S04.E05: Stefan King

[Stinger97]

Quote

Adam gets in trouble with Beverly after he portrays her as a monster while writing a horror story; Erica forces Barry to attend a costume dance with her.

[saylubee]

Didn't we basically just do this episode with the George Glass one?

I have a feeling Adam F. Goldberg is running out of family anecdotes to write about.  Every episode this season has basically been Barry loves Lainey and it's reciprocated, Erica loves Geoff and it's not reciprocated, and Adam hates his mother in the beginning but loves her in the end.  I know there was an interview last season where they explained having all three kids in high school was going to lead to better stories but I'm not seeing what that was supposed to accomplish.

The whole Geoff thing is so dumb.  At this point, Geoff isn't going to make any more moves on Erica because a) she made it clear she wasn't interested and b) he has a crazy girlfriend.  So Erica is going to have to make the move.  But she's clearly waiting for HIM to make a move so she can accept this time.  They are going to circle each other until Barry does something stupid and reveals Erica's "secret".  So much dumb, so much cliche.

Erica should have just gone to the dance with Hot Cousin Nate.

[Skyfall]

Yeah it feels like the wheels are spinning a bit this season.

[Traveller519]

I hate that I have to agree, as this has been one of my favourite sitcoms of the past few years, but man has the air come out this year. Barry and Erica who were two of the shows real strengths the past two seasons (and Erica especially last season) have just cratered, with the Geoff Schwartz storyline being this gas fire sucking a lot of the oxygen out of the rest of the show. Last week's episode felt like the strongest, and I think it's because there was no Geoff story to deal with.

The worst part is I feel like they've written themselves into a hole, especially with Bev's dumb Yenta card a few weeks back.

The show is at its best when the characters are doing something to chase down their passion, and I did enjoy Bev "Misery-ing" Adam, and Pops being at the all women's book club. Pops and Murray were strong support this episode, but lets get Erica something better to do.

[tennisgurl]

I swear, I will sign a petition to end this Erica and Geoff plot line. Its so boring, and so degrading to Erica, and makes Geoff look like a total moron for not seeing what an asshole his girlfriend is. It just grounds the show to a halt every time it pops up, dragging half the cast into the boredom. Plus, its certainly not from the real Adams life, so why is this here?!?!

The Adam plot was pretty good, but it would have been funnier if he wasn't narrating about how this was just like Misery all the time, and let us just draw the comparisons ourselves. 

Pops is the best part of any episode. I loved him at the ladies book club, martini already in hand. I want a whole Pops centric episode pronto!

[mtlchick]

The one thing I got out of it: Christian Slater has aged REALLY well (thanks show for putting the poster in full focus at the beginning!)

And they will blur the mouth of a talking plant costume.  

But where is the fun show I loved 2 years ago?  The Erica pining for Geoff when she more than gave him up and Geoff saying "I'll always be your friend" (meaning finally dating by end of the year) is getting tired faster than expected. Erica is clearly a smart chick, give her something to do!

[rubaco]

As a big Stephen King fan, I loved that storyline. All of those books had the appropriate covers for the 1980s (I have all of the same ones on my bookshelf to this day). I appreciated the authenticity. The real Adam seems meticulous about that kind of stuff.

[Michel]

10 hours ago, Saytura said:

Erica should have just gone to the dance with Hot Cousin Nate.

She wanted to.  He saw what a hot mess she looked like and bailed.

I think it's kinda rich that people come down on the Erica/Geoff thing when Barry and Lainey pretty much got together the same way.

I had no idea that Stephen King also wrote Cujo.  I liked Murray reading it in the bathroom and then being nervous and skittish when he saw Lucky.

Speaking of whom, I feel like I'm the only one who notices when Lucky is there.  She makes so many random cameos, but ends up looking adorable each time.

