Brooklyn 99: Is Kelly Scully's Wife Or Dog? The Answer is BOTH
A longtime mystery has finally been solved, with Brooklyn Nine-Nine season 7 answering a question that has hung over the show since season 1: is "Kelly" Scully's wife, or his dog? Created by Dan Goor and Michael Schur, the workplace sitcom follows the chaotic adventures of New York's 99th police precinct. Starring Andy Samberg as Detective Jake Peralta, the show originally debuted on Fox and ran for five seasons. The show was subsequently canceled by the network. Fortunately, a passionate outcry from fans paid off and NBC resurrected the show for a sixth and seventh season. Now in the middle of airing the latter, Brooklyn Nine-Nine has been renewed for season 8.
The popular comedy also stars Stephanie Beatriz as Detective Rosa Diaz, Terry Crews as Lieutenant Terry Jeffords, Melissa Fumero as Sergeant Amy Santiago, and Joe Lo Truglio as Detective Charles Boyle. The highly dysfunctional group is usually overseen by Andre Braugher as Captain Raymon Holt. They aren't the only misfits in the precinct, however. After recurring in Brooklyn Nine-Nine season 1, Dirk Blocker and Joel McKinnon Miller have since been promoted to the main cast as lazy veteran detectives Michael Hitchcock and Norm Scully, respectively. Recent seasons have delved into the pair's history - with a season 6 episode even highlighting their time as surprisingly attractive and actually competent detectives in the 1980s. Regardless, one particular question regarding Scully's life has lingered unanswered for years.
In Brooklyn Nine-Nine season 1, episode 14 "The Ebony Falcon," Jake questions whether Kelly is the name of Scully's dog or his wife. When it's revealed that nobody on the squad knows the answer, they play "Wife or Dog" to try and deduce the answer. Unfortunately, each question posed to Scully is met with an ambiguous answer that could lend itself to either a dog or a human woman. Relenting, Jake simply asked him outright - only for Scully to get offended and walk away. When the show was saved by NBC, the showrunners resolved to finally answer the question in season 6. Once it was confirmed that Brooklyn Nine-Nine was renewed for season 7, however, they opted to instead let the mystery linger another year.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine season 7, episode 3, "Pimemento" finally offered the answer. During a conflict seminar, the squad were challenged to confront their personal conflicts with each other. Though it was supposed to revolve more around pet peeves, Hitchcock and Scully immediately came to blows over Hitchcock sleeping with Scully's wife, Kelly. Unshaken by the statement, Terry merely noted that they finally knew the answer to the eternal question. Scully quickly turned the situation back on its head, however, by revealing that his dog had also been called Kelly. He never conveyed whether it was a coincidence, or if he had named the dog after his unfaithful wife. Whatever the case, the revelation perfectly encapsulated the character of Scully.
The answer also came with another surprising revelation and something else for fans to latch curiously onto. While shedding light on the Kelly situation, Scully declared that the squad would already have known the answer had they just listened to his podcast. As such, what the name of that podcast is and whether fans will ever get a taste of it on-screen are hopefully questions that Brooklyn Nine-Nine won't take quite so long to answer.