The Goldbergs – I Lost On Jeopardy!

By: Ariba Bhuvad

The 80s was the golden age of game shows and the Goldbergs were all about them. Beverly (Wendi McLendon-Covey) loved watching “Wheel of Fortune” because she loved Vanna White, not to mention those evening gowns. Erica (Hayley Orrantia) loved “Jeopardy” and was insanely good at it. Meanwhile, Adam (Sean Giambrone) was obsessed with figuring out how to beat one of the game shows, “Whammy!” And he actually does, but Murray (Jeff Garlin) tells him to stop spending so much time on it because he hasn’t figured out anything.

The next morning there is a news report about a man that figured out the code and ended up winning $100,000. Murray is upset that he discourages his children while Adam gets angry about how he ended up losing such a great opportunity.

At school Barry (Troy Gentile) is training for Color Day, a school event that puts students into two teams–blue and yellow. It becomes extremely competitive and pits everyone against each other. Unfortunately for Matt Bradley (Shayne Topp), he was the only JTP member on the yellow team while Barry was on the blue team. This meant that Matt Bradley was the odd one out to no fault of his own.

A girl named Kim confronts Barry later in the day and admits that she has had a crush on him for years. The moment becomes awkward for her when she realizes Barry has no idea who she is. He tries to pretend that he does know her but it’s apparent that he’s clueless. It turns out that Kim has been around for every major moment in Barry’s life, but he doesn’t seem to pick up on any of it. Naked Rob (Noah Munck) and Andy (Matt Bush) point out to Barry that a hot girl just confessed her feelings for him. Considering Barry isn’t over Lainey (AJ Michalka), this all doesn’t really matter.

Murray rushes into the room to say “Happy Anniversary” to Beverly, but it’s not the type of anniversary she’s thinking of. It’s been a year since Erica said she was going to live at home to pursue her dreams and now the time is up which means she has to move out. Instead of pushing her out, Beverly thinks that she and Murray should motivate Erica and support her. With the same sentiment, Beverly goes to talk to Erica about her future and shows Erica a video of herself at her 7th-grade quiz bowl. This is all to show Erica that she has limitless potential and that she has to go out there and win again.

Erica takes this pep talk to mean that Beverly wants her to try out for Jeopardy and while Geoff (Sam Lerner) tries to tell her that it was for college, she doesn’t listen. On the other hand, Barry is killing it in his biology class and aces the final according to Dr. Katman (Steven Guttenberg). Kim overhears this and then proceeds to ask him to go to the movies with her. He agrees to go, but is rattled when he sees her wearing a yellow shirt. He starts to believe that Kim is a spy for the other team, but Matt Bradley chimes in to say it’s all because Barry is not over Lainey.

Erica is filling out applications and Murray is super excited until he realizes it’s all for game shows. Beverly tries to get Murray to calm down and says that Erica will stop pursuing this and aim for college once she realizes the game shows won’t take her. Beverly’s plan backfires when Erica ends up getting a call from Jeopardy for an interview. Murray tries to do things his way when he tells Erica that she needs to get off her butt and get to college. Once again, Beverly tries to mediate the situation and says that “Jeopardy” isn’t doing something with her life. Erica goes on to say that she wants to be a professional game show contestant which results in everyone getting into a fight.

Instead of coming to the movies himself, Barry sends Adam instead with a note saying that he thinks Kim is a spy. Surprised by the note, Kim starts crying and saying she doesn’t even care about Color Day and all the rivalry. Adam tries to tell Barry later on that Kim isn’t a spy, but he refuses to believe it, despite Matt Bradley’s plea about not being over Lainey. Barry starts to suspect Adam of being double mole agent just because he’s supporting Kim.

Erica goes to her interview, but it doesn’t go so well when she is asked questions about the past year and what she’s been doing. The interviewer tells her that trying out for Jeopardy isn’t a talking point and suggests she try out for another game show.

Barry sends Matt Bradley a note through Adam which is meant to be coded but it doesn’t make any sense so Adam just tells Matt to meet Barry at the gym. It turns out Barry wants advice from Matt on what to do with Kim. After their talk, Barry stops being afraid and decides to go for Kim. Sadly, it turns out Barry was right and Kim was just spying on him for Color Day. But when she ends up getting hurt during the race, Barry carries her to the finish line and finally becomes a moment in Barry’s life.

Erica is crying at home when Beverly and Murray go to talk to her. She’s upset because she feels like a failure and doesn’t love herself anymore. After speaking with her parents, Erica goes to Geoff’s house and asks for college cataloges and tells him he is the only one for her.

Back at school, Barry and Kim talk and Barry tells her that he’s not ready for anything right now and it’s just not the right time. But who knows, maybe they will cross paths in the future someday.