Last week’s episode of The Goldbergs was a tad disappointing. After a solid two season run of great moments with little to mention by way of flaws, the program hit its first speed bump.
Thankfully, the family from Philly got back on track this week with “Jimmy 5 is Alive!” If you can take a guess about the title, it references the Short Circuit films from the 1980’s which were primarily memorable for the characteristic robot, Johnny 5. That, and well, actor Fisher Stevens playing a really racist version of a Hindu gentleman.
Moving on, this episode focused on Adam (Sean Giambrone) and Murray (Jeff Garlin) working together to build a robot that met both their interests (I’m sorry, but any droid that has a Flux Capicator instantly wins in my book). Eventually The boys argue it out about what the robot should feature in terms of realism and Adam comes to realize that maybe his imagination is working against him, as he crosses that bridge from kid to man.
Meanwhile, Barry (Troy Gentile) goofs and erases over his birthday party from when he was five years old. He covers it up by switching tapes and framing his mom (Wend McLendon-Covey) with a new “mistake” tape. In between the switch though, Barry creates a “momtage” tape that is the highlight of the episode, and I was dying from laughter. Easily one of the best Goldberg moments, and proof that Barry is the one of the greatest tv characters. We even get the traditional Barry run in this episode. YES!
Erica (Hayler Orrantia) and Pops (George Segal) really have nothing to do but move the story along, but they serve that purpose well. And due to absence of a good song last week, this week we get not one but two with Corey Hart’s “Never Surrender” and Rod Stewart’s “Forever Young.” Can somebody release a The Golbergs soundtrack already?
“Jimmy 5 is Alive” brought the Goldbergs back into true form, and this episode was almost tear jerking at the end, whether you’re a kid, parent, or hey, anything in between. Great episode, good stuff.
Rating: 9/10
The Goldbergs air every Wednesday Night at 8:30 on ABC
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Logan J. Fowler is a senior writer and video game editor on Po-Break.com. He contributes his thoughts every week for Trailer Tuesday and has his own column called “A Link to the Past.” Logan’s “kid at heart” nature has led to his discussion about pop culture that many geeks love to talk about, including superheroes, Super Mario Bros., Pixar, and Muppets, among other things. In addition, one of his first pieces for the site, “Top Ten Comic Book Movies,” was picked as a “Freshly Pressed” piece by WordPress and remains one of the site’s most well-read articles. Currently, Logan works as a Special Education Instructional Assistant at Roosevelt School in Manville NJ. He graduated from Wagner College in 2005 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and in 2007 with a Master of Science in Education Degree in Birth-6th Grade Literacy. He also holds a Teacher of Students with Disabilities Certification from Rutgers. Many of Logan’s friends have said that he moonlights as Spider-Man but this is so not true. Wait, are those police sirens I’m hearing?! Gotta go! -thwipp-
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