The Goldbergs – This Is This Is Spinal Tap

By: Ariba Bhuvad

When the Goldberg family would get sick back in the 80s, there was no WebMD, instead, there was what Adam (Sean Giambrone) likes to call “BevMD.” Beverly (Wendi McLendon-Covey) was the type of mother that would think a cough meant meningitis, while Murray (Jeff Garlin) was the complete opposite. Between the two parents, they had conflicting ideas when it came to the kids getting sick. In fact, when Adam gets a zit Murray tells him it’s just a teenage zit while Beverly says it could be a spider bite filled with spider eggs.

Erica (Hayley Orrantia) is excited to find out that The Dropouts landed a gig at the Philadelphia Spectrum. It turns out that Geoff (Sam Lerner) submitted a demo for them six months ago, and they just heard back. However, there is one slight problem, the gig is supposed to include Lainey (AJ Michalka) and seeing as she’s not there it could be an issue. Geoff says they have to try anyway, even if it’s without Lainey.

Adam offers to follow them around and make a rockumentary. Barry (Troy Gentile) shows up right then to say he is now part of the band and has to be a part of whatever they’re doing, especially because it will be at a carnival for The Flyers.

Murray has always been the lazy type and Beverly doesn’t hesitate to point it out when she sees Bill (David Koechner) getting snacks for him. It turns out he tweaked his arm while trying to reach for the remote and that has Bev worried so she insists on going to the doctor. While the doctor (Brent Spiner) confirms it was just a tweak to the arm, he does find a suspicious mole on Murray’s back and decides to do a biopsy. As always, Murray isn’t taking it seriously.

As Erica and Valley Erica (Alison Rich) are having band practice, Barry shows up and starts rapping in the middle of it. Erica and Barry start fighting as Barry tries to force himself into the band. It turns out that Adam’s rockumentary is turning out to be worse than expected and Pops (George Segal) is the first one to point it out. This makes Adam realize that it isn’t really a rockumentary as much as it is a mockumentary, similar to This Is Spinal Tap – a famous mockumentary about a fictional band. Pops isn’t sure that making fun of Erica is the right thing to do but tells Adam to go for it anyway.

Murray finds out that Beverly has been sharing news about Murray’s mole with her “Frentas” Virginia (Jennifer Irwin), Linda (Mindy Sterling), and Essie (Stephanie Courtney), who show up at the house to give him support. He tries to say it’s not a big deal but they won’t listen and soon after he gets rid of them, Bill shows up as well offering to marry Beverly and promising to take care of the kids.

The rockumentary seems to be going just as Adam expected with everyone living up to their silliness. It only gets worse every time Barry and Erica fight about whether or not Barry is in the band. While filming Erica gets emotional because she feels like Adam is the only who has supported her when no one else did. This makes Adam feel guilty for making a mockumentary so he changes his mind and decides to go back to making it a serious rockumentary. But how can he possibly do that when everyone keeps doing the weirdest things? Case in point, Barry showing up with a shirt that says “Big Testy.”

Murray is getting ready to go to a Phillies game with Bill when Beverly starts hassling him about it. She says he can go but has to protect himself properly and so makes him wear lots of sunscreen, a hat and sunglasses. Considering he looks absolutely ridiculous, Murray decides not to go. It just so happens that it ends up being a very important game because Mike Schmidt chooses to retire. Upset he missed such a big game, Murray wallows in his anger.

The day of the carnival arrives and everyone is freaking out. Geoff ends up quitting as the manager while Adam tries to encourage Erica to get out there and do her thing. After an inspirational speech The Dropouts decide to go out on stage, but can’t seem to find it. Adam gets frustrated because as much as he is trying to make it a serious rockumentary, everyone is making it impossible. After realizing that Adam is making fun of them, Erica gets upset over the lack of Adam’s support.

Beverly soon learns that Murray hid something from her. While going for ice cream with Bill it seems Beverly notices that Bill is putting a lot of sunscreen on Murray’s neck. It turns out that he heard back from the doctor about the mole and he needs a more thorough biopsy. She is upset to hear that Murray didn’t take her with to his appointment and he says it is because she always spins outs and makes it worse. In an effort to be more chill Beverly pretends to not care about anything, but she can’t keep it up for that long and eventually tells Murray if she is going to change and be more relaxed then he has to take care of himself. He tells Beverly that he will and reminds her that is why she is his rock. In an effort to be more healthy, Murray starts going on walks with Beverly.

Back at the carnival Adam tries to encourage Erica to get out there on stage. Erica agrees to go and says Barry has to join her, along with Adam. They end up performing to Aerosmith’s song “Walk This Way” as the crowd cheers them on. It turns out that this was The Dropouts’ best and last performance because Erica decides to end on a high note.

Following his performance with The Dropouts, Barry tries to flirt with the school cheerleaders but they end up rejecting him because they have a code. They won’t date him because they don’t date their friends’ exes, which is fine with him because he still isn’t over Lainey.