Brooklyn 99: Why Detective Daniels Never Appeared Again After The Pilot

Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s forgotten detective, Daniels, didn’t appear in the sitcom after her introduction in the pilot, but why? When the Fox-turned-NBC sitcom hit the airwaves in 2013, it debuted the 99th precinct and its gang of quirky but effective detectives led by Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg). Seven seasons and a network-change later, the show has maintained its core set of detectives except for Daniels, who never showed up again following the series premiere.

The events of Brooklyn 99 are kicked off when Captain Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher) officially transfers to the 99th Precinct to replace their old captain, Captain McGintley following his retirement. Lt. Terry Jeffords (Terry Crews) does a rundown of his detectives, he starts with Scully (Joel McKinnon Miller), Hitchcock (Dirk Blocker), and Daniels who they call “pretty much worthless, but they make good coffee.” Simultaneously, the camera shows Norm and Michael talking to a middle-aged woman detective, establishing a good rapport among them. While chances are that she’s mostly going to be comedic relief like her friends, this gave fans the impression that she’d stick around and be a regular face on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. After her initial appearance, however, she’s never seen or even mentioned in the sitcom again.

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Not much is known about Daniels as she was only in a couple of snippets without really any significant role in Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s pilot, which was directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Viewers of the episode assumed that over the course of the sitcom, she’d be properly introduced anyway, with the premiere’s narrative focused on the precinct’s prime detectives like Jake, Amy (Melissa Fumero), Charles (Joe Lo Truglio), and Rosa (Stephanie Beatriz), but obviously that’s not the case. So what actually happened to Daniels? The reason for her absence may likely be due to production scheduling.

Pilot episodes are typically shot ahead before a show is even picked up by a network. This is what producers show potential broadcasting executives to sell their projects. Brooklyn 99 was officially ordered by Fox in May 2013 with the series not airing until September of that same year. Given that, the actress who plays the character may have either gotten a different job or was unable to return for subsequent outings. For what it’s worth even Hitchcock and Scully were only recurring characters in Brooklyn Nine-Nine season 1. It wasn’t until season 6 that they’re promoted to main cast members.

It appears though that the show’s creatives are well aware of people’s questions about what happened to Daniels. In January 2019, however, ahead of premiering Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s season 6 on NBC after it was canceled by Fox, co-creator Dan Goor hinted that they were planning on resolving lingering mysteries in the sitcom including the debate about whether Kelly is Hitchcock’s wife or dog and Daniels whereabouts. He even floated the idea that she might be the new owner of Arlo, Rosa’s pup she bought back in season 3 as a replacement for Charles’ dead one.

Daniels’ return to Brooklyn Nine-Nine has yet to happen with Goor not offering any new updates since he last gave one. That being said, it’s safe to say that it’s only a matter of time before the sitcom offers fans an in-universe explanation where she went. Perhaps they could even give her a cool backstory as they did for Hitchcock and Scully.

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