Agassi
This week's episode of The Goldbergs focused on the kids. Usually I like when Murray has a more prominent role, but I actually enjoyed this episode for the most part.
In Agassi, Erica is depressed because it's Valentines Day and she's single. Her friends and family and Andre plan an intervention to tell her how much they miss the old Erica. Can I just say how much I like the scenes with Andre? His scenes with The Goldbergs, especially Beverly, are always excellent. My favorite part of this intervention was Murray's reaction.
"Erica, I was at work when your mom called me, and I fought through traffic to get here. What I'm really trying to say is, what is this?"
The intervention fails so Beverly, as usual, decides to take things into her own hands. She takes Erica to the disco to cheer her up, but ends up humiliating her. Erica finally gets out of her funk when she realizes Evie feels sorry for her. She doesn't want Evie's pity so she returns to her bubbly self. The problem? She stole Beverly's credit card to throw a "Disco is Dead Party". Beverly finds out and cancels her card. But she decides to give Erica keys to the school so she can have the party after all.
The party ends up being a success, and Erica is back to being cool again. I hope that Erica stays happy and this is the end of her being depressed. I've gotten tired of boy crazy Erica. Either put her with Geoff or make her get over him for good.
Elsewhere, Adam joins the tennis team so he can spend time with his old friend, Chad. As you probably guessed, Adam is absolutely terrible at tennis. Chad doesn't want to be doubles partners with him so Barry volunteers to help. Barry is just as bad at tennis as Adam until he starts to get angry. It turns out Coach likes angry Barry. So Barry completely loses his temper, and Coach keeps giving Barry and Adam points. This upsets Chad, and I loved how much enjoyment Adam got out of this.
"It turns out Barry wasn't the famous, cool tennis star. He was the angry yelly one."
Chad does get a little too angry, and Coach tells him he's benched. Adam visits Chad later and tells him that he misses him. The two make up and decide that they can still be friends and "Chadam." Honestly, I wasn't really that impressed with Chad, but I appreciate that Barry tried to help his brother. And his tennis outfit was amazing. Can we get more of Barry and Adam getting along? It was a nice change of pace.
The Spencer's Gift
I had a love/hate relationship with this episode. I loved the beginning of "The Spencer's Gift" when Erica and Barry both get jobs at Spencer's Gifts. They both want that yellow boombox and they know their parents won't buy it for them. I think my favorite part of this episode was Murray's reaction to the news that two of his kids have jobs. It was the happiest day of his life! All of his dreams have come true! Seriously, I think I love all of Murray's scenes, and I think we're due for an episode all about Murray instead of the episode revolving around the kids.
Barry and Erica come home to see Adam dancing away with a ridiculous wig on, and he has the yellow boombox. Yes, the same boombox that they had to get jobs for. Beverly explains that Adam is special and is going to be a famous filmmaker. Again, Murray makes the scene by saying Adam's not special. I say this phrase all the time! Adam meets with the guidance counselor and decides he may need another plan besides making films. He gets a job at the arcade, and Murray thinks his life is great now that all three kids are employed. Bevery isn't so happy, but Murray explains that working is a good thing.
"Welcome to reality." - Murray
The jobs don't go over so well. For Erica, she is jealous that Barry is better than her. He impresses their boss so much that he gets promoted to Assistant Manager, and Erica can't stand it. She sabotages Barry and gets him fired. I was really angry at Erica for this because she's always popular and good at everything. She couldn't just let Barry have this. However, she does apologize to Barry and says that when he's passionate about something he can do anything. The two make up as usual.
"You may not be a good employee, but you're a great sister." - Barry
Adam's problems are a little different. His boss tells him that students can get a quarter for every A on their report card. Johnny and Carla come and basically threaten Adam into giving them quarters. Then a bunch of other students come in with As written on napkins and paper, and he's forced to give them all quarters. Of course he gets fired. He's able to get his job back by making a commercial for the arcade. Murray tells Adam that he may be more special than he originally gave him credit for which I found very moving.
Overall, I just thought this episode was okay. Again, I loved the parts with Murray and the kids, but I didn't love the scenes with Adam, Erica, and Barry by themselves. I really want a Murray-centric episode, and I hope we get one soon.
What were your thoughts about Agassi and The Spencer's Gift? What do you think about the kids getting jobs? Erica and her love life? Do you want more Murray scenes like I do? Let me know in the comments section!
