The Goldbergs – Fiddler

By starrymag | November 6, 2018

By: Ariba Bhuvad

 

 

Have you wondered if Murray (Jeff Garlin) could be truly passionate about something other than furniture and his beloved recliner? Well, look no further because in last week’s episode “Fiddler” we see Murray’s passion for the play, Fiddler on the Roof, comes out in the most unexpected of ways as he pressures Adam (Sean Giambrone) into trying out for the play, more specifically the lead role, even though he has no interest in it.

 

After the music teacher announces that Fiddler on the Roof will be the next musical, everyone except Adam shows enthusiasm for it. This is quite unusual for Adam considering he loves all things musical. He has no intentions of trying out but Murray begs to differ because he expects him to try out for the lead role of Tevye.

 

Murray is so hyped about the play that he finds his father’s Russian coat and hands it to Adam, who isn’t amused by it. It does; however, grasp Barry’s (Troy Gentile) attention who would love to have his father be a sports dad for him, too.

 

Determined to have the least amount of responsibility possible, Adam asks his music teacher (Ana Gasteyer) to give him a role that would only require a few lines. When the casting is announced, it appears she listened to him and gave the lead role to someone else. Eager to find out whether or not Adam got the part, Murray shows up at school and is angered when he learns this is not the case.

 

Murray wants to take matters into his own hands so he shows up at all the rehearsals and sits in the front row so that he can intimidate the other kid into dropping out so the role could go to Adam. Along the way, the music teacher makes Adam the understudy which Murray sees as a win in his quest to get Adam the lead role.

 

Meanwhile, Geoff (Sam Lerner) starts prepping for the SATs and asks for Erica (Hayley Orrantia) and Beverly (Wendi McLendon-Covey) for help. As Bev scores his practice exam, he nervously awaits assuming the worst case scenario. He, along with Erica, are surprised to find out that he gets a 1540 on the practice exam! This means amazing things for Geoff’s future in college and increases his chances of getting into UCLA. But this is something that Erica isn’t too happy about–at all.

 

Erica makes it her goal to sabotage Geoff’s studying by bringing out the flashcards that Bev once used to try and fool Erica when she was studying. On the cards are made up words with made up definitions, and poor gullible Sam believes it all. Seeing Erica repeat the same mistake she once did, Bev can’t handle it and tries to convince Erica to stop. When Erica comes clean about what she was trying to do, Geoff has a positive reaction to it because he can’t believe she loves him that much.

 

He asks her to come to California with him and considering California is a place where many musical careers have began, Erica is immediately convinced while Bev has a horrified look on her face. Bev tries to pretend that she’s supporting Erica and attempts to use Pops (George Segal) as a means to persuade Erica not to go. But, if you know Pops, you know that he is usually always supportive of everyone’s decisions and he goes as far as to say that they have family in California as well.

 

In fact, Erica has a cousin named Marci that works in advertising and perhaps Erica could send her jingles and try and get a job with her. As a result, Erica starts recording well-known jingles and once again Bev tries to block her by lying and saying that she spoke with Marci and that Erica would have to come up with original jingles for products that Bev has made up.

 

She tries to make them as weird as she possibly can, but Erica perseveres and creates catchy jingles and sends the tape off to Marci. Feeling guilty about it all, Bev comes clean about what she’s done and Erica is freaked out because Marci now has a tape with her singing about non-existent products which will be absolutely humiliating for her.

 

In the world of Murray and Adam, the kid that has the lead role has an eager supporter as well in the form of his father which creates a competitive sports dad environment at the rehearsals. As time goes on, Adam begins to realize that Murray has ruined his love for drama by necessarily forcing him to do something he doesn’t want and then by showing up all the time and annoying the kid. After Adam implodes on him with anger, Murray finally explains why Fiddler on the Roof is so important to him. He played the lead role back in high school and he recalls that his father was extremely proud of him–possibly for the first time ever.

 

It’s why he’s so connected to the play and why he wants Adam to be a part of it so much. Murray wanted to recreate that love and connection with Adam via the play. As a compromise, the both of them go to watch the play together and have the most wonderful time.

 

Considering that Bev may forever and always be a smother, she tries to make it up to Erica by calling Marci and explaining what happened with the random tape of jingles that Erica recorded. However, it turns out that Marci’s colleagues loved the randomness of it all! But this isn’t enough to appease Erica after what Bev did, so she decides to use the flashcards to apologize to Erica in the only way she knows how. Realizing that she has to let her children do what they want and go after their dreams, Bev gives Erica her blessing to do as she wishes–even if it means moving away to Los Angeles.