[GildedLily]

I liked the initial set-up of Erica and Geoff last season when they went for a slushie and seemed to be establishing a friendship. I still really like when they have scenes together as I think actors have an easy and sweet rapport. Their two 1:1 scenes this season have worked for me (the Suddenly Seymour lyrics were surprisingly on point for a contrived tv duet) and I am waiting for the invevitable 80s power ballad moment when it all finally comes together. But it's dragged out too long and in the wrong ways. Erica should not be the pathetic girl who can't get a date and sits at home crying. That's not true to anything we've seen in prior seasons. Evy isn't a good rival, she's a cartoon character obstacle and I hated the scene where they were shushing each other. 

If the writers were set on this pairing, I would have much rather seen Erica serial dating every Mr. Wrong in Jenkintown (to the horror of Bev and Murray) before realizing Geoff was right in front of her. That's the story I thought we would get after their first solo scenes. That's what I thought the Rush kid was being used for in the Rush ep(nope). Instead we got Geoff being way too OTT about his adoration of her and now we have Erica way too OTT in her wallowing and Evy the contrived obstacle. Like I said, I like the actors together and the duet made me entirely too sappy but this story has to take a turn fast. I was hoping Barry in the Audrey 2 costume would inadvertently reveal all so that we'd get some movement but unfortunately no. That said, the costume was freaking awesome. 

[Guest]

How could you not know Stephen King wrote Cujo?  Heh.  I think even in the 90s his name was in bigger font than his titles.  Cujo is so Stephen King.  

I asked my teen who likes this show how she felt about the Erica/Geoff storyline.  She said, "I want them to get together."  I said, "Oh, so you like it?"  She said, "I think he's nice."  Hm.  So maybe they did some teen focus groups?  

[HyeChaps]

Wasn't Evvy supposed to be a Bev mini-me?  She will not give up her man. Even if she didn't want him any more, this would turn into a spite thing. 

[Michel]

55 minutes ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

How could you not know Stephen King wrote Cujo?  Heh.  I think even in the 90s his name was in bigger font than his titles.  Cujo is so Stephen King.

In fairness, I didn't like horribly long literature, so Stephen King was generally a "must avoid" for me.  Back in the '90s, give me shorter books like Goosebumps, Animorphs, and Everworld any day.

[alexa]

I totally agree about the Erica situation...she should not be riding this storyline out as if she has no other options.  Her character is too strong to be the girl that has to look like a loser every day at school, esp at the hands of 2 characters that are much more meaningless.  Last season the Goldbergs really hit it in most episodes...funny, touching, etc.  This year they are struggling.  I hope it comes around as they still have some room for good storylines.

[Traveller519]

16 hours ago, Michel said:

I think it's kinda rich that people come down on the Erica/Geoff thing when Barry and Lainey pretty much got together the same way.

I don't think it played out that similarly. When we saw Barry concerned with girls in Season 1 he was pining over Lexy Bloom, who appeared in 8 total episodes. It wasn't until later in the Party at the end of Season 1 that Barry and Lainey really had "a moment," which I think shocked both of them. There was some tip toeing around to start Season 2, but it was resolved pretty quickly.

Geoff's pining for Erica has been ongoing for a while, and really foreshadowing them getting together since at least the Dirty Dancing episode of last season.

[Perfect Xero]

I think the fact that they've already done the nerdy guy/cool girl story with Barry and Lainey and did it better is one of the reasons that Erica and Geoff thing is rather annoying. Geoff liking Erica and her having absolutely no interest in him was a nice contrast to Barry/Lainey, a nice subversion of the usual "nerd pursues hot person despite all their rejections and eventually wins them over" trope. Now they're just steering in to the trope, seemingly because they don't have any other idea of what to do with Erica.

[Skyfall]

Yeah isn't this year two of Erica as a senior?

[ByTor]

Since every episode takes place in 1980-something, my assumption is that the episodes are not happening sequentially.  It wouldn't bother me if Erica were a junior this week, a senior next week, then a freshman the following week.

[ByTor]

On 10/27/2016 at 8:40 PM, Michel said:

Speaking of whom, I feel like I'm the only one who notices when Lucky is there. 

Nope, not the only one...I LOVE when we get a Lucky sighting!!!