Halloween II (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)

In its original American broadcast, "Halloween II" was seen by an estimated 5.22 million household viewers and gained a 2.5/7 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research.[1] This was a 15% increase in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 4.51 million viewers with a 2.2/6 in the 18-49 demographics.[2] This means that 2.5 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 7 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it. With these ratings, Brooklyn Nine-Nine was the second most watched show on FOX for the night, beating Mulaney and Family Guy but behind The Simpsons, fifth on its timeslot and fifth for the night, behind Once Upon a Time, The Simpsons, The OT, and NBC Sunday Night Football.

"Halloween II" received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. LaToya Ferguson of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "C+" grade and wrote, "The problem with Brooklyn Nine-Nine is that the 'bad' episodes are still at least decently humorous episodes of television. That's sort of a nonsense problem, but it still exists. Lesser episodes of the show may feature a lack of cohesion, but the audience can always rest assured that there will be an endless supply of quotable jokes. Now there's nothing wrong with being a joke factory, but that's not exactly what Brooklyn Nine-Nine is selling, and this episode is the perfect example that Brooklyn Nine-Nine can't simply rest on those joke laurels."[3]

Jackson McHenry of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Sequels are like caricatures. In trying to replicate the original, they tend to exaggerate its basic elements to the point of ridiculousness. Minor things become overused: A funny side character turns into a main character, a cute gag inflates into the whole plot. This can be great — I'll defend Shrek 2 over the original any day — but the result usually ends up feeling a little thin. This week's Brooklyn Nine-Nine attempted to cap off last year's excellent 'Halloween' with a cheeky follow-up, but, with the same plots, and nearly the same conclusion, 'Halloween II' emphasized the show's weaknesses."[4] Allie Pape from Vulture gave the show a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "I've already come out strongly in favor of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's all-cast-antics episodes, particularly when it comes to reprising one of my favorites, last year's Halloween team-up to steal Holt's Medal of Valor. This year, the quarry was his watch, a gift from Kevin Cozner's dying father (but please don't call it the 'death watch'). And even though I could see two of the twists coming from a mile away — Holt winning this year because Peralta beating him twice would throw off the balance of power between the two, and Fingers the thief stealing the watch once he got a chance because duh — I still enjoyed watching it all go down."[5]

Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "Another solid outing in a season that's been clicking very well so far. And I like the idea of Halloween bets being a tradition on this show like Ron & Tammy or Bar Wars episodes on some other fine comedies."[6] Andy Crump of Paste gave the episode a 6.7 and wrote, "The good news here is that Brooklyn Nine-Nine doesn't seem to be losing its spirit. It will forever remain a tribute to farce, with an endless supply of zany vim. It does, however, appear to be losing its direction, which may be a bit of an alarmist observation, given that we're only four episodes deep into Season Two. But 'Halloween II' gets too wrapped up in its central caper to deliver on its best attribute — its character work. Without that, Brooklyn Nine-Nine is just another sitcom to breeze through, rather than savor."[7]