Chelsea Peretti Will Exit ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ in Two-Part Episode

Chelsea Peretti’s exit from Brooklyn Nine-Nine will span a two-part episode, she told reporters this week, but she may not be gone for good.

Peretti announced her exit from the sitcom back in October, though it did not sound like a spiteful departure. On Tuesday, she spoke to The Wrap at an on-set press event, assuring them that Gina Linetti does not die in the series.

“It sounds cliche, but I feel that you’ll laugh and cry, which is kind of the ideal combination of an exit for Gina Linetti,” the actress said. “She’s very physical. There’s a lot of very silly things she gets to do in these episodes… But then there’s also some really emotional connecting scenes with her family and her friends.”

Fans of the show can reasonably assume that this means Gina will dance her way out of the 99th precinct in some way or another. However, there is a good chance she will return eventually. Peretti made it clear that this is a soft exit and an open-ended goodbye.

“No, no. No, I think there’s a much more like, ‘Hey, who knows?’ kind of vibe to it,” she said. “So, I don’t think it’ll be as much crying as you’re talking about: ‘She’s dead! They’re throwing dirt on my grave.’”

The outlet also spoke to series co-creator and showrunner Dan Goor, who gave a few clues about the two-part episode where Gina says her farewell. He talked about trying to justice to one of his quirkiest characters while working with Peretti to achieve what she wanted.

“It’s sort of a two-episode arc that Jake plays a big part of,” he said. “I think one of the things that Chelsea really wanted to make sure of was that those episodes were funny.”

For Peretti, that means plenty of slapstick, as she went on to explain.

“I love physical things,” she said. “Sometimes Gina is a little dry and I like when she gets to physically do stuff and the stakes are high for her, so that was kind of my request and I got to do that and that was cool. And then there was dancing, which felt appropriate, [to] kind of bring it all together in the end. She’s a brilliant dancer!”

“But also, you know, I always feel like it’s important to show the friendships and the love as well, so she gets to explore her deeper feelings with people, so it’s not just all like, ‘Bye!’ You know?” she finished.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine returns after the holidays on its new home on NBC. Season 6 premieres on Thursday, Jan. 10 at 9 p.m. ET.