Samberg's Detective Jake Peralta at their high school reunion. He suggested her talents were wasted at the precinct before she realized it was time for her to take on a new challenge.
The following episode ("Four Movements") put Peretti front and center in her final days at the 99 as she shares her decision to leave with her friends and co-workers. She moved to take on a then-undecided new challenge and spend more time with her baby daughter.
However, she goes back and forth on her decision throughout the episode as she reminisces on her time there with the rest of the main characters.
For Gina's going-away party, she and Jake get Mario Lopez (making a cameo as himself) to come before Gina turns him away. In the final scene, she leaves her unique gifts for everybody, helps Holt with her filing system a day later, and burns incense in the office the day after.
After one more day of procrastinating, Gina officially leaves, but not before sending the team a video message announcing the arrival of a giant gold statue of herself. Noting that a delay in the statue's shipping prolonged her exit, she shared her love for the team before signing off.
Gina's Later Episodes on Brooklyn 99
While Season 6, Episode 4 was Chelsea Peretti's last episode as a Brooklyn 99 regular, she made three more appearances before the show ended in 2021.
Season 6, Episode 15 centered on Gina once more as fans saw her rise to power as a social media influencer, celebrating her 1,000,000th follower with a huge event.
She then asks Jake and Terry Crews' Terry Jeffords to serve as police protection at the event, where somebody tries to take her out. After escaping a falling ball from the roof and being stabbed, Gina and Jake get into a big argument about her life.
After lying about missing a round of drinks with Jake and Terry, she apologizes to Jake for not making time for him and agrees to rectify that from now on.
Gina returns one last time in the two-episode series finale, which comes in the final two episodes of Season 8 ("The Last Day").
In classic Gina fashion, she becomes a surprise reveal during the team's final heist, showing up in a sweatshirt reading, "surprise reveal." She takes the group's MacGuffin (a tube with a prize medal inside) in an armored truck before the rest of the group regains control of the tube.
In the second part of the finale, she offers to drive Gina and Rosa to the airport to go after Rosa's ex-boyfriend, Jason Mantzoukas' Adrian Pimento.
Gina later shows up with the rest of the team, holding her own prize tube, just like everybody else, and she accidentally hears Jake reveal that he's leaving the 99.
As the team says their goodbyes to one another with Jake, Rosa, Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero), and Captian Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher) leaving, Gina pulls a couple of last pranks and reveals to Terry that she stole diamonds from the evidence locker.
In a flash-forward scene one year later, she pulls a fake mask off during a team meeting as another Halloween Heist is starting — the final moment of the show.
Why Did Chelsea Peretti Leave Brooklyn 99?
After her exit in Season 6, Chelsea Peretti never went deep into the details regarding the decision.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter in 2019, she said she couldn't "get into the exact breakdown" of what happened. However, she made it clear she was still friends with Samberg and creator Dan Goor, concluding that she picked the right time to leave:
"Well, it wasn’t just a solo process. [Laughs.] I wasn’t just like, 'I’m leaving!' and I swing my cape. I can’t get into the exact breakdown of how it all transpired, but it wasn’t just my solo decision. I’m friends with Dan, I’m friends with Andy [Samberg], I’ve talked with them about the situation over the years. I think it came together this was the time to do it. It’s not always easy to make changes in life, but I feel like everyone came to a point where everyone was like, 'OK, this is the time.' That’s the gist of it."
Unsure of exactly how to discuss the move, she told the outlet that the call was "somewhat mutual" and "amicable," holding no hard feelings for anybody involved:
"That’s the part that I’m deliberately not clarifying, because I feel like I can’t get into the exact breakdown [of what happened]. I’m just a lowly actor out here without much status. Everyone’s like, 'Hey, do a bunch of interviews.' And I’m like, 'All right. I don’t know how to talk about it.' But I feel like it’s one of those things … you write about Hollywood all the time. No one can ever fully say the whole story of what’s going on. But the gist is it was somewhat mutual. And it was amicable. That’s the best way I can put it."
After Andre Braugher's tragic passing in December 2023, the odds seem highly unlikely that fans will ever see Chelsea Peretti or the Brooklyn 99 team again.
In March 2024, the cast reunited to celebrate Braugher's life (per Crews on Instagram).
Brooklyn 99 is streaming on Peacock, and the first four seasons are streaming on Netflix.
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