The Defense Rests (Brooklyn Nine-Nine)

In its original American broadcast, "The Defense Rests" was seen by an estimated 2.79 million household viewers and gained a 1.2/3 ratings share among adults aged 18–49, according to Nielsen Media Research.[1] This was a 16% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 3.29 million viewers with a 1.5/4 in the 18-49 demographics.[2] This means that 1.2 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 3 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it. With these ratings, Brooklyn Nine-Nine was the third most watched show on FOX for the night, beating Bob's Burgers, but behind Family Guy and The Simpsons, fourth on its timeslot and seventh for the night, behind CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Undercover Boss, Family Guy, The Simpsons, America's Funniest Home Videos, and Miss Universe 2014.

"The Defense Rests" received positive reviews from critics. LaToya Ferguson of The A.V. Club gave the episode an "B+" grade and wrote, "'The Defense Rests' is an endlessly amusing episode, as well as slightly heartbreaking, but it's also a bit… strange. The episode runs a spectrum of tones and emotions, but luckily, it's able to balance them so it's not a jarring shift along the way."[3] Allie Pape from Vulture gave the show a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "The show doesn't often do more serious beats, but it's surprisingly good at getting them right when it does, and both Jake and Sophia's breakup scene and the final bit with Holt, Peralta, and Terry drinking in the bar are surprisingly poignant."[4]

Alan Sepinwall of HitFix wrote, "Not one of their strongest episodes this season, but still plenty of laughs."[5] Andy Crump of Paste gave the episode a 7.9 and wrote, "Amazingly, 'Defense Rests' never feels overstuffed or bloated by sheer weight of material; each segment is also rife with great one-liners and visual gags, and best of all, we finally learn how tall Terry is in egg rolls. (Twenty five.) Asses are sexier than snakes, no one can savor a moment like Holt, Terry just can't read the vibe, defense attorneys are savage jerks (even when they're being nice), and the best revenge is sabotaging your enemy's auto-correct. (Wuntch to 'butt.' Sophia to 'butt.' The hilarity is endless.) And best of all, three oft-revisited narratives get pushed ahead to new places, moving Brooklyn Nine-Nine as a show ahead with them."[6]