About

Five Suspects Singing "I Want It That Way" refers to a scene from Brooklyn Nine-Nine series in which the character Jake tries to interrogate five suspects who are suspected of murder, but he instead instructs them to sing "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys. The scene inspired fan animations and recreations on social media.

Origin

On April 15th, 2018, season five, episode 17 of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, titled "DFW," premiered in the US^[1]. In the episode, Jake starts to interrogate five suspects who are suspected of murder. She said the culprit was singing "I Want It That Way" by Backstreet Boys, so Jake asks them to sing the song (scene shown below).

Spread

In the 2020s, the scene became a popular reference for creating animations. For example on December 30th, 2019, YouTube^[2] user •Ellers• uploaded an animation based on the scene. The video received more than 2.6 million views in four years (shown below, left). On October 10th, 2022, YouTube^[3] user Anne Valentine uploaded a Sonic the Hedgehog fan animation. The video received more than 2.2 million views in one year (shown below, right).

On August 27th, 2022, YouTuber^[4] Dhar Mann uploaded a Shorts video based on the scene. The video received more than 18 million views in one year (shown below, left). On November 4th, 2022, YouTube^[5] user Dude Dans uploaded a Shorts animation that received more than 50 million views in three months (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References