It’s fitting that the final installment of The Goldbergs this year revolves around the concept of love. In many ways, it’s the unifying theme of the entire series and the underlying conceit of countless storylines—how one displays love, how love is received, the feeling of being in love and the pratfalls that entail, etc.
In this way, “Goldbergs Feel Hard” ties an appropriately emotional bow on the series’ remarkable second year. Indeed, it’s such a perfect articulation of the show’s sensibility that one might be forgiven for mistaking this for some kind of de facto series finale. Luckily, based on its ratings, The Golbergs ain’t going anywhere, anytime soon.
The episode begins with a simple enough set-up—after a lifetime of being uncomfortable with displays of affection, Murray is convinced by Beverly and Albert to give the whole saying “I love you” bit a try, especially given that his daughter is about to leave town for a summer-long music program. When, after a few attempts, he manages to say these three words to Erica, the response is predictably muted. Erica at first believes something has gone horribly wrong then, after being assured the gesture was unprovoked, she can only muster a proverbial shrug in response. Embarrassed, Murray claims that will be the last “love you” he ever verbalizes. Horrified by this prospect, Beverly bribes Erica into returning the gesture by buying her a fashionable leather jacket and boots.
Of course, Murray quickly puts two and two together and confronts Erica with her insincerity. The two’s conversation, as most things in the Goldbergs household, descends into a shouting match. Appropriately, they end up using “love” as an attack word (personal favorite: “my love knows no bounds, all the way to infinity!!”). It’s here that Beverly realizes that acknowledgments of love don’t always need be shouted from the rooftop and that people like Barry and Erica display their love in different, less conspicuous ways.
Now storylines about Murray’s pragmatic attitude are a dime a dozen in the series, yet, by boiling it down to its pure essence, the writers manage to avoid feeling repetitive in their execution.
Meanwhile, the episode’s other subplot also deals with love—albeit, in the more romantic sense. The catalyst is Adam’s decision to pen an “epic love letter” to his girlfriend, Dana. Barry warns him that using the “l” word can do no good, as it makes him look weak and can effectively freak the girl out. Naturally, Barry can’t follow his own advice and accidentally ends up saying the same thing to Lainey after she offers to get him a burrito. Their relationship subsequently enters into an awkward phase, with Lainey doing everything in her power to avoid interacting with Barry.
Upon seeing the fissure in that relationship, Adam desperately tries to get his note from Dana’s locker before she can read it. He ends up getting assistance from Coach Miller, who proves to have quite a wealth of relationship advice (“just because I wear the same tiny shorts every day doesn’t mean I don’t wear many hats—Coach knows love good”). Short tangent—while he may have started the series as the more typical disciplinarian, both the writers and actor Bryan Callen have done a fantastic job this season of exploring the Coach’s various idiosyncrasies. This episode is the cherry on top, with Coach actually staging a drug raid, just to get the note from Dana.