NBC’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine went off the air years ago, yet it remains a memorable piece of pop culture history. The countless memes and reels featuring clips from the show are a testament to how influential Brooklyn Nine-Nine was on the culture. More importantly, the show keeps getting more interesting despite no longer being in syndication.

The reason that the cop-comedy drama has piqued interest once again is its cast. While most of us are familiar with the main squad, a few characters who were in nearly every episode don’t even have an IMDB credit to their name. An extra named Nancy comes to mind.

Nancy gets a single shoutout during a Season 6 episode when Gina Linetti (Chelsea Peretti) lets her know that she can go to her therapist appointment. The interaction is a strange one-off considering she’s in the background of nearly every other episode but never hear Nancy speak. Audiences can briefly see the actress standing behind the breakroom window, watching the action inside in this rare image found on IMDB.

What’s odder is that the actress who portrays Nancy isn’t listed anywhere in the show credits. Everyone, including background players, has credits on the entertainment-based site except Nancy. A reasonable person might assume that NBC would credit a character who’s a recurring stand-in, but then again, there might be a good explanation.

In all likelihood, the background stand-ins are writers who give the actors notes in between takes. The Office was notorious for having its show’s writers barely off-camera, working in the Annex, while the onscreen staff filled the bullpen. Brooklyn Nine-Nine presumably utilized a similar tactic, positioning its writers in the background of scenes. That would explain why Nancy is always around yet seemingly not involved in the plots.

Nancy’s Role On The Squad

What’s up for debate is Nancy’s role on the squad. There are only so many occupations within the police precinct, and considering her proximity to confidential information, Nancy is probably a detective. Some fans may find such a conclusion a reach since she doesn’t participate in ongoing cases, but that’s a slight oversight. Other background actors play detectives within the nine-nine, too—ones who don’t have speaking parts on the show. Thus, it’s within the realm of possibility that the character works in admin. She always seems to have files in her hands—something that suggests she handles paperwork in the precinct.

Gina Linetti, Captain Holt’s assistant, is merely one employee on their floor, and no one expects the laissez-faire secretary to be the sole person responsible for filing in the precinct. Gina’s shoutout to Nancy in Season 6, Episode 2, and the informality of her language, seems to point to them being familiar—a sign that they work closely together; another indication that Gina and Nancy split up filing duties for their detective coworkers.

Speaking of Nancy’s appearances, it’s probably fitting that we recap her history on the show. Well, as mentioned previously, Nancy is a background player who appears as far back as the pilot. She’s seen walking past a window to the bullpen, just barely being visible in Episode 1. Her curly hair is very distinguishable from everyone else—easy to spot from a distance. Bear in mind that some of Nancy’s appearances are obscured, or they’re so brief that only the backside of her hair is shown on camera.

Regardless, she’s in every Season 1 episode in some form or another. Sometimes, she’s in the bullpen with the detectives, and in others, Nancy walks past the squad with a file/folder on an unknown task. Her other appearances throughout the series are equal in scope, popping in and out of scenes without saying a word. There’s no taking anything away from her role—Nancy is merely outside the central bubble. She’s like the majority of precinct officers, detectives, and administrators, who don’t interact with the main cast. They’re present but are seemingly out of earshot.

Interestingly, they have to interact with Captain Holt at some point, yet none of them ever walk in or out of the captain’s office. We know Holt speaks with more officers than those in his inner circle, based on minor pieces of dialogue in other episodes. Officer Brian, for one, ousted Jake when the latter failed to successfully impersonate Holt during a sequence involving the armory. The audience never sees them interact, but based on the crosstalk between Jake, Holt, and Officer Brian, the latter two have had multiple conversations—none of which made it on the show.

It’s a wonder the audience never sees Nancy having interactions with Captain Holt. Assuming she is a detective like Rosa, Jake, or Amy, she must’ve performed debriefs with the precinct’s commanding officer. Of course, when the number of employees in a precinct can be in triple digits, it’s reasonable that Holt wouldn’t be able to speak with everyone. For all we know, Nancy is on a different shift than the main squad, and her brief pop-ins are of the character as she’s leaving or entering work.

In any case, it’s time that Nancy receives a series credit. No one’s asking to write an exposé on the actress, but she deserves as much recognition as anyone else, which, at the very least, is an online acting filmography.

NBC’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine is currently streaming on Peacock and Netflix.