Male friendships can be a strange thing. That’s the primary focus of “Bill/Murray,” a title which references the in-show pairing of Murray and Bill Lewis, Lainey’s Dallas Cowboys-loving father. Certainly, Murray is the last person in the show who would actively seek out a friendship, making his unexpected bromance with Bill a fun bit of character-based comedy. Again, it helps that returning guest star David Koechner has such great chemistry with Jeff Garlin.
The main plotline commences when the two are brought together by Principal Ball after Barry and Lainey are caught making out in the supply closet. From here, the duo starts recognizing that, aside from opposing football loyalties, they have a ton in common (most notably, their love of Bill Murray movies). To the delight of their children, the men begin hanging out together, which basically consists—via a humorous montage—of sitting together on a couch watching TV and occasionally napping. This friendship takes a sudden dive, however, when Bill has an emotional outburst on the anniversary of his wife abandoning him. Murray, being the closed-off, non-sentimental being that he is, gets predictably freaked out and tries to cut things off. It’s only after a pep talk from his other friend, father-in-law Albert, that he realizes he is capable of close friendship.
With Garlin and Koechner bantering off each other, the extremely heightened material comes with the episode’s other plotline, which finds Erica attempting to make her own music video with Adam and Beverly’s assistance. Granted, it’s not exactly her idea. Rather, it’s Beverly’s attempt to get her daughter into Juilliard, which is both a prestigious institution and (more important) within driving distance. And though Erica tries to convince her mother that getting into Juilliard is all but impossible, Beverly is never one to let logic dictate her actions.