Escouade 99

After the preview trailer premiered on the internet in August 2020, actress Melissa Fumero, who plays Amy Santiago in the original Brooklyn Nine-Nine, criticized the program for casting its versions of Amy Santiago and Rosa Diaz with Caucasian rather than Latina actresses.[3] According to Fumero, "while I understand the Latina population is [very] small in Quebec (& how many of them are funny actors?) the Amy and Rosa roles could’ve gone to ANY BIPOC so it’s disappointing to see that missed opportunity."[3] Talhi Briones, a Chilean Canadian writer and illustrator, also criticized the apparent whitewashing of Latina characters, as well as expressing concern about whether the series would retain Rosa Diaz's bisexuality.[3]

Writing for Le Devoir, Justine Robidas also expressed concern about the show's cast, praising it for casting Haitian Canadian actors Widemir Normil and Fayolle Jean as its versions of Captain Holt and Terry Jeffords, but noting the absence of any significant characters representing Quebec's large Maghreban, Asian or indigenous communities.[4] She also asserted that the show was less an adaptation of Brooklyn Nine-Nine than a direct copy that missed much of what made the original show successful;[4] other sources have also commented that numerous scenes in the trailer seemed to be shot-for-shot copies of scenes in the original series.[5]

Conversely, Hugo Dumas of La Presse acknowledged the diversity issue, but wrote that in casting Black actors to portray the two main African American characters from the original, the show was already doing significantly better at representing cultural and racial diversity than most television series produced in Quebec.[2] Normil has also confirmed that his character, Captain Raymond Célestin, retains Captain Holt's status as a gay man.[6]