Why It Really Is 'Time for Gina's Opinion'

 by Oscar Mellers

Gina Linetti during ‘Halloween IV’ (Season 4:5)

For those of you familiar with the show ‘Brooklyn 99,’ you will be well aware of the infamous character Gina Linetti, known for her sarcastic and snarky comments, self-obsessed nature and of course her personalised t-shirts and hoodies that she sports throughout the eight seasons of the show. This includes the ‘Gina told you so,’ ‘Gina knows best,’ and the iconic, ‘Time for Gina’s opinion’ designs. Despite these vain catchphrases, Gina Linetti does teach some important lessons throughout the show. Here are the reasons why.

Number one. Gina never shies away from the truth. The truth is often described as ugly, and in personal experience, it often is. As Jake Peralta wants to say a convicted dentist murderer in season 5 (During ‘The Box’), “You can’t handle to the tooth!” Yet, Gina Linetti has learnt to embrace what’s happening in the world around her, no matter how unenjoyable it is. When the squad is put onto the night shift, and the others around her complain, Gina simply argues saying that she can conquer another demographic for her Youtube channel ‘G-Hive’: Australians. Additionally, Gina also makes statements declaring the ‘ugly’ truth, even though most of it isn’t that ugly. My favourite being when she says, “Psychologists are just people who weren’t smart enough to be psychics.” She also knows how to accept the past for what it was, whether or not she liked it. The prime example of this is when she reminds Adrian Pimento, “I worked at a sunglass kiosk at the mall for four years, so not only have I been through hell, I was assistant manager there.”

Number two. Gina Linetti knows how to keep the toxic people out of her life. Gina says to Rosa in season 1 (During ‘48 Hours’), “You think you can bully people around here, but you can’t. It’s not okay.” Gina was right to stand up to Rosa and keep her out of her life when she did something wrong. But, as seems to be the case with these quotations, there’s always a catch. Gina then says, “I’m the bully around here. Ask anyone.” If you ignore this last segment, then Linetti once again is right. 

Number three. Gina has jaw-dropping confidence in herself, no matter what she does. Whether or not she’s always correct in saying what she does, it doesn’t matter because her confidence makes her admirable. My favourite three of these comments are, “My mother cried the day I was born, because she knew she would never be better than me,” “Hi, I’m Gina Linetti, the human form of the 100 emoji,” and finally, “I Was Thinking How I Would Make The Perfect American President Based Upon My Skill Set, Dance Ability, And Blood Lust.” These three quotations just prove how Gina Linetti understands her self-worth, which helps keep her centred in what she believes is a ‘stressful job.’

Number four. Although similar to the last point, Gina Linetti is her own biggest fan. She frequently reminds herself (and of course, others) that she’s proud of herself for what she does. She’s not afraid to hide it either, going as far to say “I’m proud of me, too.” 

Although this article is almost 99% sarcastic in that Gina Linetti takes things to new extremes, there is something that we can learn from Gina. Apart from her sometimes rude remarks, the way she values herself is something all of us can aspire to do… just, keep away from the arrogance.