What's in Store for the Queer Characters on 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine?'

After it's shocking cancellation from FOX earlier this year, NBC has breathed new life into buddy-cop sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and the entire team is gearing up for a hysterical sixth season!

During a press visit to the set earlier this week, the show's co-creator Daniel Goor said that not much has changed with the network swap, except "bleeping and blurring. We can actually say curse words and bleep them, which we couldn't do on FOX." And actors Dirk Blocker (who plays Detective Michael Hitchcock) and Andre Braugher (who plays openly gay police captain Raymind Holt) say the upcoming year contains some of the show's funniest episodes yet.

The sitcom has built up a loyal LGBTQ fanbase with the antics of another queer character, Rosa Diaz (played by Stephanie Beatriz), who came out as bisexual last season. When asked about the challenges Rosa would face next season during a Brooklyn Nine-Nine press roundtable, Beatriz reflects on her character's relationships. 

"For Rosa, it's trying to maintain that tough shell even though there's that chink in the armor now," Beatriz said. "She came out to her family and she wasn't fully accepted by them and I think that's really difficult. She's also taken the very vulnerable step of sharing that with her entire group of friends. I think that's going to be further explored in the season."

"It'll be challenging for her because she's not used to letting anybody in and yet now over the course of five seasons, she's grown to place to realize that's valuable. How she negotiates how to do it so she still feels like herself and that it still feels true to the character is part of the growth over the course of the season."

If you watched last season's finale, you might remember a ride-share driver named Alicia (Jane the Virgin's Gina Rodriguez) and Rosa's panicked look of love when the two first meet. PRIDE asked Beatriz if Rodriquez will be back and be a potential new love interest next season to an evasive chuckle.

"You will see Rosa's personal life literally and figuratively come into the office a little bit more. I think the relationship between Holt and Rosa is very specific because they're both members of the LGBTQ community. There's a certain amount of trust that they have with each other, or at least that they think they have with each other. Rosa's love life will come into that relationship and maybe throw a wrench in it a little bit. I think that's safe to tease."

And what's next for Holt? Braugher couldn't say much as to avoid spoilers, but he teased us with this:

"I think his biggest challenge this year is really dealing with his family, who he is inside of his family. That's embracing the relationships as they are, embracing his place and status in the world, dealing with his mortality, his legacy, his history. It's really a question for a man who's clearly ambitious, living within the constraints of being captain of this precinct in terms of wanting what you have as opposed to having what you want."

Braugher continued:

"I think Captin Holt is settling down and just flat out loving these people and having a great affection." 

The new season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine premieres January 10, 2019 on NBC.